She awoke within a tiny chamber lit by one flame pot. Atalantia was bending over her, roughly pulling off her clothes until she was lying naked on the carpeted bed. Starlex moaned and vainly tried to cover herself with her hands.

  “Don’t be a little fool or I’ll strike you again,” snapped Atalantia. “It’s an honor to lie with the king.”

  “But, but he—“

  “Is the two-headed cobra. He is one with our god. He is god!”

  The door flung open and a contorted outline filled its frame.

  Atalantia stood at attention.

  “Leave us,” growled the king.

  With bowed head, Atalantia shuffled backward out a side door with Starlex’s lavender gown bundled in her arms.

  Starlex whimpered.

  “Didn’t you hear what she said?” It took Starlex a moment to realize it was one of the king’s heads speaking. It hung lower than the other, its chin resting on the chest. A drop of drool trickled from its slack, open mouth. “It’s an honor to lie with me.”

  At this pronouncement, both heads laughed in unison.

  Starlex shuddered. Looking away, she felt a tide of vomit burn the back of her throat.

  “Aw, do I repulse you?” said what appeared to be the stronger, more dominant head. It sat erect on the king’s squat neck.

  The king’s knees cracked as she slowly lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed. His hand, smooth and pale with short, stubby fingers, trailed up Starlex’s bare leg. “Thelios told me your history.” The hand jammed between Starlex tightly-clamped thighs and she gasped. “He also told me you are with child. Several moons according to his calculations.”

  “P-please,” Starlex begged.

  While the weaker head glowered at her with yellowish, rolling eyes. The other head cackled and said, “Don’t worry. I will not violate you. Just inspecting my goods.”

  She tried not to sob, tried not to move or make a sound, thinking it might rile his temper.

  With what sounded like a sigh, the king yanked away his hand. It dropped it in his lap. Each head took turns breathing for a moment. The sound was clotted phlegmy, repulsive to Starlex’s ears.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Usually if one of my whores become pregnant,” hissed the dominant head, “I have her drawn and quartered before the rest of them. To teach them all a lesson. You see, I am not able to perform as a man, so I know they conceived from some slave of my household. But you, bring a special package with you. Thelios told me of the prophecy connected with the child you carry, that your god Illym declared your issue will be the next great Ardelymian ruler.”

  Starlex’s tears dried in the folds of her eyes; she sensed a sudden hope.

  “Is it true?” hissed the lower head.

  “Yes,” she whispered, head bowed.

  “I don’t like liars,” proclaimed the heads together.

  “I swear to Illym it is true.”

  The lower head cackled as the higher head said, “Illym is not your god here. I am your god. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. Y-yes, your highness,” she sputtered.

  “Did Thelios tell you about my sister, Esmeralda?” asked the dominant head.

  “Some,” she said.

  The voice rose in volume, its timbre roughly textured. “That witch wants to take my crown, but I won’t let her. I’ve tried killing her many times, but she has dispatched with each of my assassins, either through poison or—” he paused, “equally deadly—seduction. She’s had three husbands and has killed each one of them because she is bored. She has many lovers, but refuses to produce an heir until I am dead. When she is queen her child will be next in line. That is why it’s imperative that you and I marry right away.”

  The king’s lower head cackled with delight.

  “Marry?” Starlex looked up weakly, her gaze daring to meet that of the dominant head.

  “Yes,” replied both mouths in unison, the weaker head hitting a bass note to the dominant’s clearer baritone. He twirled a lock of Starlex’s hair around one of his fingers, tightening it till it pulled against her scalp. “Thelios tells me you are already married, and that the babe you carry is your husband’s from your world of Ardelym. But that marriage doesn’t count here. You and I will marry in a fortnight, and this child will be my heir. I didn’t believe your Ardelym existed, but Thelios Arakna has convinced me.” He yanked her hair painfully. “You have convinced me.”

  Starlex hesitated. The king released his grip on her hair, pressed his hands into the mattress, and stood with difficulty, nearly toppling onto her.

  Between deep pants of breath, the king straightened some of the curves from his spine. He placed his hands on the hips and gazed down at Starlex. In the flame pot’s dim light, the king’s dominant head took on an almost-handsome countenance, while the other head hung limply in the shadows, a droplet of drool about to fall from its lower lip.

  “I used to love my whores,” the dominant head pronounced while the weaker head chuckled. “I'd collect them like lovely and rare works of art, but when they grow too old or troublesome…” He sighed and shifted the hump of his shoulder. Then he turned and made a slow shuffle toward the door.

  “But at my age, collecting women is a pearl that’s lost its luster. You can see that I am ill.” The voice faded as the king receded into the darkness.

  Starlex's heart fluttered like a trapped bird in a cage. She counted her breaths, praying he'd leave before she collapsed on the bed in a heap of sobs.

  “Before I die, I want to produce something that will last. You’ve been sent to me from another world to fulfill that destiny. That is the meaning of your god’s prophecy. Yes, your child shall rule.” He paused for a moment and turned back to gaze at Starlex. The firelight edged his ungainly silhouette as the dominant head spoke in a graveled but cultivated voice. “But he will not rule in your Ardelym, but here in Hépnishna. That is the prophecy.” He lifted a hand and waved a twisted finger at her. "Forget that important fact, my dear, and your fair Ardelymian flesh will experience more torture than you can possibly imagine.”