Page 111 of The Gilded Ones

I glance at the chamber floor, where the jatu are still fighting against the alaki and deathshrieks. “So this is all,” I gurgle past the blood dripping from my mouth. “All that remains of the jatu – the true ones.”

“For the most part,” the emperor says, that cruel smile slicing his lips again. “There are just enough of us here to stop your kind once and for all.”

“Good to know,” I say, smirking right back at him.

I kick towards his legs.

In the blink of an eye, the emperor moves behind me, so fast that his body seems to materialize out of thin air. I whip away just as he punches down. The floor crumbles under his fist. He looks at me, surprised, then is gone again, but I’m already reaching for my dagger.

I thrust it backwards just as he appears behind me, grinning when it penetrates armour, then flesh. Jatu armour never was as resilient as the infernal armour.

“You little whore!” he gasps, clutching his side. Blood is dripping from it – the very same blood now staining my dagger.

I smile at him. “I learned well at the Warthu Bera. Karmoko Huon, particularly, taught me how to pretend to be weaker and more pathetic than I actually am.”

The emperor tries to zip away again, but I slam him into the wall. His turn now. His head cracks against it – hard, but not hard enough to kill him. When I let go, he disappears again.

I grin when he appears behind me. So predictable… “In battle strategy, Karmoko Thandiwe taught me how to read, then anticipate, an enemy’s movements,” I say, effortlessly smashing him into the ground.

The emperor gapes past teeth reddened by blood. “How did you—”

“And Karmoko Calderis taught me the most important lesson of all,” I interrupt, whispering in his ear. “How to discern my own infernal armour when it’s disguised as some other object,” I say, ripping off his crown.

Terror blazes in his eyes, and he backs away from me, horrified. “No, you couldn’t have—”

I laugh, bitterly amused. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you were wearing a crown made out of my own blood? Thank you for that. It made me realize something important.”

The emperor disappears again, but I’m not worried. “Stop,” I command when he reappears behind me. Then I press my hands down, pushing energy with them.

Metal clatters to the floor – the sound of armour meeting stone. I turn to find the emperor already kneeling, fear and hatred in his eyes.

“You know,” I murmur, “I don’t actually need to use my gift to command others any more. They do as I say.” I place my sword to his neck, then turn to the combatants in the middle of the chamber. “Jatu!” I shout. “Put down your weapons or the emperor dies. NOW!”

My command reverberates through the chamber. The moment the jatu see the emperor on his knees, my sword to his throat, they stop fighting, in shock.

I prod the emperor with the tip of my sword, and his eyes almost bulge with rage. “Stop this now,” he hisses. “Stop this, you unnatural bitch!”

“Unnatural? Bitch?” I scoff. “These words used to shock me, to hurt me, but no longer, thanks to you and your kind.” I prod him again. “Command the jatu to drop their weapons and kneel. I would do it myself, but it would affect the deathshrieks too.”

The emperor turns mutinously away from me.

“I said command them!” I roar.

“Drop your weapons! Kneel!” he shouts immediately.

Slowly but surely, the jatu do as they’re told. The alaki and deathshrieks immediately secure their weapons, ensuring that they can no longer fight back. Within moments, they’ve been stripped of all their armour and weaponry.

“Well, I see you have this all in hand,” a familiar voice says.

I look up to find White Hands standing at the entrance of the chamber, the equus twins and Belcalis at her side. “White Hands! Belcalis!” I gasp, relieved. “You’re all right!”

“Of course we are.” White Hands turns to her equus. “Secure the emperor.”

“With pleasure,” Braima and Masaima reply.

They walk over to the emperor and grab him up, snickering when he remains stuck in that kneeling posture, just as I commanded. Perhaps my voice is even more effective on the true jatu than it is on alaki and deathshrieks.

“Come along now, naughty jatu,” they taunt as they take him away.

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