At least when there had been a war with the dragons, one knew who one’s enemy was!
And tonight the dragon king had been hurt. What would happen if he had been severely injured? He’d seemed … okay. But not well. What would be the fallout from that?
Something also niggled at the back of Elias’s mind. There was far too much chaos in all this.
The plotting of Empress Emmeline appeared to have nothing to do with the plotting of Warden Flint of the Grey Mountains or Princess Lantana of Botanial. And yet it seemed far too coincidental that all these separate plots were being enacted here at the peace assembly.
And there were others involved too. Those robed figures. He hoped he’d find out more about them when their corpses were brought to the monastery.
Elias’s feet dragged as he walked. He struggled to seehow the peace treaty could be salvaged now. Peace had seemed so fragile before. How could it survive such a blow?
He reached the apartments for the royal family of Voltaria and Zephyrias. He supposed it was just the quarters for his father now that the empress and his half-siblings were dead and Elias and Colette had left.
The guards opened the doors. Elias entered and walked down the hallway, steeling himself for the conversation he dreaded having. But thankfully, Elias did not have to be the one to break the news to his father.
The emperor sat sobbing at an empty table.
One of the Voltarian councillors stood beside him. “I am sorry, Your Majesty, to be the bearer of such wretched news.” Councillor Everdeen clasped her hands behind her.
Elias could not believe that the news had already reached his father. But he supposed Elias had spent several minutes being tended to by the healer.
The councillor looked up at Elias as he approached. Councillor Everdeen had of course pandered and bent to the empress’s will. But despite that, she’d always seemed to want what was best for Voltaria. And she hadn’t been involved in tonight’s betrayal. As far as Elias knew.
The emperor shook his head. “It can’t be true!” he cried. “She can’t be dead!”
The councillor looked to Elias.
“Thank you, Councillor Everdeen,” Elias said. “I’ll take it from here.”
She bowed and left.
“I am sorry, Father.” Elias stepped forward, struggling to find the words. However, he did not have the energy to try to sugar-coat it. So he just said the truth. “Empress Emmeline, Beau, and Anais dead. I saw them die myself.”
Elias left out the part where he had been the one to killthem. Of course, his father would eventually find out. But Elias didn’t need to say it now.
The king wailed.
Elias’s chest tightened. Because even though the man had let him down over and over throughout his life, the sight of his father crying with despair gripped his heart.
“Councillor Everdeen said Emmeline was a traitor and that she and Anais and Beau tried to kill you.” Tears streamed down the emperor’s cheeks. “But that can’t be true! That cannot be possible!” He looked at Elias, as if begging him to refute the report.
“Unfortunately it is true,” Elias said, trying to keep his voice calm. “I promise you, Father. I was kidnapped by the empress. I was bound. There is no misunderstanding that. She planned to kill me. She told me so herself.” He paused. “She tortured me.”
“No!” The king banged his fists on the table.
Elias flinched.
“No! She would not do that. Emmeline was loving and kind and wonderful! You are wrong!”
“She hated me!” Elias said. “Always has. Even since I was a nine-year-old boy. And today she and Anaias and Beau tried to kill me.”
“You just didn’t accept her,” his father said, voice hoarse. “She never was anything but a loving mother to you.” His voice echoed in the small dining chamber. “You’re a liar!”
Elias reeled back as if slapped. He pressed his lips together. He wanted to shout. He wanted to yell at his father about the empress’s plans to grind Voltaria into the dust.
Furthermore, he wanted to point out how the emperorhad failed in his duty to protect and care for Voltaria. And his son.
His father gripped his shaking head in his hands, bending low. He tugged on the white strands. “It must be a mistake. You have misunderstood. She, Anais, and Beau are alive and well and have done nothing wrong.”
