Chapter 81 Samkiel
SAMKIEL
Soft footfalls entered the room, followed by a thud and the clanking of blades as something hit the floor.
Cameron sighed. I slid my thumb thoughtfully under my lower lip, not looking up from the map.
I’d been studying the damn thing for what seemed like forever, hoping it would provide me with some answers.
How Nismera had managed to keep her stronghold a secret all this time was a fucking mystery to me.
“Miska helped me wrap them,” he said, unzipping the bag and placing the weapons on the table.
There were enough ablaze blades, their handles wrapped, that Cameron, Kaden, and Isaiah could have been strapped from chest to thigh.
It was the only thing I could think of that could kill any of her legion members, Otherworld counterparts, or wound her if they got close enough, but as I already told them, Nismera’s death would be by my blade.
Feeling Dianna’s pain was more than I could bear.
I’d skin Nismera alive for what she’d done.
“Cameron.” I stood up and walked toward him, checking that the door to the study was closed. “I have something for you,” I said, stopping in front of him.
“Okay?” he asked, lifting a brow.
I pulled out a thick silver ring from my pocket and held it out to him.
His head tilted slightly. “Look, I know we’ve been friends forever, but I just don’t see you like that, buddy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re the whole package. I’m just—”
“If something happens to Dianna, use this. It will transport you and those around you far enough away that you can escape.”
“What?”
“I tested it. We’ll need to replant a section of the forest on the north side. It’s strong enough to absorb at least a mile or two. It was the best I could do, given the time I had.”
His hand closed over mine, making a fist. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a contingency plan,” I said.
“Yeah, I get that, but only if we need a contingency,” he said. “We’re going to get in, get her back, and be home before nightfall, all right? Keep the ring.”
I didn’t lower my gaze from his or pull my hand from his grip. “I’m not asking, and as your king, I’m ordering you. Take the ring.”
“Don’t pull that king bullshit. Don’t pull rank. I’m not losing her, and I’m not losing you. Keep the fucking ring, Samkiel.”
“Cameron.” I placed my other hand atop his, letting him see how truly terrified I was. “I cannot control Oblivion when it comes to her. Please. Take it.”
His lip quivered as if this was asking too much of my smartass, funny friend. My brother, chosen but truer than any blood tie. Our bond had been forged over centuries of loyalty and standing at each other’s backs.
“I—I …”
The sound of someone clearing their throat had both of us turning toward the door.
Kaden and Isaiah stood framed in the doorway, watching us.
I released his hand, and Cameron took a step back.
“Where have you idiots been?” he said, trying to mask with humor, but I could hear the fear and anguish in his voice.
Isaiah shrugged, tossing a condescending smile toward him. “Feeding. We’ll need the energy since it seems we’re going to storm the castle.” His eyes flicked to the map behind me, then back.
I pushed past Cameron, shoving the ring into his pocket before he could rebel, and I didn’t give a shit what either of my brothers thought.
Kaden only walked further into the room and nodded toward the map. “We already searched the Western realms.”
Cameron glowered angrily at me, but left the ring in his pocket.
“That’s what I thought, but the west is vast and there are numerous planets, many of them unexplored. That doesn’t even account for all the moons. She could hide for eons.”
“Nismera,” Isaiah said, emphasizing her full name, still struggling to drop the familiarity of her nickname, “doesn’t hide, especially from you. No offense.”
I shrugged. “None taken. But the fact is, Isaiah, she is hiding. She has gone through a lot of trouble to keep her palace from being found, so maybe you don’t know her as well as you thought. I think she is biding her time, working on her project, and wishing not to be found until she is ready.”
Cameron started tucking blades into the leather straps wrapped across his chest before moving on to the belt around his waist.
Isaiah sighed and stepped closer to the table. Cameron started passing him blades, and Isaiah began tucking them away before glancing up at me again. “We can try, but—”
I held my hand up. “I know.” And I did, but we didn’t have time for this.
One moment, I was looking at my brother, and the next I’d swiped a dagger from the table and sent it sailing across the room.
A slender hand emerged from the shadows, deftly catching it by the hilt.
A woman dressed all in black separated from the darkness.
The only spark of color in her outfit was the silver laces in her black boots.
She spun the dagger through her fingers before bowing low and deep, one hand sweeping behind her and the other crossed over her waist. The tall male who had followed her into the room did the same, their long dark cloaks fluttering behind them.
“We pledge our blade and loyalty to the one true queen,” the female said, both of them keeping their heads down.
“Stand,” I demanded, command resonating in my voice.
They rose in unison, and my senses prickled. Their movements were more than fluid, almost like smoke, but the thing that set me on edge was their absolute silence. Unless they were speaking, you wouldn’t know they were even in the room. These were the famed assassins of Sumaril.
“You show your face now?” Lights flickered in the room, struggling under the weight of my power. I had no control when it came to Dianna, not in love or power.
“We’ve watched you. We feared you’d return and be the same, just like the others, but then we heard that you’d wed the Ig’Morruthen.”
“She has a name.” The words left my lips on a low growl.
