Page 66 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

During our mid-morning stop on the fifth day, I entered Ilya’s transport and stretched out on the cushioned bench. Despite the padding, I still preferred the horse.

The door swung open. Ilya froze halfway in. She swayed where she dipped through the opening.

I tugged at the grey lapel of my borrowed guard uniform, a wry smirk pulling at my lips. “Care to join me, or would you rather walk?”

Ilya gaped, mouth opening and closing. Despite her shock, she joined me and closed the door behind her. “What are you doing?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

“Acting as your personal guard.” I crossed one leg over my knee, reclining into the tanned, cushioned seat. “One guard will look much the same as the next to these people. Regardless of skin tone or gender, all they’ll see is the uniform.” I knew that well enough from our conquests.

“But won’t they expectyou? And what about the others here?”

My lips twitched. “Worried about me, Ilya?”

She scowled at me. “You were the one who said this needed to go off without any mischief.”

“Any mischief onyourpart.” Gods, I missed her banter. She’d kept her walls up during our journey so far. It was almost like the journey from Sorrena to Zhine, though with slightly less simmering fury on her part and thankfully no strange attacks or interruptions—yet. Ilya had been upset about me taking her before the emperor without first letting her know and had berated me about it before we’d left. But I couldn’t risk her sounding rehearsed. My emperor would not have expected her to know about this journey in advance, so I couldn’t tell her.

“I chose these guards for a reason. They won’t give me away. Besides, Tiber is about my height and will pose as me in my armor while I wear his clothes.” It wasn’t the first time I’d swapped outfits with one of them to carry out some covert task, and it likely wouldn’t be the last. My boots thumped on the ground as I slid forward, arms on my knees. “You won’t give me away, will you?”

She crossed her arms and stared me down. “I promised to carry out this task, though I’m still not sure why you chose me.”

“Who among your company can I trust if not you? Besides…” I rubbed my forearm right over the place where my birthmark lay. I wanted her trust, yes, but more than that, I wanted her close to help me understand the illusion my magic had wrought.

Her head tilted to the side. “Are you nervous?”

“Of course not.” I jerked my hand away. “Just ready to be done with all this. They won’t like the news we bring, or the tax we’ll request. It will be up to you to calm their leaders should they cause a scene.”

She frowned and looked out the window. “Sounds like so much fun.”

I grinned. Whatever awaited us in Trale, at least I had this time with Ilya.

* * *

By midafternoon,the dense pine forest gave way to grazing fields turning from green to golden in the early fading season. Stone and wooden homes broke up the horizon, along with the occasional large tree whose limbs sprawled out over the ground, providing a roof of leaves—so at odds from the tall, narrow pines we’d traversed for the last day.

“Is this Trale?” Ilya asked, peering out the window.

“It should be. We’ve traveled long enough.” I soaked in her spark of excitement, willing it to calm my nerves. I wasn’t anxious, more apprehensive.

The conveyance of our news and the tax would be fine. Lord Stefan wouldn’t like it, not at all, but I’d grown used to unhappy rulers in recent cycles. They’d suffer this and move on, just as they had when they’d been conquered. My personal goals were another matter. Would I be able to sort out the truth of Ilya’s words? I rubbed at the mark on my arm, hidden under the fabric of the borrowed uniform. Somehow it was more uncomfortable than my armor.

One glance out the window confirmed my suspicions. “Yes, the terrain looks right. You haven’t been here before?”

“Not in quite some time.” Ilya slid back from the window, sunlight catching on her hair and giving it extra shine. “I was young the last visit, maybe eight cycles.”

Too old to have met the boy from the illusion based on the little I’d learned of when he went missing.

“Mother used to take me on trips with her all the time when I was younger.” She glanced back toward the window, the hint of a smile on her lips. “I really enjoyed it. New people. Interesting smells. Strange foods. The first time I saw glow wood, I squealed in delight.”

Such wistful, happy memories. I smiled despite myself. With every roll of the carriage’s wheels toward Trale, Ilya relaxed. Tension slipped from her shoulders. She looked with wonder out the window. Small smiles teased me across the narrow space between us. I’d never seen her so at peace. So…happy.

“At the time, I didn’t know that Ourelas shipped it southward through our port.” She shook her head. “I begged Mother to get some for our home, but she refused, calling it an unnecessary expense. Candles and oil are cheaper after all, especially since we make so many in Sorrena.”

The rare, glowing wood fetched a hefty price in any market. Ourelas would be broke if they didn’t have the only small forest of the stuff on this side of the continent. We’d claimed some of it when we conquered the city, though the emperor sold off most of it to buy horses, metal, and other tools of war. It had been my suggestion.

“You didn’t travel with her when you were older?” I asked. Ilya had finally opened up, and I craved the treasure of memories she shared.

She frowned. “No. I wanted to, but Mother insisted I stay in Sorrena and act in her place. Practice, she called it. I think it would have been more helpful to meet with the other city-states, understand their economies, get to know their people…” She shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”

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