Page 11 of Violet Legacy

There was no guarantee that it would be different this time. “I’ve asked to see artifacts, the Atlantean treasures, and the vault… There might be a clue to finding the tomb of Vandana there. I mean, it seems obvious, but blind optimism at this stage is all I have. If Delacroix pulls this off, it will be an opportunity I can’t say no to.” Rieka ignored the raised eyebrow from Rory at the mention of the Atlantean’s name. She wasn’t naïve. He was getting something out of their partnership—she didn’t know what, and she really didn’t care as long as she was given access to the vault.

“You’d think that would have been the first place they canvassed,” Rory agreed, the husky sound echoing through the small kitchen before a serious expression flashed across her face. “Are you still blacklisted by House Mestor? It may make accepting the invitation to the Jimourt extra awkward.”

House Mestor had been the proud guardians of the statue of Vandana Rieka had identified as a forgery. It had been their crowning glory for more than three millennia. “That would be Delacroix’s issue.”

“House Mestor may have an issue, but in the grand scheme of things, the House is not a major player. Dante may not be the heir to his family line, but he holds more sway than most aristocrats.” Rory tapped her foot on the barstool, her muffin and coffee remained untouched.

The warmth of the coffee seeped through Rieka as she contemplated her choices. There were so many reasons she shouldn’t go and only one good reason to say yes. Closure. “At least it’s not held in New Atlantis.”

“Ha!” Rory scrunched her face. “Only the Atlanteans would have the audacity to build a floating city and rename it after their original homeland. And then demand humans may not enter. Elitists. The lot of them.” Rory turned to face her; her gaze missed nothing. “What does Dante get out of the deal?”

“The knowledge that the artifact is authentic,” Rieka said.

“Try again. This is the Atlantean who has accumulated more power and wealth in the last three hundred years than any other group of Atlanteans in their recent history. Not bad for the spare heir of House Mneseus.” Rory cradled her drink. “He isn’t the boogeyman; he is the very well-connected Atlantean who the boogeyman works for. From what I can see, his business dealings are legitimate, but it wasn’t always the case in the early days of his empire building.”

Rieka stared at Rory.

“It’s good to know who the players are in the city,” Rory continued. “You never know when it will come in handy.”

“I assume it’s some sort of power play,” Rieka admitted. There was a glint of obsession in his gaze when he had brought up the image. She wouldn’t have noticed it, but it had reminded her of the look in Lilian’s eyes. Especially when her mom had lost herself in her search, to the point that the distant past was far more real than her reality or her own teenage daughter.

“The image he showed me was a sketch of a statue. But I’ve seen it once before.” Rieka swallowed. How much did she tell Rory? How did she put into words the feelings she had every time she thought about the image? Or the dreams that haunted her at night and every waking moment. Perhaps she had finally caught a taste of Lilian’s obsession. “It was Vandana, in armor, wielding a sword.”

Rory waited patiently, the cup in her hand forgotten.

“It was the same one I saw in the temple,” Rieka said. She could leave out the part of Vandana’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what it meant. The last couple of weeks she had searched through the papers and journals Lilian had left, trying to understand if there was any clue or hint to her link with the Atlantean queen, and she had found nothing. “Before it was destroyed.”

Rory sat up, flicking her braid over her shoulder. “You saw what? You told me that there was nothing but decrepit columns and ash.A broken promise of what could have been, I believe is how you put it.”

Rieka chewed on her bottom lip. “That is what I officially told them.” She walked over to the journal. The heavy weight of the book was comforting. “There were two potential places Mom believed that could have held Vandana’s tomb. Near Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. And in Egypt, in the middle of House Azaes’s territory. It isn’t in Turkey.”

What she wasn’t mentioning to her best friend was the almost forgotten promise she had given her mom that she would never step foot in Egypt or any of House Azaes territories.

“Egypt, huh?” Rory sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “I hope you like sand. Why is the armor so important? Aren’t there hundreds of thousands of depictions?”

“Not like this,” Rieka said. “Vandana is always shown as a maiden or as a mother figure. A sword implicates it was not as peaceful as we have been told. Perhaps a civil war had been brewing—one of the Houses may have tried to gain extra power.”

“It could be nothing.”

Or it could change how they viewed Atlantean history.

“This is a chance to walk away and start afresh,” Rory said. “Forget the past and do what you want.”

The words were like a dagger to her heart. Rieka had bemoaned her mom’s obsession with finding Vandana’s tomb as a child, but now she looked for it. It was one way for Rieka to understand why she had always been second place in her mom’s life, sometimes barely an afterthought. It was almost impossible to be found equal to a legend.

Rieka didn’t know who was more the fool—Lilian for chasing a dream, or herself, for chasing a ghost of a dream. “I will regret not going. This may be my only chance to access the artifacts. I won’t be invited to the next Jimourt.” Hell, Rieka hadn’t even worked out if she had inherited the Atlantean or human life span yet. For a moment, she briefly thought about what it would be like to live for three thousand years, but quickly discarded the thought. She had not inherited anything useful from her Atlantean side, except for her eye color. And even that made her more of an outcast.

Rory sighed as she picked up her coffee cup. “And if you find nothing?”

Perhaps that is what she needed. A clean break. It may finally be time to find her own dream if it wasn’t too late, even if she didn’t know where to start. “I tried.”

“Dante will have his own agenda. Don’t forget why you are there.”

Delacroix had offered her the only thing she couldn’t say no to. And he knew it. Fortune and fame were nothing she was interested in, but access to the House Atlas’s most protected artifacts was something that she couldn’t turn down. “I know.”

Rory stared at Rieka for a long time before she settled back onto the stool. “I hope you know what you are doing.”

Rieka did too.

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