Chapter 44
Forty-Four
As Caiden and I near the hall that leads to the emperor’s private chambers, Brevan approaches from the other side. We all turn into the same hallway.
I glance at Brevan but look away quickly. Even just seeing him sends my heart fluttering.
We all stop in front of the skull, and Brevan pushes the secret panel that opens the door. Caiden gestures for Brevan to go. The enforcer steps through the threshold.
“Go on,” the prince says.
I follow Brevan and Caiden enters behind me. The emperor stands in the corner, deep in conversation with someone I can’t see. There’s a thud as the door seals us in and the emperor turns, revealing his guest.
I freeze and I think I forget how to breathe.
A familiar face smiles at me, though I’ve never seen him look the way he does now. His light brown hair is trimmed and his face clean-shaven, his clothes a fine material in the emperor’s preferred colors.
Lee.
“Taylan, it’s good to see you again.” Lee smiles at me like someone who just learned the most delicious secret.
My blood runs cold, and fear crawls down my spine like a spider. Lee can’t be here. He can’t be talking to the emperor like they’re old friends.
“Who is Taylan?” Brevan asks. “And who are you?”
“You remember Ludis, right, Caiden?” the emperor says. “You two played together when you were young. Before the war.”
“Ludis?” Caiden takes a step forward. “I thought you were dead.” He looks at his father. “You told me he was dead.”
“I was, didn’t you hear?” Lee says. “Cast out, my birthright revoked, my name dragged through the mud. All because of one mistake.”
“Why are you here, Ludis?” Caiden asks.
How is this happening? I look around at the gathered men and the only other person who seems as confused as I is Brevan. Was this Lee’s plan the whole time?
“He came to make a deal on behalf of Iskvaland,” the emperor says.
“He can’t make a deal,” Caiden says. “His father told us he was dead. Besides, they sent Sabina for that.”
Lee, or Ludis, laughs.
Brevan’s fingers curl around the hilt of his sword.
I slip a hand into one of the secret pockets sewn into my dress.
I can feel the dagger in there. I’m certain its twin is in my other pocket.
It turned out, all my dresses had two side pockets, carefully hidden in the folds.
I still wonder why, but right now I’m too grateful to be curious.
I remove my hand, hoping I was discreet.
“That’s the thing, kings have a way of forgiving you if you’re their last surviving heir.
So my father isn’t going to have much of a choice.
” Ludis smiles like a lunatic. I’ve never seen him this unhinged.
I saw a darker side of him, a side that scared me, after my mother died.
When he took over the rebellion, he became someone else.
We’d already broken up before my brothers died, but their death was the final straw.
Brevan moves in front of me protectively. “You’re not touching her.”
“Oh, I don’t want her. Taylan’s a decoy. It’s actually quite remarkable how much she looks like my sister.”
I feel sick. The whole time we were together, he knew. He knew I looked like his sister. I swallow down the rising bile. He’s fucking insane.
Brevan looks back at me, confusion and hurt in his expression. “Is that true?”
“Of course it’s not true,” Caiden says. “She entered the temple; she got a god’s gift—a peasant can’t do that.”
“I don’t know how she survived that,” Ludis says. “I thought the temple would take her. It would have made this part easier.”
Caiden joins Brevan in front of me. “Where’s your sister, then?”
“I killed her.” There’s no remorse in his voice. “Do you have any idea how hard it was, how expensive it was, to whisper the right things in the right ears to get my stubborn father to think it was his idea to send my sister to Pendralia? It took years to make that happen.”
“You killed her?” I push past the men and face Ludis. “You killed your own sister? That was always your plan? What did you even need me for? Why did you send me here?”
He grabs my chin, and Brevan pushes Ludis, then draws his sword and points it at him. “Don’t touch her.”
Ludis holds his hands up in front of him in mock surrender. “Alright. I get it, she’s a good lay.”
Brevan’s nostrils flare, and I grab his arm. “He’s not worth it.”
“You’re actually fucking her,” Ludis says with a laugh. Then he smirks at Caiden. “Wasn’t she supposed to marry you? But she’s fucking a guard? I suppose you can’t teach a peasant taste. I mean, she was with me, but she’s slumming it now.”
Caiden lunges at him.
“Enough!” the emperor shouts, and a boom like thunder vibrates around the room. There’s a strange smell in the air, and the hair on my arms stands on end.
“Nobody is killing anybody, do you hear me?” The emperor stands, then walks to the center of the group.
He looks at his son. “Ludis will deliver Iskvaland’s army to us.
