Sword of the Gods: Agents of Ki (Sword of the Gods Saga) by Anna Erishkigal Read Free Book Online Page B

hissed pleasantries, then growled, and then shoved his clawed hand into General Hudhafah's snout. The lizard general stood firm, secure in the forces he could bring to bear, either for, or against Ba'al Zebub's intrigues. Although Jamin couldn't understand the words, he'd accompanied his father to enough parlays to recognize when one tribe's chief could not ratify a treaty because he lacked the support of the warriors who kept him in power. Kasib stood behind his commanding officer and wrung his claws, his long, forked tongue darting nervously as he looked anxiously from Hudhafah to Lucifer to Jamin.
    Jamin realized the lizards fought over him . He was a prize?
    Lucifer's eyes met his. Glittering. Silver. Ferocious. The Angelic tilted his head and sniffed, nostrils flared as he listened to the two lizards argue. If the Príomh-Aire wanted to make the lizards dance like puppets, Jamin knew Lucifer could make them do it, but for some reason it pleased him to get people to do his bidding voluntarily. When Jamin had asked him about it. Lucifer had given him a fatherly smile and caressed his cheek as though he were a delicious little boy.
    'My son,' he had said , 'isn’t it better if people serve you because you give them their most heartfelt desire?'
    Yes. Jamin had learned a thing or two watching Lucifer manipulate others to do his bidding, but Hudhafah, it seemed, was immune to that manipulation, as was Lieutenant Kasib. Should he warn Lucifer that Kasib had let pass the knife Jamin had almost used to stab him? That small voice which whispered to him to keep Ninsianna close whispered now that the lizard-man was somebody he could trust .
    And for some reason, Lucifer had not yet picked up that tidbit of betrayal out of Jamin’s mind…
    Jamin locked it away in the tiny little treasure box his mother had taught him to imagine hiding his wishes in to keep them secret. He'd kept those treasures to himself until the day Ninsianna had healed him. She had opened that reservoir and made him share it with her. Jamin frowned. Ninsianna … perhaps turning the unfaithful witch over to her husband’s enemies hadn’t been the wisest thing he’d ever done?
    With a snarl, Hudhafah turned towards Jamin and grunted in barely-understandable Kemet, 'you … lucky."
    With a twitch of his thick tail, the burly general turned his back on Lucifer as though he was no one of consequence and ambled away, but the six lizard-soldiers flanking the man did no such thing. They backed away, their gold-green eyes narrowed into slits as they watched Hudhafah's back until he'd retreated into the closest sky canoe, leaving only Kasib standing there, still carrying his glowing magic flatscreen .
    Lucifer tugged Jamin towards him as though he was being forced to relinquish a favorite toy, his white wings ruffled with irritation.
    "It seems our good friend General Hudhafah is worried that, without you to act as an intermediary between his people and your own, there might be many unnecessary, how shall I put this tactfully, misunderstandings?" Lucifer spoke smoothly as though what he said was the most reasonable thing in the world. "You understand, don't you, young chieftain? If you want to rule these tribes, then their people must get to know you."
    Jamin's jaw dropped, not certain he understood the insinuation. "Rule them?"
    "Why, of course." Lucifer slipped his arm around his shoulders and turned to face the direction where gathered the meeting of regional chiefs … the ones they were about to ambush. "Your tribe, the Uruk to your south, and, oh? Who were those dreary desert-dwellers you told me about? The ones who sold you into slavery?"
    An image of Aturdokht's hazel-green eyes, the rest of her face hidden beneath a veil, filtered into Jamin's mind. From the way Lucifer's nose twitched into a smirk, Jamin knew he saw the image as well.
    "Halifians," Jamin said. "They call themselves the People of the Desert."
    "Ah, yes, the Halifians," Lucifer waived his