Earth's End (Air Awakens Series Book 3) (26 page)

“We do not know what their attack will bring, but it will crush their morale if their support forces sees their sacred forest smoldering.” A few majors nodded in affirmation as she continued, “Plus, it will raise the morale of our soldiers, and if we must fight, we will be coming off a victory. Therefore—”

“That is enough.” The Emperor nearly shouted over her, and the entire table jumped in surprise.

Vhalla leaned away from the table. She pursed her lips and swallowed, her emotions swinging between hatred, anger, and fear.

“Have I not made myself perfectly clear? You are not here to speak strategy. You are here to bring me victory—that is why I let you live.”

A few surprised glances were shared at the Emperor’s words. Aldrik shifted to face his father.

“We will not be attacking Soricium prematurely,” the Emperor announced before anyone could get in a word.

“My lord.” Major Zerian was the bravest of them all. Aldrik seemed too shocked, still processing his father’s proclamation. “We have been training for
weeks
and this is our best chance.”

“We will endure the attack and continue the siege until
I
say otherwise,” the Emperor decided.

Vhalla stared in dumb horror. He was going against logic for the sake of spiting her? She reeled with loathing. This man cared nothing for his people, for the suffering of others. All he cared about was the perception of his power.

“I agree with Vhalla.” Aldrik had finally recovered.

The Emperor snapped his attention to his eldest son.

“I agree with her as well,” Daniel spoke in her defense also.

Vhalla stared at him in horrified appreciation of his boldness.

“I, too, agree with Lady Yarl,” Erion stood alongside his fellow Golden Guard.

“She is not a lady!” the Emperor seemed to have had enough, and Vhalla’s chest tightened at the man’s tone.

“She is in the West,” Erion said evenly. “Are you saying the West’s traditions do not matter, my lord?” There was a dangerous implication to his words.

“I would never say such a thing.” The Emperor shook his head, not wanting to be caught insulting the people whom he depended on to win his war.

“As I said, the Le’Dans stand with the Windwalker. I am honored to have her be a lady of my home,” Erion practically decreed.

Vhalla saw other nods, even from one or two of the Southerners. This seemed to only worsen the Emperor’s disposition on the matter.

“I think your leaders have spoken, Father.” Aldrik’s voice came from her side. His eyes were nowhere close to seeing her as he challenged his father with an obsidian gaze.

“Do you?” the Emperor said slowly.

“I do.”

The Emperor did not look at her as he next spoke; he was too fixated on trying to stare down his son. “You forget yourself, Aldrik,” the Emperor breathed before continuing louder. “Miss Yarl, thank you for your report. You are excused.”

She blinked, frozen in place.
After everything, after all she had done, now he was kicking her out?

“Do you misunderstand an order?” He finally turned to her, and she was startled into action.

“Of course not.” She stepped away from the table, starting for Aldrik’s room.

“I would like this to be a private conversation, Miss Yarl,” the Emperor added.

She paused, something about the bite in his implications sent a shiver up her spine. “I would never—”

“You seem to have a habit of listening on the private conversations of leaders,” he cut her off.

“But that was ...” She blinked. Was he turning his own orders against her?
Was he that arrogant to do it before everyone?

“I would rather not take any chances. Jax,” the Emperor said as he turned to the Westerner, “do you have what I entrusted to your care?”

“My lord, I would caution you against this.” Pure disgust fueled Jax’s weak objection.

“You do what I command!” the Emperor nearly shouted.

Jax turned helplessly to Baldair, and then to Aldrik. Neither prince seemed to be able to say anything otherwise. All eyes remained expectantly on the long-haired Westerner.

The major dragged his feet from the room as the Emperor turned to face her. Vhalla had never before seen the expression he wore in that moment. Of all her encounters with the Emperor, this was the one she feared the most. Because there was a morbid and dangerous satisfaction that was beginning to curl his mouth, like that of a wild beast who had found wounded prey.

“M
ISS
Y
ARL
,”
THE
Emperor asked as he stepped away from the table, “do you fully comprehend what you are?” Vhalla kept her mouth shut and let the Emperor continue, all eyes on him. “Allow me to educate you, and my majors. You are a
tool
, you are a weapon, you are someone I need to take the North, and because you are my most loyal servant, you are more than happy to do so for me.”

“I am, my lord,” she agreed softly. For the first time in a long time, the Emperor’s emotionless stare truly unnerved her.

“Of course you are, child.” The Emperor stood before her, staring down the bridge of his nose. “I do not have you here to think. What a foolish thing that would be. Do not entertain the idea that your powers make you something you are not.”

Vhalla bit her lip to the point of pain, keeping in any protests.

Jax reentered, holding a square wooden box. There was a latch on the front that had been unlocked. Vhalla considered the Western writing upon it uncertainly.

“My lord.” Jax clutched the box with white knuckles. “Reconsider this course of action. You don’t know what—”

“Silence!” Major Schnurr snapped. “
You
are not one to object to the Emperor.” The major threw an ugly look in Jax’s direction.

“I know quite well what forces I am dealing with.” The Emperor opened the box reverently, admiring its contents. “It seems I must remind everyone that I alone command such forces.”

Vhalla’s eyes widened in panic seeing the box’s contents. She opened her mouth to speak, to grovel if she had to. She wouldn’t let them put her back there, back in a small, dark jail cell. Her mind didn’t comprehend that she was in the North, a world away from where she had been held during her trial following the Night of Fire and Wind.

“I swear to you, my lord, I won’t use my powers without your permission—never against the Empire,” she promised in a wavering voice.

“Oh, Miss Yarl, you were so much more impressive when you did not sound afraid,” the Emperor spoke so softly that no one but the Western major heard.

