Chapter 29 #2
“Forgive the interruption, Your Majesty,” he said, bowing low as he led us into the expansive throne room and my gaze swept over everyone in attendance so that I could assess them.
It took a moment for me to focus as I gazed up at the domed roof far above and the paintings of the lost gods covering the entirety of it in such intricate detail that it stole my breath.
Pillars lined either side of the huge hall and at the centre of it was a throne made of sapphire itself, gleaming like the most tempting thing I’d ever wanted to steal.
Yes, that was a seat made for my arse, I could picture it now…
me lording it over the entire empire while scantily dressed women fed me grapes and massaged my hands and feet.
I was born for this; it was destiny humming through the walls and begging me to claim it. And dammit I would.
Aside from the guards stationed around the edges of the room and the servants who had gathered to the left of it, trying to remain unnoticed, there were seven other men standing to the right of the hall, each of them puffing their chests out and raising their chins pompously.
The emperor was on his feet before the throne, seeming ready to leave, his almost bored looking gaze shifting in my direction as he took note of the guard’s words.
Here he was, the man who owned it all, and he didn’t even have a smile on his face.
Well don’t worry sad old man, I’ll take all of this from you, and you can go live in some luxurious faraway villa on the edge of the world for the rest of your days. I’ll be right here making the most of all your riches.
Everyone looked at us in surprise and pompous irritation. We really were late, but I had always enjoyed making an entrance.
“What is it? We are just heading to the Unveiling,” a woman snapped as she strode forward to look at us, her navy dress sweeping out behind her as she moved.
She had long, dark hair which was twisted into a braid down her back and the sharp features of her face were oddly beautiful in a way which was unlike any other woman I could remember seeing before.
There was something unnatural to her beauty, something lacking in warmth or heat, and her eyes were cruel and void of compassion.
I’d seen many a murderer in The Forty, but there were a few particularly mean bastards who killed for pleasure, and she had that same look in her eye as they had.
I didn’t need to look around at the tight set of Cassius’s shoulders to know that this was Empress Magdor.
The woman he blamed for the state of the kingdom and his poor, starving orphans.
Kyra gasped as she turned to look at the empress and Cassius hushed her aggressively while I fought an amused smile.
“We have a late addition to the suitors, Your Majesty. May I present Count Drake Nazari of Carubai.” The guard gestured to me, and I stepped forward, pasting an apologetic look onto my face.
Magdor frowned at me. “It’s a little late to-”
“Sorry about that. But I brought an extra chest of jewels to make up for it.” I winked at her, and she scowled at me like I’d just slapped her.
I guessed she wasn’t impressed by me, but if that was the case then she was one of a very few people who’d ever felt that way.
And no doubt I’d change her mind when I won this pageant.
Cassius moved forward with six guards in tow, and they all placed a heavy chest before the emperor, offering up my forged papers again to be checked. It seemed a little odd that the emperor hadn’t acknowledged me yet and I moved away from Magdor to stand before him.
The emperor cast an imposing figure as he observed me from the comfort of his throne which he had dropped back into the moment his wife had stepped forward to speak.
His hair was greying, and a neat salt and pepper beard covered his chin.
He held his shoulders back and sat rigidly, but I could detect a little tension to his posture which made me wonder if he was in pain.
I was damn good at reading people and as I looked a little closer, I detected a tinge of sickliness to his dark complexion and deep bags hung beneath his eyes. Emperor Tarim wasn’t a well man.
“Your Highness,” I said formally, dropping to one knee and bowing my head just like Cassius had shown me. I’d never willingly bowed to anyone before, but I figured my practice at being respectful to Egos over the years would set me in good stead here.
The emperor’s eyes scraped over me momentarily and it almost seemed as if he didn’t care whether I was here or not.
“Well at least the numbers are even now,” he commented.
I wondered why he wasn’t a little more curious about the stranger who had just offered himself as a suitor for his daughter.
Didn’t he want to know a bit more about me before he just accepted me into the competition?
Was my money and gender all that he required of the man he intended to wed his daughter and one day rule his kingdom?
I held my tongue, taking Cassius’s advice to only address him if I was asked a question directly, and the emperor’s gaze slid over me slowly.
Eventually he nodded, gesturing for his men to accept the jewels and I released a breath of relief.
I might have been one cocky arsehole with an unrivalled poker face, but even I had had my doubts about us pulling this off.
But with that single nod, my fate shifted.
I was in. I had the opportunity we’d come here for, and I was ready to dive into battle to claim this unobtainable prize with all I had.
“The Unveiling will begin shortly, your servants will await you outside,” Magdor said brusquely, ushering me back to my feet so that I could join the other suitors.
I glanced over at Cassius and Kyra as they were led away, and my little goddess frowned slightly as she looked from Magdor to me, her lips parting on some thought, but Cassius hushed her once more and the doors were closed between us.
I didn’t much like being parted from her, but she had assured me that if I had need of her, I only had to rub the coin between my fingers or call her name, and she would be summoned to my side.
Aside from that, I trusted Cassius to keep an eye on her in my absence.
No doubt they were only being led to our rooms anyway, so there was no need for me to try and object to the separation.
I moved to join the other suitors and found seven sets of assessing eyes firmly placed on me.
I was tall but not the tallest amongst them, one man had me beaten by a few inches and his steely gaze raked over me as if he was looking for a sign of weakness.
Another man dwarfed me by a foot and was twice as wide.
His face was not as repulsive as Cassius had described, but by the size of him I could only imagine that this was Kahn.
I easily pegged him as the alpha of this group of puffed-up peacocks and made a beeline straight for him.
The other suitors eyed me with interest as I looked the giant right in the eye and gave him a wide smile, dimples and all.
“I hear you’re the one to beat,” I said to him, loudly enough to let the others know that they didn’t threaten me in the least. No doubt it was earning me a whole host of enemies instantly, but I wasn’t here to make friends.
There could only be one winner and whatever way you cut it, they were standing between me and my goal which meant all they were to me was something I needed to knock aside by any means necessary.
“I will win the princess’s hand and kill all of you who try to stand between us,” Kahn replied confidently while I ran my assessing gaze over him.
Being as big as a fucking ox was obviously an advantage for him, but I’d learned long ago how to find the weaknesses in my opponents so now all I had to do was figure out his.
From what Cassius had told me he was as intelligent as a box of rocks, so I would be starting there and adding to the list as I went.
“Well, I won’t be standing between you,” I said, and his brow furrowed with confusion.
“What?” he demanded.
“I’ll be standing above you. While you bleed out on the ground and cry to your mamma about the injustice of it all.”
His frown deepened as he slowly realised what I was saying, and I slapped his cheek a couple of times in that patronising way which I knew drove men insane.
Kahn took a swing for me, and I danced aside with a laugh as his mother stepped forward angrily. Yeah, dumb as shit and not the fastest either – I’d beat him one way or another.
“That’s enough!” Magdor snapped. “Save the fighting for the ring Kahn, this miscreant will soon be beaten and forgotten.”
Kahn looked inclined to try and beat the fuck out of me here and now but as his mother’s fingernails drove into his arm, he seemed to get hold of his rage enough to keep his hands off of me and leave it simmering in his eyes for now instead.
“We’ll see,” I taunted as I pushed between the suitors and took the lead as we followed the emperor.
I could feel all of their eyes on me as they were forced to walk behind me, and a grin pulled at my lips.
I’ve got bigger balls than all of you. And you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Two guards opened a door at the end of a long corridor and the emperor led the way out onto a sweeping balcony which was filled with the heavy heat of midday.