Chapter Twenty-One
It tasted as if Allyssa had swallowed a handful of sand. Peeling her eyelids open, she found herself lying facedown on a cold, stone floor. When she went to push herself up, she discovered her wrists were tied behind her back. Her ankles were also secured together. Her arm hurt like hell.
She remembered the door to Kerdan’s room exploding open, smoke everywhere, and sentries grabbing her. Turning her head, she tried to get a better look at her surroundings.
“She’s awake,” a man said.
“Good,” a woman’s steely voice replied. It lacked the heavy accent of most Russeks. “Sit her up.”
Black boots stepped in front of Allyssa’s face. A man squatted down, leering at her.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her throat scratchy.
The man grabbed her hair, yanking her upright to a sitting position and leaning her against the wall. Tears sprang in her eyes. A wood shard protruded from her arm, blood soaking through her sleeve.
“Leave us,” the woman ordered.
A few candles had been lit, and a dying fire flickered in the hearth. Allyssa squinted in the dim gray light, trying to see better. In the center of the room there was a lavish bed, plush rugs throughout, and elaborate paintings on the walls. Where was she? She must have been unconscious for hours if the day was almost gone.
A woman neared, stopping about six feet away, her black dress swirling around her legs. Allyssa craned her head back and looked up to see Eliza—the queen’s mother.
“It’s time we formally meet,” Eliza said. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes.” Even though Jana was Darmik’s half sister, making her Allyssa’s aunt, Allyssa had no relation to Eliza. “Why did you bring me here?”
The woman tilted her head to the side, observing Allyssa as if she were an unusual animal. “You are here so I can end you,” she finally answered.
“Then why am I still alive?” She needed to keep Eliza talking so she could work on the knots around her wrists, praying they came loose before the woman realized what she was doing. It was her only chance of escaping.
“You have your father’s quick mind.” Eliza strolled over to the hearth, warming her hands before the fire. “You are alive because I want to talk to you. Look into your eyes and see you suffer the way I have. Once I’m done, I’ll gladly kill you.”
If Allyssa didn’t undo her bindings in the next minute or so, her best option would be to draw Eliza closer and then knock her out. Sentries were probably posted outside the door, so she’d have to keep the noise to a minimum.
“Being the empress of Emperion was a great honor.” Eliza faced Allyssa and clasped her hands together. “However, it was also a curse.” Lowering her voice, she continued, “I had to watch my husband, a man I loved dearly, seduce any woman or girl he chose. And there was nothing I could do except witness him making a fool of himself, humiliating me in the process. I should have been ruling the kingdom and making the decisions, not some womanizing sorry excuse of a man.” Her chest rose and fell, her hands shaking. “I ended up detesting Hamen.”
She came before Allyssa and squatted so they were eye level. “I’m sure you know that Emperor Hamen slept with my brother’s wife, and that is how your father was conceived. Darmik is a bastard, yet he rules over Emperion.”
Her father sat on the throne because he married Rema, the rightful heir, not because he stole it. Instead of responding, she kept working on the knots, praying they came loose.
Eliza gracefully stood. “Darmik doesn’t deserve to rule Emperion. My daughter does. It is her right by birth. I didn’t suffer all those years to be tossed out like a piece of trash, sent into exile.”
“Jana is reigning over Russek,” Allyssa pointed out. Wasn’t that enough? The queen seemed to have built a life here. Why couldn’t she leave Emperion alone?
Eliza glided to the hearth, picking up the metal rod resting against it. Then, in one swift motion, she swung the rod, striking Allyssa’s leg.
Allyssa cried out in agony, falling to her side, unable to remain upright. Hopefully, her leg wasn’t broken. Before Allyssa realized what was happening, Eliza swung the rod again, this time whacking her side. A sickening crack reverberated in her torso. Her vision blurred from the awful blow. If she could free her hands, she could fight back. But the knot wouldn’t come loose and her leg…her torso…blackness hovered at the edges of her vision, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t insult my daughter,” Eliza sneered. “Being queen of Russek is pathetic. We want, and will get, Emperion. I will be at Jana’s side to help her, and, together, we will control everything.”
