I cleared my throat nervously.
“Excuse me, Your Highness, but what prophecy do you speak of?” I wished my voice wouldn’t come out so high and squeaky. But my heart was beating so hard it was difficult to get the words out at all. I had a very strong feeling that I was in danger here and there was no one to stop him if the Dark Emperor decided that he wanted to cut off my head.
He glared down at me.
“Why, the prophecy that tells how two La-ti-zals together will be able to tell me the desire of my heart. And now, here you are—the second of the two.”
I looked around.
“Um, I don’t see anyone else here,” I ventured.
“Guards!” the Emperor roared and clapped his hands. “Bring out the other La-ti-zal.”
Two tall guards stepped around to the front of the dais. They were dragging someone between them—a woman dressed in flowing white robes and a long red cape. But it wasn’t her clothes that caught my eye the most. As she raised her head, I looked into her face and realized that I knew her.
It was my missing cousin—Rylee!
FORTY-FIVE
NATALIE
Rylee’s eyes widened when she saw me and she mouthed my name. I must have looked shocked as well but I tried to make my face blank as the guards dragged her up to stand beside me. Who knew what the Emperor might think if he found out we knew each other—that we were related? He might decide we were plotting together to trick him. No, I decided, it was better to be quiet about our relationship.
My cousin seemed to think the same thing because after her initial reaction, she gave a quick, mute shake of her head and then faced forward.
“You will tell me the desires of my heart,” the Emperor ordered, glaring at both of us. “Of late, I have lost all joy in life—food has lost its savor and wine is tasteless. I do not even have joy in killing my enemies anymore—everything seems dull and bland and meaningless. Yet I crave for something…I know not what.” He pointed at Rylee and me. “The two of you will tell me what I crave.”
To me, it sounded like he needed some anti-depression medication, but I doubted they had Zoloft on this planet. Also, how the hell were Rylee and I supposed to know what was getting him down and how to make him happy again?
I glanced at my cousin, who had a calm expression on her face. She was looking up at the Emperor, but suddenly I heard her voice—a faint whisper from the side of her mouth.
“Follow my lead,” she hissed. And then she spoke aloud.
“Oh Great Emperor of Darkness, at last the second La-ti-zal has arrived and hopefully we can diagnose your strange malaise together,” she intoned with perfect gravity, just as though she was used to talking to dangerous, homicidally depressed rulers all day.
For all I knew, she was. After all, who could tell what she had been up to for the past six and a half months since she’d gone missing? I knew the Commercians had sold her to someone but I had no idea what her life had been like since then. Hopefully it had been better than mine, living on O’nagga Nine as a Blood Whore.
“I will now join hands with the other La-ti-zal,” Rylee continued, still looking up at the enormous Emperor. “But be warned—the surge of energy when two La-ti-zal touch can be intense!”
She held out her hand to me and looked right at me. I saw one of her eyes twitch down ever so slightly—the hint of a wink.
“Come—join with me, my Sister La-ti-zal!” she said loudly.
“Um…okay.” I reached for her hand and Rylee quickly entwined our fingers.
But the moment she had a firm grip on my hand, she went suddenly rigid, as though power was surging through her. Then a low moan broke from her lips and she began to shake all over.
Remembering that she had told me to follow her head, I started moaning and shivering too—like I was having some kind of religious experience or maybe a seizure.
Rylee put her other hand—the one not holding mine—to her head.
“Oh, it’s too much—too much!” she moaned and collapsed to the floor.
I did the same, moaning and clutching my own head with my free hand.
“What is it? What’s wrong with them?” The Emperor demanded. Standing up from his throne, he came to stare down at Rylee and me, still twitching on the floor. “What has happened?”
“I do not know, Your Majesty,” Captain Zernex knelt beside me. “Perhaps the surge of energy the first La-ti-zal spoke of has incapacitated them.”