Heart of the Empire (The Broken Lands Book 1)

by Carrie Summers

  I craned my neck and shoved aside a guard who’d come between me and the scene. Had I only imagined what had happened? Had Savra been a vision, come to me like Vaness had in the mountains?

  And then I saw her. Savra stood, chest heaving, on the bare granite a dozen paces from the dais. Our eyes locked. Questions roared through my mind. Why was she here? What did she think of me, now that she knew my secrets?

  All sound faded, save for the thud of my heartbeat. Torchlight flickered on her face. I couldn’t see the green of her eyes, but I remembered it. She wore a scribe’s tunic. It suited her. I blinked in surprise when I noticed the palace insignia embroidered above her scribe’s crest. Savra worked here? In Steelhold?

  The slap of running feet jarred me from my spell. Protectors were breaking off from the group, chasing after the man who’d tried to skewer me with a poisoned dagger. Or had Caddill been his target? I glanced around, looking for the former Emperor, but he had gone. Slipped out in the chaos, or vanished when his connection with the mortal world finally snapped. I might never know.

  I turned back to Savra. Dressed as a palace servant and responsible for saving me, no one was paying her any mind. As she looked up at me, her brow creased. Concern? An apology?

  Something caught her attention. She stiffened as her eyes shot to the edge of the courtyard. More footfalls sounded, but not the heavy tread of protectors. Shadows arrowed from the alley, their gliding shapes clad in black and wrapped in light cloaks. The arrivals were there, yet somehow, not. I felt as if my attention slid off them as they ran through the chaos.

  “I—” Savra cried out as two of the dark figures swept her up. As fast as they’d abandoned the alley, they carried her to the nearest aisle between buildings.

  “Wait!” I slapped a hand on the Prime Protector, who turned to me in shock. “The girl. The one who saved me. They took her!”

  “Which girl?” she asked.

  “There.” I pointed. “She was standing there, and then a group of the assassin’s friends ran from an alley and grabbed her.”

  The Prime furrowed her brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve had eyes on the square the whole time. I saw no one.”

  “You didn’t see her attack the assassin?”

  “The earthquake unsteadied him. A lucky tremor. Are you all right, your eminence?”

  “I’m fine. And you’re mistaken. I just saw her. Send guards down that alley,” I said, pointing. When she balked, I added, “Now.”

  “As you say, your eminence.”

  Failing to disguise her skeptical glance, she summoned a handful or protectors and sent them off. Meanwhile, I stared at the place Savra had been. Had I been mistaken? I couldn’t see how the Prime could have failed to notice a scribe standing alone in the middle of the courtyard.

  “Come, your eminence,” the Prime said. “It’s not safe out here. These men will escort you to your chambers, and I’ll have a double guard shift standing watch until we’ve secured the Hold. With the gates sealed, the assassin has no way out. We’ll find him and put this matter behind us so that we can begin organizing your rule.”

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Savra

  Near the Shadow Gate

  “MAKE THEM OPEN the gate,” Sirez growled. The woman kept a firm grip on my arm, her fingers like talons.

  Swallowing, I nodded. As I focused on my links to the protectors, I remembered my attention-repelling shield. It had become so second-nature that I hadn’t realized I’d kept it active. It made sense why the guards hadn’t chased us from the courtyard. They hadn’t noticed us.

  But Kostan had. He’d seen me. I was sure of it.

  I pressed my will on the protectors, commanding two to stand sentry on the open street in front of the gate. The other I forced to take hold of the lever. But then I hesitated. I’d betrayed Stormshard. As soon as I helped them escape the Hold, they’d probably kill me. Tentatively, I expanded my awareness to their auras. Could I force my will on them as I had the protectors?

  And could I live with myself afterward? I’d betrayed them once already.

  Sirez’s dagger touched my neck. “I may not be a spiritist, but I can sense your thoughts. With the power you’ve demonstrated tonight, none of us would stand a chance against you. Not without magic to counter yours.”

  “Why threaten me with your dagger then?”

