Page 66 of Empire of Death
Callum spoke from beside me. “He seeks an alliance with the Barbarians, and then he’ll come for the Southern Isles alongside them.”
The second I heard those words, everything snapped into place. My hand tightened into a fist because I wanted to knock his teeth out for the below-the-belt treachery. “You haven’t met these assholes. They won’t be interested in an alliance. They’ll behead you and the rest of your family, take your kingdom, and then come for mine.”
“Perhaps.”
“No, there’s noperhaps,” I insisted. “That’s what will happen. I’m not trying to manipulate you. I’m trying toenlightenyou. I don’t care for your rulership, but the Empire Colonies are home to good people who don’t deserve whatever brutality these scumbags will inflict on them. Listen to me.”
“I would never listen to a woman. Or, in your case, a girl.” He took a step back. “Return home, Lily Rothschild. I will sail for your kingdom with the Barbarians, and I will take your dragons for myself while your body rots in the sea…along with the rest of your kin.” He turned his back on me like he wasn’t afraid of my blade piercing his spine. His commander had gotten to his feet, and he withdrew his blade in anticipation of battle.
“Xivin, behind you.”
The soldiers who guarded the other side of the room started to converge on me.
“Take her,” King Ithaca said. “She’ll be our bargaining chips with the Barbarians.”
I unsheathed my blade when the commander came for me. He kept his sword up as a shield because his goal was to take me alive rather than cut off my arm. Three men came from behind me, and one grabbed me by the cape and tugged me back.
It all happened fast, but I was so furious at this insufferable man that I moved my two-handed blade as if it weighed less than a dagger and sliced through the commander’s armor on his chest like it was made of butter.
He immediately toppled back, blood pouring from the cracks in his armor. He couldn’t get a word out because his mouth started to bubble with blood that poured from his esophagus. I spun around and took on the others, moving so fast that my own mind couldn’t keep up with my body, meeting their flimsy blades like they were made of wood. I shattered one in half then rammed my shoulders into another, sending him skidding across the tile floor.
“Xivin.”
I fought the others who came for me, me against five men, but they were no match for the god-like powers that surged in my veins. I handled them like this was a sparring match and they were going easy on me because I was still learning.
“Xivin, behind you.”
I turned to see what was worth the distraction, but a bigger man than all the others came for me, looking to be half orc and half human, some strange hybrid creature. He was as tall as Callum and even bigger in size. He grabbed me by the cape and tugged me back, putting a sharp blade to my neck and forcing me to go still.
The fight ended, and he pressed the blade deeper into my throat, drawing a line of blood.
King Ithaca regarded me with his hands behind his back. He seemed to stare at me to savor the sight of my capture. “A little girl in a man’s game. Put her in the dungeon…and have fun with her if you want.”
I tried to force my way free, but every time I moved, he pressed the blade deeper into my throat. I couldn’t see Callum. If he was there, he was behind me. I knew that he wouldn’t leave me like this, that he must have some kind of plan. I looked at the dead commander on the floor and realized I could raise him and the other dead to fight for me. It was only three men, but that might be enough for me to escape.
The orc-like creature pressed the blade farther into my neck. “Or maybe I’ll just kill her and eat her intestines right here.”
I gave a quiet scream when I felt the blade start to cut into me, and Callum appeared before me but his back was turned to me.
King Ithaca quickly took several steps back, his smug eyes now troubled.
That must mean I wasn’t the only one who could see him now.
“If you don’t want me to turn your dreams into nightmares and haunt your children and your children’s children, you’ll release Queen Lily Rothschild immediately.” His voice was louder than it’d ever been with me, even during the moments when I angered him. He was the version of himself I’d only met once before on the little island in the middle of the sea. “Now.”
I could barely see past him because he was so tall and wide, and King Ithaca had stepped out of my line of sight. I wished I couldwitness the abject terror on his face and relish it. It was the only time I wanted to abuse the power that Callum had granted me.
“Do—do it.”
The orc-like man withdrew his blade and let me go.
I stumbled forward, my fingers absent-mindedly wiping the blood that dripped down my neck and absorbed into my clothing.
Callum turned to me, his eyes briefly glancing down to my neck, and he grasped me by the wrist with an iron grip. The world turned, and my sight was taken from me for a brief moment before the world came into focus again.
I was in my royal bedchambers in the castle, standing in the sitting room, an open bottle of wine and a wineglass still on the coffee table where I’d left them.
Callum rushed me and cupped the back of my head as he looked down at my neck. “Are you alright,Xivin?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he examined the wound himself before he put his palm against it and applied pressure. “The cut is shallow.”
