Chapter 9
Nine
Brevan
The silence is like cold water holding me under. I forget to breathe while I force myself to stare at my victims. The pain lancing across my back is less than I deserve.
All the guards and soldiers nearby back away slowly, getting as far away from me as possible. I don’t blame them. Aside from the crackling flames on the burning buildings, it’s silent.
Caiden marches toward me, fists clenched. He stops right in front of me and hisses in a low whisper. “What was that?” His eyes flash with dangerous malice. “I thought you couldn’t use that magic anymore.”
I clench my teeth and my vision blurs, the ground under me is unsteady, but I stare at the new emperor. “You wanted them gone.”
“What use is it if they feel no pain? How much fear can they have when they know they get such an easy death?” He’s still quiet, but a few legionnaires have ventured closer, hoping to hear our exchange.
“Easy?” I take a step toward him, the slices on my back pulling as I move, sending fresh waves of agony through me. It’s taking everything in me to breathe normally. “They’re dead, Caiden. All of them. Their life gone in a flash.”
He leans closer to me and speaks so low only I can hear him. “Next time, make it hurt. Make them fear. I want to hear them begging.”
With the ease of a practiced manipulator, he fixes a smile on his face, then speaks loud enough for his voice to carry. “Well done, old friend.”
I glare at him, knowing he’s desperate to show that he’s the one who holds my leash, now that his father is dead.
His words seem to break the hold on the others, and I can almost feel their collective breath.
There’re murmurs and whispers, and the men who have seen my ruthlessness without so much as flinching are backing away from me.
It’s the first time I’ve ever used this magic in front of any of them.
The few times the emperor directed it, I was alone.
It was always kept hidden. But I’m done hiding. I’m done playing their games.
Caiden claps his hand on my back, and I shrug him off. “Don’t.”
He glares at me, but I return the look. If he ever thought there was a chance of repairing our relationship, he should know he crossed a line from which there’s no return.
“Search the homes,” I call. “You should find some relics there.” I point to a small shop on my left. “And some in those two homes.” I point again, guiding my men to the locations where I sense the relics.
They’ve gotten good enough at grabbing anything suspicious that I no longer need to do it myself. They’ll take anything of value anyway because if it’s not a relic, it’s considered a spoil. And these men have gotten very wealthy from killing.
Caiden is still standing next to me, and I want nothing more than to be free of his company. When I leave to return to my horse, I see Sabina on the ground.
“I can’t believe you made her watch,” I snarl.
“She needed to know what you’re capable of.” Caiden crosses his arms over his chest then shrugs.
“And then you left here there?” I storm over to her and scoop her up. Pain explodes across my back, and I can’t mask the wince this time. The fabric of my tunic sticks to the wounds but thankfully, the leather armor should hide the blood.
“You’re insane if you think she’ll still want you after that,” Caiden says.
“That’s why you did this? I told you, we are done. You won. She’s all yours.” I press my fingers against her neck. “She’s still breathing.”
“Just shock from watching you. Probably a broken heart. It’s hard on a person finding out they aren’t who you thought they were, isn’t it? Maybe the two of you are even now.” Caiden flashes a smile. “Put her in her carriage.”
“She needs medical attention,” I argue.
He makes a show of looking around the destroyed village. Flames are already eating through most of the buildings. “I’m afraid you might have killed the doctor.”
I grind my teeth and walk away from him before I do something I’ll regret.
Killing him will only end with more death.
My sister and Sabina. Caiden made it clear before we left that it’s not just my sister’s life on the line.
He’d sacrifice anyone who ever showed me the faintest bit of kindness. Even Sabina isn’t safe from his wrath.
After I close the door to the carriage, I manage to make it to my horse.
The injuries have reached the point where the pain is a buzzing constant.
It’s not going to ease, and it’s not going to heal without treatment.
With any luck, it’s already becoming infected, and I’ll be dead soon.
Then Sabina will be safe from me. And Caiden can no longer hold my life against my sister.
She’ll be free to make her own choice. If she wants to serve the emperor without me to control her, she can.
If she chooses to take the other way out, I’ll be waiting for her in the afterlife. But at least it will be her choice.
Caiden sits too tall on his horse. He’s too smug. Too fucking sure of himself. Even his father was afraid of assassins. Of revolutionaries. But this spoiled new emperor thinks himself invincible. And largely because I’m riding behind him, making sure I stay alongside Sabina’s carriage.
He’s caged me like he’s caged her. I hope she is the one who ends him. That she can get her friends to safety and use whatever magic it was that she was gifted in the temple to destroy him and his legacy. I used to think that maybe this empire could be salvaged. Now, I want it all to burn.
The servants and soldiers who were sent ahead already built the tents.
It’s a spot we stop at regularly when making the annual trek to the winter estate.
A large clearing set between tall pine trees, a half hour ride from a village that we haven’t destroyed.
Partially due to the entertainment they provide our soldiers and partially due to the fact that I lied when I told the former emperor they had no traces of relics.
The town is swimming in them. Word seems to have spread over the years that this village is the only one that’s safe from the enforcer’s wrath. Every time we pass through, I sense more magic. People must be hiding a fortune in relics here, thinking the land is somehow shielding them from me.
It’s my only solace against the horrors I committed for the former emperor. Every time we passed through, I get the satisfaction of knowing there are more relics he couldn’t touch.
“I’ll take your horse, enforcer,” a young man says as I climb off my steed. I hand him the reigns silently, then cross to the carriage.
My cheeks heat when I knock. My cock aches at the memory of what I encountered when I opened the door this morning. What I wouldn’t give to be those fingers between her thighs.
Sabina opens the door, her face pale, eyes red. She’s been crying.
“Yes?” Her tone is cold. Her voice somewhere far away. Like she’s disconnected from the present.
“We’ve reached camp, Your Majesty,” I say.
“I’ll stay here.” She reaches for the door but freezes, her gaze catching something behind me.
“You’re awake, little raven,” Caiden says. “I was worried you’d followed through on those threats to join the dead. Come, we need to celebrate.”
She stares at him, face impassive, devoid of all emotion. I’ve never seen her like this. It’s the look of defeat. Like someone who’s lost all hope. I want to shake her, yell at her, remind her who she is and what she’s capable of, but I turn away, admitting defeat of my own.
I wanted her to hate me. To make her realize I’m not worth the risks I know she’d take for me. I got exactly what I wanted but it’s more painful than I expected.