Page 79 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

Reyna.She’d said he was a friend, someone we could trust. And yet, Gabriel and Fernand had been caught the moment they tried to pass off information. My skin turned clammy. Wordless noise buzzed in my ears. By The Four, could she have played me? Did she plan to report me to the emperor the moment I told her of my findings?

I grabbed my cup from the table and downed the wine within. My hand shook as I refilled it from a nearby pitcher.

A peal of laughter wove its way into my misery. Reyna entered the dining hall, her arm looped through a guard’s as she leaned into him. Her gaze locked with mine, and she gave an enthusiastic wave.

Friend or foe?I turned away, back to the men in front of me.

“Oh look, it’s your new friend. Aren’t you going to join her?” Fernand twisted his lips into a cruel smile as he raised his brows at me across the table. When I didn’t move, he rose and said, “Maybe I’ll go find a new seat then.”

“Fernand…” He was just hurt. Surely that was all…

He clapped a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Care to join me?”

Gabriel gave me a lingering look before shaking his head and starting to rise.

My stomach plummeted as surely as if the chair had been pulled out from under me.

“Wait,” I said.

He paused.

“I…” I needed to tell him. Something, anything. But not enough for the guards to understand. “Your brother, he—”

“Don’t,” he said with a sharp shake of his head.

“But he—”

His throat bobbed before he planted his palms on the table and leaned toward me. “You want to get him in trouble too?”

A hollow opened in my chest. “Never.” Of course not. Surely, he couldn’t think that.

Gabriel looked away. “I just…don’t know what to trust anymore.” Without another word, he turned and followed Fernand.

My breaths drew short and quick as I stared at their empty chairs. The rest of the room was a blur, the raucous noise a meaningless hum.

Elin laid a hand on my arm and jolted me back to the moment. “They’ll come around,” she whispered. “It’s just, after all that’s happened….” She shook her head and closed her eyes before opening them again and folding in on herself. “They’re hurt and hurting, but I believe you.”

At least someone did, but I couldn’t involve her. She reminded me too much of Justina. Young. Innocent. If I got her tangled up in this mess anymore, I wouldn’t forgive myself.

Sorrow mixed with the wine in my stomach. Fernand and Gabriel didn’t trust me, and I might not be able to trust Reyna, not if she’d really set the men up to get caught at the festival. The metal cup bit into my skin, fighting back as I took out my frustrations on it.

Until now, I’d always been in control, leading my path, the heir of Sorrena in spirit if no longer in title. Even if things hadn’t gone according to plan, at least I had one. But what could I hope to accomplish on my own? Even with the knowledge I’d gained and whatever else I might garner, how could it be of use if I had no one to share it with, no way to get it to the rebels?

I drowned my sorrows until I emptied the cup in front of me. All the hope and excitement I’d stored up during the journey floated away with the last of the bitter red wine down my throat.

The empty cup stared back at me, a mockery of my misery. If I couldn’t reclaim my title, free my homeland, then what was I?

Nothing at all.

Chapter36

Ilya

The open doorway beckoned me, tempting me to cross its threshold and ascend the stairs to Lucien’s room above.

My shoulders slumped, no longer able to support the weight of the worries that pressed down upon me. My so-called friends wouldn’t listen. They thought me a traitor, or worse. I’d lost whatever value I had in their eyes. A useless heir not worthy of the title, if I could still even claim it. I could barely stomach thinking of Reyna either. I enjoyed her company, our painting sessions, her friendly banter. Did she really plan to sell me out?

Wine and weariness urged me to sleep, to curl into a ball upon the narrow bed in my small chamber and surrender my burdens to tomorrow.

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