  “Because a Sharder never gives up without a fight. And because I wanted your attention. There’s something I haven’t shared with you. Evrain is alive. Betray me again, and you’ll lose your only chance to find him.”

  Despite the situation, my heart soared. My father wasn’t dead—assuming Sirez was telling the truth, anyway. Immediately, I withdrew my aura-sense from the Sharders. If there was still a chance they’d take me to my father, I needed to do everything I could to persuade them I’d meant well.

  “I’m sorry for what I did,” I said. “The new Emperor. I know him. He’s different.”

  But was he? I’d spent a few hours in his company, and he’d lied to me the whole time. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He’d chosen his words carefully. A home he couldn’t return to. Jaliss-born. Both those things were accurate, if misleading. And hadn’t I done the same thing, hiding the truth about my journey with Havialo?

  “Forgive me if I hesitate to trust you.”

  “I couldn’t let you kill a good man. He’s innocent. He cares for the Provs.”

  “As innocent as the people starving in the Splits? As the Lowtown families who lost their homes and have nowhere to go?”

  A scuffling sound from behind caused Sirez to dig her fingers into the back of my arm.

  “Grawsen,” she said when the assassin stepped into the torchlight. “Thank the skies. I worried we might have to abandon you.”

  “The protectors are determined but not very clever. Not too difficult to evade for a short while.” The assassin turned a hate-filled glare on me. “Faithless wretch. What are we going to do with her?”

  Sirez flared her nostrils as she stared at me. “She’s supposed to be getting the gate open,” she said, pressing the dagger harder against my throat. “I’d like to throw her from the spire afterward, but she claims to know the new Emperor. It’s information we could use.”

  “One more step and the Atal Dynasty would have been finished,” Grawsen said.

  “I realize that, and the conclave will decide a fitting punishment for her betrayal.”

  “I hope you intend to collar her,” the assassin said.

  “I’m not an idiot. But she’d comply without it, I believe. We know the whereabouts of someone she cares for.”

  “Do as you wish, I suppose,” Grawsen said, still pinning me with his glare, “but please convey a request to the conclave. I’d like to exact her punishment myself.”

  From behind, the march of booted feet marked the searchers’ approach.

  “Done. And now, Savra,” Sirez said. She pushed her dagger harder against my throat. “Open. The. Gate.”

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Kostan

  Emperor's bedchamber

  THE SUN ROSE on my first day as Emperor of Atal. I felt no different. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I was cleaner. I’d had my first bath in days, alone in the chambers where Caddill had so recently been murdered. A new rug covered the marble tiles in the receiving chamber. I assumed blood stains had made the other unsalvageable. The bedding was freshly laundered and aired. Clothing from my Scion’s chamber had been moved into the wardrobe.

  Breakfast arrived on a wooden tray. I’d refused to eat off anything crafted from Maelstrom-metals until I could be sure of the mages’ loyalty. As I scraped the last of the scrambled eggs from my plate, a tapping came at the door.

  “Come ahead,” I called.

  An expressionless protector opened the door and stepped inside. “Scion Vaness requests an audience, your eminence.”

  Warmth suffused my body.
“Yes, of course! Bring her in.”

  My friend entered the room, bedraggled and smelling of smoke. “Your eminence,” she said, sketching a bow as the protector retreated and closed the door.

  “Thank the skies,” I said, dragging her into an embrace. “The fires in Lowtown. Were they bad? And please call me Kostan. No one else will. I need at least one friend.”

  Her face grew somber as she nodded. “The city is a disaster. I don’t know how you’ll restore order. I hear Ilishian is nowhere to be found... he picked a fine time to abandon us.”

  I sighed. “Ilishian is dead, Vaness. He died the night I fled the Hold.”

  “But then...” She shook her head, her eyes far away while she considered the revelation.

  “I’ll explain everything. But for now, as you said, the city is a disaster. Collapsing. The Empire will follow if I don’t do something. Tovmeil is gone. Ilishian and the other Scions are dead. It’s just us now. Will you help me?”

