Page 74 of Empire of Death
My eyes shifted to the soldiers who followed. Their faces weren’t concealed behind gold masks, so I could see their features. I didn’t recognize them personally from the battle, but their size and stature were the same, the hostility of their auras. But something was different about them. Their eyes were now vertical slits, like the eyes of a snake. “Why do you hide me from them? I’m not afraid?—”
“You should be.” He kept his hand on my arm. “You can’t help him now. He had his chance, and he forfeited it.”
“Why—why are they different?”
He watched the two Barbarians in the front approach King Ithaca and his family, walking with an arrogant but lazy gait. “They’re vampires.”
“Vampires?” I asked incredulously. “Since when?”
He didn’t answer my question.
The Barbarian in charge took a step forward past the others, his entire body covered in armor, his neck and head concealed in the dark hood, with the details of the back of the mask hidden from view.
I wasn’t sure how he could see properly in battle when his view was so heavily restricted by the golden mask. His hands were gloved in black metal but with golden accents. Gold was emblazoned everywhere on their uniforms.
“In case you were unaware,” the Barbarian said. “I reject your proposition. Now, if you’d kindly get on your knees, I’ll make this quick. Or I won’t make it quick… We’ll see.” He slowly unsheathed his golden blade, the sound of the metal gliding audibly past the scabbard as it retracted.
King Ithaca finally found his words. “There is much you don’t know about Queen Rothschild of the Southern Isles. She’s far more powerful than you realize. With the command of the dead?—”
“Yes, we’re aware of her godly gifts,” he said in a bored voice. “And I will explore all of hergiftswhen I make her my wife.” There was a smile behind the voice, a smile that couldn’t be seen…but felt.
I felt a shiver of disgust erupt over my body.
“She has more than that. She has the strength of fifty men?—”
“On your knees.”
“She’s in this room as we speak! You just can’t see her.”
I released an angry sigh. “I tried to help that asshole again, and he still sold me out.”
The Barbarian stilled, his sword at his side, and then he turned to look around the room…like he was actually searching for me. His eyes even stopped exactly where I stood and stayed put.
I looked at Callum beside me, and he held the Barbarian’s stare even though they couldn’t see each other.
Something transpired directly before me, but I didn’t understand it.
King Ithaca continued to betray my kindness. “She’s here, and then she disappears…like a phantom. But she’s real. Real enough to fight and kill my men. Let me help you defeat the Death Queen. As powerful as you may be, you’re no match for a woman with the powers of a goddess.”
The Barbarian faced forward again and stared at King Ithaca with a heavy silence.
I felt no pity for the king. Although I did feel bad for what would befall his family, guilty by association.
“I swear to you she’s here,” King Ithaca said. “She stood before me when you broke through the doors. A demon in the flesh of a human guards her like a vault of treasure?—”
“Trust me, I believe you.” He dropped the hilt of his blade on his shoulder, where it bounced slightly against his armor. “On your knees.”
That was when King Ithaca started to tremble, probably pissed himself because he knew there was no way out of this. He’d chosen to punch above his weight, and now he was about topay the fatal consequences of that decision. “There must be something you want. I’ll give you anything.”
“I’ve just taken your kingdom, Your Majesty. I’ve already taken everything that you have. Now…on your knees.” He lifted his boot and slammed it into the front of King Ithaca’s leg, snapping his kneecap.
He cried out before he fell forward, gasping as he tried to reach for his broken leg and stabilize himself at once.
I didn’t see what else happened because Callum pulled me away, made the world turn on itself before it grew still again. But then that momentary calm was disrupted by the calls of battle. I smelled the smoke from fires, the odor of rotting flesh, and the cries of the dying in battle.
I stared at the stone wall that separated the castle grounds from the rest of the city and knew those walls wouldn’t hold forever. Like a flooded river that washed the bank away, the enemy had infected the city. The king was probably already dead by now.
“I—I don’t know what to do.”
