I nodded at her reasoning, offering her an encouraging smile. With each passing hour, she proved time and againwhyshe was chosen as our Empress. “Once Hellrick is in the capital, we can decide where to go from there.”
The number of things left hanging in the balance left an uneasy feeling in my gut.
The truth was, there was nothingeasyabout this process. We had helped Myrin lead to an extent, but we had never done more than offer her advice, or our swords, in her endeavors. Entirely restructuring an empire that was forcibly taken during a war was complicated. And though we hadn’t underestimated the amount of work it would take, perhaps we hadn’t truly considered the intensity of the workload.
Sussing out the difference between the lords who were ready for change versus the ones who kneeled to save their necks was damn hard. At least some of the lords had the grace to show their true colors, outright attacking our soldiers in the streets and paying with their lives in the process. There were others, still, who were rebelling but were not violent, working in the cover of night to undermine our efforts. Those lords sat in the dungeons, awaiting judgment.
Over the course of the past two days, we had all run ourselves ragged. Malakai’s errant lords were only one item on what seemed to be a never-ending to-do list. We were leading an unfamiliar city through a period of grieving, holding nightly burials and burnings while also preparing the bodies of the warriors we’d lost to be returned to their loved ones in the Tridian Empire.
Rest hadn’t come easy, especially after Kyella led us to the quarters she had occupied while imprisoned under Malakai’s rule. I was disgusted, albeit amazed when she led us there, to the place where she’d endured so much. How she had held onto her will to live, her sense of freedom, was beyond me.
Even now, despite the daunting tasks facing her, she exuded confidence and determination. She was strong and full of life. Our woman, ourleader, was so damn resilient. And even though I’m not sure how or when it happened, Kyella seemed settled, like something inside of her had finally found peace.
Iwas certain the beginning and end of it was that both Malakai and Lazarus were dead at her hand. She was a warrior, someone who saw what was wrong with the world and full-heartedly chose the path of righteousness, of goodliness. And even when that path was treacherous, putting her face-to-face with those who had abused and manipulated her, she persevered. Kyellatriumphed, not only for herself but for the innocent as well.
My gaze strayed toward where she stood at the window, gazing at the land beyond the castle. Her shoulders were set in a hard line, but the edge of exhaustion we were all feeling was evident in the way she gripped the windowsill and braced her knees against the rough stone wall. She was tired, and while she wouldn’t readily admit it, Barnabus’ death had taken a toll on her.
We had given him a funeral befitting an old god, sending him out to sea in a small boat laden with luxuries befitting his station. Watching the flaming arrow floating through the air to the boat had stung, and when she collapsed against me, shoulders shaking as the boat sank beneath the surface, my heart twinged in sympathy for her.
“Where is Tristan?” Kyella asked, pulling me unceremoniously from my thoughts.
“He left in the early-morning hours to lead an excursion to a nearby village,” Dakath muttered, and I glanced in his direction. He raised a challenging brow in my direction, and I inclined my head to him.
To dispose of Malakai’s and Lazarus’ remains,were the unspoken words hanging in the air between all of us. Kyella hadn’t asked for specifics when we told her we would ensure proper and permanent disposal of the bastards, and we hadn’t offered it to her.
Her shoulders sagged, and she turned away from the window. The dark circles beneath her eyes gave away more than her words ever would, but it was the small smile she offered us that set me at ease. “I’m not the only one who sees his potential, am I?”
“He’s a natural leader, my love,” Elijah said, and I nodded my agreement.
The potential had always been there, otherwise Kyella would have never chosen him to be her Right Hand. He was, however, one of the people I was most impressed by—he was stepping up in unexpected ways each day and was proving to be an integral part of the recovery effort.
“People are willing to follow him,” I pointed out. “Human and vampyre alike.”
Everywhere he went, he commanded respect, simply by being a good, but tough, leader. I wasn’t sure if the people of the Thaician Empire gravitated toward him simply out of a sense of familiarity or if they recognized him as the warrior who had valiantly stood and fought for them against those who would have used them as nothing more than shields.
Kyella hummed in the back of her throat as she turned her attention to me. “Do you think he realizes that the people here see him as a leader?”
“Not yet.” But he soon would, especially if Kyella got her way.
Something told me she would.
“Good morning, Empress.” Turning toward the door of the antechamber we waited in, I spotted Tristan standing with his arms clasped in front of him, head inclined respectfully. There was a determined set to the line of his shoulders, and when he finally glanced up, I saw the glint of possibility in his eyes.
Like Kyella, he seemed to sense the potential of the spaces and people surrounding him. Whatever he’d experienced during his excursion had lit a fire within him, and as we stood, I knew in my gut that she had made the right decision—if she could just get him and the loyal vampyre lords to see her side.
As we walked toward the door, Kyella extended a hand in Tristan’s direction. She dropped it on his shoulder, squeezing briefly before offering him a short nod and jerking her head in the direction of the long corridor beyond the door.
“It feels different today,” she observed as we moved through the castle. It was subtle, but she was right. Everything felt…lighter. Sadness still permeated the atmosphere in places, but the anger had fizzled out somewhere along the way.
“Watch them,” Elijah commanded, and while I knew he was indicating to the people bowing their heads to Kyella respectfully, I couldn’t pull my eyes from her instead. Her mouth dropped open slightly, and the way her brows lifted toward her hairline was possibly the cutest fucking thing I’d seen so far today.
“Does it truly surprise you that they respect you?” I asked as she returned several of the nods, a small smile tilting her lips upward. The subtle lift of her shoulders would have been easy to miss if I weren’t paying such close attention to her. As it was, I never seemed to be able to keep my eyes off her. “You’re an Empress, Kyella. You are powerful, and you arekind.Do not underestimate your impact. Ever.”
She huffed as we entered the chamber where the meeting would be held, but as she glanced around the space, taking in those gathered, I didn’t miss the way her lips tilted up ever-so-slightly at the corners. There was my darling.
“Good morning!” she called, and silence fell, the full force of the gathered crowd’s attention on Kyella as she offered a small smile. “I know the past few days have been hard—” Her voice was softer, painted in sympathy as she glanced around the space. “I know you have had to say goodbye to not only comrades, but also friends and family as well.”
“I am also aware that many of you were forced to fight under Malakai’s rule,” she continued, hardness creeping into her tone as she spoke of their previous ruler. “I hope that you never fear that something like that will happen again. This is your life and your freedom. No ruler should be able to determine your future for you, not like that. No ruler should be able to threaten your family like that. Ever.”