“I know. She is the reason we are here and why we gave you the location to the first Ig’Morruthen’s resting place.
She had a chance to kill me and my brother.
” The woman nodded toward the man on her right.
“But she didn’t. Nismera would have done so, or much worse, just on principle.
Dianna is the only queen we’ll follow. No other. ”
“Because she spared you?” I asked dubiously.
“No,” her brother said. “Because she’s proven repeatedly that she is not the same.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “And I am supposed to believe that you will help me get her? We have already asked you to find it, and you left a note saying no one knows where Nismera’s palace is.”
“They will now,” she said, her smile slow and smug. “We all will.”
She flicked her fingers, and an envelope appeared, the writing on the front fine and pristine. I reached for it, but she tossed it back to the shadows.
“First, I have someone who may be able to help. I just need to ensure we are all on the same team, because we will need all the help we can get. Call it a safety clause. Nismera has made this realm bleed. It cowers beneath her brutality and betrayal. With this gift, I hope to secure a permanent holding within your queen’s reign. ”
She smiled and let out a low whistle. Black smoke filled the room, and I heard Cameron and Isaiah let out low curses.
I felt Kaden shift, but before any of us could react further, it dissipated, and my sight returned.
My entire body went still as the room cleared to reveal that we were surrounded by faceless assassins.
Cameron cleared his throat. “Cool party trick,” he said.
She winked at Cameron and said, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” She pulled a pendant from inside her cloak and gripped it in her fist, squeezing it. A portal appeared to my left, whirring softly as Camilla and Vincent stepped through.
The room blurred, but not from the shock of what the assassin queen had brought, but from how quickly I moved.
“Five minutes is all you’ll get before I finish what my wife started,” I growled into Vincent’s face.
I held him pressed against the wall, holding my blade against his throat as he panted, trying to catch his breath.
“Camilla, if I even feel your magic behind me, I will cut out his traitorous heart.”
The power I’d felt growing dissipated immediately.
“We are here to help,” Camilla begged. I could see from the corner of my eye that Isaiah and Kaden had her in their grip.
“Help?” I scoffed. “Like you helped to craft that medallion? Or like when you tossed Dianna and me through buildings?”
“You attacked us first,” she countered.
I pressed the blade harder against Vincent’s throat.
“And why wouldn’t we attack you both on sight, Camilla?
Give me one good reason. In case you forgot, he is the reason I nearly died, and our family’s minds are imprisoned while her people used them as weapons. He chose his family, and it wasn’t us.”
“To be fair,” Vincent choked out, “Kaden spoke the words.”
My arm pressed harder into him. “Kaden is a monster, but he never lied about it.” Kaden made a noise of agreement. “He never pretended to be friends with us, love us, laugh with us, or fight with us. He didn’t lie to our faces daily as he worked and connived with her. He never betrayed us!”
“I had no choice,” Vincent gasped, each word making his throat work against the knife.
“It’s the truth, Samkiel. He had no control over what he did.”
I tipped my head, but never took my eyes off Vincent. “Excuses,” I snarled.
“They aren’t,” Camilla pleaded. “She tied her will to his. It’s a curse and a deadly one. He can’t be in her vicinity because if he hears her command, he must comply.”
Vincent held my gaze, his jaw clenching.
I could tell by the look in his eyes that Camilla wasn’t lying.
I knew Vincent, or so I had thought. He’d never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him.
He saw it as a weakness, something Nismera had taught him from the beginning.
I had spent eons trying to show him another way, but I now knew that only those who truly wanted to be helped could.
“I have no more sympathy or remorse for you,” I said, letting him go. He fell to his knees, his hand rubbing at his throat. “Are you with us or against us? Because I need an answer, and if I think you’re lying, I’ll gut you here and now.”
“I am,” he coughed, “with you.”
“Bow,” I said, the tension in the room growing.
Oblivion sang to life the wisps of it curling and writhing around my hand until a blade formed.
I turned to each and every person in this room.
I hated people bowing to me, and I had never demanded it before, but this was not about me.
This was about the one person I could not live without.
I needed blind, utter loyalty for her. There would be no exceptions.
“Kneel and pledge your loyalty to Dianna, the one true queen, or die for the false queen here and now.”
One by one, the assassins stepped from the shadows and knelt.
Then Cameron, Kaden, and Isaiah followed.
Vincent looked around the room before holding Camilla’s gaze, as if he had pledged his sword to her and needed her blessing.
Camilla tipped her head in a slight nod, and they both sank to their knees.
I walked toward the assassin queen as everyone in the room remained on their knees. “Stand,” I commanded, and she met my eyes as she pushed to her feet. “Now tell me, how is it that now, after eons, you and your guild can find Nismera’s palace?”
She lifted her hand, and darkness coalesced on her palm.
It swirled and then dissipated like smoke, leaving an envelope in its wake.
She handed it to me, and I broke the red wax seal, keeping it closed.
It was an invitation, and as I read the overly intricate and fussy writing, my heart began to thunder.
“Because it’s not a secret, my lord.” The assassin queen said. “She’s sent word to every corner of the realm to come watch the execution of the Would-Be Queen.”