Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(106)

“She’s just trying to get to know her sister.”

Livia turned at the sound of a familiar voice.

“I should have known you’d end up being behind all of this.”

Livia wasn’t as surprised as she probably should have been to find the last queen of Indriell entering her cell. She’d known Alísun all her life as her father’s most prized captive. For most of that time, she didn’t really understand who the ancient was. She came to realize it in time and hated her father for it. Alísun was regal and powerful. She deserved his respect and admiration.

“You can’t really blame me for escaping, can you? Now that the tables have turned on you, surely you must understand?” Alísun stood at the center of the room, watching Livia intently. Her long blond hair had faded almost entirely to silver and she’d aged during her years in captivity. The stress of the constant torment took a toll on her. But she was still beautiful, and radiated a strength and vitality Livia couldn’t fathom in one so old. She was a queen to be reckoned with.

“Of course I understand the desire to escape. It still doesn’t change the fact that I’ve always had a job to do, with no choice but to do it. You were friends with my mother. You know everything I’ve ever done was to keep her safe.”

“Porcia has always been capable of taking care of herself. She never needed you to do it for her.”

“She’s also so blinded by her love for my father that she can’t see him for the monster he is.”

“She sees,” Alísun said as she took a seat on the leather sofa. “But she loves him anyway. And it torments her. That’s why she let me go.”

“I know.” Livia sighed, taking the seat opposite the queen. “And she’ll take whatever punishment he gives.”

“You don’t know, do you?” Alísun leaned forward, her silvery gray eyes darkening with the dim glow of her power. No matter how hard Marcus tried to sever her power, the magnetic sickness never took the queen completely. “Porcia and I escaped together. She is no longer under your father’s control. She left him.”

“What?” Livia shot to her feet. “This whole time? He’s been refusing to let Mother have visitors as punishment for helping you escape.”

“He’s been lying to you, dear. That should come as no surprise. That’s all Marcus knows how to do.”

Livia sank back to her seat, her hands shaking with fury.

“He is a monster. I’m glad she’s rid of him.” But it cut Livia to the core to think her mother had left her behind. “Where is she? Is she here?”

“She is safe. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I need to see her.”

“She needs to disappear for a while. Let Marcus exhaust his attempts to find her. She will come find you when the dust settles.”

“You mean once you all figure out if I can be trusted?” Livia clenched her fists in frustration.

“Can you blame us? You are his right hand. We have no idea where your loyalties truly lie. Until we know that for sure, you will have to stay here.”

“How could you think I would be loyal to him?”

“Your actions, dear. The way you’ve pursued Allie every chance you’ve had. You knew who she was and you sought to deliver her to your father. We have to take that threat seriously.”

“That is not what happened.” Livia leaned forward. “You of all people know how much I loathe him.”

“I want to believe that you’ve only ever done his bidding to keep your mother safe. Trust me, I want to believe that more than anyone,” Alísun said.

“I didn’t know she was my sister. I only suspected she was the child you spoke of in your prophecy.” Livia glared at her. “I was trying to protect her. To get to her before Marcus realized he was looking for a boy when he should be looking for a girl. If he gets his hands on her.…”

“Good girl. You figured it out.” Alísun smiled. “I recorded that prophecy myself, back when we used to have scribes for that sort of thing. Changed a few of the details so it wouldn’t be clear without the assistance of the prophet who spoke it.” Alísun stood and crossed the room to pour herself a drink, and refilled Livia’s empty glass. “That’s what your father has been trying to torture out of me for over a thousand years.” Alísun handed Livia a fresh bourbon.

“And you never cracked.” Livia often wondered how Alísun had survived for as long as she had without succumbing to Marcus’s will. But the ancients had a power the younger generations could never truly understand.

“Marcus has never had much respect for women. That was one detail I knew he wouldn’t question.” Alísun returned to her seat, knocking back the amber liquid with a grimace. “I knew he would never stop to consider that one of the most powerful and most important Immortals ever born could possibly be a woman.”

“It’s never crossed his mind.”

“He must think he’s getting close to tracking down the boy.”

“He’s been obsessed with him for the last decade,” Livia said.

“Marcus believes the boy is Greggory’s son, Aidan,” the queen said. “We must continue to let him think that.”