Page 20 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

Chapter10

Lucien

Warren sat across the game board from me where we savored a rare moment of peace within my quarters. Cycles ago, before the emperor took power, we’d played all the time. These days, spare moments were harder and harder to come by.

I slid the triangular piece across the wooden board to occupy a free space.

Warren’s brows scrunched as he moved a square piece of his own, claiming mine with barely a moment’s thought.

“Really, Lucien? Are you letting me win?” A broad grin brightened his features as he moved the stolen piece to the side, adding it to his ever-growing pile.

I frowned at the board. How had I missed such an obvious play? “That wasn’t my intent.”

“You’re usually not so easy to beat. In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever given up so many pieces this early.”

He was right. I hadn’t. But my mind wasn’t on the game or my friend sitting across the table. My thoughts were still with the woman I’d brought to my quarters and what to do with her now. The outfits she’d worn recently, the sudden change of attitude…I’d never seen that coming, and it made me more uneasy than I’d ever admit.

“One more move like that and I’ll claim victory,” he taunted.

The boy’s golden eyes sparkled with mischief in the light of my sitting room. With the guards on watch, we could go without our armor, or at least some of it.

Warren still held a youthful innocence I envied. Such carefree joy had been stripped from me long ago, if I’d ever truly had it at all.

“Don’t think I’ll give in so easily,” I responded, studying the board before me. Victory would be hard-won in this match, but the challenge gave me a thrill. I lived for uneven odds and difficult situations. My ability to work through them earned me the position of Emperor Ryszard’s First years ago.

The door banged open. Zurina stormed in, a force to be reckoned with, and pulled free her hawk helmet. Her short, dark hair stuck out around her ears.

“Please tell me the rumors are false.” She pinned me to the chair with her sharp stare as she crossed the distance between us with her long-legged stride.

“Nice to see you too,” I said.

Zurina’s scowl deepened. She’d been off on a mission for the emperor for the last few days. Rumors had picked up about potential rebels rising throughout the city-states. I had a hunch they were the ones who attacked us on our way back from Sorrena, though for what aim I couldn’t yet say.

“What do you think?” I asked.

She pursed her lips. “I get back and the first stories I hear are full of filth, and about you no less. I’ll kick your ass if even a hint of it’s true. To treat a woman that way and—” She cut herself off. Metal groaned as she fisted her armored hand. “You’re better than that.”

My muscles tensed at the accusation, and the fact that so many believed it. My stomach rolled. I was harsh. Demanding. I had to be for my role, but to imply I’d treat a woman like that was a new low.

Warren glanced between us, but his features lacked surprise. He’d heard the rumors too, but he hadn’t mentioned it. Usually, such nonsense passed quickly, but not this time. For whatever reason, residents of the castle seemed to linger over this particular rumor and spread it with gusto.

“I’m glad you think so,” I said. “And you’re right, I wouldn’t do such a thing. Never.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. The move I’d been formulating against Warren vanished from thought.

“Good. Don’t let the power twist you. Not like some others.”

She didn’t need to say who. Orson. Kasida. Maybe more. We’d been raised together, though I held no love for them like I did Warren and Zurina. They’d always been the darker sort, willing to lie, cheat, and undermine to get ahead. Power and conquest twisted them until they gave up any pretense of being respectable people beyond their armored façade.

Orson had been trouble from the start. He never held back with training blows. In our youth, he set half the mansion on fire once, just for fun. Another time he cut off Zurina’s hair one chunk at a time until she sent a swarm of bees after him.

Zurina skidded a chair across the stonework and threw herself down in it, hooking her legs over the armrest. “You can be a cold bastard sometimes, but I don’t think we could be friends if you’d fallen that far.”

Where training and war darkened many, it had the opposite effect on Zurina. Or something had. She’d grown protective over our emperor’s guests recently, suggesting they be treated with true respect, given minor freedoms, and watched out for, particularly the younger ones.

“I corrected those I’ve heard, not that many speak out in front of me. I’ll see what I can do,” I said.

She gave a jerking nod. “Good.”

“I can help,” Warren offered. “The guards aren’t quite so careful around me.”

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