Relief darted through her. Kala seemed well.
“I am bored. Father Bramwell entertains me with a game of chess and amusing stories of Earth. Quite fascinating how primitive they are with their technologies. He was positively riveted when I explained our household is organized and operated by PSI-2.1 our advanced sentient Intelligence, and that we have sentient robotic servants.”
Shilah smiled, so grateful for the comforting presence of the human priest. Be vigilant. Something has changed in the palace. I can feel the tension on the air.
Her sister’s aura flickered, to tinge yellow with her burst of alarm.
“The castle walls are rife with rumors of a beast being pulled from a Darkan and sent to Nuria, the kingdom of Eternal fire. Did you have anything to do with it?”
Shilah flinched. Guilt burned through her like acid. It hurt something deep inside of her to admit to her sister the blade the emperor held over their heads, and the vile things she had done because of it. “We will speak at dinner.”
She closed her thoughts to her sister and reflected on the impossible thing she had done the previous evening. She had pulled two of the malevolent chakras buried inside captured Darkans into a corporeal form.
The young men had raged with pain when being invaded by her power, thrashed futilely in the chains that constrained them. The manacles, forged from the pure valnetium iron found in the hardened core of Amagarie, were unbreakable and the Darkans’ terrible agony had battered at her psychic shields. It had drained all her energy to hold the two beasts to the physical realm, while a witch had cast spells of immense power to control them.
She had succumbed to a deep sleep to regain her strength, and in the comfort of her bed, she had dreamed of their residual pain. Shilah wished the young Darkans had been strong enough to escape the dungeons like their predecessor, but the emperor had learned from his mistakes. The empire had captured a female Darkan before and made the mistake of only binding her with five shackles of valnetium iron. When Shilah had started to exorcise the beast from her, the rage and strength she’d displayed had been breath-taking. Tormented by pain, she’d burst forth with madness, and had almost destroyed all of those that held her in the upper level of the dungeon before escaping. It was still a mystery how she had done so, for the cells were reputed to be impenetrable. The empire hunted her to no avail. Shilah hoped daily that the Darkan female had made her way to safety or back to her own people.
Shilah despised the Mevian emperor with all her heart. Of the seven kingdoms of Amagarie, the Darkage—the realm of beasts, shadows, and darkness—was the most feared though they had only a small fraction of the number of citizens within the other kingdoms.
Darkans were the only people who possessed something
extra in addition to their unique ability to control a mystical element. The rabid rumors throughout the empire whispered that at a point in their history the king of the Darkage, in a bid for power tried to make a deal with the king of the Demon realm, a mystical world far beyond the Jupiter ring, and the result had been horrifying.
Chakras from the demon realm had spilled into their lands burying themselves in Darkans and cloaking their domain in perpetual darkness. The chakras they housed were brutal and evil, giving them access to powers so destructive they were feared and reviled, and the emperor wanted to rule that evil to build an army. Shilah hated that she had aided his cause, even if she did so unwillingly under the threat of death or worse, enslavement to the emperor’s depraved desires, and the death of her beloved sister, Kala.
Their affiliation had started as a bargain of mutual benefit, where she would use her powers at his request for a special interrogation with a few condemned prisoners, and he would grant her several thousand warriors from his unmatched army to return to Serange. She had done all he asked, but the Emperor had been delaying delivering on his oath. Instead, his demands for her to use her powers to serve him grew in large leaps, and he gave or promised nothing in return. It killed something inside of her to know she had been the one to approach him and placed her life in his hands, and that she had foolishly held onto some hope that he would fulfill his side of their bargain.
The Princess of Dxyriah will become my personal slave…I will enjoy her tongue on me.
That was just one of the sickening thoughts she had gleaned from his mind a few weeks previously. It made Shilah doubt if she were successful at controlling the vile powers in Darkans he would ever let her go. He coveted her for her telepathic powers, so he wanted to break her, and…he desired her body.
