Page 10 of Haunted

The empress slides off the procedure table and speaks behind me, in a meek, almost repentant tone. “My subjects fear me.”

The softness of her words prickles my compassion. I breathe out gently. “They do not respect you.”

“How should I win their respect?”

She honestly wants to know? She can’t truly be genuine.

Even though her pleading question is likely a guise, I find myself bestowing sound advice because I’m her chancellor. “By showing leniency. Commonsense in judgment instead of one end-all punishment. There are varying levels of crime, and the punishment should fit the offense.”

She circles me and looks up into my face. All I see is the youthfulness half-emrys possess. Her features are flawless. She is beautiful. And terrible. Her nose wrinkles. “Leniency shows weakness.”

I mark the hardness of her features to distract me from the smoothness of the others. Her jaw is angled and strong. Her nose is straight. “Are you afraid of being weak? You let Commander Meuric best you today.”

She smiles, and her full lips thin. “I knew you were keen enough to figure that out.”

I stare at her mouth as I respond. “How was that for freedom of speech?”

“We can talk of things other than how I rule.”

I arch a brow. “As you wish.”

“And, Caedryn, I won’t put your head on a pike.”

8

Though my life becomes a routine of morning meetings, the empress gives me permission to use the afternoon hours for my own pursuits. Neifion brings me cartloads of books from my library in Elidyr, and I eagerly scour them. By the Creator I miss my study.

After a week of free time, I realize I don’t know where the empress is when I’m not with her. She’s not always training with the other warriors. Her unknown whereabouts unnerve me. While I crave the time to myself to rejuvenate and prepare myself once again to enter her draining presence, I have to stop my seclusion. I have to always know where she is.

The empress is impossible to find. I can’t sense where she goes the same way I sense every being who possesses light. How can I discern and monitor a demon of darkness?

I’m racking my brain when I come up with a brilliant idea. Her mutt. The gray wolfhound Lord Berwyn gave her. The empress has taken to the beast following her around. They’re never apart.

Animals are harder than humans to discern, but creatures carry light just as beings who walk on two legs do. I close my eyes and focus on all the lights. I disregard the lights of the half-emrys, who vary in degree from newly kindled flames to raging fires. Humans’ lights are specks. They’re unable to harness energy as half-emrys do because their bodies aren’t immortal vessels. But animals’ lights shimmer with the subtlety of sun-glistened water. Hard to pick out. I have to look for a ripple in my mind’s eye. They’re easier to spot in Caer because animals don’t roam barren lava fields. I skip over the animals in the stables and pens. Finally, just outside the stronghold, in a lava field where scrubby brush pokes through crevices, I find her dog.

And the empress.

I don’t announce my presence. I hover near the wall in its shadow. The ground is warm through my boots. Sweat soon coats my skin. I might have to decrease the amount of light I carry and build the cooling darkness so I can better regulate my temperature.

Much as the day I first laid eyes on the empress, she frolics with the wolfhound she calls Drago. The empress throws a stick, and Drago bounds after it. As she attempts to retrieve the stick from his mouth, Drago holds on to it. He growls while she tugs. The empress laughs, once again.

She throws her cloak off and tumbles with him on the ground. I’m in awe. Her guard is completely down. She’s exposed.

Don’t be so sure, Caedryn, Neifion says. I’m sure her guard knows exactly where she is and what threats are in the area. Neifion’s taking a dip in a lake several leagues away from here. I envy him as I pull my thin shirt away from my skin. I’m wearing the minimal amount of clothing to be proper, but it’s a useless attempt to cool myself.

See how she relaxes with Drago? I open my sight to him.

He watches her for a while. It is a strange thing to behold.

I nod to myself.

Sweat glistens across the empress’s cheeks and forehead. She’s rosy. It’s actually becoming on her hard face. Her eyes brighten as she rolls with Drago, but it’s not from inner light. I have a difficult time understanding how someone who carries solely darkness can ever laugh. Does she even feel joy, or does she laugh to mock her dog’s efforts?

I back away to return to my chambers. I don’t know what reason I’d give her should she see me.

Nonetheless, I acknowledge Drago as one of her weaknesses.

9

---