  I looked aside at the sudden hope in her eyes. Vaness still wanted something I could never give. As if sensing my thoughts, she dropped her gaze. “Of course, Kostan. Alone, I won’t fulfill the responsibilities of a complete Ministry, but I’m yours for whatever help I can give.”

  Her mention of the Ministry brought thoughts of the traitors roaring back. Caddill’s remaining ministers were still confined to their chambers. I had to deal with them today. I’d lain awake most of the night thinking about it.

  Exile or execution. It was the historical choice offered to the ministers of an abdicating emperor. I could allow Tovmeil’s ministers the option, but to many it would look like undeserved mercy. If I wanted to keep control of the ferro and argent mages, I needed to be stronger than they expected.

  To keep my Empire, I would have to send eleven people to their deaths. The choice was clear. And it was only the first of the awful decisions I’d have to make. The previous night, I’d managed to avoid having the Bracer of Sight attuned by claiming to be too fatigued. But I couldn’t dodge the responsibility much longer. Soon, I would know the burden Caddill had borne.

  I took Vaness’s hand. “There was a time when I thought we might defy custom and have a relationship,” I said. “Vaness, you are an amazing woman. My very best friend. But I will never be free to share my life in that way. With anyone.” As I spoke, I saw Savra standing in the courtyard, the moments we’d held each others’ eyes before the strangers spirited her away. It had been real. Regardless of what the Prime Protector claimed, Savra had saved me. But now she was gone. I hoped she was safe. In the coming weeks, I hoped she would hear of my actions and come to believe she’d done the right thing. We could never be together, but I’d like to think that I would make her proud.

  “Don’t,” Vaness said. “I can’t bear the condescension. I am your loyal servant, Kostan. Accept it for what it is.”

  Squeezing her fingers, I released them. “Fair enough. And as for your position, I’ve been thinking. I need someone trustworthy to lead my efforts in bettering life for the Provs. I plan to start by dismantling the Decree of Functions.”

  She blinked in surprise. “Me? But I’m Atal-born.”

  “And I’ve watched and heard you echo the typical Atal prejudices. But I know you, Vaness. Peel away the armor you were forced to layer around your heart, and you care. You know it’s wrong how they’re treated.”

  After a moment, she nodded, a quick motion. “If my Emperor commands it.”

  I let the formality go. She needed time to come to terms with the assignment, but she would be faithful to the task. And once we gained a small measure of trust among the Provs, I’d bring some of them in to advise her. The Empire would no longer be governed exclusively by Atal. No matter what Evrain and his Stormshard friends claimed, I would bring Old Atal and the Provinces together. I vowed it.

  “Did you speak to anyone else inside the Hold?” I asked. My only visitor this morning had been the servant who’d delivered breakfast.

  “The Prime Protector and the Trinity,” she said.

  “Do you think I can trust them?

  “I don’t know if you can trust anyone. But for now, the Prime seems to have your interests in mind. She’s rather agitated that the assassin wasn’t caught. Right now, she’s interrogating three guards who were stationed at the Shadow Gate. They claim a young woman with flame-colored hair took control of their minds and forced them to open the gate.”

  Savra. At the confirmation that she’d been here, my chest tightened. It hadn’t been an illusion spawned by my regret over losing her. I could hold on to that, at least. And if she’d held that power over the guards, perhaps she had the ability to survive the assassin’s friends. I swallowed back the lump in my throat and nodded.

  “Thank you, Vaness,” I said, my voice hoarse. “For everything.”

  Her smile was bittersweet as she knuckled me in the shoulder. “Thank me if you manage to save this storms-cursed Empire. Now, shall we get to work?”

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Savra

  Somewhere in the Atalan grasslands

  I KNEW THE sun had risen when warmth touched my cheeks. Beneath me, the horse continued its rolling walk, the saddle swaying with each step. We’d been riding since escaping the Hold. I’d been blindfolded the whole time. A collar of black iron had been clamped around my neck shortly after we finished the descent from the spire. The metal’s touch made me shudder whenever I allowed my awareness to brush it. More, it confined my aura-sight to my body alone. I sensed the spirits inhabiting my bracelet, but nothing beyond the bounds of my flesh and those touching it.

