The Emperor's Daughter

by H M Angues

  I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t find the words. He’s right, and by the smug look on his ugly face, he knows it. “How do you know about all that?” I finally manage, voice drained of all the might it had just moments ago.

  “We know everything, little emperor,” he purrs. “Including the particularly forceful nature of your defilement back in Louvelle. The guards in that prison love to tell stories. I hear he did enjoy himself, though.”

  I lean in close, my epain morphing into something much more sinister. “I’ve changed my mind,” I whisper, lips brushing against his ear. Before he has the chance to utter another foul word, I set him on fire.

  I walk away, letting his anguished screams fill the night air.

  If I have become a monster, then so be it.

  Chapter 44

  Jax

  My hand trembles as I raise it to knock. The lake house door swings open to reveal an older blonde standing in the foyer, the warm light pouring out into the dark night that surrounds me. The whole house has a cozy and comforting aura that calms my nerves.

  “Can I help you, hun?” she says kindly, a hint of uneasiness in her tone.

  “You need to run,” I breathe. My eyes dart back and forth, scanning the realm of my vision for the inevitable threat that is on its way. “She’s almost here.”

  “I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asks.

  “No, but I know you. Calla—is she here? I need to talk to her.” I shove my way inside, shivering from the night’s chill. The woman grabs my arm, that warmth replaced with a mother's defensiveness over her children.

  “How do you know?” the woman snaps.

  “Calla is alive. I don't have time to explain how I know or how I got here,” I whisper, breathless from my own fright. “You were Emperor Augustus’ mistress, weren’t you? Mira, right? I was the one... I killed him. She made me kill him. I’m so, so sorry for what I did to you and your family. But Calla saved me, and now it’s my turn to save her. And you.”

  A familiar-looking man appears at her side. Valek, if I remember correctly. Mira blinks away her hostility in an instant. “It's good to see you, Jax,” Valek says warmly. “Come on into the living room, I’ll make you some hot tea. You look freezing.”

  I shuffle through the house, taking a tentative seat on the plush couch. I still can’t manage to steady my hands.

  My next words burst out of me like a grenade of syllables. “Ramsey’s coming for you and the others. Calla really pissed her off, and she’s on rampage of revenge. You need to contact Calla and leave. Now.”

  Valek sets down the hot tea carefully, slowly lowering himself into an armchair. “How do you know this?”

  “Adra. My sister. Ramsey has her and has been using her against me. She’s being held in Darinthe, and she managed to send me a comm this morning.”

  Mira takes up a seat across from me and Valek shakes his head. “Darinthe was destroyed when Kainan was killed. Besides, what would Ramsey want with a boy like you?”

  Destroyed.

  I don’t think of the possibility that my sister didn’t make it out on time. She had to send me that comm, and if not, then Ramsey’s plot runs deeper than I had originally come to believe.

  I shake off the dread and fear settling into a pit in my stomach. I won’t dwell on the uncertainties; it cannot help me now. “I meant something to Kainan. She would’ve done anything to hurt him. I don’t have time to explain any more, Valek. We have to go. Now,” I urge.

  Someone explodes through the front door. I freeze in place as I listen to their footsteps steadily make their way to the living room.

  Calla appears from the foyer. “Jax?” she whispers.

  Blood covers her hands and she wreaks of death, but I let her pull me into a hug anyway as she plops down beside me. “I’m glad you’re still alive,” she mutters. “After we evacuated Drakonis, I had no idea what happened to you. I thought you were dead or hostage again.”

  “I’ve been running around a lot, but there are more allies out there than enemies. I’ll tell you about it when we have more time.”

  Her friends trickle in slowly, starting with a man I don’t recognize, the Overseer, Ryse, and then Blade. Another blonde woman, this one much younger than Mira, appears from the stairs around the corner and embraces the stranger.

  “Where’s Talon?” Mira asks. Her eyes frantically scan them each up and down, as if one of them is hiding him. “Where’s my son?”