Acrid fluid rushed to the back of her throat. She took a few steadying breaths, then forced down the bile as she neared a massive door constructed from iron overlaid with pure gold. A sizeable ornate emerald gem glowed in its center, and twenty guards stood militant, dressed in bronze armor, their features covered with vizors, their feet braced apart, and their hands gripping the hilts of their swords.
She slowed her steps and lifted her chin. “The emperor has requested an audience.”
Two of the guards whistled softly, and the emerald gem clicked several times, and then the door opened. Shilah entered, her slippers loud on the jade green marble floor as she traversed the impressive length of the chamber. The door closed behind her. She ignored the magnificent room with its exquisite golden tapestries illustrating the history of the Empire. They always took her breath away and invited unbounded admiration. She concentrated on the lone figure sitting in the most prominent position. His aura commanded her full attention. She could sense there were others in the throne room, but she did not divert her regard from the man on the high throne. Emperor Jadon Khan sat upon his throne, peering down on those he deemed lesser. White-blond hair hung down his back, and his eyes, the color of gold stared down at her. “How kind of you to join us, Princess Shilah.”
The terrible power in his voice cramped and knotted her stomach, but she presented a serene mien and dropped into an elegant curtsy. “Emperor Khan, how may I be of service?”
I’ll have you on your knees soon my sweet Serangite.
He deliberately spilled his thoughts, hoping she would hear them. She wanted to drop the pretense and let loose her power and kill him. Shilah would probably succeed, but such an action would be foolhardy. Death for her and her sister would be instantaneous for she could not defeat the massive army of his empire. Keeping her countenance tranquil, she met his gaze. “Are we to complete our bargain, Emperor Khan? I admit I am eager to depart for my realm. Each day I am away my people suffer.” She had done everything he had demanded, and he should now be assisting with her demands.
His lips curved in a cold smile. “I have extended your stay in the empire for another year, Princess. Your sister’s too, of course.”
Shock stole her voice for precious seconds. His meaning was unequivocal. “I must decline,” she said firmly. “My people await my return, and I fear I cannot extend my stay any longer in Mevia. Your generous hospitality will be remembered, and your aid to Dxyriah. You swore an oath to grant me fifty thousand warriors to return with by the end of this moon cycle for my aid, which I have rendered for the last several weeks in good faith.”
Despite the chill of warning kissing over her skin, she would bargain fiercely for the liberation of her kingdom. She needed warriors, loyal to her, who would travel with her to Serange and help her take back her throne and aid her in avenging the senseless slaughter of her brother and his wife, and dozens of people loyal to the Symonrah line.
Familiar grief and hate welled in her heart, and she buried the emotions for they had no place at this moment.
“It is my will you remain another year,” he pronounced flatly, with all expectation of being obeyed. He grasped a golden goblet studded with emeralds from the raised dais to his left and drank. The hovering servant hurried over and refilled it with wine, which he emptied once more before saying with a smile, “And you will do so.”
Fury and despair filled her. “I have fulfilled the terms of my bargain with honor, Emperor Khan, I expect the same in return,” she said with all her inbred arrogance. It would not do to appear weak though her stomach cramped. The enemy surrounded her on all sides, this castle sat in the center of the entire Mevian empire. In this room, she was near two of the deadliest individuals of the entire kingdom. For she could also sense the aura of Lord Shenzhen somewhere behind her. So, if the emperor decided to take her head, she would lose both her kingdom and her life.
Those cruel lips curved into another smile, and his eyes glinted with depraved anticipation, but also held a queer admiration. Instead of addressing her, the emperor shifted his regard to Lord Shenzhen, the ruthless grand general of his army, who was entirely without compassion and was Khan’s most loyal supporter. As if she was a fly to be discarded as if his promises were made from ashes. As if there were no consequences for them in this despicable turn of events.
“The honor and judgment of the empire must not be called into question,” she said with practiced diplomacy. “I urge you to fulfill our bargain tonight, as agreed.”