Page 42 of Empire of Death
“You believe we can trust the word of pirates?” Steward Eliam asked.
“I fought alongside pirates decades ago,” Aunt Eldinar said. “They kept their word then. They were loyal to Talon, and I’m sure they are now loyal to Lily based on the tale you just told us. I’m more worried about King Ithaca,” she said. “He hasn’t committed treason or anything egregious, but he sounds dishonorable.”
“I agree,” I said, not surprised that Aunt Eldinar would see the truth so quickly.
“We need allies, but a questionable ally is basically an enemy,” she said. “Perhaps I should speak with him.”
“No,” Hawk said. “We can’t undermine Lily’s authority to anyone. It will only hurt her reputation and our cause.”
I felt a warmth in my chest when I listened to my brother advocate for me like I was truly his queen.
“Then we need to hope for the best but expect the worst,” Queen Eldinar said. “And in the meantime, it’s imperative that we heal your father before the battle commences. I have no doubt in your abilities, Lily. But your father has fought in many wars in his lifetime. His experience is invaluable.”
“I agree.” I didn’t care about my father taking back the title I’d recently claimed. I just wanted him there with us, to grip me by the shoulder the way he used to, to look at me like I was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. “But I don’t have any leads for a cure, do you?”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “Riviana Star has always been isolated from the rest of the world. We don’t have allies or friends outside the trees intentionally. Unfortunately, I have no one to ask.” She turned to Steward Eliam. “What about you, Steward?”
“I do not,” he said. “The only idea that comes to mind is the black diamonds in the desert, but we haven’t mined those in decades.”
A rush surged through my heart. “The black diamonds… My father always said they were powerful.”
Callum spoke up from the corner. I’d forgotten he was there until his voice filled the room. “I don’t think that will be the solution. Black diamonds are used to store energy. They’re simply vessels. I doubt they will contain the healing properties that you seek.”
“I believe we still have some stored in our vault,” Steward Eliam said. “You can take a look.”
“How would you administer it?” Queen Eldinar asked me, like I had the answer.
“I—I don’t know.” The golden blades destroyed the body’s ability to heal once they sank beneath the flesh. How would an antidote be administered? By putting bits into the wound? By ingesting it? My eyes immediately lifted to Callum like he might have the answer.
He answered me. “I suspect it needs to be applied directly to the wound, where the curse has been placed.”
“All things fade over time,” Queen Eldinar said. “Perhaps the potency of the curse will dwindle with time. All the dragons need to do is keep your father alive long enough for the poison or whatever it is to disappear.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said noncommittally. “But we can’t wait around for that.”
“Then I’ll retrieve the black diamonds from the vault for your use,” Steward Eliam said. “And I’ll prepare our army to launch at your command, Queen Lily Rothschild.”
My aunt stared at me, her striking blue eyes identical to the color of the ocean against the sand at our private beach. The stare remained, hard and interrogating, but with a subtle look of affection. “Yes, we all serve the Death Queen.”
When Aunt Eldinar walked at my side down the hallway toward the bedchambers that Steward Eliam had prepared for us, I knew what would come next. An interrogation so sharp her words would feel like the tips of her blades. But now, I heard nothing but the sound of our steps through the hallway over the long mahogany carpet that covered the wooden floorboards.
She came to a stop in front of the double doors that led to her room for the evening. “May I speak with you in private, Lily?”
I stopped and faced her, feeling my heart doing a somersault the way my stomach did when Zehemoth executed a flip in midair. As a grown adult and queen of a nation, I didn’t have to subjectmyself to any conversation that didn’t interest me. But I also knew her concern would never fade, and she would try to corner me until she got the answers she wanted. I knew she asked as a concerned aunt, caring for me out of love for both of my parents and out of the love she felt for me in her own heart.
I finally gave a nod in agreement.
She opened the door and entered the living room, the fire in the hearth already burning because the servants made it homely before her arrival. There was also a tray that contained tea leaves and a warm kettle.
In the same armor and cape, she took a seat on the couch, her back straighter than the edge of a blade, like she was about to hold court in her own realm. She crossed her ankles and rested her joined hands on her lap.
I absent-mindedly pulled my cape to the side before I took a seat in the armchair across from her, the fire at our sides. My hands rested in my lap, and I waited for her to press her curiosity against my flesh like a dagger to my throat. But the questions never came, and the silence carried on for so long I wondered if she’d spoken and I somehow hadn’t heard her.
I watched her across from me, watched her stare at me like she could see straight through me. It made my heart race like it was in a sprint to stay alive, somehow worse than an actual question. I forced my voice to be strong when it only felt weak. “You asked to speak with me, aunt? It’s late, and I’m weary from the long journey.”
“I hoped you would share your story with me freely, but you’re as guarded now as you were in Riviana Star. That tells me you have something to hide—or you feel great shame.”
I couldn’t see Callum in the room, but I knew he was there, watching my aunt try to dig a hole in my flesh with a blunt shovel. “I feel no shame.” My relationship with Callum was complicated with no future in sight, but I felt the same sense of loyalty toward him that I did toward my own family. I trusted his word without question. Trusted him in his absence, even though I knew I would never know how he spent his time when we were apart. I would even consider doing this for the rest of my life because he was worth it.