  As the hours had passed, I’d spoken with Lilik and Raav. I’d expected them to be disappointed in what I’d done, but they had understood. Lilik had claimed that I had a long way to go to be considered impulsive. This had made Raav laugh and comment on Lilik’s character. I sensed a long history of rash decisions hiding beneath the reactions, but I didn’t pry.

  Mostly, I wanted to know whether they still considered me worthy of centuries of imprisonment inside a trinket. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Instead, we spoke of spiritism and the similar magic Lilik had wielded.

  And we spoke of relationships. I couldn’t hide my feelings from them. I hardly knew Kostan, yet I’d risked everything to save him. Lilik said it meant we were destined for each other. Raav was more realistic. When Kostan and I had met, neither of us had known the other’s true circumstances. It was a fantasy to think a common rebel and an Emperor could be together. Besides, Raav said, we’d soon see how Kostan reigned. Everything I’d thought about him might be exposed as false.

  After that, Lilik and Raav had fallen into an argument about it. I’d shut my mind off from them and turned my face to the new-risen sun. Not long after, the horses stopped moving.

  “I’ll take her alone from here,” Sirez said.

  I turned my head to orient on her voice while the horses blew and snatched bites of grass. It made me think of Breeze. I hoped Fishel would care for him.

  A hand fell on my forearm. “Dismount, please,” the Shard leader said.

  My legs were stiff as I climbed from the saddle, bound hands clutching at straps to keep my balance. Stalks of grass pricked me through my trousers when I landed on the ground. We must still be on the Atalan Plateau. The light breeze smelled fresh enough that I sensed the Icethorns near.

  Sirez grabbed the end of the rope that bound my wrists. “Follow.”

  Legs wooden, I stumbled after her. We walked for maybe half an hour, the scents of pines joining the warm heat from the grassland before Sirez nudged me to stop. Metal squeaked as a door was opened. Sirez dragged me behind her, into some sort of building that smelled of old wood and had flexing floorboards underfoot. Laying a hand on my back, she pushed me ten paces across the room until my knees hit something.

  Fiddling at the back of my head, she untied the knot securing my blindfold. I blinked when the cloth fell away then looked around
. The building appeared to be some sort of wilderness refuge. Storage barrels stood against one wall, a massive stack of fire lining another. A narrow cot lay before me. The only other furniture was a large table with a handful of chairs surrounding it.

  “Sleep,” the Shard leader commanded, dropping a water skin on the floor beside my feet.

  “What are you going to do with me?” I asked.

  Sirez’s face held no expression as she untied my wrists. “I don’t know yet. But if it gives you solace, we’re unlikely to kill you immediately. I hope you’ll be able to rest with that in mind.”

  My lip trembled at the unexpected kindness. During the ride, I’d doubted my earlier hesitation to use my compulsion on the Sharders. I could have forced them to release me before they’d fastened the collar on me. But I’d already betrayed them once. My father had chosen this group. I’d made the choice not to hurt them again, and I would hold to it.

  After slurping a few big swallows from the water skin, I clambered onto the bunk. Moments after I pillowed my head on my arm, blackness descended.

  ***

  “I must admit, this wasn’t the reunion I’d imagined.”

  My eyes flew open. I knew the voice that had dragged me from sleep. Craning my neck, I searched for him.

  “Papa?”

  “Oh, Savra, what have you done?”

  Tears spilled from my eyes when my father stepped into view. He looked harder than the man I remembered. The wrinkles in the corners of his eyes had deepened, and new scars slashed across his arms. But I could have picked him from a crowd of a hundred. “I—Papa, he’s not a bad man. I never meant—I wanted to find you, so I asked Sirez when I heard she was Stormshard. They gave me a mission.”