West of the Moon
L.E. BRYCE
Published by Phaze Books
Also by L.E. Bryce
A Crown of Stars
Aneshu
Aneshu’s Folly
Becoming
Concubinage
Dead to the World
The Fifth House
From This Night
The Golden Lotus
House of the Swallows
Ki’iri
My Sun and Stars
Phaze Fantasies, Vol. V
Seventh
The Red Sash
The Water Lovers of Sirilon (print collection)
Twice Born
This is an explicit and erotic novel
intended for the enjoyment
of adult readers. Please keep
out of the hands of children.
www.Phaze.com
West of the Moon
The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars III
L.E. BRYCE
West of the Moon © 2009 L.E. Bryce
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Phaze Production
Phaze Books
6470A Glenway Avenue, #109
Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222
Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC.
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
books@phaze.com
www.Phaze.com
Cover art © 2009 Debi Lewis
Edited by Kev Henley
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-59426-780-2
First Edition – August, 2009
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Dramatis Personae
(Italics indicate the character is deceased)
Rhodeen:
The Royal Family:
Zhanil Sephides: son of Sephil Brasides and Ketalya kéya Ampheres; junior king of Rhodeen.
Saraji: daughter of Dashir Serrides and Terreh, princess of Tajhaan; wife of Zhanil; queen of Rhodeen and mother of Ardal, Thanol, Charnos, and Sephien.
Ardal: Zhanil’s eldest son; Crown Prince.
Thanol: Zhanil’s second-born son.
Sephil Brasides: younger son of Brasidios Charnides and Elian, princess of Khalgar; father of Zhanil and Ellina; senior king of Rhodeen.
Brasidios Charnides: king of Rhodeen at the time of the Turya invasion. Killed by the Turyar.
Zhanil Brasides: elder son of Brasidios; Crown Prince of Rhodeen. Killed by the Turyar.
Dashir Serrides: nephew of Brasidios; first cousin of Sephil Brasides; father-in-law of Zhanil Sephides; prince of Rhodeen.
Thano Serrida: niece of Brasidios; princess of Rhodeen; wife of turkan Arzhati and mother of Kargil.
Elian: princess of Khalgar; wife of Brasidios and mother of Sephil and Zhanil Brasides.
Arzhati: son of Atalash; Turya warlord, or turkan, of Rhodeen. Killed at the battle of Cassiare.
Lazphi: son of Atalash. Killed during the invasion of Rhodeen.
The Royal Home Guard:
Amset: captain of the Home Guard.
Amhir: Amset’s son; lieutenant of the Home Guard.
The Turya Guard:
Kalmeki: youngest son of Harunta; captain of the Turya Guard; Zhanil Sephides’s personal bodyguard and lover.
Hantili: Kalmeki’s first lieutenant.
Harkil: member of the Turya Guard.
Puruli: youngest member of the Turya Guard accompanying Zhanil into the Turya-lands.
The Usurpers:
Irial Callios: lord of Cassiare; member of the royal council.
Besan Palassos: military commander; self-styled general.
Ethurel Irides: son of Irial Callios.
Ardal Melandes: landholder in central Rhodeen; hereditary noble.
Elliol Arthandes: new nobility with mercantile background.
In Shemin-at-Khul:
Penthé: pleasure slave in the royal palace.
Tarrel: pleasure slave in the royal palace.
Talos: guard assigned to Tal Charne.
Hered: guard assigned to Tal Charne.
Arian Melisan: elderly Lord High Chancellor.
Chalun: Besan Palassos’s chief henchman.
Thorus Charmides: junior lieutenant in the Rhodani army.
Solis Thanates: lord of Soleb.
Bedez: former guard in Sephil’s household. Killed at Mekesh.
In Meduin:
Uzhena: Turya healer.
Shamash: town sentry.
Deros: innkeeper.
Samnos: groom.
Turya Chieftains:
Zidanta: high-ranking chieftain in southern Rhodeen.
Labarnu: high-ranking chieftain in southwestern Rhodeen.
Khalgar:
The Royal Family:
Ampheres ké Eramen: king of Khalgar.
Ettarin ké Ampheres: eldest son of Ampheres; current king of Khalgar.
Marien: wife of Ettarin; queen of Khalgar.
