Guarding the Goddess Read online

  “Hang on, Tutti!” she shouted, or started to shout. But before she got more than the first word out, she heard the sound of the rock thudding hard over her head and thought,

  This is it, I’m going to die!

  Twenty-Six

  Only somehow, she didn’t die. Though she heard the rock strike, it didn’t touch her.

  Daring to look up, she saw a shimmering, incandescent material somehow spreading like a canopy just over her head. She could see through it—see that it was supporting a huge rock which would have brained her and probably smashed her if the strange shield hadn’t suddenly leapt into the way.

  Another load of rocks fell and she heard a noise—something between a grunt of effort and a shout of pain—in her ear. Looking back, she saw that Ty was kneeling behind her—crouching over her, in fact, the same way she was crouched over Tutti.

  The big Kindred’s muscular arm was extended over their heads and the shimmering shield that was protecting her was somehow coming from the top of his forearm, Ellina thought. The gods only knew how much weight he was supporting on that one arm but he kept it steady and still, not allowing the load of rocks and rubble to crush her.

  “Ty?” she gasped, wondering how he’d gotten around to save her so fast. “Are you all right?”

  “I am if you are, little one,” he growled, looking at her anxiously. “Are you injured?”

  “I…I don’t think so,” Ellina said. The rumbling and roaring above seemed to have stopped, at least for now. Maybe the cave-in was finally over.

  “I think it might be over,” Ty said, echoing her thoughts. “I pray to the Goddess it is, anyway—don’t know how much longer I can hold this lot up.”

  His face was a sneer of effort and he gave a jerky nod at the load of rocks and rubble on the glimmering, transparent shield.

  “Dump them off,” Ellina told him. “Tutti and I will be all right.” The little girl was still clutched in her arms. Indeed, she seemed frozen against Ellina’s ribcage, not saying a word though Ellina could hear her rapid, panting breath and feel her frantic heartbeat, so close were they pressed together.

  “You’d better get out from under first—just in case,” Ty told her. “Just be careful—as soon as I dump the rocks and stand, I’ll be at your side to guard you.”

  “All right.” Carefully, Ellina edged out from under the shelter of the shield. She looked around, but there didn’t seem to be any more assassin acrobats or bomb-throwing fools. The guards were standing over several dead bodies and the wooden platform was riddled with holes but somehow it had withstood the barrage of rocks and rubble.

  Well built, Ellina thought distractedly. I shall have to give a royal commendation to the master builder who designed it. Right after I find out who let the troupe of assassins into the very middle of the Grand Promenade, anyway.

  She heard an effortful grunt and then the sound of a huge pile of rocks sliding onto the ground. The weight of them shook the holey platform a bit but it held. And then Ty was right beside her, the glimmering shield still extended from his forearm. Glancing at it, Ellina frowned. She’d thought that it was part of his armor but somehow it seemed to be coming directly from his flesh—how was that possible?

  “It’s over—I don’t see any more of them and the ceiling seems to have stabilized,” Ty said in her ear, breaking her concentration.

  Ellina looked up and saw he was right. Though there was a jagged hole in the roof of the Grand Promenade which was letting in a thin shaft of brilliant sunshine, no more rocks were falling and none—as far as she could see—were loose.

  “Thank Thufar,” she whispered shakily, her heart pounding. She wished she could let herself to feel weak in the knees now that the assassins were dead and the cave-in was over, but she was still out in public and she knew she couldn’t allow herself that luxury yet.

  Ty’s next words confirmed her thoughts.

  “Don’t thank Thufar quite yet,” he growled in her ear. “Look at the crowd below—they’re panicking, Ellina. Someone must calm them.”

  Ellina looked down to where he was pointing. Indeed, the common people were still pushing and shoving behind the barricades, trying to get away. She didn’t like to think how many would be trampled if someone didn’t make them stop—and that someone had to be her, she realized.

  Tutti was still clinging to her—little arms around Ellina’s neck and legs wrapped round her waist like a climbing vine—and didn’t show any signs of letting go. So Ellina took the little girl with her.

  Stepping forward, she found herself directly under the ray of brilliant light coming from above. Raising her voice to be heard over the tumult below, she shouted, “My people! MY PEOPLE!”

  Along with deportment and public elocution, Grandmamma had made her take voice projection lessons from an early age and now Ellina was glad of it. Using the natural acoustics of the stone around her, she was able to make herself heard, even over the near-riot below. She saw faces turn up to hers and then fingers were pointing and a whisper went up.

  “The Potentate…listen to the Potentate!”

  “My People,” Ellina said again. “Be calm! The danger is past!”

  She hoped this was true, even as she said it.

  Just watch another big boulder fall down on my head and squish me to jelly like it did to Hennessy, she thought grimly. But nothing fell and after a breathless moment, it seemed nothing would. And moreover, it seemed that the people believed her. For there was no more scuffling and shouting—instead they were all looking up at her, as though mesmerized by the sound of her voice. So Ellina kept talking.

  “We have suffered a frightful attack, but it is over now and all is well,” she continued. She wished she could see their faces more clearly but the sunlight beating down on her from above was very bright—it felt like a golden weight upon her shoulders and she was vaguely aware that it was making the golden dust her stylist had put all over her skin sparkle and gleam.

  “We must leave in an orderly fashion,” Ellina told the people. “We must not hurt or trample anyone. You must help the old and the frail and the young among you to safety. You must be brave and not run or panic—I know you can do this, for you are my people. I have faith in your courage.”

  There were murmurs from below and the people started to disperse—just as she had asked—in an orderly way.

  But just at that moment someone broke through the barricade and came towards the steps of the platform, shouting wildly.

  Twenty-Seven

  Ty stepped in front of her at once, prepared to kill anyone who tried anything—anything at all. He was just about to raise his spare blaster when Ellina put one small hand on his arm to stop him.

  “Stop,” she murmured in his ear. And then to the guards who had halfway descended the steps she shouted, “No, it’s all right. Let her come. Let her come!”

  It was the little girl’s grandmother, Ty saw, as the anxious old woman drew near. Her eyes were wild and she was panting and breathless but still she came, charging up the steps, her face filled with fear.

  “Tutti! Tutti!” she cried, reaching for her. “Oh my Tutti, I thought you were lost and gone!”

  “Grandmum!” The little girl at last unwound her arms from around Ellina’s neck and reached for her grandmother. The old woman took her gratefully and held her close, covering her face with kisses.

  “Thufar bless Your Highness!” she said at last, looking up at Ellina with shining eyes. “I left the youngest one at home today with her grandpa but Tutti here was determined to bring you those yalla blossoms. And when I saw all the explosions and the cave-in happened, I thought she’d be trampled or killed. But you saved her—you risked your own life to save my granddaughter! Bless, you, Your Majesty! Truly you are the Goddess in the Flesh!”

  She bent in a low bow, still holding Tutti to her, but her words had carried into the breathless hush that had fallen over the crowd as they watched the little scene playing out before them.