Emperor Solaris lifted the box’s contents: a large pair of shackles, worn as thick bands around the wrists and connected by a hinge. Inlaid upon the iron were polished stones that Vhalla vaguely recognized as crystals.

Aldrik finally saw as well. “Father,
what are those?
”

“Where did you get those?” Erion scowled deeply.

“Lord Ophain brought them on my request. Some still seem to remember to follow my orders. They were made in the West to keep creatures like her contained.” The Emperor glared at the lord who spoke out of turn.

“Lord Ophain would not wish for this.” Erion didn’t back down.

“You are too bold, Lord Erion! Everything falls to me,
my word is law
, and I must ensure the law is obeyed without question,” the Emperor declared, putting the fuming Western lord in his place. “Your hands, Miss Yarl.”

She was going to be sick. All Vhalla could think of was the feeling of iron closing around her wrists once more. They were going to hurt her again, worse than they had before. The Emperor was going to make good on all his promises about the dark future that awaited her.

“Your hands!” His patience ran thin.

Vhalla clenched her palms into fists to keep them from shaking, swallowing the taste of bile. Slowly, she raised her wrists. But where iron was to meet skin, warm fingers closed instead.

Aldrik pulled her away, his fingers tight and his eyes alight. She hadn’t even heard him move. “You
will not
put those on her,” he uttered threateningly. The prince angled his body halfway between Vhalla and his father.

The Emperor seemed completely taken aback at his son’s outward refusal of his will before their subjects. “Aldrik, you are making a fool of yourself.”

“This is wrong,” the prince insisted. He pulled Vhalla a half step closer, her balled fists resting against his chest. “She has served you dutifully and without question. She has saved my life—more than once—as well as the lives of countless others in your army. And she has likely saved your campaign today. And you would put her in irons?”

Vhalla absorbed the words that practically dripped disgust. There was a fearsome, barely controlled anger to the crown prince’s features. His jaw was set and his mouth pressed into a thin line as he glared at his father. Vhalla could feel the power radiating off of him, and even Jax took a step away.

“My son, I know you are
intrigued
by the girl’s magic. But this is for the best.” The Emperor’s eyes shone dangerously. “Go back to the table, so that we may move on from this and resume our discussion.”

Aldrik pointedly ignored his father, looking down at Vhalla. His voice audibly softened as he spoke, “Come, Vhalla. Since my father is so insistent on privacy, let me escort you to where you can rest; I am sure you’re tired from your Projections earlier.”

Vhalla nodded, grateful. She didn’t know if Aldrik really believed his words. Or if he saw her shaking like an autumn leaf and knew she needed to be anywhere else to compose herself.

“Aldrik!” the Emperor spoke his son’s name like a curse.

“I know you have been asked this before, but may we have your word that your magic will never be used against the will of the Solaris Empire?” Aldrik’s thumbs grazed gently over her wrists.

“You have my word, my prince,” she said softly, the tenderness in his eyes and manner reassuring her.

“Is her word good enough for you, Majors?” Aldrik turned back to the table.

No one moved. Vhalla was not surprised. He was asking them to openly defy the Emperor for his son. The right or wrong choice no longer mattered.

“It is good enough for me,” Daniel was the first to speak. His eyes met hers with determination, and Vhalla swallowed in relief. Even when she was half in Aldrik’s embrace, Daniel stood by her.

“And me,” Jax seconded. He wore a frown looking at the shackles the Emperor still held.

“I will say it, again: the Le’Dans stand with the Windwalker and the Lord of the West,” Erion proclaimed proudly.

“I see no reason why we should not trust her.” Vhalla had not expected Major Zerian’s support.

“I have always known Vhalla to be a woman of her word,” Baldair spoke as well.

The other majors seemed to be reassured that the second son was giving a nod or small voice of approval for Aldrik’s position.

“We have moved on from the time when such things were needed.” Aldrik turned back to his father. “Put the relic away so that it may return to the dark corner of the museum from where it came.”

There was a long silence. The Emperor squinted at Aldrik, looked to the table, and then focused only on her. Vhalla held her breath. Aldrik’s fingers were hot on her skin, and she took comfort in the fact that he had not let her go.

“Miss Yarl,” the Emperor addressed only her. “This is no longer about what you are, or are not, able to do. It is no longer about your word on what you will or will not do. What is most imperative is that you respect the will of your Emperor,
your true lord
.”

Aldrik’s hands clenched over her quivering wrists. She hated the position she stood in. She loathed the Emperor with every fiber of her being. Vhalla took a deep breath and, in spite of it all, she knew what she had to do.

The prince’s attention snapped to her as Vhalla tugged against his fingers. His shock uncurled his grasp, and Vhalla’s wrists slipped away. Recklessness made her bold, and Vhalla wrapped her fingers around his where they hovered in the air.

“My prince, thank you for your trust and faith in me,” she whispered softly. Aldrik’s lips parted to object, but Vhalla shook her head firmly. “I am a loyal subject and must follow the will of my Emperor.”

Her hands released his, and Aldrik made a motion to reclaim them. Vhalla stopped him with a cautionary stare. She had made her choice.

But, contrary to her words and all the words she would ever say publicly about it from then on, it was not a choice made from desire to follow her Emperor. It was inspired by the opposite feelings. With the majors’ support behind her, she would cement herself as the obedient soldier. She would knowingly turn herself into the humble servant, abused by their power-hungry master.

Or that was what she hoped would happen as Vhalla held out her wrists.

Finally having what he wanted, the Emperor placed the cold metal on her skin, snapping the cuffs shut. As soon as they latched, the crystals shone with a faint glow, the connection made in a complete circle. Vhalla gasped and staggered before doubling over and falling to her knees; it was as though someone had kicked her in the gut. No, it was as though someone had carved out her chest entirely.