I shook my head. “And how do you plan to do that? You said so yourself, I am too valuable to him. He’ll come and claim me at some point. Fight you on the fact that my engagement to his Ka came first. He may not be able to retaliate against Bamaria with this, but I doubt you wish to go to war with him over me, not when the Emperor is on his side.”
“It’s easier than you think,” he said. “You never publicly accepted the engagement. And even he cannot force a marriage on a noble already betrothed.” He winked.
My stomach sank. I didn’t need to ask who. He’d been trying for years, trying since I was a baby. I’d be engaged to Arkturion Kane. To Shiviel reincarnated.
I couldn’t decide which fate was worse. A marriage to Kane? Or a marriage to Viktor?
I felt nauseated. “What happens after I bring this object to you? Are we released from your service?”
“Released?” He chuckled. “You will find a far better life here than under any other options you now face. You’ll need me anyway to keep you safe, to continue hiding Julianna.”
Rhyan had escaped before. He’d do it again. And I still had to fulfill my deal with Mercurial. I had to find the red shard. I had to claim it, and use its power. He’d been less than forthcoming about when that would happen, or how. But I knew one thing—itwouldhappen.
I looked down at the table, at the edge of the letter Jules had sent to Rhyan. Under her signature, she had written:
Yes! Anything is possible.
She used to say that all the time. But it had been so long, I’d forgotten.
I swallowed roughly and looked up at the Imperator. “If I fail to steal this object for you?”
“Don’t,” he commanded, and removed the dagger from his belt, passing it to me. “Your signature, and a willing drop of your blood.”
“A blood oath?” I asked.
“I think we both know that you’re at too high a risk for breaking one, as is my son.”
Then what was the catch?
I read the rest of the contract, scanning for discrepancies, for any hidden stipulations. It said everything he’d mentioned. But at the bottom was one more clause—what would happen if I failed to steal what he asked for. The price was Jules. She wasn’t an act of goodwill, nor was she the carrot to dangle in front of me for motivation. She was the final collateral. Meera died if I didn’t fall in line. Jules died if I didn’t finish the mission. He was going to remove her from the Palace no matter what. Our success determined if she left there dead or alive.
“What exactly am I stealing?” I asked. “You still haven’t told me. I won’t sign unless I know.”
“You lost something of great value to me when you broke into the tomb without permission.” He took out the red jewel—the key to the moonstone seraphim—and let it roll across his palm. “You owe me. I intend for you to bring me something in return. Go on,” he crooned to the nahashim. “Show her.”
The snake lifted his head, its gaze on mine. I stilled and once more, blue light filled my vision.
A golden throne sat in the middle of the largest room I’d ever seen. There were dozens of white marble columns that reached for a ceiling too high to even comprehend from the ground. On either side of the Seat were two dozen of the Emperor’s soturi, each of them wearing a golden Valalumir tattoo on their cheek.
Through the snake’s eyes, I looked above the throne, my eyes traveling up and up the wall. Mounted betweenthe purple tapestries descending from the ceiling, was an old-fashioned shield made of bronze. It was round, adorned with a fiery golden sun. And in its center was an orange crystal.
I stifled a gasp. It was the same shield I’d found in Meera’s vision—in my vision. The one I’d seen in the arena. Sunlight shined through the windows, and light from the crystal erupted, filling the entire hall with bright, beautiful orange light.
My heart pounded, the Valalumir inside me was beating its own, rapid rhythm, before the heat spread across my chest, growing hotter and hotter. If my dress were cut lower, he’d see markings of Mercurial’s bargain with me coming to life.
And then I knew.
This wasn’t just any shield. This was Ereshya’s. I knew why Aemon and Morgana would be at the Valabellum.
If Morgana hadn’t handed over the indigo shard to Aemon yet, then she would after she was in possession of the shard she’d guarded in her past life.
And when that happened, they’d both be able to tap into their God and Goddess power. They’d be unstoppable. It wouldn’t matter who conquered Bamaria, or who was anointed Emperor.
We’d be under the reign of Moriel’s terror once again.
If I agreed to this, I’d be handing a shard of the Valalumir to a tyrant. A tyrant who had a God as his warlord. A tyrant with his eyes on the Emperor’s throne. But I was going to keep it from Morgana and Aemon. And if we could save Jules, and then find a way to escape, we could go after the red shard, we could find a way to fight back.
My heart thundered.