” He turns to Brevan. “You will remember where your loyalties lie and get your head back on straight. Seduced by a spy? You’re losing your edge, Brevan.
If you weren’t so useful you’d be thrown in the pit. ”
Then, the emperor looks at me. “And you. You came here in silk, but you’ll leave here in irons. Take her to the dungeon and chain her up.”
Neither Brevan nor Caiden moves toward me. I glare at the emperor, daring him to drag me to the dungeon himself.
“I said, take her to the dungeon, now!” the emperor shouts. Thunder booms again, and I can feel the charge of electricity in the air.
“No,” Caiden says. He lifts his chin toward Ludis. “He is just as much a spy as she is.”
“She’s a peasant,” the emperor says. “A whore sent in to seduce you both.”
Brevan’s knuckles are white around the hilt of his sword, but he remains where he is.
“Fine. I’ll take care of her myself.” The emperor pulls a dagger from his belt and lunges toward me.
I reach for my own weapon but can’t find my pocket fast enough in the folds of fabric.
Just as I finally free my blade, Caiden shoves me to the ground and Brevan blocks the emperor’s strike.
The metal of the blades sings when they meet.
My knife slides across the floor out of reach.
The emperor’s blade falls to the ground. Little sparks dance on his fingertips as he stalks toward Brevan. “How dare you defy me. After everything I’ve done for you. It’s a woman who breaks you. You’re no good to me if you’re not loyal. You’ll join her in the dragon’s pit, you ungrateful wretch.”
Ludis picks up my blade and examines it. He looks down at me. “This is quality work. relics in the hilt.” He readjusts so he’s holding it the way Brevan taught me. I recoil, prepared for him to strike, but he smiles instead. “Huh. You figured it out.”
I have no idea what his true intentions are anymore, but in that moment, I realize two things: he has no intention to harm me, and he still wants the emperor dead. I lock my eyes on his, “Kill him.”
“I knew you were still in there somewhere.” Ludis spins to face the emperor, then shoves my knife into the emperor’s throat.
I scramble away, and Brevan leaps back just as the emperor falls to his knees. The emperor claws at the knife, eyes bulging with terror.
Caiden draws a blade and aims it at Ludis’s throat. The tip brushes against his skin. Brevan draws his sword and stands on the other side of the Iskvalandian prince. “Give me a reason to end you.”
The emperor makes gurgling sounds, blood dripping from his mouth and the wound in his neck. He’s struggling, his movements stiff and awkward. His eyes search the room wildly, like he’s looking for something or waiting for someone to help him.
I stand and move a little closer to where the others are watching the emperor. “He’s dying.”
The emperor falls to his knees. His skin is gray, his eyes wild and bulging. I don’t think he’s going to survive, even if we remove that knife.
“What did you do?” Caiden asks. “Why isn’t he healing?”
Ludis laughs, then looks at Caiden. “You wanted this. Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.”
Caiden lowers his weapon. Brevan follows his lead.
Ludis rubs his throat, then turns his attention to me. “You don’t happen to have another one of those knives, do you, Tay?”
As insane as he is, I believe that he wants the emperor dead just as much as I do. Numbly, I reach into my other pocket and hand the weapon to Ludis.
“Cheers,” he says, holding up the knife like he’s making a toast. Then he thrusts my second knife into the emperor’s back.
I hold my breath, and then I see it. The light fading from the emperor’s eyes. His jaw goes slack, his breath rattles. Ludis kicks him to the ground. The emperor spasms, then stills.
“Long live the emperor,” Ludis says.
“Is he dead?” Caiden asks.
“Yes,” I say before Ludis can answer. “The knives had relics in them.”
Brevan and Caiden both turn to me with looks of surprise.
Ludis smirks. “That’s my girl.”
“I am not your girl,” I snap. “And you are a liar. You set this whole thing up? Even me? How long were you planning this?”
“He’s really dead,” Caiden says.
“Yes, he’s fucking dead,” I say. “And apparently, my ex-boyfriend who asked me to spy for him is a godsdamned exiled prince.”
“Ex-boyfriend?” Brevan asks.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Caiden hisses. “My father is dead, and you’re worried about a woman?”
I step over the dead emperor and stop right in front of Lee or Ludis or whatever the fuck his name is. “You told me he”—I point at Brevan—“killed my brothers.”
“Sorry about that,” he says. “Needed someone to blame and he does have a reputation.”
My face feels hot. “Who killed them, Lee?”
“They’re dead. Does it really matter?” he asks.
“Who. Killed. Them?” I demand.
“Fine. Alright, I killed them. Are you happy? I knew you wouldn’t do the job unless it was personal.”