Chapter 41
The Alliance will cease to exist. We will rise from its ashes as an Empire, unfurling our wings on a new dawn. I humbly accept the title of Emperor and will do all in my power to lead and guide with grace and nobility.
— EMPEROR ROMERO’S STATEMENT TO THE FORMER ALLIANCE
‘Sorrow?’ My eyes flickered open as Matthias whispered my name. He placed a soft kiss to my temple, and I almost closed them again, before visions of last night slammed into my head. I glanced around, rubbing my tired eyes.
We’d borrowed a small boat from the port, before taking the river towards the coastline.
Feathery clouds lay among a sky of lemon and amber, the sun peeking over the horizon in the east. The boat rocked gently in the sweet embrace of the rolling waves as Asher guided her to a natural harbour.
I squinted into the distance, towards where the gulls swooped over the sand dunes.
Matthias exhaled deeply. ‘I swear, as soon as this is over, I’m getting the finest ocupath to make you at least twenty pairs of glasses.’
I laughed, reluctantly moving away from the warmth of his arms, where I’d fallen asleep the night before. ‘You look better without them, you know.’
He barked out a laugh, then his features cooled as Asher leapt from the boat onto the huge grey rock marking the little bay where we’d leave the boat.
We trod across the beach into the dunes, sand clinging to the hem of my damp skirts.
‘Your Highness? Captain?’ A guard stood above us, his brow creased in confusion. ‘Oh thank Evella! We thought we’d have to desert!’
He jumped down as more hazy faces appeared around us, and for a few moments I stood, not sure where to look, as shoulders were slapped and guards embraced their king and captain.
Pablo hopped off into the dunes, towards the smell of sizzling bacon, closely followed by indignant shouts.
‘Shall we eat?’ Glesni said, hoisting up her skirts and groaning as she shifted her stiff legs into the dunes. ‘Before that bloody wolf eats it all.’
Though I’d eaten my fill, my stomach twisted uncomfortably as I took in the soldiers hiding in the dunes.
At the most, there were two hundred of them.
The rest were spread out, on Ifan’s orders, supposedly defending the coast, when the real threat had come from inland.
Two hundred guards against the might of Romero, with the whole Shuteran continent bending to his will.
I shuddered despite the warmth of the rising sun.
Glesni took a large swig of the bitter coffee, whispering something in a young guard’s ear. He spat his drink into the flames, choking with laughter, cheeks red. I grinned as Pab’s shaggy head appeared round the guard’s side, lifting a huge chunk of still steaming bacon and gulping it down.
Matthias and Asher sat side by side, heads bowed, and my heart skipped a beat as my husband tucked the hem of his tattered shirt into his breeches. Asher’s hand rested on Skye’s knee, who feigned interest while Enfys read my sister-in-law her favourite passages from The Prophecies.
As my sister’s lilting voice carried over the gentle crackling of the dying fire and the call of the gulls, my heart swelled at the sight of them. This mismatched group who’d stand by each other till the end, and I swallowed hard.
I focused on the shuddering flames, blinking away the tears and rubbing at my ever-throbbing head.
I didn’t want to leave them. Suddenly, the desire to survive overwhelmed me.
For years, I’d run, hidden away, in the misguided belief I was keeping those I loved safe.
Safe from what lurked in my veins. I’d denied myself love, friendship.
All because I feared my gifts. Harnessing one side of my blessing gave me the ability to protect myself.
Help others. The time had come to shake off the past. To face both Evella’s gifts. Embrace them and become their master.
Glesni chuckled away to herself as a rather confused guard searched for the bacon he couldn’t recall eating.
She was right. Damn woman was always right. No matter how my pulse spiked at the thought of finally unleashing the purple threads, these people needed me.
And I needed them.
I laughed as the guard finally worked out what had happened, bravely diving after Pablo. Above us, the gulls screeched at the sudden interruption.
‘Glesni?’ The old woman’s head turned my way, and I steeled my spine. ‘Glesni, I need—’
The guard cried. ‘My ankle!’
Gods, I hoped Pablo hadn’t bit him. The camp laughed.
‘I’ll fix him.’ Enfys strode past, a ghost of a smile on her lips, before hoisting herself through the grassy dunes.
‘What do you want, girl?’ Glesni hobbled towards me, a knowing glint in her eyes.
‘Training,’ I replied.
She raised a brow.
‘So I can balance my gifts. So I can…’
I stared above us. Narrowing my eyes as the gulls converged, turning the sky into a swirling, screaming grey cloud. I clutched my chest as their panic flooded me.
‘ASMAR!’
The whole camp spun towards the cry, swords unsheathed. All aimed at King Romero of Drufaera, standing at the crest of the dunes.
I shielded my eyes against the sun, gasping as the guard next to him came into focus. A guard holding a knife to the throat of my struggling sister.