Page 2 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

It could have been a trick of the light or my imagination, but the hint of a grin flashed behind the slim opening at his mouth. My wall of defiance shattered for the briefest of moments. My lips parted. Heat raced to my face. Lucien’s attention returned to Mother. The shift in his focus snapped the spell over me, if there’d been one at all. I straightened, my resolve firmly back in place.

“Our emperor also requests a tax be paid to support the greater good of the empire,” Lucien said as he looked to another captain, who stepped forward bearing a large scroll, a crimson wax seal face up on its seam. “Failure to meet these requests will result in a consequence of our emperor’s choosing.”

Greater good.I dug my nails into my palms. I didn’t need to read the scroll to know what he’d demand. Food, money, and supplies to support his army and keep us weak. No doubt he’d want any profits from our trade network as well, first access to the goods we imported, and control over the sea trade routes we’d developed to the west and south. It’s what I would demand if the roles were reversed.

“Further, members of your household will join him as honored guests in Zhine.” Lucien’s attention slid back to me. “Your daughters.”

Daughters.

Plural.

No. No, no, no.

It was supposed to be me. Just me. But Justina—

Mother spoke.

I didn’t hear what she said, nor the words of the captains as I stepped off the low dais and advanced on the enemy in front of me. “Leave my sister out of this!”

“Ilya!”

The heat of Mother’s exclamation scalded me, but I didn’t back down as I stared up at Captain Lucien, his fierce figure only an arm’s length away. He could pull his sword and cut me down before I could retreat, but it didn’t matter.

Mirth danced in grey eyes as stormy as the clouds behind him. “Intriguing.” His voice was so quiet I nearly missed it over the murmurs and conversation that erupted in the wake of my outburst.

“Take me. Let her stay.” My chest rose and fell in quick succession as I braced for his reply. An invisible rope stretched between us, pulling us closer though neither moved.

“Our emperor will want you both.”

The rope frayed. I stumbled back as my anger seared brighter than the lightning crackling in the clouds.

“No. He can’t, he—”

“Ilya.” Mother stood beside me. My name might as well have been a slap in the face. Her look said everything she couldn’t.Be quiet. Don’t make this worse.

Emotion roiled under my skin like the storming seas. First my city, my people, and now my sister. I’d destroy them all. My teeth ground together as I stared Lucien down. Let them take us and use us as pawns against Mother, but I’d make them pay for it. Him. Them. I spread my anger across the allies at his sides. Even the emperor himself.

Mother turned to Lucien. “We accept.”

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes as Mother knelt, her violet dress, the same shade as my own, pooled around her on the floor. Her regal head tilted forward. The only sign of subservience she’d ever shown.

The storm reached us then, the rain blowing in sideways from the opening toward the sea. Thunder rumbled through the very ground as the biting wind tossed my hair.

An all-consuming fire spread through my chest and up my neck. My knees wobbled. I knew this was coming. I thought I was ready, but nothing prepared me to see her like this.

All for Sorrena.

She’d give it all, and so would I.

I didn’t remember kneeling or bowing my head, but there I was, staring at the boots of the emperor’s captains as the sideways rain soaked through my dress and onto my legs. The cool, salty wetness did little to douse the inferno that roared within me.

“In the name of Emperor Ryszard, we accept the fealty of Sorrena and all its people,” Captain Lucien said, his voice once again booming and clear despite the raging storm.

“In the name of the emperor,” his soldiers echoed.

A single tear escaped to join the puddle. Just like that, Emperor Ryszard added another city-state to his collection.

Mine.

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