49
Kathrine paced the length of her room, unable to shake off her restlessness.
The Queen’s joyful laughter echoed across the rooftops of Antambazi, spreading good cheer among her subjects.
If anyone were to ask, not a single resident of the realm could explain the reason for this uplifting energy.
When the Queen was happy, Antambazi was happy.
No one questioned what lurked behind that smile.
No one except Kathrine. She had long since abandoned such naivety regarding their leader’s good spirits.
“I must inform the butcher’s daughter of the tragic loss of her husband,” Sevar said behind her back.
Kathrine pivoted around and met his blank face. “I still don’t understand why we didn’t bring Branko back. He completed his mission on Earth.”
Sevar huffed. “Because she doesn’t want him back. Got it?”
Kathrine stepped closer to him, desperate to feel the closeness they’d once shared. He was her fiancé. If she couldn’t trust him, who could she trust? “Why doesn’t the Queen want him back? Don’t you ever question her orders?”
Sevar’s dark eyes fixed on her. Eyes Kathrine could still lose herself in – if he allowed it.
His silence encouraged her to press on, “Don’t you wonder why she approved Branko’s marriage to the butcher’s daughter, only to throw him out as bait later?
Aren’t you curious why she was so angry about Mikhail Korovin being detained, even though she hates him?
Don’t you wonder what’s in her laboratory?
What’s the connection between the foster children and the Chosen?
Who your parents are? Why some reptilians need shaded glasses to endure the sun, and others don’t? Why are we different? Why—”
Sevar shoved her against the wall, covering her mouth with his hand. Annoyance twisted his features. “Stop asking questions, Kathrine.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. She tried to free herself, but his muscular body kept her pinned against the wall. She could fight back, but that would make noise and attract attention. How would she explain it to the Queen later?
When Sevar removed his hand from her mouth, she said, “I can’t, Sevar. I can’t stop asking questions.”
“Stop digging, Kathrine. Or the Queen might start suspecting you.”
His last words made her square her shoulders, though she wanted to shrink. She couldn’t let herself be exposed – not even to Sevar. “Why would she suspect me?”
His lips curled into a smile. “Do you still believe I don’t know it was you who freed the Oracle sixty years ago?”
Kathrine gasped.
“Yes, my violet love. I’ve known all along.”
“You have no proof,” she said, keeping her voice steady.
Her fiancé tilted his chin upwards, as if he wasn’t already towering a head above her. “My word weighs more than any proof, Kathrine.”
They locked eyes, her violet gaze meeting Sevar’s dark abyss.
“I’m not threatening you, Kathrine. I care about you, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers. As a disciple of the Queen, Sevar could be cruel, but Kathrine knew the opposite side of him.
She just didn’t know which side she was facing at that moment. The Sevar who would keep her secret out of fear for her safety, or the Sevar who would use it against her.
Kathrine realised it was time to voice what she’d been suspecting for a while. “I know you provided the Tribunal with evidence against Mikhail Korovin.”
“What?” He frowned. But not before the brief flash in his black eyes betrayed him. “Where did you get that idea, Kathrine?”
Just a feeling. Because I know you, she thought. “Because you have the recordings from Alberobello.”
“Many others have them.” He didn’t flinch.
“They had them. Before you and I gathered them all and made sure no one would speak. We were the only ones to hold the records as leverage against Korovin, but we weren’t supposed to use them. For now.”
“Well, it seems we missed a recording, and someone else got to it,” Sevar said. His behaviour was an act – the mocking smile, the honeyed voice, the indifferent expression.
This time, Kathrine had hit the mark. “We don’t miss, Sevar. Never. I hinted to the Queen that perhaps David and Ikon messed up with the recordings while they were still alive, so she wouldn’t suspect you, but I know it was you.”
Neither of them spoke again. Both understood what this meant. Each of them held the other with uncertain but potentially deadly ropes that could turn into a noose in the Queen’s hands.