Allyssa sucked in a deep breath, and a fierce pain rippled through her ribs. Lying on the floor, helpless, she realized this might be it. All this time she had feared dying at Soma’s hands—not Eliza’s. If she died here, Jana would win. Emperion would fall, her parents would be slaughtered like pigs, and her people would suffer. She couldn’t die. Not here, not now, not like this. Grinding her teeth, she forced herself to say, “You mean King Drenton will rule, just like Hamen. Jana is merely King Drenton’s wife. She has no real power of her own.”
Fury lit up Eliza’s face, and she lifted the rod, about to swing it when someone knocked on the door to the bedchamber. She rushed over to answer it. “Excellent,” she said as she closed the door and faced Allyssa again. “My guard has just informed me that Kerdan returned to his room and saw the mess. He assumes you’ve escaped and has sent out a search party to retrieve you.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “I suspect things are going to get interesting around here. Too bad you won’t be alive to see it.” She swung the metal rod, hitting Allyssa’s outer thigh.
Allyssa screamed, curling into a ball. Blood seeped out of the wound in her arm, soaking her shirt and pooling on the floor. She needed to stop the bleeding, but every time she moved, she aggravated it further.
Eliza smiled. “You have no idea how long I’ve been planning this.” She took a step closer.
“I’m sure it was long before your daughter assassinated the queen. The two of you probably came here with the intention of using Russek to conquer Emperion.” If she could distract her, perhaps the evil woman wouldn’t hit her again.
“Is that what Kerdan told you?” Eliza shook her head, disgust written all over her face. “Men are always meddling in my plans. Well, the prince can meddle all he wants, but it won’t make a difference this time.” Raising the rod, she inspected it. “I can’t believe my life has resorted to this,” she mumbled, tossing the rod in the corner of the room. It landed with a loud clank, startling Allyssa.
“We came to Russek with the intention of starting a new life. I didn’t expect the king to fall madly in love with my daughter. But when he did, it changed everything. I watched my husband sleep with whores,” Eliza whispered. “Do you think I would allow my daughter to behave in such a degrading manner? The perfect opportunity presented itself, so we took it. Jana refused the king’s advances, making it abundantly clear that she wouldn’t share a bed with a married man—even if he was the king. He threatened to have her executed for refusing him. Jana said she would rather die with her virtue intact than do something she would regret. He was furious, and it made him want her even more. A week later, the queen died.”
Kerdan had implied that Jana killed his mother. Allyssa had seen the letter the queen wrote about not trusting Jana. “Surely you’re not saying King Drenton killed his own wife?”
“That is exactly what I’m telling you. Once the queen was properly buried, the king presented himself to Jana, and she accepted his marriage proposal.”
“You’re lying.” Allyssa’s body shook. She was in so much pain she could barely focus on their conversation.
Eliza raised her eyebrows. “Why would I lie? What purpose would it serve?”
“It seems…too convenient.”
“I’m not saying Jana didn’t encourage him. Because she did. We took full advantage of the situation. But she did not kill the queen, nor did Soma have anything to do with her death. The murder of the queen is on the king’s hands.”
A man capable of killing his wife was not a man at all. Didn’t Eliza fear for Jana’s safety?
“When Drenton learned Jana and I were sent into exile, he vowed to seek revenge on our behalf.”
“Jana probably planted that idea in his head as well,” Allyssa ground out. The tips of her fingers started bleeding from working on the knots.
Eliza shrugged. “It is not my fault he is easily influenced. That turned out to be an unexpected boon. Unfortunately, he does have one major weakness—his son, Kerdan.” She said Kerdan’s name with thick disdain. “That boy has too much of his mother in him. It’s time for him to go as well. Luckily, he is the one who lost you. When the king learns of your escape, he will be furious, and the prince will be punished.”
“Your plan won’t work. Kerdan will discover that I have been taken.” One of the knots came loose, and she almost cried out in joy. She started working on the next one. It felt like there were two more to go.
Eliza laughed. “No, he won’t. And soon, it won’t matter because you will be dead.” She knelt on the ground, pulling out a long, skinny dagger, the hilt embedded with diamonds. Allyssa’s heart beat erratically—this could be it. “My grandson recommended a sleeping tonic. However, that would be far too merciful for you.”
Allyssa’s bindings wouldn’t come loose, no matter how furiously she struggled.
