Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms #6)(94)

She’d wanted what Lorenzo said for so long. To be a goddess. To have ultimate power at any cost—any cost at all.

And a part of her still wanted that. Still wanted that shiny, exquisite bauble that now lay just out of her reach.

I can have both, she silently told her golden reflection. I can have power and make the right decisions. Today is the first day of my new life.

After she left Lorenzo, she shrugged off any cloying guard who wanted to escort her to the ceremony hall.

“I know the way,” she told them. “And I wish only for silence and solitude to help collect my thoughts.”

They didn’t question her. The guards bowed, let her pass, and didn’t follow.

Of course they obey me, she thought. They knew they would be harshly punished if they didn’t.

Fear was a powerful weapon, forged over time and by example.

Generations of fear for the punishments issued by the Cortas family line had created total and complete obedience.

Could people be ruled without fear to keep them in check? Was it even possible?

She didn’t know for certain, and that question troubled her deeply.

Amara took the long way to the hall where, by now, every Kraeshian who had received a personal invitation to the event of the century would be lining the large, ornate room where her father and mother had been married. Where her three brothers—but not their “lesser” sister—had been officially presented to important friends of the emperor after their births.

Where her mother had been displayed after her death, fully painted and coiffed and wearing her wedding gown, for all to see.

A thousand would fill the hall as Amara received the scepter—a symbol of power for a Kraeshian ruler since the very beginning—that bore the chiseled golden head of a phoenix. A symbol of eternal life and eternal power.

Within the scepter there was a sharp blade.

And with this blade, the ascending ruler would make a blood sacrifice to bring good fortune to her reign.

Today it would be Mikah’s blood, unless Felix and Nerissa were successful in their quest.

Amara took her time walking to the ceremony hall. She wove through the palace and passed the large windows that looked out onto her courtyard. She paused. She knew exactly what would calm her. Amara made her way out into her rock garden.

To her surprise, waiting for her on a table was a bottle of wine with two goblets, just as there had been when she’d arrived.

There was a message there, which read:

Dhosha,

I anticipate that you will visit your favorite place before joining me and the others. Please take a moment to appreciate how much you’ve accomplished, and how very much I appreciate you.

Your Madhosha

Yes. A sip of sweet wine might be exactly what she needed to calm her nerves to face what was to come. Her grandmother knew her very well indeed. She poured some of the golden liquid into one of the goblets and then raised it to her lips.

“Empress!”

She jumped at the sound of the voice.

Costas approached her, his expression grim.

“Did the queen send you to fetch me?” she said as sharply as she could. “Or did you decide to interrupt my privacy all on your own?”

“Queen Neela sent me to find you. The ceremony is ready to begin.”

“I’m sure it is. And I’m equally sure that it can’t start without me.”

He took a step closer. He looked pained. “I know you’re angry with me for all that’s transpired.”

“Angry?” she said, cocking her head. “What reason would I have for being angry with you, Costas? For shamelessly spying on me for my grandmother for months now? For kidnapping a child from a sorceress who could kill us all with a flick of her wrist?”

“Yes. That, all of that. But I need you to know . . .” The guard glanced over his shoulder as if assuring himself that they were alone. “I didn’t do this with disrespect intended toward you, empress. I know I had earned your trust, and I valued that.”

“And yet you destroyed that trust in an instant,” Amara said. “Which was a grave mistake, I can assure you.”

His eyes searched hers. “I need to explain why I did it.”

“Lower your eyes to the ground,” she said curtly. “You are no longer allowed to look at me as anything but a servant.”

He did as commanded. “Queen Neela threatened my family, said she would have them killed if I didn’t do as she said. She said that, by doing as she instructed, I would be helping you, not hurting you. I felt had no choice.”

Amara wasn’t sure why this explanation felt like a shock to her. Of course it made total sense. “The royal guard are not permitted to have a family for this reason, so that they can’t be used against you.”

“I know. I thought I could hide the existence of my wife and son, but I couldn’t. I broke the rules—that much I know and accept. But it tells you that I was without a choice. I had to do what Queen Neela commanded.”

“You should have come to me with this earlier—much earlier.”

“I know. I can only beg for your forgiveness and assure you that I would die to protect you, empress. My life is yours.”

It explained everything. It didn’t excuse what he did, but she understood now why he’d done it. It wasn’t because he’d shifted his loyalties to her grandmother.