“My emperor, I do not believe—”
The emperor barely inclined his head, and one of the warriors stationed by the door flashed faster than she’d been able to see and placed a blade against Kala’s throat. His move so surprised her, Shilah’s tongue felt thick with surprise. She stepped forward, and blood spurted from her sister’s throat, freezing her.
“Please, don’t!” she cried out, her heart a war drum behind her breastbone.
“I find I am of a mind to teach you the consequences of disobeying an order of the Empire, Princess, and correcting the misguided belief that you do not answer to me.”
Rage burned through Shilah. “If you harm her further, there is nothing you can do to induce me to work for you,” she snapped with icy contempt.
The emperor’s cold reptilian gaze settled on her face. “You’ve grown claws,” he murmured. “I shall be forced to clip them.”
He glanced at the warrior and the man plunged his dagger through her sister’s heart.
Shilah screamed, dropping to her knees, gripping fistfuls of her hair. Energy poured out of her, raging and churning, as she slammed into the warrior’s mind with the full force of her psychic power. “Stop breathing.”
The warrior dropped, his body clattering onto the tile, and she pushed her power toward the emperor’s mind, rage and pain ruling all thoughts and actions. The barrier she encountered was crafted from several spells and enchantments so she could not breach his mind.
The Emperor smiled. “Be calm, Princess.” He stood and glided with menacing elegance toward Kala who clutched her chest, her face a grimace of pain and horror as the blood poured through her fingers. The emperor uncorked a glowing vial he had around his throat and tipped it to her lips. With a harsh gasp, her sister swallowed, and the wound on her neck and chest healed within seconds, and vitality flushed her skin pink.
Shilah stared back at him, breathing rapidly, the taste of fear lingering in her mouth.
“This is the elixir of life, stolen from Boreas—kingdom of winds and mountains. I am in possession of several jars. I believe I will find immense pleasure in killing your sweet sister, bringing her back before death claims her, and killing her again. I wonder how long before her mind breaks?”
His voice was low, beautiful, and all the deadlier for it.
Kala’s aura flickered with the yellow hue of fear. Hatred burned through Shilah’s heart with such an intensity she trembled. She lurched to her feet, and without reply, shifted her gaze to the man lying on the floor. She flared her powers, brushing against the walls of his mind, shocked to find his barriers had indeed been lowered. She moved closer, sinking to her knees beside him, and cradled his head onto her lap.
“I know that you are conscious.”
She frowned when he made no answer. She closed her eyes and sent her mind into his, surprised at the control he had over his pain. Shilah studied the shield, seeing it as a massive wall in her mind. Its depth and breadth were unfathomable. It rose with no end in sight, yet beyond it, she sensed a hovering darkness. She probed, and an opening appeared in the middle of the wall, showing several silver threads of memories.
“What do you see?” Grand General Shenzhen demanded.
Fragments of thoughts that were impossible to follow. She knocked at another section of the wall, curious as to the complexity of its construct. The fact a small square part had opened, implied he allowed it down, and not the pain of the grand general’s power and sword damaging his body. She peered down into his face, noting the lack of tension across his brows. She almost smiled. He had been the one to lower his shields with the intention of manipulating the outcome of this meeting. She read the thoughts he wanted to be projected.
“He’s here to kill me,” she murmured. “And he’ll not rest until he ha
s done so.” That thread of knowledge was at the forefront of his thoughts, and it was not a deception. It was an unshaken resolve. After he completed the mission that took him to the empire, he would end her life.
“You arrogant bastard,” she whispered to him, searching for a response. He remained a blank canvas. His control of the shield wall was impressive.
Was it her imagination she felt mocking amusement?
“And where is he from?” The Emperor demanded. “His kingdom?”
She examined the few threads of memories. “I cannot see.” The rest of the wall was tightly constructed except for that small opening. She considered the will it took to only lower a controlled piece of the barrier and what it said about Lachlan Ravenswood. He had purposefully allowed himself to be captured and placed himself in the hands of someone as vicious as the emperor of Mevia, so he could discover the whereabouts of the dungeons. He was cunning. And arrogant. And foolish.
“You should not have allowed me this crack,” she whispered deep into his mind. “I sense what you are doing. You are giving the emperor enough information to consign you to the dungeons, but you are holding back enough where he won’t want to kill you. His paranoid heart won’t be able to rest until he knows which kingdom sent you. And you’ve buried that knowledge behind your shield. He’ll be forced to imprison and torture you for the information. You are playing a perilous game.”
He showed no reaction, but she knew he heard her. Shilah pressed the flat of her palm against his forehead.
“But you did not count on me, or you underestimated my resolve.”
A slow tension invaded his muscles, and she felt the flicker of curiosity deep in his mind.
“I do not care about the emperor or even why you want to find the dungeons so badly. The only thing I care about is my sister and my people. You promised to kill me, but you see, for my sister to make it back to Serange alive and well, I must live. And I know that without a barrier you cannot defeat me in a battle and kill me.”
She unleashed the unremitting strength of her power and crashed into the walls of his mind, battering his shields. Aura glowed around her in a blue pulse of fiery energy. It traveled through the opening he had allowed, crumbling it from the insides. No doubt he believed he had been safe, but she was an Imperial, and her power over the mind was absolute. His hand snapped up, gripped her shoulder, and flung her with shocking strength. She spun across the tiles and crashed into several decorative suits of armor, smashing them to the floor. Shilah pushed past the pain lancing through her body and glanced up, frowning at the smoky tendrils of chakra that rose beneath him as if he were on fire.