Chapter 21
Zara
I could already tell it wasn’t Lord Heron at the door, since whoever it was knocked before unbolting it. I had no doubt Lord Heron would have just barged in.
“Future Empress?” Talon called as he pulled open one of the double doors. “May I enter?”
“You can do whatever you want, as you can see,” I said with a nod to the heavy wooden plank that had sealed me in.
He frowned and brought the plank inside the room. “Now you’ll have the option to lock yourself in if you choose,” he said, pointing to another set of brackets that enabled me to barricade the doors from this side. “I recommend that you do.”
“So, I’m not a prisoner?”
“Did you expect to be?”
“Honestly? When I first came here, I naively thought I would be treated like a future empress. Not locked in my room and separated from my horse. But then, how could I expect anything more from people who committed war crimes against us?”
The smallest crease appeared between his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
I shot him what I hoped was a withering glare. “You’re really going to play dumb? I thought you were a commanding officer.”
“I am, but I don’t know what war crimes you’re referring to.”
“Because there are so many?” He just looked at me, so I plunged ahead.
“I’m talking about the fact that not only did your eagles attack and eat our bonded horses, they did so off the battlefields.
And worse still, there were innocent civilians and horses who were attacked days away from the nearest battlefield, who were hunted down and killed for sport. ”
He had the decency to look floored. “These are serious accusations. You know this? For sure?”
I searched his face for a moment. He could be faking his surprise, but I simply didn’t know him well enough to be able to tell at this point.
“Commander, I was witness to it,” I said, my jaw clenching at the memory of not only the attacks on myself, but of the carnage I had watched Ama struggle to heal.
“I wasn’t made aware of this,” he said slowly, like his mind was racing. “The Eagle Riders abide by a strict code of honor—”
I scoffed. “Well, obviously not all of them follow this code. I had hoped the treaty would put an end to it, but now that I have been shoved into my room like a political prisoner, I don’t know what to think. Are my people safe?”
“I will personally investigate these war crimes, First Daughter, but the Eagle Riders have been returning steadily. The message that the war is over has spread quickly.”
I nodded once, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins at confronting him about these atrocities. I didn’t know if I could trust him to do something about it, but at least I could investigate it myself if he didn’t.
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“You must be starving,” he said, and it triggered my stomach into tightening painfully. “Shall I send for a servant to bring you something to eat?”
“I am hungry, but I’d rather go check on Shazeera first.”
“You can’t ask her through your bond if she’s all right?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “She’s too far away. I would rather see for myself that she’s comfortable.”
He looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, but he wisely reconsidered it. “I will take you to her.”
The sleeping palace was quiet as I followed Commander Talon through the halls, which were pointlessly labyrinthine.
We went down when I thought we should go up, left when I thought we should go right, until I was so thoroughly confused that a little tremor of unease ran through me.
It would be difficult to navigate this place without a guide and far too easy to get lost.
“That thing I saw in the throne room—the reason Shazeera panicked—what was it? I know it wasn’t human. I could tell from Shazeera’s perception of it.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, like this was the last thing he wanted to talk about. “The emperor calls it Ozul.”
“That doesn’t tell me what it is, though.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “My people have folklore about a creature called the Devourer. A being that moves in the shadows and devours souls, leaving only walking corpses behind.”
My eyes darted to the thick shadows of the halls around us as a cold chill crept over me. I remembered Ama’s strange warning to me about dark creatures. But then, she thought I would be safe here. It seemed like the opposite was true.
“And that’s what Ozul is? This creature from folklore?”
“It’s what I suspect but haven’t confirmed,” he said.
I thought about how Mariyah had said that Ama and Queen Jazela had told her someone had used magic to scry our exact location.
How we had to flee, and then almost immediately, we were attacked by Commander Talon.
I stopped, and Talon turned to me questioningly.
“This Ozul is the reason you found us? He used magic to find our camp once the wards were down.”
“Yes, it was the first time we were able to successfully find the Queen of All Queens’ location. Emperor Altair believed her capture would force a one-sided agreement entirely in our favor.”
I let out a soft snort. I was pretty sure that’s exactly what they got from the current treaty.
