A Queen Among Blood: Chapter Sixty-Two

A Queen Among Blood: Chapter Sixty-Two
OSHMIN POV
Down the length of the room is a grand banquet table surrounded by chairs and a decadent feast fit for royalty spread along the table. Some of Yildiz’s sisters are seated enjoying a beverage, while some are scattered around the room engaged in casual conversation. Or Gossip. Take your pick. At the end of the hall is a grand throne, which seems rather odd. I think it’s even made from quartz.

“What’s with the throne?” I decide to ask Yildiz.

“It’s there in honour of our mother. That way she’s always dining with us in spirit,” she says sweetly.

“That’s a lovely sentiment, but did it have to be a throne?”

She rolls her eyes, “She’s a figure of power that created us and our home. Would you rather we gave her a footstool and call it a day?” she asks flippantly.

“Point taken,” I concede.

Yildiz guides us further into the dining hall and now I become more astutely aware of her sisters staring at us – or me more specifically. They’re all looking at me with blank faces, and though I could wipe them out with a wave of my hand, I still feel like a wildebeest walking into a den of lionesses. These huntresses are officially on the prowl, and I’m dinner.

Yildiz leads me around the room introducing me to her sisters one by one, and everything is fine until she introduces me to her sister Ecrin.

“So, you’re the God who used my sister’s heart like a cat toy. Surprised she took you back so easily,” she says curtly.

“Ecrin, you promised,” Yildiz admonishes her sister.

“I did, but I changed my mind when I saw his face,” she says to her sister before turning her golden eyes on me, “At least with Yil being blind it means you can’t use your good looks to charm her,” she says smugly.

“I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about me, and given you heard it from Yildiz no doubt, that makes every word she told you true. I’ve been a crummy God and animai, but I’m hoping I can make up for that with time,” I say politely. They’re just protecting their sister, and after the way I’ve treated her, I’d be annoyed with them if they were acting any other way.

“How about we all sit and enjoy this beautiful feast Ela, Yara, and Kamelya prepared for us this evening?” says Asli very diplomatically.

One by one we take our seats and I hold Yildiz’s chair out for her and push it in as she takes her seat.

She smiles up at me, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” I reply, kissing her cheek and taking my seat.

“Recent events aside, it is an honour to meet you in person, Oshmin,” says Yildiz’s sister Belgin. Looking around the table it’s like an all-female United Nations. Every colour, race, height, and body type imaginable.

“It’s an honour to meet all of you, as both the Delegation and as Yildiz’s sisters,” I say graciously.

“So you’re a God and a sanguidae?” asks Deniz.

“That’s correct,” I say, taking a sip of my wine.

“You’re a God and a sanguidae and you have two names. Are you sure that’s not like, split personality or something?” asks Dilara offhandedly.

“They don’t call it that anymore. It’s Dissociative Identity Disorder,” corrects Defne.

“Can we not go around diagnosing my animai with personality disorders please?” remarks Yildiz in annoyance.

I take her hand and lightly kiss the back of it. “Their questions don’t bother me.”

“What I want to know is, how is it in all the years we have been alive, not a single one of us had ever met you?” asks Hazan suspiciously.

“Have you met Fretez?” I ask as I cut into my serving of suckling pig.

“No,” she answers.

“Apaki?”

“No,” she says with an irritated sigh.

“How about Jartre or Azadou?” I ask casually.

“None of us has met Azadou, what’s your point?” she snaps.

“That’s four Gods you’ve never met, so is it that unusual that you also hadn’t met me?” I point out. Hazan just stares at me like I short-circuited her brain. I worry for a moment I may have crossed the line, but Yildiz is smirking into her drink so I know I’m in the clear.

“That backfired on you,” Gunseli sniggers.

“And for the record one of you had met me, at least from a distance, but I wasn’t aware,” I admit hesitantly. This might backfire more than Hazan’s question.

Yildiz’s head whips to me, “What? Who?” she asks inquisitively as all her other sisters lean in, eager for my answer.

