Page 90 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

Reyna took my hands in hers. “I’m trusting you, Ilya. What I tell you could mean my head. We must be in this together.”

I wanted her on my side. Needed it. I nodded.

Her hands tightened on mine. “We have little time, but the quick version: Captain Zurina is my friend.”

I sucked in a breath. “How can you be sure?”

“We grew up together. We were best friends when we were young, before she disappeared. I thought she was dead. But when I came here I heard her voice, and I knew it was familiar. It took time to figure out the truth, but once I did, I asked about her past and dropped hints about our childhood. She didn’t remember at first, but she said eventually her memories shifted, changed until she could remember the things I’d told her. She even remembered her nickname for me—one I hadn’t told her.”

My blood iced. Just like Lucien. Lost and missing in his youth. Thought dead.

“Are you alright?” she prompted. “Your face…”

I nodded, blinking rapidly. “Lucien…he might have a similar situation.”

“Well now.” Reyna grinned. “Does he trust you? He must to tell you so much.”

“Yes. I think so.”

“And is he sympathetic to our cause?”

An excellent question. “I’m not sure, but he might be…” I ached to tell her his secret, his identity, but I held onto the words.

Reyna drew me closer. “This is great news. Perhaps the turning point we’ve been waiting on.” Her eyes glittered in the dim light of the solitary oil lamp. “We’ve needed another captain on our side, one with influence over the rest.”

Great news for her, and for me. I nearly hugged her. An ally, and not just any—one who’d pulled a captain to her side as well. I’d seen Reyna with Zurina many times. It’d been one of the main reasons I doubted her loyalties. I never thought to suspect one of the emperor’s own captains already worked to undermine his reign.

“I knew you might just be the key to landing our stag.” Reyna released me. “Zurina thinks Emperor Ryszard may have tampered with some of their memories, making himself into their guardian and savior when really he stole them as children.”

“That…it makes sense. But can he do that?” Magic was such an elusive talent. Everyone knew Ryszard had the ability to feel magic—the tool by which he’d found and rescued the orphans who became his captains. But if that wasn’t his only blessing, if he could alter memories, it could explain much.

“Who knows?” Reyna whispered, interrupting my thoughts. “However, Zurina has been passing information to the city-states, helping the rebels, and telling them how to avoid patrols. She doesn’t like what the emperor’s done. His violent approach. Captain Warren is on her side. She thinks Lucien and a few of the others could be turned, but we couldn’t risk it. If she revealed herself and was wrong…” She shook her head.

All their plans would come crumbling down, with their heads on pikes as a lesson to any who would follow. I knew the fears that held back their steps. I knew them far too well. She’d revealed far more than I ever expected, and I had more for her as well.

“Lord Stefan confided that birds are migrating west. Perhaps to the Everspelt range just to the north.”

She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “I knew he’d trust you. He wouldn’t respond to the messages Zurina sent with her birds. Probably thought it was a trap.” She shrugged. “Everspelt.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “That’s close. All the pieces are coming together. If you can get Captain Lucien on our side, it could turn the tide and pull others as well. They look up to him as their leader. Well, most of them. Without his captains, the emperor loses some of his advantage. The people are ready to rise. They only need to know they have a chance, and it won’t earn their own deaths.”

My body shook with barely contained excitement. The goal I strove for was so much closer than I ever thought possible. Freedom for Sorrena. A return to the days before this bloody empire. Could it be true?

“I can turn him. I will.”

Reyna wrapped me in a fierce hug. “I knew you were what we needed.”

A hard rap on the door had us jumping apart with a gasp.

“Almost done in there?” The guard’s gruff voice seeped through the door.

“One moment!” I called, raising my voice above the bare whispers we’d used.

I counted to ten and opened the door. Both of us smiled innocently at the guard who scowled into the room, as if he expected to find someone or something else.

He flicked his hand toward the gardens. “Come along then.”

For once, I didn’t mind following the guards’ orders or the restrictive way they watched us. I raised my chin, relishing the sunlight as it warmed my skin.

We had a plan. Rebels were moving into place, waiting to rise. We would end this empire, and life would return to the way it had always been. The way it should be. Soon. So very soon.

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