Page 93 of Poisoned Empire

“But she said-”

“What made you think a poison mage was any match for six elemental mages in their prime with unnaturally strong magic?! You questioned them alongside us! You know how terrifying their powers are!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Alexandra replied, tears running down her cheeks. “She said she would be empress, so I just did what she told me.”

Belisarius reined in his anger. There was no point to berating a young girl over things which couldn’t be changed, especially when one of those things was Selene’s recklessness. He could only pray she remained alive, lest her death fog kill them all... lest his heart break irreparably. He breathed deep, forcing a calm he had no business feeling.

“The praetor will need you to determine who we can trust. Nicephorus, summon a few more of your spies, determine their loyalty, and send them to inform the emperor of what has happened. Place him under a protective guard, in this world and the void. There’s no telling how many more wards they’ve tampered with.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.” Nicephorus bowed and turned to the silver-tongue. “Come with me, Alexandra.”

He was not alone for long. The shadow mage spy returned.

“The poison mage has killed Magister Aristeo Sapphire and Dominus Phillip Diamond. Dominus Leo Sapphire has trapped her in a water globe prison, and they’ve met reinforcements: three of Magister Sapphire’s sons and the remaining Diamond son. They’re about to leave the prison.”

“Inform the strategos and then the praetor immediately. I want the route to the entrance courtyard cleared of staff and guests, and the servants’ corridors barricaded.”

The shadow mage bowed and disappeared.

Belisarius had never felt so sick in his life, his heart galloping in his chest. If she’d killed two of the conspirators, would she survive their wrath long enough to be rescued? The water globe prison was a vicious form of torture, the victim only granted breath when the torturer saw fit to allow it. His hands had begun shaking. Fuck! He needed to act. It was rash and foolhardy, but the thought of sitting in his office made his skin crawl. Belisarius flung open his doors. Two guards stood ready and waiting for his orders.

“Get me my bow and a quiver of arrows from the imperial archers, and do it quickly. I’ll be waiting with archers on the bailey of the entrance courtyard.” One guard nodded before racing off down the halls. To the other he simply said, “When the shadow mage returns with news, tell him where I’ve gone.”

Chapter 32

EverytimeLeoSapphireturned his attention to the soldiers of the imperial army blocking the way, Selene lost her pocket of air. She could only hold her breath and hope, traitorously, that they didn’t put up too long of a fight. The first few times, her bubble of air had disappeared mid-breath, choking her as water filled her nose and mouth. When it returned, she was so busy trying to gasp and expel water that she didn’t see the pattern to it, until it happened again. Now, whenever she could see the warped outlines of approaching soldiers in their uniforms, terror gripped her and she desperately swallowed air before it was stolen. Mercifully, the conspirators seemed more interested in leaving the palace and causing a scene than killing everyone who tried to stop them.

Leo took up the front, her bubble preceding them like the living shield she was. He created veritable glaciers wherever he saw opponents, freezing them with a flick of his wrist and plugging whatever hallway the army tried to approach from. It was magic on a scale she’d never dreamed possible, and he showed no signs of slowing, no hint that this terrible power of his had a limit. With the power he possessed, it was understandable why he and the magistri had used foul magic on their daughters and sisters. The sheer power was glorious, terrifying and nearly divine. If she’d known what he was capable of, Selene would have run from that dungeon, or failing that, slit her own throat, if only to end the lives of these walking calamities in an instant. She had yet to see what kind of power her father had accrued with his dark bargain, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to, either.

Selene hadn’t just gambled irresponsibly, she’d thrown her life away like trash, all because she’d wanted a place by Belisarius’ side, one with power, prestige and everything else she could get her greedy hands on. She’d craved his respect, and the fearful subservience of everyone else. When she spoke, she had wanted others to heed her. Selene had dreamed of tearing out the wagging tongues of everyone who had ever deemed her worthless, lowly and loathsome, as if she were Darius himself. She really was no better than her father. No; she was worse, because Selene was just as craven and power-mad as he, but she hadn’t been smart enough to plan for failure, or wise enough to avoid it.