  “Talon? Didn’t he die a while ago?” I ask Calla. She flinches away, wrapping her arms around herself. I scold myself for my lack of tact and empathy in that question.

  “He was alive, hiding in Helkyn,” she explains, just as a large man with long blond hair steps inside, resting a hand on Calla’s shoulder. He whispers something in her ear.

  “Jax,” Calla says, “this is my brother, Talon. Talon, this is Jax. A… He’s a friend.”

  “I’m going to talk to the others about the... the dead. I’m sorry, Cal.” He kisses her forehead and leaves to speak with Jed.

  “The dead?” I breathe.

  “Our honorable King Ramsey slaughtered three or so dozen innocent people and left their bodies for me to find,” she answers. “Kainan is also dead. He was my mate, you know.”

  I shake my head, leaning in closer to Calla so that only she may hear me, resting my hand on her shoulders. “I’m sorry about everything you’ve lost, but you don’t have time to grieve, Calla. You need to talk to the others and get out of here. Ramsey’s not done with you tonight.”

  “I know.” She hands me a note. “This was on the door.”

  Dearest Calla,

  You sure performed quite the massacre tonight. Well done. So, I have a proposition for you that’s very similar to my last: You surrender and the rest of your little family lives. I spared your brother tonight when I could have easily taken him from you. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait to see how far my generosity will stretch.

  I’m waiting at the lake’s shore. You have one hour to meet me before I decide to take things into my own hands.

  I crumple the note in my fist as she says, “Why are you here, Jax? I’m glad to see you, but why now?”

  “To warn you about this,” I say, tossing the balled paper to the floor. “She still has Adra, if you remember me mentioning her at all when we met.” I lower my voice further and add, “Ramsey won’t spare them, regardless of what you do. You can either try and leave now, or you can hand yourself over to her. Whatever you decide, Calla, she’s going to do whatever she can to make you suffer.

  “You said Kainan was your mate; did you get close? Did he tell you his theory?” She nods, so I add, “All that stuff about Morr and Norse mythology being similar to the Primori faith and what-not: It’s true, he was right. I don’t have time to explain how I got all of this information, but I need you to trust me.”

  She pauses for a long moment before announcing, “I do trust you, Jax. And I know what I need to do.”

  ∞∞∞

  Ramsey stands solemnly at the edge of the lake, mulling over recent events.

  She killed Kainan, and still the little Renald fights, tooth and nail. Ramsey was right about her, and so was the Psychic. She smiles out at the like, its surface glittering with reflections of the moons and stars. She imagines that not even the extraterrestrial entities that make up the galaxy could break Calla. The Phoenix will always rise from its ashes.

  Ramsey knows the big boss is going to be here soon. She already placed the note on the front door for Calla to find. All she has to do now is wait.

  She’s always waiting. But it will be worth it in the end, Ramsey reminds herself. She will get what she’s been working so hard for, and she will no longer be subject to the will of another being. Ramsey is mere inches from paying off her debt and from securing the future she desires. The future that all of this has been for.

  All she needs to do now is lure Calla to the lake’s edge, which she’s confident she has done. Once Calla r
eads that note, she will make the right decision. Then, it’s Ramsey’s job to keep her occupied until she can make her grand entrance.

  “Bring me the emperor’s daughter,” were her final words to Ramsey the last time they spoke. But Calla is not the emperor’s daughter anymore; she is Emperor Calla.

  Ramsey's smile widens as an autumn breeze rustles the trees around her, bright eyes glowing in the light of the full moons. She cannot wait to see the look on Amorré's face when the truth comes to light, when Ramsey's plot reaches completion. Ramsey does not take orders from another without having her own schemes and ulterior motives at play. It is how she has survived so many centuries. It is how she survived her father. Thoughts of Remus make her shudder. She is glad to have brought that tower down, though more than remorseful that so many had to die.

  The quiet sound of creaking wood attracts the attention of Ramsey’s ears. It’s coming from the lake house’s back door. Finally.

