Chapter 12
Twelve
Sabina
Every sound, every ripple of fabric, every footstep has me on edge. The blanket smells like Brevan. It should be soothing, but it just makes me feel worse.
When the sounds of the camp waking filter through the fabric, I abandon any hope of sleep. With the blanket wrapped around me, I step out into the early dawn light.
“Good morning, your highness,” Nate says.
“Were you up all night?”
“The enforcer didn’t trust anyone else to guard your door,” he says. “But don’t worry, I’m completely alert.”
“Princ—Empress, how did you sleep?” Brevan asks as he approaches the tent.
“I didn’t. Where were you? Nate needs to get some sleep.” I realize my tone is harsher than I intended. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you were doing something important.”
“I was assisting the emperor,” he says with a tone that implies it was not important.
“And how is my—” I clench my hands into fists and fight myself to make the word come out “—husband?”
“He’s well. Already rode ahead with the forward legion. He’s called off our other stops and ordered us to the Winter Estate immediately. We’ve a full day of riding and camping one more night. With luck, we’ll arrive before nightfall tomorrow.”
I let out a relieved breath. “Good.” As soon as I make sure my ladies are safe, I can start devising a plan to get them out. “Were you up all night as well, Enforcer?”
“Don’t worry about me.” He signals toward a group of legionnaires nearby. “Prepare the empress’s carriage.”
They nod, then hurry away.
“I know well enough that don’t worry about me means you didn’t,” I say.
“Empress, I swore an oath to the Emperor and the Empire. I will ensure your safety. That’s my job.”
“Of course.” I understand the tone in his voice well enough. I’m getting too personal. “Please ensure that my men get proper rest.”
It’s already dark when we arrive, but the advance guard had made sure there were already tents waiting for us. Caiden isn’t outside my tent, neither is Brevan. It’s probably for the best. With any luck, Caiden will busy himself with someone else again tonight.
I slip inside and don’t even bother checking my surroundings before crawling under the blankets. If someone is so desperate to kill me, they’ll eventually succeed, I suppose.
I’m not sure how long I’m asleep when my eyes snap open. Someone is calling my name. It’s a lilting, haunting kind of sound. Unfamiliar but oddly soothing.
I pull on my useless slippers and wrap a blanket over my shoulders before peering out the tent flap.
Fog rolls in, like a thin cloud billowing across the snow-covered ground. I watch it, then stick my foot into it, dragging it through the mist. It breaks, only to reform quickly. It’s unusually thick, but maybe that’s how fog behaves in these woods?
I look over to ask Nate if he’s seen anything like this before, then tense. He’s not there. I take a step out into the camp. There’s no guards around my tent.
There’s nobody around at all.
An eerie quiet blankets the camp. My pulse races, then I realize this has to be a dream. It can’t be real. There’s no way there’d be no legionnaires or guards.
The voice calls my name again.
“Hello?” I take a few more steps, leaving the shelter of the tent behind. “Who’s there?”
My slippers sink into the fresh snow and my feet are quickly freezing. It’s so real for a dream, but it’s not the first time I’ve had a dream that felt this way. Only those ones involve someone else.
I look around, half expecting to see Brevan arrive to sweep me off my feet, but he’s not here.
“Taylan…”
A glowing purple light appears in the same area the voice seems to be coming from. It floats between the tall pine trees, summoning me.
It’s like the light is pulling me in, urging me forward. If this isn’t a dream, it’s a terrible idea, but I also don’t feel like I have a choice. My feet seem to move on their own, oblivious to what I desire.
The light floats ahead of me, weaving between the trees. My feet sink into the fresh snow and I continue forward, pushing branches out of my way as I walk.
My breath comes out in clouds, but I stop feeling cold and drop the blanket. The trees are closer together, the canopy blotting the sky so I can’t see the stars. The light gives off a warm purple glow, guiding me through the darkness.
There’s a structure ahead, something that looks old and crumbling. It takes a few more steps for me to realize that it looks like a smaller version of the temple I entered near the castle.
The pillars are crumbling, only one of them remaining upright. Large stone bricks are scattered around and snow covers the interior. A few plants peek up, bright green even in the strange purple light.
There shouldn’t be anything growing. At least I know I’m really in a dream.
The light stops at the center of the ancient building, pulsing softly, as if beckoning me. I approach slowly, uncertain about what’s under the snowfall.
Once I’m inside, I reach for the light. When my fingers brush over the warm glow, it explodes in blinding violet. I shield my eyes with my arm as the air heats around me.
When the light dissipates, I lower my arm, then look around. My lips part and I turn in a slow circle, marveling at the transformed space.
I’m no longer standing in a ruined temple. It’s as if it were brand new. Tall white pillars support a sturdy roof, a shiny marble floor is under my feet, no sign of the snow that was here seconds before. At the center of the temple is a vat of oil, glowing with a purple flame.
“I was wondering when I’d get you alone so we could talk,” a sharp feminine voice calls.
