Page 69 of Empire of Death
“I will not send my men into battle if I’m not alongside them.” My father would never do that. Every man of the Southern Isles was called to defend their kingdom—whether they were a commoner or a king. In war, everyone was equal. “I’m not asking you to stay to protect you. I’m asking you to stay because you’re the last living Rothschild.”
“Then we switch. I go and you stay.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I have the command of the dead and the power of a god,” I said simply. “If anyone is going to battle, it’s me. I will raise monsters from the sea and capsize their boats. I will show them the might of the Death Queen. I wish you could accompany me in this, I really do. But we have to separate…just in case.”
He took several breaths as he stared me down, the look of surrender coming into his gaze. “What about the Brigandine Empire?”
“Even if I asked them to set sail this very moment, they would never make it in time. I’ve asked them to search for the platinum. Hopefully they make progress with that while we handle this.”
He stared at me for a while before he eventually gave a nod. “I will prepare the fleet to launch. You can depart in a few hours. But I doubt Zehemoth will let you go without his protection. I understand you have powers that no mortal possesses, but being fused with a dragon wouldn’t hurt.”
“Under no circumstances will I allow him to come, so there’s no reason to fuse.” Zehemoth would be aware of every emotionI possessed, and it would be impossible to hide the love in my heart for a man none could see.
“I know Father insisted on our waiting, but this is an exception.”
“You’ve seen me with the blade, Hawk. I can’t be more powerful than I already am.”
His mouth twitched like he wanted to say more, but he chose to swallow the words instead. “Please be careful. I’ve wanted to be King of the Southern Isles ever since I was a boy—but not in the event that you’re dead. I would much rather watch you rule our kingdom for centuries than live in a world where you don’t exist,Sunieth.”
It was the single sweetest thing my brother had said to me. The closest to anI love youI’d ever received. The words caught me off guard so violently that all I could do was stare at him as I tried to find the words to mirror the sentiment. “Watching Dad fall and leading a kingdom at war with assholes who want us all dead has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But it’s brought us closer together, and that means the world to me.”
I met with Mom and told her everything about to transpire.
She paced the living room with her arms across her chest, the features of her face sunken because she’d been dropping weight with every passing day, the stress eating the mass from her body. Her face was pale, like we lived in a world blanketed in snow with no daylight. “Our lives were perfect for so long, and then this happens…and I haven’t been able to draw a full breathonce.” She finally came to a stop before me. “Are you sure this is the right move, Lily?”
“No,” I said honestly. “But we either wait for two kingdoms to come for us or try to reduce it to one. Standing by and watching our ally get conquered seems like the wrong move to me—and the cowardly one.”
“King Ithaca is a damn snake.”
“But his people are good. If we come to their aid and succeed, whoever leads the Empire Colonies next will be forever loyal to us. I’m sure they despise King Ithaca as much as we do. He’s a greedy pig who needs to be gutted for bacon.”
Her eyes were turned out the window, the sunlight hitting her face at the perfect angle to show all the unease deep in her eyes. She was normally calm and collected, while Dad was the one who got hotheaded and temperamental. It was clear she was lost without him. “I wish your father were here.”
The pain in her voice made me cringe. “I know…me too.”
“I wish I could ask for his advice, but Khazmuda has had very little success communicating with him. The moments where he’s somewhat conscious are brief, literally seconds.”
“I wish more than anything he were here with us.” He always knew what to do. He was a natural leader for our kingdom and our family. He taught me everything he knew, but I realized I’d only attained just a whisper of his knowledge.
She started to pace again, her hand sliding through her dark hair more than once even though it was out of her face. She came to a sudden stop again, looking out the window once more. “Your father and I used to talk about how great a queen you wouldmake. He would tell me stories of your sparring matches. Would tell me how proud he was of you every time you would defeat him at chess. Tell me how smart you are. If you believe this is the right move, then I’m sure it is.”
Somehow her confidence made me doubt myself even more. I wasn’t sure if I deserved such blind faith, not when I had her life and everyone else’s in my hands. “Hawk is going to stay here in case I don’t return. He’ll prepare for the next wave of battle…if it comes.”
A burst of sadness appeared on her face before she moved into me, wrapping her arms around me tightly and holding me close. She cradled me into her like a child, supporting me like I was still that little girl scared of the monsters under her bed.
It’d been a long time since she’d held me like that, since I’d needed to be held like that.
After a long embrace, she pulled away to regard me. “Remember that your father is always with you. Every time you grip the hilt of your blade. Every time you sail on a galleon. Every time you stare down your enemy across the battlefield. You’re more like him than he is himself sometimes. If you’re ever scared, if you ever second-guess yourself, just remember that.”
Zehemoth’s enormous body landed in the courtyard, his black scales dark as night, his eyes so black it was hard to find them in low light. The ground trembled beneath his feet before he folded his wings into his body.
He dipped his head so he could brush his cheek against me, his breaths making my hair fly back in the gust.You called for me,Sunieth?
My palms glided over his soft scales, and I stood directly before one of his big, beautiful eyes. “There’s something I need to tell you. And I wanted you to hear it from me instead of someone else.”
