Page 55 of Between Soul and Vessel
“You are most welcome,” he replied.
I made the mistake of looking up at Victor, only to see that his lips had parted, and his tongue had begun to squirm in the corner of his mouth. A leech searching for blood.
Apparently, I had spoken too soon.
My stomach revolted.
“Do you think the general will be successful in finding Sage?” the empress asked, her attention lifting from her goblet and landing on Victor.
He pulled his disgusting tongue back into his mouth. “If there isanythingleft to find, I imagine she will be the one to do it.”
“Anything left to find,” the empress scoffed. “Might I remind you that the vuleeries were loyal to Nockrythiam in the past. Considering who she is to him, I sincerely doubt that they’d harm a white hair on her head.”
“Loyalty has an expiration date. Who knows where their allegiances lie now. For all we know, they showed up early to the event simply because they were hungry,” Victor said with a shrug.
The empress cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowing. “Doesyourloyalty have an expiration date?”
A chill swept through the air, as cold as winter’s caress.
I went rigid.
Victor let out a raspy chuckle that quickly turned into a bout of coughing. He grabbed his handkerchief and hacked into it, spitting out a gob of luminescent green mucus. Dropping it on the table, he turned to the empress and spoke with vehemence, “Avena, my dear, I am the exception to therule. I will remain by your side until one of us is six feet beneath the ground.”
“Good,” she said, her expression softening. “Now, might I ask why you requested this dinner?”
“You may, you may,” he said, a stomach-heaving smile spreading across his grotesque lips. “As you know, I have served you for a great number of years. I have devoted my life to your goals and aspirations, and through my hands, I have helped them come to fruition. It has been my greatest honor to serve you, to continue to serve you. But as you see, my work has taken a toll on me, and my vessel is not as it used to be. However, my soul remains young.”
“If you are asking for permission to create another vessel, then you have my blessing,” the empress said with a wave of her hand. “In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t already.”
“That is the thing—I do not wish to create a vessel for myself,” Victor said.
Unease crept like a spider walking over my skin.
“Then what are you requesting?” the empress asked, her tone growing bored.
His eyes slid to mine. “I would like to have onemadefor me. The old-fashioned way. I would like this beautiful priestess to stitch a new vessel together within her womb. I would provide the seed, of course. Once the child has grown into a man, I will extract the soul and install my own.”
My fork clattered against my plate.
“But I have taken an oath,” I sputtered, my tongue firing out words faster than I could think. “I cannot lie withanother.” My eyes jerked to the empress’s, pleading with her to end this madness before it had a chance to begin.
But I was a fool, and I should have known that the empress was not my savior.
Her gaze abandoned mine as she looked to Victor. “Because of your years of service, I will allow it.”
No!I screamed internally.
Somehow, despite the mass hysteria taking control over me, I was able to spin a bit of logic from my tongue. “But Your Majesty, if the people were to find out, there would be outrage in the streets.Yournew law comes into effect next month—making it illegal for women to have children, a crime punishable by death. If the people found out that you allowed your priestess, a woman of the cloth and under oath, to be impregnated under your blessing, what would they say? They would question your reign. They would—”
“Enough,” the empress snarled, her voice a cold blade, slicing off my words.
I held my tongue, but my thoughts were a tempest, swirling with rage.
“If I may?” Victor cut in.
“Of course,” the empress said.
“I have a manor in Burgania, nested in a remote location. There’s nothing but trees there. No people. Absolutely nothing other than a few of my most trusted servants. The priestess can live there, away from prying eyes and wagging tongues. After she has delivered the vessel, she can return to the palace, and my servants will raise the child.”
