Page 7 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

AS SOON AS EVERY COMMANDER, GENERAL, AND THE LAST MEMBER OF The Order filed out, Nismera turned to us. Her guards remained outside. She removed her cloak with one hand and hung it over her chair before striding toward an alcove. She returned, carrying two bottles and a few glasses, falling into a seat with a huff.

“I wish you would not argue against me in meetings, Kaden. They are not used to my voice being spoken over, and you’re not a flunky that I would need or would ever wish to correct.”

She poured the sparkling yellow liquid into her glass before sliding the other bottle and glasses toward Isaiah and me. Isaiah caught them and popped the top off the bottle with a single hand. The sweet, coppery smell of blood filled the air, and I dared not ask where she got this. Isaiah poured himself a glass before sliding it to me.

“My apologies, king.” The last word I enunciated with a smirk. “Why do you insist on that title?”

“Because it was one all aspired to have. Why change it now?” Nismera shrugged. “Besides, I love watching the lords curl their lips when they hear it. Since I have a pussy, they prefer queen, but we all know in our world the title of king holds more power.”

“That it does.” I snorted.

Nismera smiled behind her glass. “Also, you don’t have to call me that here. There are no soldiers or guards or fucking council members asking for help. I am not our father. I will not demand respect or for you to use my title every hour of the godsdamn day. Besides, I have missed you.”

Isaiah cleared his throat, and Nismera rolled her eyes.

“We,” she enunciated, “have missed you.”

“I technically missed you more,” Isaiah added, cutting a glance toward Nismera. “She’s been quite busy, and I’ve asked every day since that damn portal sealed when you were coming back. I even have the place marked where it closed because it was the last place I saw you.”

Something inside my chest flickered. It was as if a small light was switched on in a dark, dusty room. It was so strange to hear that someone missed me. Especially after how long I’d been gone and remembering those I surrounded myself with. The last form of affection I’d received had been years and years ago with Dianna. Emotions now felt weird, to say the least. They made me uncomfortable because they never felt real. All acts of caring or kindness could be yanked away, evaporating like mist on the wind. I was locked in Yejedin for so long that perhaps the part of me that believed in such things had died and rotted there.

“You sentimental fool.” I sneered at him, and Nismera laughed.

But I did picture it. Isaiah had grown a reputation of blood and gore long before the realms had ever closed, and Nismera had told me he had only gotten worse after I left. He used that damn power of his whenever he could, bending blood by pure will, honing it to perfection. Nismera told me how he didn’t even have to touch anyone anymore to make their blood boil or, worse, rupture. He was a beast in every form of the word, just as I, another reason we had been locked away so godsdamn long.

She said they called him Blood Scorn, and he liked it. Personally, I thought he liked it because it proved we were stronger now. We were no longer those scrawny teens with unkempt powers who so easily believed all of Unir’s lies. How innocent we were so long ago, yet it seemed like a flash of memory. We had grown up in the silver palaces, amongst the beauty and florals, but Yejedin, with its smoke and flame, shaped us.

So I didn’t blame him for latching on to that name or me. I had protected him then and promised to protect him always, so I laughed at the image that coursed through my brain of the large, muscled High Guard of Death covered in blood and armor waiting at the edge of a portal that never opened again. Sentimental fool, indeed.

“Call me whatever you wish. I’m just glad you’re back, and now you can have all the blood and pussy you want.”

I choked on my drink as Nismera sighed, placing her armored boots on the table. “Speaking of that, tell me your plan, Kaden. Why would I need another Ig’Morruthen when you so kindly brought me the blonde one?”

I glared at Isaiah, wiping the edge of my mouth before turning back toward Nismera. “Dianna’s power is unmatched. She would be a great asset.”

“To me,” she swirled her drink in the glass, “or you?”

I did not try to hide my feelings. It seemed that had only made everything in my life so much worse, so I only nodded. “I spoke to you daily. You knew my feelings, and they have not changed.”

“Ah yes, but hers definitely have. Now, I have rebels crawling around, believing they can’t be touched. Hope that she’s given them.”

I tapped my finger against my glass. Isaiah said nothing, watching us both. “Another reason she can be here, a prime example to take that hope away. Show that you can tame the most untamable. It would give you even more power. Who would ever even think of questioning you then?”

The corner of Nismera’s lip twisted. “And how do you expect her to stay here under our rule? We slaughtered her sister. We slaughtered her mate. Do you not think it’s time to give up on this useless dream?”

“I have a blade,” I said, and Isaiah sat up straighter. “It has runes engraved on the sides. Think the words of Ezalan, but more. I could erase all her memories and replace them. She would want only to serve you, I swear it. Dianna is a weapon I crafted, and a damn good one. She slaughtered Tobias and Alistair with ease. We need her.”

I need her, but I did not say that aloud.

Nismera glared at me. “I wanted her away from her mate. You failed that, and yet you think you can accomplish this?”

My skin crawled, unbridled power arcing beneath it in defense of her words. But this was Nismera. The only one who gave a shit about us, so I willed it down. I had not realized how the darkness in the room crept forward until I calmed down, and it receded.

I took a calming breath before saying, “Unir trapped them in the same realm, not me. I kept them apart for a thousand years.”

His name was ice in my veins, and the room grew heavy. Nismera simply went on, “And now his death has sent her on a course that will only get in the way of our liberation.”

“I did everything you said to make them hate each other. Everything. I ripped the false sister from her exactly as you wished. This is as much of your problem as it is mine.”

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