“Ozul is more comfortable there where he isn’t disturbed.”
“Altair, it sounds like it’s setting itself up to be emperor. You must know that. Break ties with this creature—before it’s too late.”
His expression hardened, and just for a moment, he looked like his father. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion. Go and do the job I assigned you.”
“What’s to stop it from taking over?” I pushed.
He pointed to the door. “That was an order, Commander.”
Irritation flashed through me as I stiffly saluted him and left.
There was no way I could let this go. This being threatened the empire, and my cousin was too blind to see it. Clearly, he wouldn’t listen to me, so I would have to find another way to free Altair from its influence.
21
Zara
I could already tell it wasn’t Lord Heron at the door, since whoever it was knocked before unbolting it. I had no doubt Lord Heron would have just barged in.
“Future Empress?” Talon called as he pulled open one of the double doors. “May I enter?”
“You can do whatever you want, as you can see,” I said with a nod to the heavy wooden plank that had sealed me in.
He frowned and brought the plank inside the room. “Now you’ll have the option to lock yourself in if you choose,” he said, pointing to another set of brackets that enabled me to barricade the doors from this side. “I recommend that you do.”
“So, I’m not a prisoner?”
“Did you expect to be?”
“Honestly? When I first came here, I naively thought I would be treated like a future empress. Not locked in my room and separated from my horse. But then, how could I expect anything more from people who committed war crimes against us?”
The smallest crease appeared between his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
I shot him what I hoped was a withering glare. “You’re really going to play dumb? I thought you were a commanding officer.”
“I am, but I don’t know what war crimes you’re referring to.”
“Because there are so many?” He just looked at me, so I plunged ahead. “I’m talking about the fact that not only did your eagles attack andeatour bonded horses, they did so off the battlefields. And worse still, there were innocent civilians and horses who were attacked days away from the nearest battlefield, who were hunted down and killed for sport.”
He had the decency to look floored. “These are serious accusations. You know this? For sure?”
I searched his face for a moment. He could be faking his surprise, but I simply didn’t know him well enough to be able to tell at this point.
“Commander, I was witness to it,” I said, my jaw clenching at the memory of not only the attacks on myself, but of the carnage I had watched Ama struggle to heal.
“I wasn’t made aware of this,” he said slowly, like his mind was racing. “The Eagle Riders abide by a strict code of honor—”
I scoffed. “Well, obviously not all of them follow this code. I had hoped the treaty would put an end to it, but now that I have been shoved into my room like a political prisoner, I don’t know what to think. Are my people safe?”
“I will personally investigate these war crimes, First Daughter, but the Eagle Riders have been returning steadily. The message that the war is over has spread quickly.”
I nodded once, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins at confronting him about these atrocities. I didn’t know if I could trust him to do something about it, but at least I could investigate it myself if he didn’t.
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“You must be starving,” he said, and it triggered my stomach into tightening painfully. “Shall I send for a servant to bring you something to eat?”
“I am hungry, but I’d rather go check on Shazeera first.”
