Dakath spoke softly, “I already knew you were the Empress for this kingdom, but you just proved that to every single one of them.”
As I looked out over the crew and saw the trust in each of their eyes, I promised myself I would do everything in my power to continue giving them reasons to trust me going into battle.
When Elijah suddenly appeared behind me, squeezing my hip, I turned my head up to look at him. His gaze was dark and filled with worry. “We need to talk.”
Chapter Seven
Kyella
“Thank you for grabbing that,” I said to Dakath as he took away the dirty washcloths and pot of boiling water I’d used to clean up and rinse my hair. It was without a doubt the best I would get on the ship, and it had done the trick to return warmth to my limbs and get the strong stench of the salty brine from the sea off me.
Raising my arm up to my nose, I gave a sniff to make sure.
“Kyella,” Elijah called out, pushing off the wall he’d been all but glued to while I’d cleaned up, intensely watching my every move.
I’d been waiting for him to broach his issue the entire time I washed, and by now my heart was practically in my throat as concern bubbled up over what he was going to say.
“What you did was undeniably incredible, since it worked in our favor, but I can’t get it out of my head that you’re taking such gigantic risks without even consulting us first.”
His words rang true with the thoughts that had already been swirling just on the edge of my mind while cleaning up and reflecting on the insanity that had occurred.
I heaved a deep sigh and nodded as he sat on the bed in front of me and reached out to grab my hand, rubbing his thumb across the top gently. The alcohol had left his system entirely, all signs of the previously relaxed Elijah gone, and left in its place, the stoic and duty-bound man I’d come to love.
I couldn’t deny that when I’d returned to the ship and the crews of our ship and others cheered for me, I didn’t see anything wrong with what I’d done. It had worked, and that was all that mattered, right? Wrong.
What would have happened if I’d been killed in the fight? Without a doubt in my soul, I knew that my three vampyres wouldn’t have been able to continue this war with my death at the forefront of their minds. Who would lead the army in our war and ensure that in light of a win, the wrongs of the Thaician Empire were righted?
While my intentions were pure, I had to take a step back from my emotional reactions and think logically.
“It isn’t that I want to control you, or for you to think that you can’t do anything without telling us,” he continued, trailing off as his eyes rested on the wall behind me. His mouth opened and closed multiple times, like he was struggling to find the right words.
I wanted to tell him I understood, but I didn’t want to interrupt him when he felt he had more he needed to say.
As his piercing green eyes settled upon my own once more, his shoulders sagged forward. “I just want you to remember that we are all in this together. You don’t need to do things alone anymore. We have a lot of experience between the three of us, and we can lend an ear and offer advice to come up with a strategy that will produce our desired outcome, all while keeping you as safe as possible.”
I could tell this was just eating away at him now, and I wanted to soothe his concerns. Smiling softly and nodding, I cut him off before he could continue. “I know. You’re right,” I agreed, squeezing his hand in reassurance. “As the Empress, yes, it is my job to protect these people to the best of my ability. I also owe it to them to be logical, and what I did was based purely on emotional instinct. I knew that I needed to end it and didn’t have long to figure a plan out without the possibility of losing more lives.”
His head dipped, but not before I saw his eyes misting with tears.
Wait a second. Was…was Elijahcrying?
My voice came out breathless as I reached out to tilt his chin back up. “Elijah…”
Dakath and Kolvar were at his side in a minute, standing behind him with supportive hands on his shoulders, squeezing lightly.
His voice was raspy and choked as his eyes met mine. “I…I know that I must let you be free to be the Empress now, but you can’t forget that you wereoursbefore you were the Empire’s. It will always be our job to love you and protect you, no matter the path our lives take. And all I could think of as I watched you on that beast was…” He trailed off, and a sharp intake of breath permeated his next thought. “...Was how you thought you had to handle it without us.”
My heart squeezed at his admission but practically shattered at the sight of a lone tear falling from his eye as he asked, “Is it because I had a few drinks? I promise I will never fail you again, Kyella.”
My own eyes began to burn as tears pooled in them, and I launched myself into his lap, wrapping myself around his center and nuzzling my face into his chest. I breathed in his clean scent as I gripped his shirt tightly.
“No,” I choked out. “No, you have never failed me. None of you have ever failed me.”
For him to even question that destroyed me.
They’d saved me when I wasn’t strong enough to do it myself.
They’d supported me while I traversed a new path and gave me the room I needed to grow at the same time.