I gently squeeze Yildiz’s hand. I vowed honesty, so here it goes. “Nuray,” I say gently, “The day she ambushed me outside of your room, she told me she knew who I was. I played dumb, which was stupid, and she wasn’t having any of it. She just wanted you to be happy, that’s all that mattered to her. She said if I didn’t tell you the truth, she’d do it herself.” I watch carefully as Yildiz processes my words. The entire dining hall has gone so quiet that the waves outside now sound that much louder. Tears pool in Yildiz’s eyes along with several other eyes around the table, but it’s Yildiz’s sister Elif who breaks the silence by laughing. Instantly all heads turn in her direction.

“Nuray threatened a God, that is so her,” she laughs. Slowly the tension in the room begins to thaw and some of her sisters join her in laughing.

“She would have given you such hell,” Beste tells me between giggles.

“She was… she was one of a kind,” says Esma with a sad and nostalgic look on her face.

I lean closer to Yildiz. “Are you okay?” I softly ask.

She nods and carefully dabs the tears from her eyes being cautious of her makeup. “How did she know?”

“She told me she saw me speaking to your mother once. I’m not sure when, and I didn’t ask. Are you mad with me?” I hesitantly ask. She just gave me another chance – yet another I should say – I don’t want to have blown it so fast.

She shakes her head and I breathe a sigh of relief. “No, I’m not mad. You did tell me you were confronted by Nuray. I just had no idea she knew who you were. Had… had things not gone the way they did, she would have ratted you out faster than you could blink,” she says with a tone of longing.

“I would have had it coming. I’m sorry that the one time I met your sister had to be an altercation. I wish I could do it differently,” I say regretfully.

She takes my hand and holds it between both of hers, “Me too. But Nuray was a firm believer of not living in the past, I want to lead a life she’d be proud of. We can’t change what happened–”

“Well, technically Oshmin is one of the few who can,” says Makbule nonchalantly.

Yildiz rolls her eyes, “Ignore her. My point is, we can, or should,” she says pointedly while glancing at her sister then looking back at me, “Only move forward, and I want to move forward with you.” She lifts her hand and holds it against my cheek and I effortlessly lean into her touch as it sends magnificent heat through my body.

“I want to move forward with you too,” I say, echoing her as I lean down and softly kiss her lips.

She takes my face in her hands and deepens our kiss, which is quickly interrupted by the clinking of glass. We reluctantly pull away from each other and turn our attention to Setia who is standing with her drink in her hand.

“I would like to take a moment to propose a toast,” she announces, to which each of us lifts our glasses. “We have experienced great trials recently and with them, great loss. But tonight is a celebration. We are celebrating the bond between our sister and her other half, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I wish the both of you nothing short of an eternity of happiness, and I know that wherever Nuray is, she is watching over us with equal amounts of pride and judgement,” she says to everyone’s amusement.

“To Yildiz and Oshmin,” cheers Ceren, raising her glass in the air.

Together we all lift our glasses, but Yildiz and I on instinct turn to each other and clink glasses and take a sip between giggles as if we’re school children. Love really does crazy things to people. Yildiz places her glass down and quickly zips around the table and pulls Setia into a hug. The fact she did that so gracefully while being blind and in such deadly-looking shoes is remarkable.

Everyone quickly falls into conversation. Yildiz’s sisters Elvan and Doga, who are sitting to my right, decide to ask for my personal thoughts on the rise of the Achaemenid Empire. I find it amusing how they could care less about grilling me as a suitor for their sister, opting instead to pick my brain for information on moments from ancient history.

As I continue to engage Yildiz and her sisters in varied topics of discussion – with many not hesitating to tell embarrassing stories about their sister, each one I find more fascinating than the last – I can’t help but look around at all their faces with the sudden realisation that they are my family now. I have in-laws! Wait, does this make Zarseti my mother-in-law? Okay, we are not going down that scary road, I’m locking that thought away and never touching it again, but the thought of all these wonderful and unique women as my sisters is… more heart-warming than I anticipated.

