Page 72 of Empire of Death
“Because he’ll feel me in your heart. And you can’t trust him not to tell his father…and then your father.”
My eyes dropped down to the map again.
“Xivin.”
I kept my eyes on the bishop that lay sideways on the table, knocked over by one of the waves when we departed the docks. I stared at it for a moment longer before I breathed a sigh and looked at him head on.
“This love has become impossible to hide—especially from each other.”
The breath I sucked in through my teeth was instinctual. My eyes glistened with tears instantaneously, but the sharp breath I took seemed to pull the moisture back into my body. My hands went to the edge of the table to have something to grip, even though this information was so well known it was stale.
“Perhaps it’s time to let the truth be revealed to those who care for you.”
My eyes flicked down again, afraid to confront the emotions that filled every inch of my heart.
“Because I’d rather they know the real reason I aid you, instead of thinking I want your soul. And I want your father to know that most of all.”
I did my best to appear calm, but my breaths were out of my control. My chest rose and fell, strong enough to raise the armor that weighed down my spine. It was easier to pretend that these emotions didn’t exist than to admit just how powerful they were…since it was doomed.
“Xivin.”
I kept my eyes down a moment longer, afraid to meet the gaze of the man I’d give anything to call my husband someday. Every day, I mourned the loss of a man who wasn’t gone. I grieved a death when the grave hadn’t been dug. But even though every day brought me closer to the end, I somehow fell deeper into his abyss.
When I finally found my breath, I met his fearless gaze.
“It’ll be okay.”
“I’ll never be okay,” I whispered. “Not unless we find a way.”
Now his eyes were the ones to drop. They stared blankly at the map, his mind clearly somewhere else, his thoughts shielded from me. “Let’s vanquish your enemies, ensure peace for the Southern Isles, and bring your father back from the brink of death first. Then we’ll figure out the rest.”
23
LILY
After a two-day sail, we followed the narrow channel that led from one sea to the next, and when we rounded the corner of the shore to the vastness of the sea on the other side, our eyes rested on the Empire Colonies.
But instead of seeing the sprawling city up the hill and the presence of the military along the shore, the haze of smoke was so thick we couldn’t see anything at all. The gleam of gold was sometimes visible in the open pockets of the clouds. Then the boom of cannon fire erupted, although I couldn’t determine from which side it came.
I approached the bow of the ship and gripped the rail to get a better look at the carnage, but I couldn’t distinguish much. “We’re too late.”
Commander Maverick came to my side, massive like Callum was but at least a decade older. “What are your orders, Your Majesty? Do we fight or do we flee?”
“I—I don’t know.”
Callum suddenly appeared on my other side, like another one of my generals. “The Barbarians have already docked and made it onto land. Violence takes the city and its people. Most of the ships are unoccupied. Would be a prime opportunity to sink most of their fleet. It’ll buy you time for them to harvest their special gold and rebuild, or perhaps they’ll attack the Southern Isles without that advantage.”
Commander Maverick continued to stare at the side of my face, patiently waiting for orders.
I looked ahead but listened to every word Callum shared with me. I wanted to be direct with my questions but not look impaired in front of the men who followed me. “I wonder if they’ve reached King Ithaca yet…or if he met them at the shore?”
“He’s in his castle. When the Barbarians approached, the Empire waved their white flag in surrender then his general pitched the alliance. You can figure out what happened next.”
“Looks like they were ambushed.”
“A bloodbath.”
I turned to the general. “Let’s destroy their ships then depart immediately.”
