“It was laced in poison. That’s why you passed out last night and feel so sick now. The golems barely got you back to the priestesses in time, and even then, the empress had to heal you herself.” Cassie’s normally tan face paled, making the large birthmark, covering her right cheek and running down the side of her neck stand out.
“Why me?” I pulled back the soft sheet and threw my legs over the side of the bed, shivering in my thin silk shift. It didn’t make sense. Yes, I was heir to the throne, but I was simply a pawn. A place holder. If something happened to me, I was easily replaceable with another of Lilitha’s daughters. “What would killing me accomplish?”
“I have no clue, but it was scary as sin last night,” Cassie said, helping me to my feet. “I was afraid I might lose you.”
“I’m notthateasy to get rid of. You still have a year left to put up with me before the Ascension.” The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
Cassie’s face crumpled, and she lunged forward, engulfing me in a tight embrace. “Don’t talk like that. Every time I hear that word, I feel sick to my stomach.”
I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against her shoulder and breathing in her unique scent of paint, books, and dried roses. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, holding her close. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Cassie. She was always the one laughing and telling jokes, I’d only wanted to lift her spirits.
She shuddered in my hold, and I stroked her hair, my stomach tying itself into knots. My feelings reflected hers when it came to the Ascension—the time appointed on my eighteenth birthday when Empress Lilitha would ascend from her current host and possess another. Me.
Hate.I had little to no experience with such an emotion, yet it was the only word I could use to describe the deep and poignant loathing that filled the golden eyes of my would-be assassin. They haunted me. Mainly because I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why someone who I’d never met hated me so much they wanted me dead.
As these thoughts plagued me, the black pillars of the training room blurred past. Ignoring the aches from the lingering effects of the poison, I relished in the strength of my body. Despite the pain, it felt good to be active. Not long after I’d woken, the healer had finally given me the go ahead to return to normal activity, and I’d headed straight for the training room.
“Try to keep up,” Cassie teased, jogging past me along the indoor running track. Dressed in a beige cotton tunic and pants, similar to mine, her golden hair swung back and forth behind her, skin glistening with sweat. She glanced over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue. I grinned and picked up my speed. Cassie really should have known better. My sister may have been able to best me in almost everything—but running? I owned that.
I lunged, my legs pumping in perfect rhythm with the beat of my heart. Muscles straining, I laughed, flying past my sister’s lithe form. Running was my one release. My brief reprieve during days filled with boring meetings, long tutor sessions, and relentless beautification treatments. The empress demanded perfection, and thankfully for me, that included being fit as well. For my single hour of allotted daily exercise, I didn’t have to be perfect. It didn’t matter if my hair was a wild mess, or if my clothes were drenched in sweat. I didn’t have to be quiet or polite; I could shout or scream at the top of my lungs, and there was no one to reprimand me. My two constant golems—Rocky and Clay—positioned on either side of the door were completely non judgmental.
Giddy in my imminent victory, I charged around the bend of the track, my sights set on the two parallel pillars marking my goal. I picked up my pace, but movement in my peripheral vision drew my attention. With my next step, I faltered.
Time stopped. Two armored guards flanking a young man strode past the door. The man turned his face. Golden eyes stared back.
Sin! My ankle twisted underneath me and time started again. I face planted, my cheek scraping against the rough surface of the track.
“Kaleah!” Cassie caught up to me in a matter of seconds, but in the time it took me to look back up, the man and his escorts were gone.
Panting, I accepted my sister’s hand and rose to my feet, wiping the sweat and dirt off my face. “Did they find the assassin?”
Her wide-eyed gaze met mine. “I don’t think so. Why? Did you recognize that man?”
Trembling from the shock, I tried to steady my breathing. Didn’t I recognize him? Before yesterday, I’d never seen eyes like those. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?
“Princess, there you are,” a familiar voice echoed into the room before a thin woman appeared in the doorway between the guards. Ariadne. The empress' advisor and the woman who’d raised Cassie and I along with her son, Alex. She folded her hands into the large sweeping sleeves of her red gown, brow creased.
“Are you all right, Kaleah? You’re paler than a moon flower.”
Cassie stepped closer, her hand resting on my arm.
“Who was that man?” I blurted.
Ari’s hazel eyes widened, looking back over her shoulder.
“The one the guards just passed through the corridor with. You had to have seen him.”
Ari nodded, her lips pursed. “Yes, child. He’s your intended.”
3
New Negotiations
Istumbledintothefront room of my mother’s chambers, doing my best not to panic. Rocky and Clay took up positions on either side of the door, joining several other identical golems, though mine remained identifiable by the griffin feather and talon hanging from a chain around their necks.
“Kaleah!” The empress' blonde head whipped toward me. She stood before a grand crystal mirror, surrounded by servants in simple white gowns. “What is the meaning of this?”
I winced as her red eyes found mine and glanced away. I took a deep breath, pushing down my anxiety and the overwhelming desire to flee from the room. No. I needed answers.