“Stupid child. You can’t escape me.” Eliza slid the dagger along Allyssa’s leg, slicing her pants open and leaving a thin line that filled with blood.
Allyssa refused to die here like this. Tears slid down her cheeks. She would fight until the end. Flinging her head forward, she tried to head-butt the woman, but missed. Even though her ankles were tied together, she swung her legs around, kicking Eliza’s hip. The woman fell to the side. Irate, Eliza righted herself, grabbing Allyssa’s injured arm and squeezing. Allyssa’s body went limp, the pain excruciating. Eliza placed the tip of the dagger above Allyssa’s right breast. She smiled and pressed the weapon into her skin.
A white-hot sting shot through her, and Alyssa cried out. I can’t die like this, she silently pleaded. There were too many things she wanted to accomplish with her life. So much left undone, unseen. She wanted to live, to love, and to save her people. The word failure screamed in her mind, breaking her heart, her spirit.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Eliza said, gently stroking her face. “I’m not done with you yet.” She moved the dagger to Allyssa’s shoulder, sliding it down her arm to her elbow, cutting the skin open. Then she placed the dagger below her ear, preparing to slice it off.
Unable to move, Allyssa squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ready herself for the torment that was about to come. If only she could have seen her parents one last time to tell them she loved them. And Odar. Hopefully, he didn’t do something stupid when he leaned of her death. She would never feel his lips on hers again. Never know what it was like to be his wife.
The weight of Eliza’s body suddenly disappeared. Allyssa opened her eyes. Kerdan held Eliza by the neck, slamming her body against the wall. “Is she alive?” he demanded.
Odar knelt next to her, his eyes red. “Yes,” he answered.
The woman’s legs kicked out at Kerdan as she dangled a foot off the ground, clawing at his large hand wrapped around her throat.
“Allyssa,” Odar whispered, his fingers pushing back her hair. He kissed her forehead before cutting the rope around her ankles. He helped her sit up, and then he cut the bindings around her wrists. “Can you stand?”
“I don’t know.” Her ribs and leg throbbed.
Odar gently pulled her to her feet. She yelped from the sharp pain in her thigh. In one swift motion, he picked her up, carrying her to the large bed.
“Besides the piece of wood sticking out of your arm and the shallow knife wounds on your arm and leg, is there anything else I need to know about?” Odar’s eyes scanned her body, assessing her injuries, his face revealing uncurbed fury.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
“I must remove the wood from your arm.”
She nodded, knowing it had to be done despite how much it would hurt. It couldn’t be worse than having her fingernails removed.
“Look at me.”
She did as he instructed and focused on his brown eyes, normally so fierce and confident, now wild with uncertainty.
“I’m sorry. There’s no easy way to do this. How about—” He plucked the wood out of her arm before she realized what he was doing. Pain seared down her arm, making her cry out. Clutching the blanket beneath her body, she tried to work through it by taking steady breaths. Blood ran like water from the open wound, making her dizzy.
Odar ripped off a piece of the blanket and wrapped it around her arm, tying it off. “This should slow the bleeding. You will need stitches though.”
Kerdan released Eliza’s lifeless body, and it tumbled to the ground. “I can’t believe she would be so bold as to orchestrate your kidnapping,” he said as he came over to the bed. “Did she intend to kill you?” Allyssa nodded. “Did she say anything of importance to you? Any hint at her plans?”
Eliza had said a great many things, but only one worth mentioning. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure how Kerdan would take the news. Best to come out and just say it. “She told me that your father killed your mother.”
Kerdan’s body went unnaturally still. “What?” His voice had an edge of hostility to it.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wondering if he believed her.
“My father?” He abruptly sat on the edge of the bed, his face contorted in confusion. “It’s not possible. He loved my mother.”
“We need to get out of here,” Odar said. “Someone is bound to find us if we stay here much longer, and Allyssa’s wounds need tended to.”
Kerdan withdrew his dagger. “You’re right.” He stood, his mask of calm back on. He went over to Eliza’s body and slid the dagger over her throat as if he’d done it a thousand times before. “Let’s go.”
Odar scooped Allyssa up and hurried out of the bedchamber, Kerdan at his heels.