“That’s true,” he said. “We can always send your horse to the feeding pasture instead. The eagles are always looking for fresh meat.”
The blood drained from my face in an instant. My choices flashed through my mind. I could try to fight all these guards, but I would be easily overpowered. I didn’t want to risk the full power of the wind and damage the bond I had with Shazeera. I would have to let them take Shazeera—the only true ally I had here—and bide my time and get her back. Emperor Altair didn’t seem like he’d be difficult to persuade—if I could get him away from his horrible adviser.
“That won’t be necessary,” Talon said, stepping forward and gently tugging me away from Shazeera. “I will accompany the future empress’s horse to the upper pasture.”
“She’ll be safe,” Talon said near my ear. “You have my word.”
I’m sorry,Shazeera said.I don’t want to leave you. Especially with that creature.
It’s not your fault. I’ll come see you as soon as I can.
She touched my arm with her velvety-soft nose.Don’t ever let your guard down. I’m afraid you’re in very real danger here—not just from that thing, but also Lord Heron and all the others in this room. They give off nothing but a sense of hostility.
Her warning made my knees weak, but I nodded.I’ll stay safe. You do the same.
Talon led her from the room, and she followed with lowered head and tail, obviously exhausted. It killed me to watch her walk away, to not know how long we would be separated.
The emperor returned to his throne, leaving me with Lord Heron. Tears threatened, but I refused to let him see how badly this affected me.
“Shall I escort First Daughter Zara to her room, Lord Emperor?” he called out to Altair.
Altair nodded once, his expression conflicted.
Lord Heron tried to take my arm, but I jerked it away from him. I wouldn’t be dragged off to my room like a naughty child.
“Lead on, then,” I told him tightly.
With everyone watching, I held my head high as we left the massive throne room. In the dimly lit hallway, wall sconces made shadows dance ominously as we walked, two guards trailing behind us at a distance.
“You’re off to a bad start here,” Lord Heron said. “Now the members of this court will have even more reason to kill you.”
My hands strayed close to the dagger I had strapped to my thigh, no doubt in my mind that Lord Heron was a threat. I hid my reaction behind a bored expression. “Wouldn’t that be a breach of the treaty you defended so strongly just a moment ago?”
“Not if it’s done in a way that could easily be accidental. We are on the side of a mountain, after all.”
“Who are you to threaten me?” I snapped, tired of his constant antagonism.
He widened his eyes in faux innocence. “I would never threaten you. I’m merely the adviser to the emperor. No, the ones you should be on guard against are the ladies of the court,” he said, and I immediately thought of the elegantly dressed women who had watched me with thinly veiled hate. “You see, you—a barbarian no less—have stolen their opportunity to marry the emperor and become the most powerful woman in the empire.”
I started to tell him that they could have him—I didn’t even want to be empress—but then I thought of my people. My marriage to the emperor was what would unite our people and keep us safe.
We arrived in front of a set of wide double doors, and Lord Heron waited for the two guards to open them. My whole body tensed as we stood before the threshold. Lord Heron leaned toward me. “A parting piece of advice: I would watch myself in the dark corners of the palace. Some shadows have teeth.”
With those words, he shoved me through the opening, and before I could spin around, pulled the door shut with an ominousthunk. I grabbed hold of the handle, but I found it locked.
“Just a safety measure,” he said with a chuckle through the thick wood.
I leaned against the door and closed my eyes, swallowing down the panic that threatened to crash over me like a flash flood. Too late, I realized the treaty assured my health and safety, but it never said I should be treated like the future empress I was. There was nothing to stop them from leaving me in here forever.
With my heart set on Shazeera, I reached out to her.Shazeera?I thought through our connection, but there was only silence. When I dug deeper inside myself where the shimmering bond lay, I could tell she was too far away to hear me.
I glanced at the opulent multichambered room behind me. A large mahogany bed with a lace canopy and white and gold bedding dominated the space, while across from it was an enormous fireplace, already burning. There were windows that took up one entire wall, with a view of the sky, the clouds floating by lazily. From here, I could see there were two other rooms, a bathing area and a sitting room.
It was no dungeon. But even amongst all this space and fine furnishings, the locked door beneath my hand made my throat tighten with dread.
Was I a prisoner here?
20
