“Empress Lilitha.” I bowed.
The empress turned, the folds of her black dress rustling. She reached out her hands. “Are you well? I sent Ariadne to retrieve you, but you’re not dressed properly.” She gestured to my tunic and pants. “And bursting in here as if there were a flock of griffins after you is very unladylike.”
Her disappointment seared into me, making my stomach churn. “Forgive me, Mother, but the assassin from yesterday, he’s here in the palace!”
She chuckled and turned back to the mirror, motioning for me to take the seat to her right at the enormous mahogany vanity. “I believe you are mistaken. Whatever made you think that?”
“I saw him walking past the training room with several guards. I recognized his eyes.”
“Oh? I can see why you would come to that conclusion, dear, but that wasn’t the assassin—only a man from the same place. They all look quite similar.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain everything in a moment. That’s part of why I sent Ariadne to fetch you. Once she returns, we can continue.”
I sighed, brushing down the wrinkles in the front of my still sweaty tunic. Skirting around my mother and her preening servants I hurried to my seat. The soft padding of feet shuffled from the other side of the door, and Ari slipped in, not an auburn hair out of place. I blew a strand of my own messy hair out of my eyes. Maybe there was something to be said for not pelting head long through the palace corridors, still. . . I was positive the man I’d seen was the same one who’d failed to take my life last night, andsomehow,he’d finagled his way into the palace to finish the job.
Also, since when did I have an intended?
Ari came to stand beside me, clasping her hands before her, but not before I caught the slight tremor she was trying to hide. Strange. Why was she so nervous?
The empress acknowledged her advisor with a dip of her chin, her golden hair falling around her shoulders as her servants combed and styled it into sleek curls. “Now, as you are both aware, last night there was an assassination attempt on the future empress’ life.”
“We should have expected as much. It was only a matter of time,” Ari’s voice cracked as she knotted her fingers.
“But why?” I glanced between them. “What would killing me accomplish?” Solemn gazes met mine.
“To get to me,” the empress answered, holding perfectly still while the servants applied makeup to her pale skin and slid the runed glass pieces into her eyes to mask their red, turning them instead to a normal blue.
“Why would anyone have a grievance withyou?” I asked. “Thanks to you, our people have experienced peace and prosperity for decades. You bless their fields and crops to grow in abundance while your golem army is undefeated and protects our borders from tyrants.”
Lilitha offered me a tight-lipped smile. “Not everyone appreciates the gifts they are given. And as of late, some of the few remaining tribes in the Outlands have been expressing their malcontent in none too subtle ways.”
“What are they so unhappy about?” I was familiar with the Outlander name, but other than the fact that they were rebels who lived on the other side of the Great Divide—a mountain range that split the continent—and refused to submit to Lilitha’s reign, I didn’t know the first thing about them. A shadow crossed Ari’s face, but disappeared before I was able to read more into it, and the empress spoke again.
“They wish to control the whole of Empyria for themselves. Before, they were too few to be much more than a bother, but as of recent years, they have grown in numbers and strength. We’re not sure if last night's assassination attempt was a single person working on their own devices, or if it’s a planned uprising from one of the tribes. Either way, their little message was perfectly clear. War is coming.”
“But what would killingmeaccomplish? There are plenty of others who could take my place.”
The empress turned to face me, sadness in her eyes. “Kaleah, you don’t give yourself enough credit. Yes, you could be replaced, but not easily. You were hand picked for your role by a goddess. Never forget that.” She offered me a gentle smile, filling me with warmth.
“Besides, those heathens know little of our rituals or beliefs,” Ari cut in, with a bitter tone. “After last night’s actions, we can only assume they think if they kill you and your sister they will end Lilitha’s line and thus end her.”
“But the Sanctum—”
“They don’t know of the Sanctum.” Ari sighed.
Memories of the place I’d called home for the first ten years of my life resurfaced in my mind. The mountain air and surrounding waterfalls, with their nesting fire lizards. The kind priestesses who’d raised and loved us. And the fifty or so other girls who I’d called sisters. Though we were not truly sisters, we were all descendants of Lilitha’s original blood, and as such, all capable of becoming her heir.
“Kaleah,” the empress said, beckoning me to her side. Her maids bowed and left, and I rose to stand beside my mother. My reflection met me, and I squirmed. Although we shared the same elegant features, both fine boned and pale skinned, I was a mess next to Lilitha’s pristine perfection.
The empress' eyes met mine in the crystal mirror. “There is no need for you to worry, child. I have devised a solution to our problem. The young man you saw earlier? Ryker. He is an Outlander. By offering him a place at your side, we show his people our goodwill and eagerness to strive for peace.”
Panic gripped my throat, and I choked. “You want me to be bonded to someone who wants me dead?” I’d always known that, unlike Cassie, I would never have a say in who I loved. That choice belonged to my mother, but to be given away to a murderer?
My mother frowned, lines creasing her forehead. “No. What I want is for you to trust me.” She lifted a hand mirror from the vanity and murmured a few words under her breath. The reflection shimmered, shifting from my face and the lighted room to a dark backdrop and a man’s haggard face.
I gasped and took a step back.