Page 81 of The Sundered Blade

He knew she deserved his unwavering support, but how could he say yes? How could he let her go alone?

“I believe that I can win,” she said, “and even if I do not, a challenge need not always end in death. However, if fate decrees against me, I ask that you do everything in your power to survive. And if I live… that you forgive me, even if you do not understand.”

She watched him hesitantly, and even though his heart cried out for him to deny her, such an answer would be for himself, not for her.

“Anything but dying, love,” he repeated at last. “I said it, and I meant it. And while I don’t care for being left on the sidelines, I know my strengths, and they are not in battle. So I will watch, I will wait, and I will hope, because I trust you with every fiber of my being.”

She pulled him down for one last kiss, and then she was gone.

* * *

Under the cover of night, his footsteps obscured by the sounds of battle and the roar of flames, Vaniell moved closer to the hill where the enemy general waited. And despite the chaos, it was not difficult to hear the exclamation that arose when Karreya stepped out of the darkness and entered that ring of torches.

The light glinted off the pale gold of her hair, the golden embroidery on her clothing, and the shining steel of the blades she held low at her sides. And on the face of the Zulleri general, Vaniell saw first surprise and then a grudging sense of respect.

“Blade Karreya. So you are here.” He spoke with the unhurried confidence of a man accustomed to command. “It is an honor that you would join us.”

“General Urquadi.” Vaniell drew in a quick breath at the sound of her voice. She no longer sounded like the Karreya he knew. Her accent was sharper, her tone deeper and colder than a Farhall winter. And as she strode closer to the general’s position, it was with the assurance not of an assassin, but a queen… no, an Empress.

This was Karreya Draguris, Third Blade of the Zulleri Empire, heir to the throne of Myrn Draguri. A woman forged in the fires of the imperial court, and honed to a keen edge by the brutality of the Imperial Enclave. Despite being surrounded by enemies, she held herself straight and tall, a deadly column of shadow crowned in gold.

“I have spoken with Avincia, and received the Empress’s message,” she said. “Your mission here is therefore at an end. Recall your troops, and we will depart at once for the coast.”

A bold gamble, and one that made even the armored form of Urquadi pause as he regarded his Empress’s granddaughter.

But his hesitation was short-lived.

“Our mission here has not yet concluded,” he said gravely. “Only once the dragons have arrived and the city is destroyed will our demonstration of the wrath and the might of the Zulleri Empire be complete.”

“I am the duly acknowledged heir to my grandmother’s throne,” Karreya reminded him in a soft, dangerous tone. “Do I not then have the authority to choose the time of our departure?”

Urquadi inclined his head with respect, but remained obdurate. “Only the Empress’s chosen representative may change the terms of our engagement.”

Karreya continued to regard him with unflinching arrogance, her focus demonstrating her utter indifference towards the soldiers and mages that surrounded them. “Avincia is dead,” she pointed out calmly. “She chose to challenge me, and she did not succeed.”

Vaniell could only wonder what had happened once he’d entered the palace to confront Modrevin. He noticed she had not said that she’d killed this Avincia, only that she was dead. But would the general notice the difference?

“Her passing is a great loss to the Empire and will be appropriately mourned,” Urquadi responded impassively, his confidence not noticeably shaken. “But in the event of her death, command falls not to you, but to me. Only Her Eminence may change her orders, and until we return to Zulle, that is impossible.”

Vaniell saw when Karreya accepted the inevitability of battle. Her entire posture changed, and even the smallest motions grew more fluid as she tilted her chin and stared the general down with a self-confident poise any queen might have envied.

“Impossible is the realm of cowards and fools,” she said. “Which one are you, General?”

Her taunt provoked no visible response but a tightening of his hands on his horse’s reins.

“I am but a servant to the Empire,” Urquadi replied, utterly unmoved. “I do only as I am ordered by the one who has proven her right to command me.”

It seemed he’d provided exactly the opening Karreya was searching for. “Then in the name of proving my rights as a Blade of the Dragurin line, I invoke the ritual of challenge.” Her tone suggested she’d just invited Urquadi to go for a stroll in the garden. “According to the ancient traditions of our people, should I defeat you in combat and force you to kneel before me, these troops are mine to command.”

Genuine surprise widened the general’s eyes for a moment as he regarded the woman before him. “You do not wish to fight me, child of the Enclave,” His voice seemed almost gentler than before, but perhaps that was mere illusion.

“You are correct,” Karreya acknowledged. “I have no desire to match blades with a man of honor and courage who has done no wrong. But I have sworn to protect this city and this people, and my word is sacred to me.”

“If that is the case,” Urquadi said, “it seems our choices are few. But I beg you to fully consider your course. Should you win, you face a task beyond your abilities. Should I win, I face the wrath of the Empress for the loss or humiliation of her chosen heir. Either way, the Empire is weakened and our enemies grow stronger.”

“I will not disagree, but neither will I yield,” Karreya responded evenly. “I have no wish to kill you, but I cannot stand by while innocent lives are sacrificed in the name of imperial conquest.”

The general’s face hardened. “If you cannot do what is necessary, I fear Her Eminence may come to regret her choice.”

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