  This is it, Ramsey says to herself. Once Calla makes her bargain, everything will finally fall into place. The future will be sealed, nothing able to change its outcome.

  I will win.

  Chapter 45

  Calla

  I lean against the archway separating the foyer and the living room. Syn, Rysen, and Jeriko are sitting on the couch with Mira. The others are discussing something near the fireplace in hushed tones, occasionally glancing in my direction. I don’t know where Jax disappeared to, but he’s somewhere in the house at least.

  They saw the path of gore and death I paved—they’re likely talking about their concern for my current stability. Or lack thereof.

  When I’m certain that no one will notice my absence, I slip out through the kitchen’s back door, the cool night air refreshing on my skin.

  The very skin that is still caked in the blood and memory of what I did tonight. Part of me feels guilty. The other part is angry, vengeful, and that’s the side of me that overpowers the rest. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good or bad thing. Or both.

  Ramsey is exactly where she said she’d be, standing at the edge of the lake, the water lapping at her feet. I cross the expanse of night in between us, and I know she’s already well-aware of my presence.

  “I knew you would come. You sacrificed everything for one friend, I knew you would do it again for all of them,” she says wistfully, as if imagining my death in her twisted mind.

  “You’re lucky, little fire princess. I can’t touch your mind anymore—you’ve effectively blocked me out. Congratulations on mastering many more of your abilities.” She finally turns her head to the side, but only slightly. Ramsey looks at me for a moment with the corner of her eye before shifting her gaze back to the water and the city beyond. “You’re still missing a few of them, though. I’m sure you’ll find your strength in them soon enough.”

  “Why do you do it?” I ask, ignoring her statement. “All these terrible things—why? What’s the point? What did Morr promise you that was so enticing?”

  “Come,” she says, waving an elegant hand. Warily, I step forward until I’m standing right beside her. She towers over me by several inches, but she fails to intimidate me tonight.

  I look at her closely as she stares off into the night. I used to think I knew this woman, back when her name was Sybella. Talon had been undoubtedly infatuated with her, head over heels in love. That lasted little more than a year before she tried to kill him. I suppose I couldn’t be more thankful about my father’s rule banning us from procreating until well into our late twenties. I don't doubt that Talon thought about having children. To imagine her bearing his offspring…

  I taste bile in my mouth at the thought. Sure, the generations between us have erased any resemblance, but to think my great-aunt married her own grand-nephew, shared his bed—it’s revolting.

  A small chuckle escapes Ramsey's throat. “Talon and I didn't even share a bedroom. I doubt he remembers even half of our relationship. Most of it was fabricated by myself. I may be vile, but I am not incestuous. I also never laid a hand on Kainan. He only thinks I did because I replaced some memories of his father with myself. All part of the grand scheme of things, my dear. I also knew Kainan wasn’t on my side—he never was. His love for you was something... different. I truly believe it went even deeper than the bond. I envy you for that.”

  My throat tightens, and I feel my eyes begin to burn. I blink the oncoming tears away. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I have a reason for everything, Your Majesty. As did Kainan. He risked everything for you, and you could have saved him—but it wasn’t your fault. He could have called for your help, but he chose not to. He chose to die rather than risk your life again.”

  She pauses, sucking in a breath. “I know you despise me with every fiber of your being, and that you think you will die tonight. But I’m not actually here to kill you—or any of the others, for that matter.”

  “Then why did you kill him?” I snap, confidence faltering as tears well in my eyes.

  Ramsey shrugs her slender shoulders. Her next words hit me like a wall of ice cold water. “Everything I do, I do for you.”

  My vision begins to blur, and I start to sway from lightheadedness. I sink into the sand, letting the water wash over my feet and calves as I sit.

  I will not fall apart, I tell myself. Not in front of her.

  When Ramsey sits beside me, I want nothing more than to beat that content look off her face. “You never answered my question,” I snarl. "I don't know what you gain by lying to me."

