He smirked. “That we have her cousin again. She’ll come running.”
My grandmother’s eyes twitched. Her aura flaring with hatred.
“Lyriana,” I said. “Lyriana, can you hear me? It’s Tristan. Please answer if you can. Lyr, there’s something you need to know. Jules. They have her. The Emperor.” My eyes flashed. “The Bastardmaker.”
But the stone remained cool in my hand. She couldn’t hear me.
“Hand it back,” he said.
I returned the stone, feeling deflated.
“Tomorrow you’ll go before the people of Bamaria, tell them the new policy. Mandatory testing for vorakh, as well as checkpoints, will be in place by the end of the week. Everyone will be tested again, and subject to further testing at random. Anyone who fails to comply will be assumed to be hiding vorakh, and arrested on the spot.”
My heart thundered, and I nodded. I was no longer just the Emperor’s dog, scenting out vorakh for him to take control of in the Palace. I was now his puppet, too. Running when he said run. Jumping when he said jump. Forcing nahashim tests on anyone his soturi wanted—whether I found vorakh on them or not. No matter what I did now, I’d be betraying someone. An innocent Lumerian. Or an innocent vorakh.
“See him to his bed, Lady Romula. Make sure he gets some sleep so he can speak nice and clear tomorrow. Emperor’s orders.”
“Of course.” She frowned, her too-red lips were thin and dry as she pursed them together.
His eyes narrowed on me. “And we’ll get someone to finish cleaning up your face.”
When he was out of the room, the door closed and locked behind me, and one of her silencing spells in place, my grandmother turned to me. Her hand flew before I could react, slapping me across the cheek. Slapping wounds that still smarted and burned. I stumbled, practically slamming into the wall.
“Grandmother,” I cried out. “What the?—”
“Is it true?” she asked, her voice cold. “You helped the murderer escape?”
“My fucking hand is broken and Galen is dead!”
“As he should be. You idiot. How dare you disgrace the Ka. Our name. Our legacy! You are so Godsdamned lucky that your title and status saved you. After the stunt you pulled, after the scum you associated with, you should be dead now.”
I saw Galen’s eyes closing in my mind. Felt the cold air on my broken body as I took off my shirt. The rage inside me as I let my pants fall down. I could hear the Emperor’s laugh still. See his hands on Jules. The chayatim I’d sentenced. The Yellow Room.
The monster who killed my parents.
You’ll regret it when he grows. When you see inside his soul like I have. When you learn what he is!
I shook my head. “I wish I was dead.”
She grabbed my neck, squeezing and forcing my gaze to hers. “Hush! You’re confused. He got you confused.”
I coughed, starting to choke—my ribs moving painfully. “I’mconfused? Look at you! Or better yet, look at me! Look what they’ve done to me! Are you even going to ask if I’m all right?”
She released her hold, her nostrils flaring. “You’re fine. You’re alive.”
“And the Bastardmaker’s slave!”
She clucked her tongue. “My dear boy. We are all someone’s slave until we rise above them. And you, you and your lowborn associations, you are what put us into this mess. I never liked that boy. That Galen. Ka Scholar,” she spat. “He wasn’t for you. He was dragging you down. Now you listen to me, and you listen well. So you must obey his orders—then you will. But you won’t have to do it forever. We are poised for power. I am Master of the Horse, the Arkasva’s Second and if you play your cards right, you will be Arkasva. Not that Naria. We are close. So close. But we cannot afford one more misstep.”
“One more misstep? One more misstep!” I shouted. As if I’d just been making the wrong choice all along. As if it were my fault, and not our sick fucking evil Emperor pulling the strings all this time. Lying and manipulating me. Torturing me. And now, making me a puppet to go around my own country spewing out his lies. Fulfilling his agenda. I’d be forced to go even more against who I was. Capturing innocent people as the head of his Godsdamned vorakh task force.
My grandmother sneered. “Just be glad now that that boy is gone. And his association is linked with that traitor Lyriana and her dead forsworn lover.” She folded her arms across her chest. “It taints Arianna, too, you know. But not us. We’re safe. Let’s forget this ugliness, shall we? Oh, Tristan. Do not look at me like that. I am protecting you.”
“Protecting me? You’re protecting yourself,” I said. She always was. It was always about her—her and her legacy, her name. I’d just been the last one to see it. To see that I wasn’t someone she loved. I was a tool, a means to an end. A way to carry out her ambitions.
And if I did all she asked, I wouldn’t be free. At best, I’d just be enslaved to her—like I always was.
“All will be well, my dear,” she continued. “You’ll see. You’re very tired, and injured, you’re not thinking straight. Go to bednow. Rest, heal. You can’t just keep wearing glamours. We’ll start to take our power back tomorrow, when you can present yourself in a manner worthy of Ka Grey. And then I promise you, you won’t suffer like this again. I won’t allow it.”