The Gods in many ways are my family, but it’s by convenience and coincidence really. This is different. Because of my bond with Yildiz, her sisters have technically become my own. Ninety-nine baby sisters, who as I’m thinking this over, I realise are women I would do anything to protect and Yildiz is the biggest reason. In time, that desire to protect them may come from genuinely caring for them, but for now, I’d use every power at my disposal to keep them safe, simply to spare Yildiz the pain of ever losing another sister. I won’t ever let her suffer like that again. So help anyone who dares harm any of these women.



I lay in Yildiz’s bed captivated by her every move as she changes into very fitted sky-blue satin shorts and a matching camisole for bed. I could watch her do the most mundane things for all time and never get bored. Is that because of the bond or simply because I love her? I guess I don’t care really.

“I just have to take off my makeup and then I’m done.”

“I could help,” I offer.

“You want to take my makeup off for me?” she asks with a questioning eyebrow.

I shrug, “Only if you want me to. I would be more effective though,” I point out.

“Hmm. Good point. Okay, time to become the God of Makeup Removal,” she says as she saunters to the bathroom.

I let out a loud laugh at her new title for me. Morrtemis would love that. I get up and follow her into the bathroom and look at all the products laid out on the counter. It’s like a chemistry lab in here.

“Um, maybe I could just use magic,” I suggest.

“Nope. You’re going to do it like I do. Now get to work,” she orders, but I can see the playfulness in her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am,” I say as I kiss her cheek and look over her never-ending supply of lotions and potions. Which am I supposed to use?

“Look for the bottle that says micellar water on it, and pump some onto a white pad and use that to wipe away the makeup,” she says with amusement.

“Ah,” I do a quick scan and find the appropriately marked bottle and follow her instructions. Can honestly say this is a first. With careful and tender movements I remove the makeup from her face revealing the natural glittering beauty underneath.

“Thank you for doing this for me, and thank you for meeting my sisters,” she says sweetly.

“Both are my pleasure. The night didn’t go how I expected,” I admit.

“In a good or bad way?”

“Good. It was just that I realised something while you were all telling that story of Nuray’s epic prank.”

Yildiz chuckles, “The one where she had a High Priest turn everything in the castle topsy turvy, including us?”

I chuckle along with her, “That would be the one.”

“She sure was creative,” she says reminiscently, “But what did you realise?” she says, coming out of her train of thought.

“That I now suddenly have this big extended family. We Gods don’t have parents or siblings or biological children. But now I have you and through you, I just gained a giant family. I’ve never had that before and, it actually feels pretty nice,” I say, throwing the last pad in the trash.

Yildiz’s face softens, “You see my sisters as your family?”

“They’re your family and you’re mine, so that makes them mine by default, and I’m happy with that,” I say cheerfully, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“Oshmin that’s… I never expected you to say something like that, but it means everything to hear it,” she says with a wobble in her voice as she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. I hug her, lifting her with ease, carry her to the bed and lay us both down. “You really don’t like me walking to beds, do you?” she chuckles.

“I’m just eager to get you into them,” I tease, kissing her softly as she chuckles against my lips.

“I love you, Oshmin,” she whispers as her fingers softly caress my cheek. My eyelids begin blinking a million miles a minute as I process her words. She loves me. ME. She said ‘Oshmin’, not ‘Osiah’. My throat becomes clogged with emotions as I stare at the angelic beauty laying beside me. I gave her every reason to reject my stupid ass, but she gave me a chance and because of it, I got to hear the person I worship say she loves me. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone say they love me; the real me. I should have told her the truth long ago because this feels a trillion times better than hearing her say she loves Osiah.

“I love you too, Yildiz. I always will,” I promise, pulling her into my arms.

I’m a God, fated to an Irshiust, and yet tonight I feel like I’ve experienced what normalcy is like for the first time in my existence. For an entire day, I didn’t think about my curse or the wrongs from my past, I was simply focused on Yildiz and this new family I’ve been welcomed into. I never imagined this life for myself and now that I have it, I will do everything in my power to keep it. Have to hand it to Zarseti, when she sets out to bring happiness into someone’s life, she goes all out.