Ketalya: daughter of Ampheres; wife of Sephil Brasides; mother of Zhanil Sephides and Ellina; princess of Khalgar and Queen Mother of Rhodeen.
Ellina: daughter of Sephil Brasides and Ketalya; princess of Khalgar and Rhodeen.
Lissan: daughter of Ampheres; princess of Khalgar.
In Bhellin:
Dyri Arrideos: Rhodani ambassador to Khalgar.
Lakkel: Rhodeen’s Turya ambassador to Khalgar.
Nurad: son of Dashir Serrides and Princess Najai of Tajhaan; currently serving as a priest of Abh.
Larien: Queen Ketalya’s chief lady-in-waiting.
Piras: Sephil’s groom.
Assuras: captain of Sephil’s escort into Rhodeen.
Ninhás: member of Dashir Serrides’s escort into Rhodeen.
Arlen: member of Dashir Serrides’s escort into Rhodeen.
Expatriated Nobles:
Stavron Melines: son of Melin Wesares; descendant of Ardahir III, king of Rhodeen.
Melin Wesares: Rhodani noble; great-grandson of Ardahir III, king of Rhodeen. Executed for treason.
Haran Nelendes: Rhodani noble.
Seros: son of an expatriated Rhodani noble; Zhanil Sephides’s page.
Eren Salernes: Rhodani noble.
The Turya-lands:
In Hapaniku:
Atalash: Turya warlord, or turkan; father of Arzhati and Lazphi.
Kargil: son of Arzhati and Thano; grandson of Atalash.
Peteku: Kargil’s wife; mother of Lugal.
Lugal: son of Kargil.
Yhade: daughter of Ningal.
Ningal: Turya chieftain; father of Yhade.
Harunta: Kalmeki’s father; Turya chieftain.
Khilya: Harunta’s wife; Kalmeki’s mother.
Azhri: Kalmeki’s older brother; son of Harunta and Khilya.
Pezheva: Kalmeki’s younger sister; daughter of Harunta and Khilya.
Zapilya: Turya holy man; uncle of Nenikalli.
Nenikalli: Turya warrior.
Tajhaan:
Mahtal ked Armajid: High Prince.
Terreh: princess of Tajhaan; sister of Mahtal and first wife of Dashir Serrides; mother of Ninarsha and Saraji.
Najai: princess of Tajhaan; sister of Mahtal and second wife of Dashir Serrides; mother of Nurad and several daughters.
Ninarsha: prince of Tajhaan; firstborn son of Dashir Serrides and Terreh. Killed at the battle of Cassiare.
Adeja ked Shamuz: Tajhaani soldier; bodyguard to both Sephil Brasides and Zhanil Sephides; Sephil’s lover. Killed at the battle of Cassiare.
Part One
Chapter One
“Sir, we have entered Rhodeen,” said the captain of the guard.
Sephil nodded his acknowledgment, though he had no need to be told. More than once he had come this way, and knew that when the barren, rolling hills of Ottabia gave way to greener, more level country the people would no longer owe allegiance to Khalgar. Captain Assuras would lead the party down the rough track into nearby Meduin, where in the town inn Sephil would be able to enjoy a proper bath for the first time in several days and sleep in a real bed, rather than a cot in a drafty tent.
Comfort came with restrictions, however. Wherever he went, Sephil did not insist on preferential treatment, but in Rhodeen he was a king. The more he tried to downplay his royal status, the more others honored him.
I remember a time when these people neither knew who I was nor cared. Had his father-in-law not ordered him to ascend the throne alongside his son as a living link to the dynasty that had ruled before the Turya interregnum, Sephil might have remained happily in Khalgar as a prince and high priest of Abh, a king’s son and king’s father, and free from the duties that came with wearing a crown.
Since then, no one forced him to stay in Rhodeen and rule. Unlike his son, he had never been groomed for power.
The inconveniences of a journey to Rhodeen, with its backward system of roads and citizens clamoring for his attention, seemed a small price to pay for the privilege of seeing his grandchildren again. In his baggage were gifts for his two grandsons, and he intended to remain in Shemin-at-Khul until the queen was safely delivered of her third child.
