She sighed. All alone. Again. At least this would be over soon. Closing her eyes, she pictured her parents receiving the news that she was dead. They must be devastated. Hopefully, they didn’t do something rash in retaliation. As soon as she entered Fren, she would send word telling them she was alive. If she was still alive.
A blast rocked the room. The door exploded, wood pieces flying like daggers. A sliver impaled itself into Allyssa’s arm, and she screamed from the excruciating pain. The room filled with thick black smoke, making it impossible to see. Her head rang from the noise.
What the bloody hell is going on?
Several men rushed in, roughly seizing her arms and dragging her out into the hallway, which was clear of smoke and debris.
“Just as I suspected,” an articulate female voice said from underneath a hooded cape. “Take her to my room.”
The ringing in Allyssa’s ears subsided, and she tried to get her bearings. Two sentries held her upright. “Release me,” she demanded.
One of the sentries laughed. “You’re not a princess here. You don’t give orders.” He shoved the wooden splinter deeper into her arm. Her vision swam, and she lashed out, trying to hit him.
Someone from behind reached forward, covering her mouth and nose with a cloth. She inhaled something pungent, and her world went black.
Chapter Twenty-One
It tasted as if Allyssa had swallowed a handful of sand. Peeling her eyelids open, she found herself lying facedown on a cold, stone floor. When she went to push herself up, she discovered her wrists were tied behind her back. Her ankles were also secured together. Her arm hurt like hell.
She remembered the door to Kerdan’s room exploding open, smoke everywhere, and sentries grabbing her. Turning her head, she tried to get a better look at her surroundings.
“She’s awake,” a man said.
“Good,” a woman’s steely voice replied. It lacked the heavy accent of most Russeks. “Sit her up.”
Black boots stepped in front of Allyssa’s face. A man squatted down, leering at her.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her throat scratchy.
The man grabbed her hair, yanking her upright to a sitting position and leaning her against the wall. Tears sprang in her eyes. A wood shard protruded from her arm, blood soaking through her sleeve.
“Leave us,” the woman ordered.
A few candles had been lit, and a dying fire flickered in the hearth. Allyssa squinted in the dim gray light, trying to see better. In the center of the room there was a lavish bed, plush rugs throughout, and elaborate paintings on the walls. Where was she? She must have been unconscious for hours if the day was almost gone.
A woman neared, stopping about six feet away, her black dress swirling around her legs. Allyssa craned her head back and looked up to see Eliza—the queen’s mother.
“It’s time we formally meet,” Eliza said. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes.” Even though Jana was Darmik’s half sister, making her Allyssa’s aunt, Allyssa had no relation to Eliza. “Why did you bring me here?”
The woman tilted her head to the side, observing Allyssa as if she were an unusual animal. “You are here so I can end you,” she finally answered.
“Then why am I still alive?” She needed to keep Eliza talking so she could work on the knots around her wrists, praying they came loose before the woman realized what she was doing. It was her only chance of escaping.
“You have your father’s quick mind.” Eliza strolled over to the hearth, warming her hands before the fire. “You are alive because I want to talk to you. Look into your eyes and see you suffer the way I have. Once I’m done, I’ll gladly kill you.”
If Allyssa didn’t undo her bindings in the next minute or so, her best option would be to draw Eliza closer and then knock her out. Sentries were probably posted outside the door, so she’d have to keep the noise to a minimum.
“Being the empress of Emperion was a great honor.” Eliza faced Allyssa and clasped her hands together. “However, it was also a curse.” Lowering her voice, she continued, “I had to watch my husband, a man I loved dearly, seduce any woman or girl he chose. And there was nothing I could do except witness him making a fool of himself, humiliating me in the process. I should have been ruling the kingdom and making the decisions, not some womanizing sorry excuse of a man.” Her chest rose and fell, her hands shaking. “I ended up detesting Hamen.”
She came before Allyssa and squatted so they were eye level. “I’m sure you know that Emperor Hamen slept with my brother’s wife, and that is how your father was conceived. Darmik is a bastard, yet he rules over Emperion.”
Her father sat on the throne because he married Rema, the rightful heir, not because he stole it. Instead of responding, she kept working on the knots, praying they came loose.
Eliza gracefully stood. “Darmik doesn’t deserve to rule Emperion. My daughter does. It is her right by birth. I didn’t suffer all those years to be tossed out like a piece of trash, sent into exile.”
“Jana is reigning over Russek,” Allyssa pointed out. Wasn’t that enough? The queen seemed to have built a life here. Why couldn’t she leave Emperion alone?
Eliza glided to the hearth, picking up the metal rod resting against it. Then, in one swift motion, she swung the rod, striking Allyssa’s leg.
Allyssa cried out in agony, falling to her side, unable to remain upright. Hopefully, her leg wasn’t broken. Before Allyssa realized what was happening, Eliza swung the rod again, this time whacking her side. A sickening crack reverberated in her torso. Her vision blurred from the awful blow. If she could free her hands, she could fight back. But the knot wouldn’t come loose and her leg…her torso…blackness hovered at the edges of her vision, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t insult my daughter,” Eliza sneered. “Being queen of Russek is pathetic. We want, and will get, Emperion. I will be at Jana’s side to help her, and, together, we will control everything.”
Allyssa sucked in a deep breath, and a fierce pain rippled through her ribs. Lying on the floor, helpless, she realized this might be it. All this time she had feared dying at Soma’s hands—not Eliza’s. If she died here, Jana would win. Emperion would fall, her parents would be slaughtered like pigs, and her people would suffer. She couldn’t die. Not here, not now, not like this. Grinding her teeth, she forced herself to say, “You mean King Drenton will rule, just like Hamen. Jana is merely King Drenton’s wife. She has no real power of her own.”