Page 59 of Cage of Darkness
A few candles had been lit, and adying fire flickered in the hearth. Allyssa squinted in the dimgray light, trying to see better. In the center of the room therewas a lavish bed, plush rugs throughout, and elaborate paintings onthe walls. Where was she? She must have been unconscious for hoursif the day was almost gone.
A woman neared, stopping about sixfeet away, her black dress swirling around her legs. Allyssa cranedher head back and looked up to see Eliza—the queen’smother.
“It’s time we formallymeet,” Eliza said. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes.” Even though Jana wasDarmik’s half sister, making her Allyssa’s aunt, Allyssa had norelation to Eliza. “Why did you bring me here?”
The woman tilted her head to the side,observing Allyssa as if she were an unusual animal. “You are hereso I can end you,” she finally answered.
“Then why am I stillalive?” She needed to keep Eliza talking so she could work on theknots around her wrists, praying they came loose before the womanrealized what she was doing. It was her only chance ofescaping.
“You have your father’squick mind.” Eliza strolled over to the hearth, warming her handsbefore the fire. “You are alive because I want to talk to you. Lookinto your eyes and see you suffer the way I have. Once I’m done,I’ll gladly kill you.”
If Allyssa didn’t undo her bindings inthe next minute or so, her best option would be to draw Elizacloser and then knock her out. Sentries were probably postedoutside the door, so she’d have to keep the noise to aminimum.
“Being the empress ofEmperion was a great honor.” Eliza faced Allyssa and clasped herhands together. “However, it was also a curse.” Lowering her voice,she continued, “I had to watch my husband, a man I loved dearly,seduce any woman or girl he chose. And there was nothing I could doexcept witness him making a fool of himself, humiliating me in theprocess. I should have been ruling the kingdom and making thedecisions, not some womanizing sorry excuse of a man.” Her chestrose and fell, her hands shaking. “I ended up detestingHamen.”
She came before Allyssa and squattedso they were eye level. “I’m sure you know that Emperor Hamen sleptwith my brother’s wife, and that is how your father was conceived.Darmik is a bastard, yet he rules over Emperion.”
Her father sat on the throne becausehe married Rema, the rightful heir, not because he stole it.Instead of responding, she kept working on the knots, praying theycame loose.
Eliza gracefully stood. “Darmikdoesn’t deserve to rule Emperion. My daughter does. It is her rightby birth. I didn’t suffer all those years to be tossed out like apiece of trash, sent into exile.”
“Jana is reigning overRussek,” Allyssa pointed out. Wasn’t that enough? The queen seemedto have built a life here. Why couldn’t she leave Emperionalone?
Eliza glided to the hearth, picking upthe metal rod resting against it. Then, in one swift motion, sheswung the rod, striking Allyssa’s leg.
Allyssa cried out in agony, falling toher side, unable to remain upright. Hopefully, her leg wasn’tbroken. Before Allyssa realized what was happening, Eliza swung therod again, this time whacking her side. A sickening crackreverberated in her torso. Her vision blurred from the awful blow.If she could free her hands, she could fight back. But the knotwouldn’t come loose and her leg…her torso…blackness hovered at theedges of her vision, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t insult my daughter,”Eliza sneered. “Being queen of Russek is pathetic. We want, andwill get, Emperion. I will be at Jana’s side to help her, and,together, we will control everything.”
Allyssa sucked in a deep breath, and afierce pain rippled through her ribs. Lying on the floor, helpless,she realized this might be it. All this time she had feared dyingat Soma’s hands—not Eliza’s. If she died here, Jana would win.Emperion would fall, her parents would be slaughtered like pigs,and her people would suffer. She couldn’t die. Not here, not now,not like this. Grinding her teeth, she forced herself to say, “Youmean King Drenton will rule, just like Hamen. Jana is merely KingDrenton’s wife. She has no real power of her own.”
Fury lit up Eliza’s face, and shelifted the rod, about to swing it when someone knocked on the doorto the bedchamber. She rushed over to answer it. “Excellent,” shesaid as she closed the door and faced Allyssa again. “My guard hasjust informed me that Kerdan returned to his room and saw the mess.He assumes you’ve escaped and has sent out a search party toretrieve you.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Isuspect things are going to get interesting around here. Too badyou won’t be alive to see it.” She swung the metal rod, hittingAllyssa’s outer thigh.
Allyssa screamed, curling into a ball.Blood seeped out of the wound in her arm, soaking her shirt andpooling on the floor. She needed to stop the bleeding, but everytime she moved, she aggravated it further.
Eliza smiled. “You have no idea howlong I’ve been planning this.” She took a step closer.
“I’m sure it was longbefore your daughter assassinated the queen. The two of youprobably came here with the intention of using Russek to conquerEmperion.” If she could distract her, perhaps the evil womanwouldn’t hit her again.
“Is that what Kerdan toldyou?” Eliza shook her head, disgust written all over her face. “Menare always meddling in my plans. Well, the prince can meddle all hewants, but it won’t make a difference this time.” Raising the rod,she inspected it. “I can’t believe my life has resorted to this,”she mumbled, tossing the rod in the corner of the room. It landedwith a loudclank,startling Allyssa.
“We came to Russek with theintention of starting a new life. I didn’t expect the king to fallmadly in love with my daughter. But when he did, it changedeverything. I watched my husband sleep with whores,” Elizawhispered. “Do you think I would allow my daughter to behave insuch a degrading manner? The perfect opportunity presented itself,so we took it. Jana refused the king’s advances, making itabundantly clear that she wouldn’t share a bed with a marriedman—even if he was the king. He threatened to have her executed forrefusing him. Jana said she would rather die with her virtue intactthan do something she would regret. He was furious, and it made himwant her even more. A week later, the queen died.”
Kerdan had implied that Jana killedhis mother. Allyssa had seen the letter the queen wrote about nottrusting Jana. “Surely you’re not saying King Drenton killed hisown wife?”
“That is exactly what I’mtelling you. Once the queen was properly buried, the king presentedhimself to Jana, and she accepted his marriageproposal.”
“You’re lying.” Allyssa’sbody shook. She was in so much pain she could barely focus on theirconversation.
Eliza raised her eyebrows. “Why wouldI lie? What purpose would it serve?”
“It seems…tooconvenient.”
“I’m not saying Jana didn’tencourage him. Because she did. We took full advantage of thesituation. But she did not kill the queen, nor did Soma haveanything to do with her death. The murder of the queen is on theking’s hands.”
A man capable of killing his wife wasnot a man at all. Didn’t Eliza fear for Jana’s safety?
