Page 36 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

"Nothing."

"Esag."

He let out a breath.

"I don't know what to say to Khiann," he admitted. "Alena told me that he doesn't remember Annani, so he certainly won't remember me."

Tula pursed her lips. "Just talk to him the way you used to," she said. "Pretend you saw him last month, which is what it would have felt like to him if he could remember anything."

"I'm not that male anymore." Esag turned away from the mirror. "The young Esag with a permanent grin on his face and a mouth that ran ahead of his brain is gone. Five thousand years of mostly unpleasant experiences changed me. I learned humility the hard way, and I'm not as funny as I used to be."

"Then put on an act."

He looked at her.

"I'm serious." She sat on the edge of the bed. "You're not going in there to be yourself. You're going in there to be the guy he might recognize, someone whose voice will sound familiar because he's heard it ten thousand times, mostly spouting nonsense that was supposed to be amusing. He's known you longer than he's known Annani. He might remember you before he remembers her."

That made sense. "You are right. I just don't know if I can pull up that Esag. I don't remember much about the male I was back then."

She held out her arms. "Come here."

He crouched in front of her and leaned in, careful not to bump her belly.

Tula wound her arms around his neck. "How could Khiann forget this mop of red hair?"

Esag chuckled. "If he doesn't remember Annani's red mane, he isn't going to remember mine. Hers is a flame, and she's the most beautiful thing that has ever walked this earth. I was just a servant with unruly hair and an attitude. She was his mate."

Tula leaned away and looked up at him, the amusement gone from her face. "Is that it? Are you afraid that he will remember you as his servant and not his friend?"

"That's who I was to him." He sat down beside her on the bed. "We were friends, but we were never equals. A god and an immortal cannot be equals. That's just the way it is. They are more than us."

"That's rubbish." She waved a dismissive hand. "Lady Areana is a goddess, and Navuh is not, and yet he's the dominant one in their relationship. Even now, with him disabled and entirely at her mercy, she still dances to the tune of his moods."

Esag frowned. "That's not the same."

"No, it isn't. But it does prove that the rule about gods and immortals has exceptions, and even one exception proves that it's not a rule, only a social construct."

He couldn't argue with her logic.

"And here's the other thing, and this one matters more than any rules you can come up with."

Tula was on a roll, and everything she'd said so far had made sense.

He nodded. "I'm listening."

"Khiann was only twenty years old when he entered stasis." She poked him in the chest with one finger. "He went into a box at twenty and came out at twenty. In between, you have lived for five thousand years. He's going to wake up in a world where everything is new to him. He will need a guide in this new world, and that's you."

Esag sat with her words for a moment, examining the logic and finding no flaw.

"That's an interesting angle I hadn't considered," he said.

"I know." She smirked. "You expected me to tell you that you were always Khiann's equal, which is true, but that would have made you feel better for about ten minutes before you went back to feeling inferior."

"I don't feel inferior."

She arched a brow.

"Well, I do, and for good reason. Khiann is a god, with all that implies, and he is Annani's chosen. Out of all the available gods, she chose him, elevating him to the highest station even among gods."