Page 101 of Princess of Death

I felt the tug on my throat, the heft of the chains that were locked tightly around my flesh. For someone who was not of the mortal world, I could still feel things like I was just as alive as the trees and the rivers.

I appeared on the deck of the ship, the wind making the sails flap in the breeze that drove the mighty galleon across the sea. The salt was heavy in the air because the water was frigid in this part of the sea.

He stood before me in the gold mask with carved cheekbones and false teeth, spikes sticking out in all directions that would cut the fingers of anyone who tried to remove it. Black fabric was wrapped around his head, neck, and shoulders, every inch of his skin hidden from view by the maroon armor with gold accents.

His hand slowly reached for the mask that obscured his face, and he pulled it free. One eye was a different color from the other, ice-blue, while the other was green like a meadow in spring. His face was mostly bone, the skin so tight over his muscles and neck. He was a normal man, but the distinctive features made him look like something else, part monster. He raised his handto move his mask to the side, and one of his inferiors took it without question.

He stepped forward, squaring off with me like this conversation would be exchanged with words rather than fists. “I asked for victory—and you gave me defeat.”

My cape flapped in the breeze, and my sword weighed upon my shoulders, along with the heavy armor that I didn’t need. “You asked for an army, and I gave you one.” He’d requested powerful allies to help him conquer Riviana Star, and I’d informed him of the orcs in the mountains to the northwest. “I did not guarantee the outcome of the battle?—”

“She commanded the dead. An ability that none other than the God of the Underworld wields.” He came closer, his boots heavy against the planks of the deck.

“You should have known that Riviana Star would have allies.”

“Why does she have command of the dead and I have smelly orcs?—”

“My affairs with other mortals are not your concern. You asked for an army, and I gave it to you.”

“I want to command the dead.”

“That’s not possible since someone else has already claimed that power. The orcs were the next best thing.”

“Dragons would have been the next best thing.”

“I told you the location of the orcs to proposition them. They’re an inherently violent race, far more likely to take your offer simply for sport. Dragons are complex creatures that feel deeper than most humans. They are not interested in conquering theworld—but everlasting peace. Any negotiation with them would have left you burned to ash.”

“You know you gave that cunt more and me less.”

My impulse was to defend her, but the second I showed my anger, it would be her downfall. They would know there was a deeper connection there, and simply out of spite, they might come for her. “You asked for an army in exchange for your soul—and I gave you one.”

“Bullshit. I want the equivalent of her army. She wielded an entire army with a single blade, and that is not possible for any swordsman. There was trickery there as well. In exchange for her soul, you gave her a chest of jewels, and in exchange for mine, you granted me a single gold coin.”

“Then you should have been more specific in your terms.”

“You knew what I faced when I arrived in Riviana Star, and you intentionally worked against me.”

“I did not. You failed to account for the fact that most kingdoms have allies. You underestimated your foes. Choose another place to call home because the Southern Isles are defended by the Death Queen.”

“The Death Queen…” He sucked the inside of his cheek, each of his eyes looking livid in unique ways, in different shades of color. “A beautiful queen who commands the dead and has the loyalty of dragons and elves. Sounds like the perfect wife to me.”

It took all my strength to maintain my stoicism. To pretend I didn’t have a dog in this fight.

“I will take her lands. I will take her dragons. And her command of the dead will serve me.”

“You’re no match for her.”

“Which is why you will give me more.”

“The deal has already been struck?—”

“And it’s nullified in light of what you’ve given another. Take me to the underworld, and I will inform your superiors of your deception, of your favoritism of a woman because of her beauty and the softness between her legs. My soul is equal to hers, and I deserve equal payment.”

“Trust me, they aren’t equal.” I’d felt the power of her soul when she encroached on my lands. She dwarfed all others, both living and dead, a behemoth hidden deep inside soft flesh. “And command of the dead can only be given to one?—”

“Then I request something else. Not smelly orcs.”

I knew the payment was not fair after what he’d seen Lily possess. And if he descended into the underworld and told the Covenant how grossly I’d interfered with the living, there would be even more dire consequences. “What do you seek?”

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