We continued down yet another hall, and I asked, “So Ozul has the power to scry, and he may eat souls and leave behind walking corpses—but you have no proof of that, right?” When he hesitated, I glanced at him sharply.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Yet?”
“There are some disappearances that I intend to look into.”
The earlier chill deepened, sinking beneath my skin.
I wrapped my arms around my body while I turned his words over in my head.
The shadowy being that I had seen through Shazeera’s eyes had the power to overcome Ama’s earth magic.
Consuming souls for energy was obviously a very dark magic, one that my people were unfamiliar with, though we had stories, too, warning us of the danger of delving into things better left alone.
Just what kind of monster had the emperor brought into the palace?
When at last we made it out into fresh air, I had to stand for a moment and bask in it, letting the wind tug playfully at my hair to cleanse away the fear that clung to me like oil.
Somehow, the path we’d followed out of the palace had led directly out into the valley, though I could have sworn we’d spent the last ten minutes climbing to the very top of the mountain.
The mountains surrounded us, looming darkly in the moonlight, their tops just seeming to brush the sky.
Before us was a wide expanse of pasture, and though it was too dark to see properly, I could tell by the fresh smell that the grass was thick and verdant.
Sheep bleated in the distance, and the sound relaxed something inside me.
The scene was far more picturesque than I’d expected to find.
Commander Talon continued out into the pasture, and I let out my breath in relief when a familiar blood bay mare immediately came toward us.
Beside her was a slip of a woman with shiny black hair and a guarded expression.
She wore the dusky gold leather armor that I had come to recognize as belonging to the Eagle Riders.
First Talon had been assigned to guard me, and now another Eagle Rider watched over Shazeera.
Were the emperor’s guards not to be trusted?
I heard you coming, Shazeera said, still sounding exhausted.
I just had to see for myself that you were all right, I told her. I’m not sure who I can trust here, but I’m glad Talon kept his word to me, at least.
“First Daughter Zara,” Talon said, “this is Lieutenant Zamir, who volunteered for the first watch of guard duty for Shazeera.”
The lieutenant bowed deeply. “At your service, Majesty.”
“Thank you,” I replied with a smile before turning to Talon. “Did you arrange for an Eagle Rider to guard Shazeera?”
“Yes, I wanted to be sure she was well taken care of.”
I furrowed my brows at him. “Because you don’t trust the emperor’s guards?”
“Because I trust my own Eagle Riders more,” he said smoothly.
I don’t trust any of them, Shazeera said, but at least she’s quiet and hasn’t brought her eagle to the pasture. Are you staying safe? No other encounters with demonic shadows?
Safe enough, I suppose, I told her, but Lord Heron might be just as dangerous as that creature.
I caught her up on everything that had happened since we were separated, and she tossed her head in dismay.
How can Talon not be sure if there are walking corpses shambling around the palace?
I inwardly laughed at her skeptical tone. I can believe it. This place is a labyrinth, cut into the mountain.
Maybe you should come stay out here with me.
With a glance at Commander Talon and Lieutenant Zamir, who were both still standing like silent sentinels, I lowered myself to the grassy hill and tucked my legs under me.
The wind made the grass dance like waves, and I watched its hypnotic movement in the pale light of the moon.
I’m tempted to. I didn’t like the palace before I learned about the soul-sucking sorcerer and potential walking corpses.
She snorted. You will need to be constantly on guard. I know you’re not going to like hearing this, but I think you should practice summoning the wind.
I jerked my head toward her. And risk our bond here? Away from everyone who cares about us?
You’ve always been drawn to the wind, but maybe it’s time you tried speaking to it. What if there’s a way to control it better?
I wouldn’t even know where to begin, I argued, but already I felt myself wavering. Shazeera could be annoyingly persuasive when she wanted to.
That creature was pure malevolence, she said with a shudder. Whatever you can do to protect yourself—and possibly others—you need to do it.
They won’t like me practicing that here.
How would they even know? You can start by just opening yourself to the wind. Listening to it.
“We should get back,” Talon said, his deep voice startling after my silent conversation with Shazeera.