Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [5]
“Vysal!” the general said sharply. “You heard my order. Obey it.”
Saluting in response to the general’s command, Captain Vysal snapped his fingers at the sergeant, who stepped back.
Paz glared at Elandra first, then at the emperor. “I’ll leave not one able-bodied man behind. I need fighters, not wailing women.”
Astonished, Elandra stared at him and wondered if he had gone mad. “I am your empress,” she said in outrage.
“You are a traitor!” he shouted, red-faced. He jerked the reins from her hand, making the sorrel horse shy back nervously. “You could not have crossed the palace compound alone, by natural means, and arrived here alive. That means you are in league with the enemy. You led them here. You have betrayed us!”
Furious, Elandra looked at the emperor, who stood frowning and silent. “Will you not defend me?” she asked.
Kostimon frowned at the general. “Say no more against the empress.”
Elandra waited for more, but Kostimon fell silent again. In astonishment, she realized he intended to say nothing else in her defense. Did he think it enough, this mild rebuke? As support of her, it was paltry indeed.
Her face went stiff; her eyes burned. She clenched her fists down at her sides, hiding them in the folds of her skirts. So she was to be abandoned, like unwanted chattel. The promises, the ceremonial words, the crowning itself were all as dead leaves blown away in the wind.
She wanted to rage, to throw things, to weep. But she must not give way to her emotions now. She must act like an empress, not a woman.
“Sergeant Baiter,” she said quietly, her voice so tightly regulated it sounded dead. “I shall not require your horse.”
Frowning in dismay, Baiter took the reins from the smirking General Paz. The sergeant’s face told all that lay in his heart. “But, Majesty—”
Elandra’s gaze moved to Kostimon, old and half-confused, his mind alternating between bouts of imperial temper and indecision. He remained emperor still, but now he ruled a lost empire. He was no longer capable of defending himself or her or his domain.
Fresh tears burned her eyes, but she swiftly blinked them back.
“Go quickly, husband,” she said. “Ride to safety while there is still a chance. I bid you well.”
Looking bewildered, Kostimon snapped his fingers impatiently. “Get on the horse. There is no time for such—”
“You have an empire to defend,” she said, trying to keep her tone steady and noble while Paz’s smirk widened. “As the general has said, it’s swordsmen you need beside you, not an ineffectual woman.”
“Don’t be absurd,” Kostimon said. “Fauvina—I mean, Ela, come here at once.”
But she turned her back on him, not certain she could control her composure much longer. She walked away, ignoring his call, her head held high and her back straight.
Chapter Two
“Who serves the empress sovereign?” called out a strong, masculine voice over the general noise.
Sudden silence fell over the cavern. Men’s heads turned. They craned to see.
Recognizing Caelan’s voice, Elandra stopped in her tracks and stood still. Her breath came raggedly in her throat. She dared not glance back at the emperor.
“What?” said Kostimon from behind her. “What? Who said that? Who speaks?”
“Who serves the empress sovereign?” Caelan called out again. His voice rang off the walls. “Without both emperor and empress to rule, this land is fallen. Which man of you will leave her behind? Which man of you is both traitor and coward?”
A growl of assent broke out among the soldiers. Sergeant Baiter and Captain Vysal exchanged glances, then looked at the emperor. Elandra herself stepped aside as Caelan came striding forward from the shadows.
He carried his drawn sword in his hand. His cloak swirled about his ankles