Like Ereshya.
I walked out of my room, and into the main hall. Aemon’s Throne Room.Mythrone room. A large expanse of the Allurian Pass with a throne, and little else, but tons of akadim roaming around. All wearing the silver collar he’d given them, forming his own kashonim.
What if I did that? What if I bound them to me?
My chest tightened.No.
That still seemed wrong. Like I’d be taking it too far. I knew my sisters didn’t understand, knew they felt I’d betrayed them. But I wasn’t like Aemon. I wasn’t a monster. I didn’twant to be. Maybe I didn’t need to go that far, didn’t need to mix my blood with the akadim. I just needed to prove I could command them. Prove I could get what I wanted.
If I could control them, control them long enough to bring the Empire down, I could free Jules. I could find my way back to my sisters. To my family.
Parthenay walked past, her eyes widening at the shard, glowing against my skin.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“How dare you address me so informally,” I said.
“He left me in charge,” Parthenay said. “I’ll address you how I want.”
“And he left me queen.” I turned away from her, ignoring her shout of “stop” in my mind.
Nearly a hundred of the akadim were in the room, all in disarray. Some eating. Some fucking. One had even dragged in a helpless girl, crying. Human. She had no aura. She’d come from the non-magical lands.
They’d been doing that for days. Sneaking out of the Pass beyond the Lumerian border and feasting. Half of their victims had been torn to pieces, made a meal of in all ways. The other half had been turned into akadim. Those were the ones without collars.
“Akadim!” I yelled. “Ani Maraaka Ereshya.”
They froze, turning slowly to face me, listening intently. I recognized the ones who’d been in my room falling to their knees.
Parthenay’s eyes widened. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” she hissed.
“I think I know exactly what I’m doing.” Then I raised the shard. Its glow lit the room, making lights dance across the gray stones. The cavern appeared to be flooded in deep indigo waters from the crystal. A deep, dark light, but still too bright for the akadim, who hid their eyes, hissing in pain.
“Teka!” I commanded. “Teka el me. Teka el ra Maraaka.” The order for them to kneel before their queen seemed to echo off every wall, until there were a thousand commands in the air. My voice. Ereshya’s voice. I could no longer tell the difference in the echoes.
Several seconds of silence passed, and then all at once, they did as I commanded, falling to their knees in supplication, claws spread and heads lowered. Some even placed their faces against the floor.
I couldn’t help but feel stunned that they’d listened. But even more than that, I was afraid of what I’d done. Of what I’d commanded. I remembered … remembered being Ereshya. Remembered fearing when Moriel had done the same. I hadn’t dreamed it yet, but I could see in my mind’s eye as clearly as I could see the monsters before me, thousands falling to their knees and shouting his name.
Now … they fell for mine.
Moriel can still overrule you, Parthenay thought.You are second to him. Do not be so bold as to think he won’t punish you when he returns.
Will he? Will he punish his queen? Will he punish the Goddess he has taken to his bed again and again? Life after life?
Parthenay’s mouth tightened, her nostrils flaring.
Or will he punish you?I thought.I am the one who possesses and commands the shard of the Valalumir. I am the one who can take possession of another.I stared down at her.And you’d do well to remember,I am second to no one. You are bold to think he won’t punish you. Or that I won’t.And when she remained defiant in her stillness, a sudden wall erected around her thoughts, I narrowed my eyes, pushing against her defenses.Parthenay?I crooned in my mind.I do believe, I said, Teka.
She flinched, her face giving away her surprise. Glaring, her lips curled in anger, the golden Valalumir tattoo on hercheek—the sigil of the Emperor she’d once served—had turned indigo.
I pointed the shard at her, still marveling I had the strength to hold it so easily. And then I lowered it.
Parthenay fell to her knees.
“We are at your service, your majesty,” Parthenay gritted through her teeth. “How may we serve you?”
“That girl,” I shouted, pointing at the one they’d dragged in. “Release her. She’s to be my new maid. And my maids arenotto be touched.”
