Page 50 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“Yes, Taisiya,” Mereruka said.

“Then come, and prove it,” Taisiya said to Mereruka.

They stood atop the heart and made the appropriate steps. The resonance tingled her ears and grew louder as she recited the words of the ceremony. Their world was created by the essences of forgotten gods, and yet her heretical heart felt that this was the most sacred place on Oblivion. She hated the man who would take her from it.

“I, Taisiya Dragonsblood, vow to take into our clan Mereruka of Maat. From today until his last, I demand his ultimate loyalty.”

She pricked his finger with a sharp blade. If she was a little rougher than she’d needed to be, he wasn’t fool enough to protest. Thankfully, she didn’t see any hesitation in his pale eyes.

“I, Mereruka of Maat, vow my ultimate loyalty to Taisiya Dragonsblood and the Dragonsblood clan from this day until my last.”

He pressed his bloody finger to the dragon’s heart as the resonance reached a fever pitch. He grunted as the vows made their mark on his soul.

“Mereruka of Maat, from this day forward you are both family and vassal. We will protect you with our lives as you will protect us with your own. From this day until your last, we will keep your secrets and you will keep ours. If this covenant is broken, you will accept death by the hand of the Dragonsblood heir,” Taisiya said.

“You’re lucky we share no common ancestor, wife, else I’d be committing a grave crime by swearing this oath to you,” he whispered.

“Andyouare lucky I’m giving you this honour at all. If our lives weren’t tied, my family would have torn you to pieces,” she whispered back.

He smiled and stepped from the dragon’s heart. Bas repeated the process without complaint. When it was done, she turned to her family.

“Since we’re all gathered, I think it would be best to decide upon the new heir.”

“Why?” Milena asked. “Because of him?” She pointed at Mereruka.

“Because my judgement is obviously flawed. I won’t even be present to guide the family in a few days’ time. The role of heir belongs to someone who won’t fail as I have,” Taisiya replied, though it killed her to lay her shortcomings out in the open.

“I would have made the same gamble, Taisiya,” Sonya spoke first. “It was too good a chance to miss.”

“As would I. Though, I might not have thought to ask for exclusive trade rights in the first place,” Daria added and smiled.

“No one is going to take your place as heir, Taisiya, not while you live. You’re a week’s journey away. It takes at least that long to get from the capital to almost anywhere important in the empire without a teleportation mage. Besides, unless things change drastically, our plans for the next generation are already set,” Milena said, her arms crossed.

“I’ll send you letters regularly, and keep you up to date on everything that happens in Lethe.” Theodore smiled.

No, they were supposed to despise her, as they ought. They were supposed to reprimand her for her recklessness and chide her for her foolishness. That might have been easier to bear than their stubborn warmth. Leaders who failed were supposed to be punished, not embraced. Tears threatened. Her mother stepped forward and took Taisiya’s hands between her own.

“You should remain the heir, Taisiya. It’s what Grigori wanted, and it’s only fitting that the heir reaches for the greatest possible power.” Oxsana’s smile was a touch wicked. She pinched her cheek. “What better way to do that than to take a wealthy kingdom for yourself?”

Taisiya swallowed past the tightness in her throat. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Nodding, she let herself be comforted by familial warmth. She didn’t know if or when she would feel it again.

“Come. Tell me what you plan to do to that vermin, Nobilissimus Procopius,” Oxsana said as she pulled Taisiya from the graveyard, Mereruka and Bas following quietly behind.

Chapter 23

“Blackmail?!”

Taisiya tilted her head. Praetor Nicephorus, Lethe’s most powerful bureaucrat, slowly regained his composure in the wake of her indictment against one of his trusted logothetes.

“This is a serious accusation, Illustra-”

“Princess Consort, Praetor,” Taisiya corrected him. “And I would not dare accuse one of your logothetes without sufficient proof. You see, as I began the task of introducing Prince Mereruka to prospective wives, I found that within only a day or so, each of them begged off. This became so common an occurrence that I suspected some kind of mischief. I had my servant, Vasilisa, a darkness mage, keep an eye on a number of women I’d arranged appointments for. Lo and behold, she discovered a shadow mage delivering several threatening notes to the very same noblewomen.” Taisiya placed a few of those same notes, retrieved secretly from the women’s homes, in front of the praetor. “Under questioning, that shadow mage named your logothete, Nobilissimus Procopius, as his taskmaster.”

The praetor read some of the letters’ contents, blushed, and pushed them aside. The secrets contained within were certain to discredit and embarrass the women they were meant for. Taisiya had copied the information within, and kept the ones that contained darker, more treacherous secrets for her own, Magister Emerald’s among them. Who knew he’d seriously entertained the same treasonous plot as Taisiya’s own father? Now, Taisiya knew it. At least it made sense why Chloe had been forced to reject Mereruka’s proposal. She looked forward to using that juicy secret in future.

“I hope you will see fit to burn those letters, and never mention what you’ve learned in polite company,” Taisiya said.

Nicephorus nodded.

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