  “About Morr’s promise to me? I guess I got a little carried away with other topics,” she replies. “She’s not a real goddess, you know, at least not in the sense of the word as we know it. The gods are just incredibly powerful beings, who live for several thousands of years. So, essentially, Morr is just a powerful woman from another world.

  “Like on Earth, the Kronisians—the Primori deities—came down to the natives of Eterra and were worshiped as gods, as I’m sure Kainan explained. Even the mother of Augustus the First was fascinated by them. She studied them, even slept with one of them to conceive Augustus and thus the first ability-possessing Primori. Eventually, she learned their true nature after they murdered her love, Anakin. She threatened to reveal who they were to the non-abilitied Primori clan, so she was punished. They massacred her entire village.”

  “I don’t understand why this Morr is trying to ruin my life,” I whisper.

  “Morr was their goddess of death,” she continues. “But, later in time when Augustus created this empire, word spread that the gods weren’t actually who they claimed to be, and Namari grew so powerful that the people stopped fearing her. It pissed her off. Alas, there was nothing she could do about it. Her father, however could do something.”

  I begin to put the pieces together. “You’re helping Morr bring about the end times,” I realize. She nods, and I suck in a breath. “It’s real.”

  “It’s all real. The Greeks, the Romans, the Norse, the Hindu, the Christians—every belief system you could imagine is real. They just aren’t gods, per se, but otherworldly beings with insurmountable strength that is unmatched by any others.

  “Unmatched, that is, by any being other than the Phoenix.”

  With a swish of my hand, a wave of lake water slams onto Ramsey, soaking her through. She hardly looks phased by it. “Fuck you,” I mutter. “You think I actually believe that nonsense about you doing this all for me?”

  “I think you're confused. I think that the face of your enemy keeps changing. Those you trusted reveal themselves to be your enemies, while those you swore to destroy prove to be your greatest allies. I think you're tired of the game shifting. I think you want this to be as simple as 'good versus evil,' but you don't realize that 'good' and 'evil' are subjective. War and thrones and politics are not all black and white. The gray area is thick and foggy, and where things like to lurk. Stances change, and so does your enemy. But this is nothing like the spute in the Borderl
ands. This is galactic in scale, and so are the complications.”

  My head begins to swirl. Everything, all this new information—it’s too much. I try to stand, but my own dizziness and oncoming nausea hold me down.

  Just over the center of the lake, the water begins to churn. The disturbance moves toward us, stopping just at the shore. A figure appears on the surface from a cloud of dust—a pale, dark-haired woman with solid night-colored eyes that pierce me to my very core. When she smiles, her teeth are as black as the void, her tongue as red as the blood still caked on my skin.

  I don't need an introduction. She is Amorré, Goddess of Death.

  She remains floating above the lake’s surface. Her red gown touches the water, ripples moving away from the hem. Wisps of shadows seem to rise off her in smoky hazes.

  I look to my side and realize that Ramsey’s no longer there. I jump to my feet, scanning the lake house’s backyard. The back door sits ajar, but Morr says, “Don’t worry, she’s not inside. Leaving the door open was your fault.”

  I spin back around, sand crunching under my bare feet. “Why? Why are you here? What do you want from me?”

  “Funny you asked, since I was going to use our time together to explain the details of my evil plan and give you all the information you’d need to stop me,” the false goddess snarks. “I’m here because you are something that I need.”

  “You want me? Why did you have Ramsey try to kill me, then?”

  “Yes, I want you. Alive,” she mirrors. It looks like she rolls her eyes, but I can’t tell. “I had kept a loose leash on Ramsey and didn’t think twice about her killing another little mortal like yourself. But now I know so much more. We need you, Calla, more than Ramsey.”

  “What’s so special about me?”

  “Everything.” Morr pauses, likely for emphasis and dramatic effect, if she’s anything like Ramsey. “Everything about you makes you special, Calla Renald.”