“Aye, Excellency.”
He nodded. “You’ll have heard, too, he is building an army. Encouraging men to join him with the promise of riches. We’ve had reports of many with and without experience heading north. Some have left the legions. General Peleon has told me, despite floggings and a few hangings, men are still leaving our armies in secret, working with smugglers who are getting paid by the new king’s men to bringmysoldiers over the border in Osta.”
Terena hadn’t heard, of course. What made no sense was how fast this was all happening. Again, she thought of her conversation with Benson in Laurica. She’d been in Elis and then Aurora for the past few months, but surely she should have heard something.
“Emperor Solon,” she said, “I concede I’ve been gone longer than I expected, but I’ve only now heard of this new king. Do?—”
“Then you’ve heard all you need,” the emperor interrupted. “I have a different matter of concern.”
He paused and bowed his head. The silence stretched as he seemed to struggle with how to proceed. Terena felt a prickle of unease.
“You’re aware some of our provinces have been… restless? The dukes dislike my legions at their borders. They believe a war with Lakonia is unnecessary. And now the northern king is making them even more outspoken about the need for peace.”
Terena shifted uneasily. “I’ve not heard, no, Your Excellency,” she lied. She and Croak couldn’t help but notice the tensions as they’d crossed the empire these past few months.
“I understand Duke Aurora contracted you to find him a relic,” he said after an uncomfortable pause.
Terena stiffened. “Aye.”
“And you delivered this relic to him recently?”
“As always, Your Excellency is well informed.”
The emperor lifted an eyebrow. “Do you know why the duke wanted the Shroud of Faybhen?”
Terena’s face was carefully blank as she answered. “No, Your Excellency.”
He paced in front of her, stopping a few feet away. Terena was certain this was the closest he’d ever gotten to her in her whole life, but she wouldn’t quail before him.
“But you know what the shroud is.”
That wasn’t a question, she knew, but still she answered. “Aye.”
“And you thought fit to deliver—to a man who is openly dissatisfied with his sovereign—what is essentially a weapon? The power to bring the Olympian gods back to this realm!”
Shit.
Terena swallowed, keeping her eyes on the throne as she opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, “That is a myth, Your?—”
“Do notdare,” he hissed as he snapped forward, his face so close to hers, the heat of his breath was on her cheeks. “Do not dare to lie to me!”
It took everything she had to stay calm and continue to stare at the throne while he seethed.
“Every ruler that has stood where I stand now has understood one thing above all! Since the Immortals War, we must do everything in our power to ensure gods never darken our world again. It is why the gods that remained on the continent were killed. There are no more in all of Elysium because they are dangerous to mankind.
“We let the people worship the Titans, aye, and some worship the mortal heroes, which we also allow. We built temples and priests and clerics for them because we know faith is power.”
Emperor Solon stood so close to Terena she trembled at his nearness.
“ButIcontrol that power,” he snarled. “I let them have their religions. Their holidays.Itell them who to worship. And the moment someone comes along and threatens my control of that power, I strike them down as I have my entire rule! The only reason you’re not in the dungeons for your incrediblystupidactions is because I still have need of you. Do not think for one second my son’s feelings for you protect you from me.”
Terena could feel his stare burning into the side of her face, and yet she dared not turn her gaze to his.
“You will leave in the morning before Prince Lerek and the convoy depart. You will go to Aurora and you willbring that fucking shroud to me!” He roared so loud she flinched and backed up a few steps. Her calm facade cracked, and she shook as her eyes flew to his for a moment before snapping them to a spot over his right shoulder.
“Yes, Majesty,” she whispered.
Silence settled around them, but Terena dared not look elsewhere. Her face flooded with heat as she stood there, hands clasped at her ramrod-straight back while she waited.