The internal communication line interrupted their silence. Sevar and Kathrine both turned their heads towards the wall – and the phone hanging there, whose special signal only rang when a call came from the Royal Chambers.
Sevar gave Kathrine a warning look, which she answered with a curt rise of her chin. Then he walked over and answered the call. After a brief conversation, he hung up. “She wants us.”
They entered the Queen’s chambers side by side as if nothing had happened. She invited them to sit at her table, where a glass of raspberry juice awaited each of them.
“My brother has awoken, children,” the Mother of Reptilians announced after taking a delicate sip from her glass.
Kathrine nearly choked on her juice.
Sevar cleared his throat. “Forgive me, Mother… your brother?”
“That’s right.” The Queen smiled, a blush staining her cheeks.
“Your Majesty, are you talking about the one who exiled our race to Antambazi?” Kathrine asked.
“Quite right, my daughter. I never thought I’d have the chance to see him again, but it seems the gods have decided otherwise.”
Kathrine glanced at Sevar to gauge if he shared her confusion.
“Hmm, Mother?” He squinted. “If your brother has awakened … Does that mean he’s been… alive all this time?”
The Queen nodded. “He’s been on something like a holiday. The truth is, I don’t know exactly where he is right now, but for the past few nights, I’ve felt his presence stronger than ever. But he’s back, and I’m more than eager to show him what I’ve accomplished in his absence.”
“You want to show him the progress of Antambazi?” Kathrine asked.
“Oh, I’ll certainly show him! When he trapped us in this realm, I had no idea it would become the catalyst for building my empire. I’d say I’m quite grateful to him today.”
Kathrine wrinkled her nose at the ease with which the Queen spoke of her brother, the man who’d betrayed King Arius and had been the cause for the reptilians’ exile. But then, when had the Mother of Reptilians ever behaved as expected?
“You’re not suggesting we throw a celebration in his honour and invite him to Antambazi?” Kathrine glanced at Sevar.
The Queen’s laughter resonated throughout the room. “We will invite him here, of course, daughter, but not for a celebration – so we can kill him.”
“Just when I thought you were softening up, Mother,” Sevar added with his usual sarcastic smile.
The Queen took another sip of her juice.
“Not in the slightest, Sevar. I’m glad my brother has awakened because I finally have the opportunity to settle my score with him.
This was unforeseen, so we’ll need to accelerate some of our plans.
Kathrine, my dear, I want you to break the necromancer as soon as possible.
We need him on our side. Convince him that he must join us. ”
The raspberry juice almost came back up Kathrine’s throat. There was something about the necromancer that chilled her blood.
Sevar bared his teeth. “Why Kathrine, Your Majesty? Give him to me.”
Hopefully , the Queen would listen to him.
“He loves women. Kathrine will have more success with him, I’m sure of it.” The Queen winked playfully. “Besides, I have a more important task for you, Sevar. Starting tomorrow, you will run the Hospital for Immortal Creatures.”
Sevar’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I said we need to speed up our plans, and that includes taking over the Hospital. I warn you – no unnecessary violence, but keep those creatures under control. All hospital operations – surgeries, patient seeing, and the like – will continue as before. It’s too early for them to hate us, especially now that my brother is awake.
Everything will carry on as usual, but under new management. ”
Sevar clasped his hands in front of his face and sighed. “I don’t see how anyone in that building would obey me willingly.”
The Queen gave him a look that made Kathrine’s stomach churn. “They obey the manticore,” she said, then added in a softer tone, “Are you saying he is stronger than you?”
Sevar’s cheeks flushed with anger. Ego was his greatest weakness, one the Queen regularly exploited, though he seemed oblivious to it. Kathrine wondered what her own weakness might be – one that was being exploited without her realising it.
Sevar hissed, “To those creatures, the manticore is a saviour. I will be nothing but an invader.”
“It all depends on perspective, Sevar. It all depends on perspective…” The Queen smiled. “Make them believe you are the good that saves them from the current evil, and the roles will reverse.”