The traitors would walk out of the palace through the front gates at this rate, living testaments to might making right. What better way to showcase their ungodly powers than to leave the palace in style, with devastation in their wake? What would become of her when they made good on their escape? Would Leo drown her? Of all the ways she could have died over the years, that topped the list as one of the most unpleasant. And if he killed her, what would become of Iliana and Belisarius? Her death fog could kill them all. She’d never hated her magic before, but she’d have agreed to give up her very soul to ensure her death couldn’t harm them.

When they finally reached the palace entrance, Selene heard what could only be described as a battle cry. From up on the bailey, indistinct figures popped up, firing a volley of arrows. She mistimed her breath, hastily shutting her mouth and plugging her nose before water poured in. She could see one of the Sapphire sons who had taken up the rear lying on the ground, a veritable pincushion. Another Sapphire son appeared to be a barrier mage, and the rest of the conspirators had been shielded. The remaining arrows slumped harmlessly along the outer edge of the barrier. Her father shouted, and the conspirators tightened their formation. Blessed air returned, and she gasped in relief. The issue with being shielded by a barrier was that nothing could come in, but, conversely, nothing could go out either. For now, that stalemate meant she had precious air.

Belisarius stood atop the bailey at the point furthest from the outer gates. The first volley had hit a single Sapphire son, the one closest to the range of his gift’s influence, but not the one currently torturing Selene in the water globe prison. They were following the orders of Magister Amethyst, a brilliant tactician. The surprise offensive had yielded too little, and both parties knew it.

The barrier mage was the most troublesome. Belisarius had been careful to direct his gift like a slithering snake, avoiding the precious enchantments of the arrowheads in his quiver and those of his fellow archers, but he simply didn’t have the range or control needed to push his gift outward to the full party of traitors. Would he have to forgo the perfect shot, and take his chances simply trying to shatter the barrier by placing his own enchantment on the arrows?

“What orders for the strategos?” the spy asked from his shadow.

“Block the escape. I want them cornered. Target the shadow mages first. They cannot be allowed to get away. I’ll deal with the barrier mage.”

“If you are in imminent danger, I will pull you into the shadows, on orders of the emperor.”

He disappeared to relay the message. Belisarius needed the eyes of the traitors on the archers, not the ground forces about to flank them.

“Nock! Mark!” Belisarius erased his arrow’s enchantment and replaced it with his own as he shouted. “Draw! Loose!”

His arrow hit the barrier early, piercing it and striking the mage in the chest. The barrier held, but only in patches. The mage sank down to his knees, his wide eyes and clenched teeth echoing his grim focus. Belisarius ordered another volley, rewriting the enchantment on his arrow once again. When his arrow flew through the air, it struck his quarry in the neck.

Barrier shattered, Magister Diamond let loose his ritually enhanced gift, flash-blinding most of the archers including Belisarius. He ducked behind the stone railing of the bailey. A deafening roar of thunder and shrieks of agony rang in his ears. The sick scent of burnt hair and charred meat greeted him. When he regained his sight, the archer on his left was nothing more than an exploded corpse.

“Shield yourselves! The arrows are enchanted! Archers die first!” Magister Amethyst called out in a booming battlefield voice.

As he chanced to take stock of the battle, Belisarius saw that both Magister Amethyst and his heir Dimitri were alive, the heir firing precision shots while the father used his lightning like a raging shield, thunder deafening. The Sapphire heir and another Sapphire son still lived, while one more had perished. Magister Diamond, his son and the shadow mages had disappeared. Leo Sapphire launched an all-out offensive against the archers on the walls, the other Sapphire son protecting them with a thin barrier of ice. Leo sent waves crashing along the right wall, sweeping archers from their posts and dashing them on the stone steps below.

The watery prison had been forgotten.

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