Immortal Reign(10)
“Someone is at the gates, demanding entry.” The man cringed as the bang sounded out again. The ground itself shook with the booming sound.
“It’s Kyan, isn’t it?” the empress said, her voice filled with fear. “He’s returned.”
Oh goddess, Cleo thought as panic gripped her throat. Not yet. I’m not ready.
“It’s not him, empress,” the guard said.
Amara’s fear disappeared in an instant. “Well, what is it, then? A rebel attack? Wouldn’t our scouts have forewarned us?”
“It’s not rebels.” The guard straightened his shoulders, but it didn’t mask how nervous he looked. “It’s . . . worse than that.”
“Worse?”
Two more bangs made the ground beneath Cleo’s feet shudder. The air filled with the sound of guards shouting orders. A hundred men, weapons in hand, flanked either side of the gate just as it splintered down the center.
Untouched, the gate swung wide open from some invisible force.
Guards stormed forward, but then each one flew backward, clearing a pathway for the intruders.
Two cloaked figures, one armed with a sword, entered and walked directly toward Cleo, to where she stood, tensely, with Amara and Carlos to her right.
Cleo realized with shock that one of the cloaked intruders cradled a baby. The intruder pushed back the hood of her black cloak to reveal a familiar face.
Lucia Damora.
“Where is my brother?” she demanded.
CHAPTER 3
LUCIA
PAELSIA
Jonas touched Lucia’s arm. “Try to stay calm.”
She sent a tense look at him over her shoulder. What did he think she would do? Murder Cleo and Amara where they stood?
Likely, that’s exactly what he thought she would do.
“I need answers,” she gritted out.
Being met at the closed gates of this royal compound by a swarm of Amara’s soldiers, their weapons drawn, had stolen what little “calm” she had left in her reserve. She wondered if the rebel was more concerned for Lucia’s life or the lives of the dozens of armed guards that now surrounded them.
“Lucia,” Amara said, drawing the sorceress’s attention away from her far warier companion. The Kraeshian princess leaned on a wooden cane. “Welcome. It’s been a long time since I last saw you. Much has changed for both of us.”
Lucia narrowed her gaze at the deceitful, conquering empress who, by all accounts, was now her stepmother. “My brother and my father. Where are they?”
The flank of guards drew closer, jostling for position, their swords pointed in Lucia’s direction.
Jonas finally lowered the hood of his cloak. “Empress Amara, call off your guards. This isn’t necessary.”
“Jonas!” Cleo gasped. “It’s you!”
The Auranian princess had always been so brilliant at observation, Lucia thought drily.
“Good to see you again, princess,” Jonas said, a smile tugging at his lips.
“You too,” Cleo replied, her voice strained.
Jonas sounded far happier about the reunion than Lucia felt. Seeing Amara and Cleo standing side by side had raised Lucia’s ire tenfold. She’d half expected Cleo to be a prisoner here, at the mercy of the new empress whose army occupied the whole of Mytica, but clearly she wasn’t.
“Your father stood against me. He tried to murder me,” Amara said evenly. “But I assure you he’s unharmed. I’m sure you can understand why I have chosen to keep him under lock and key. He’s a dangerous man.”
That he certainly was, no argument from Lucia.
“I’m sure you’re pleased about that,” she said to Cleo.
Cleo’s glare was sharp enough to cut. “You wouldn’t have any idea how I feel about anything that’s happened here.”
Lucia tried very hard to hold on to her patience. “Where is he?” she asked Amara.
“I will take you to see him myself,” Amara replied, her tone as light and casual as if they discussed nothing more urgent than the weather. “My goodness, Lucia, what a beautiful child. Whose is it?”
Lucia looked down at Lyssa in her arms, her sweet face not showing any distress after her mother had blasted through the locked gates with air magic. In fact, the baby was currently sound asleep.
She raised her gaze to lock with Amara’s. “Take me to him now.”
Amara hesitated, glancing at the large guard standing next to her, and then regarded Lucia again. “With pleasure. Please follow me.”
“Wait here,” Lucia said to Jonas.
Her command was met with a glare. “Yes, your highness,” he said with mock sincerity.
Lucia knew that Jonas was annoyed with her tendency to issue orders at him as if he were a servant. It was a habit more than a conscious decision.
The thought that this morning he’d somehow entered her nightmare still disturbed her. He was a mystery to her in so many ways, but despite this, she’d come to trust and value him.
However, if he expected her to be sweet and polite all the time, he was traveling with the wrong princess.
Their travels together ended here. Jonas would not have to deal with her foul moods another day.