It’s not the same as the one that lured me here, but it’s familiar. “Who are you?”
“It’s strange how humans can never recall what happens in that temple. Something was tampered with there. Someone didn’t want any of the gifts to be at their full potential. But this is my temple. And nobody has altered it.”
A woman clothed in tight black leather strolls into the temple as if she appeared from the air. Her long black hair is loose behind her and her face is beautiful, but terrifying.
“You’re a god?” Something stirs in me, a twisting, slithering sensation. I’ve felt it before. When my magic is activated. When I’m tempted to use it.
“You’re Mara. You’re the Goddess of Death.”
“For a moment, I was worried I chose the wrong person.” Her movements are feline, purposeful and graceful.
“Why? Why did you give me this magic? I am grateful, but I’m not sure how it helps me.”
“You’ll figure it out,” she says.
“Is it connected to the prophecy? Is there a reason my mark is the opposite of Brevan’s?” I ask.
She smirks. “How very interesting that your first thoughts are of him.”
“I care for him.” My words are more defensive than I meant.
She studies her fingernails, as if this conversation is boring. With a sigh, she drops her arms to her side. “I know you do. And in doing so, you risk everything.”
My pulse kicks up. “What do you mean?”
“He is light, and you are darkness.” Her tone is matter of fact. As if I should have known this already.
“So it is the prophecy?”
“Not as you know it. That prophecy, the one the humans hold over everyone is a myth. It was used to offer false hope. Invented by someone who wanted control.”
“It’s not real?” A pit forms in my gut. I thought maybe it meant something. That maybe there was some hope there. “I thought it brought magic back for all.”
“You don’t need a prophecy for that. But know that all magic comes with a cost. Giving it to everyone would change everything,” she warns.
“Wouldn’t it make it better?” I ask.
“I don’t know, would it? Or would you rather keep your power? You have the chance here to claim it all. To end one empire and begin a new one. It’s at your fingertips,” she says.
My heart hammers against my ribs. Is that what I want? To claim power for myself? I haven’t let myself think beyond the destruction of the Pendralian royal line. But once they’re gone, then what?
It would create a vacuum. A castle without a ruler. A perfect opportunity for someone else to swoop in and claim power.
Someone who could be even worse. But not me. I never wanted that.
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask.
“That’s what you must decide. You promised me the downfall of an empire. What you do with it after it’s gone is your choice.” She turns in a slow circle. “I forgot how beautiful it is here in this realm. I really should visit more often.”
“Can you give me something? I don’t understand what’s happening. How I got magic how I can give it to others…how the emperor chose who could get it, how he controlled those with magic…Please. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with all this.”
“That is not my job,” she says. “I chose you. I gifted you with something that will change everything. But I don’t believe in removing free will. It’s still your choice.”
Free will. My choice. I run my fingers over the scab on my wrist. How much of a choice will I have once Caiden knows what I can do?
Icy fingertips join mine and I look up at Mara. “I removed the relic. You are bound to nobody but yourself.”
Brevan’s scars flash in my memory. “What about the others? All the people who were bound to the emperor. He’s dead, shouldn’t that free them?”
“It would, if he were the one the magic was bound to.” She walks closer to the violet light, then drags her fingertips through the flickering flames.
“You’re saying there’s someone else?” My brow furrows. “Caiden?”
“Now, my darling, how would I find any pleasure in this if I gave you all the answers?” The fire is in her palms now, burning brighter than before.
“Is that what this is? Entertainment?” I scoff. “This is people’s lives. You can’t use us as toys.”
“I can do whatever I please. Lucky for you, I have other motives. But I’ve been locked away a long time. I’m not in a rush.” She’s watching the tongues of purple fire licking at her hands and wrists. She’s no longer interested in me.
“What other motives?” I ask tentatively.
She closes her hands around it, snuffing it out. We’re illuminated only by starlight. With careful steps, she approaches me. I tense, but remain in place.
“You’ll see. We have much in common. You came to me for a reason, daughter.” She touches her fingers to my temple and a jolt of pain surges through me. My back arches and I scream.
The memory flashes through me. The temple, an offer from death, an agreement, a mission. I fall to my knees, wincing as the pain subsides. My head throbs and the backs of my eyes ache, but it’s manageable now.
I look up at her. “I came to you so I could bring this empire to its knees.”
She grins. “Yes, you did. And my sweet, it’s almost time. But you’re not quite ready.”
“How will I know?” I ask.
“I will return. Until then, remember what I’ve told you. And it wouldn’t hurt for you to find out what was hidden from your people.”
There’s a vague shape above me but it’s so bright I can’t open my eyes.
“Empress? Wake up.”
“Wake up, Empress.”
“Is she breathing?”
“Move.” Someone shakes me. “This isn’t funny. Open your eyes. You are not allowed to die yet. I need you.”
“Stop. Someone get him out of here!”
I try to open my eyes again, but they don’t want to. I realize I’m moving, but I can’t feel anything.