As his small party approached Meduin, people paused in the fields and streets to watch him ride by. Curious children followed behind, lingering even when the Turya sentries waved them away. Others called out greetings. Here Zhanil would have grinned and waved back, even ridden over to exchange a few words with the townsfolk. Never as outgoing, and thoroughly embarrassed by the attention, Sephil managed a polite smile as Assuras led the way toward the inn.
The elderly innkeeper met him on the porch. Two boys led by an unusually dark young man came forward to tend to the horses, while several Turya women, jangling with silver and amber jewelry, jostled forward with gifts.
“Deros,” Sephil said to the innkeeper, “I do not recall sending word ahead about my arrival.”
Grinning through the gap in his front teeth, Deros nodded. “The sentries see everything, sir.” Gnarled fingers made a cursory gesture toward the mounted Turya archer who had trailed the party into town. “Go on, Shamash!” he shouted. “They’re all right here.”
As Shamash rode off in a cloud of dust, Deros chuckled at Sephil. “There’s a good room waiting for you upstairs, sir, and the wife will have hot water for your bath, no extra charge.”
“You know I will pay my bill,” said Sephil. “But these gifts…” Embarrassed, he indicated the fine blankets and jars the straw-haired women laid at his feet. “I could not possibly accept them.”
“Oh, that’s nonsense, sir.” Deros led the way inside, while the women picked up the offerings and followed. “Just be careful your men don’t get too deep in the jars. It’s been more than one Khalgari visitor who’s spent the next day sick after drinking too much kumiss.”
For form’s sake, Sephil sampled the kumiss at supper, taking care to smile through the bitter taste. It truly does taste like horse piss, he thought. Turya cuisine and trappings did not appeal to him. Years earlier, Zhanil had sent him a beautifully embroidered coat, which he only wore once. One look in the mirror, with another from his wife, convinced Sephil that he did not cut a flattering figure in Turya garb. In fact, he thought he looked rather pathetic. “Next he will try to send me one of their bows,” he had muttered.
Turya healers matched the priests of Abh in skill, so he could not offer his services in payment for the hospitality he received. After a meal of boiled potatoes and roast lamb, he found the woman Uzhena, who had healed Zhanil of an arrow wound, and presented her with a packet of medicinal herbs. Each time he passed through Meduin he remembered her with a gift, however much she demurred and claimed that any debt incurred was long since paid.
“You do not travel like a king,” she observed. “The older east-landers complain you should be loaded with gold and silver, and have more servants and guards. They say they have seen a king travel this way before.”
Sephil nodded. “That is my father they remember. As a priest I am not accustomed to such ceremony, and I know my son does not care for it, either.”
“With turkan Kalmeku you are right,” she agreed. This was the name the Turyar had given Zhanil, which meant ‘little star’ in their language. “Too many servants and too much baggage slow a man down. His wife does not even come with him, or his children.”
“Ardal and Thanol are still young,” said Sephil, “but I know they are already learning to ride. As for my son’s wife, I do not believe she knows how.” Not only that, he knew, but like any properly bred Tajhaani royal woman, Saraji did not attend court or even venture far from her apartments. Zhanil had enough to do to get her to remove her veil before company.
Uzhena answered with a most unladylike snort. “This is not a fitting wife for a turkan.”
Sephil offered a wan smile in agreement. Uzhena was the first Turya woman he had ever met. Since then, others had assured him that most women from the Turya-lands were as bold and outspoken as she. Therefore it did not surprise him to hear such criticism of the queen, especially when his own sentiments toward her were lukewarm.
That night, in a dark, narrow room smelling of dried herbs, he slept uneasily. Exhaustion meant nothing whenever he crossed the border into Rhodeen. Even the air tasted green, redolent with memories and regrets.
Earlier in the day, he had noticed the young man with uncommonly dark features who took his horse. Something in the man’s black eyes reminded him so strongly of Adeja that it gave him a start. “Are you Tajhaani?” he had asked.
The groom shook his head and smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. “I am Samnos. My mother was a woman of Rhodeen, sir. My father…” Here he shrugged. “She was married to one soldier and bedded another, or so I’ve heard. It’s nothing to me. I make my own way.”
So like Adeja it made Sephil ache to hear it. Even without a Tajhaani accent, the man’s father might have been looking back through those deep, dark eyes and smiling as if to say, I’m still here. Or was the resemblance merely the product of a bereaved lover’s fancy?