Reign of Shadows - Deborah Chester [119]
“Yes.”
“Yet you survived her cruelty. You did not let her break your spirit. Is this true?”
“Yes.”
“On the day of your departure, the soldiers cheered you instead of Bixia.”
Elandra’s mouth fell open. “How did you know—” She cut herself off, knowing the question was foolish in the circumstances.
“When we drove the witch from our premises—that fiend who would dare to defile this place of the goddess- mother—it was not Bixia whom the witch attacked, but you, Elandra. You, the future empress of our world.”
“But—”
“Why should she strike you down? If you were as insignificant as you believe, why should she waste her efforts on you? Why not destroy Bixia?”
It occurred to Elandra that Hecati would have enjoyed opportunities to do much mischief from her position behind the throne, but she said nothing.
“The witch struck you with deadly intent, yet you did not die.”
“Blindness is a kind of death,” Elandra murmured bitterly, awash with memories.
“Nonsense. Don’t pity yourself now. That is past.”
Elandra faced her, chin held high, eyes direct. “You could have restored my sight immediately, yet you didn’t.”
“I did not restore your sight,” the Magria said, equally direct. “You did.”
“How—”
“We have tried to bend your spirit and find that adversity merely strengthens you. I have looked on you with sight, and I know you cannot be coerced. Neither will you work in ignorance, nor will you obey without question what you do not understand. You have the qualities for leadership and position which your half-sister lacks entirely. Bixia also walked the sand pit,” the Magria said, her voice soft but relentless over the sound of Bixia’s weeping. “She failed the test of the serpents.”
Elandra shot her sister a swift look of consternation, but all she saw was Bixia’s bowed head.
“But you, Elandra, did not fail,” the Magria continued. “You were given a paradox with conflicting solutions. The only possible means of success was to create a third solution, which you did. You fought and defeated the snake. You are truly the daughter of a warlord. Even blinded and at a terrible disadvantage, you did not allow your disability or your emotions to overcome your wits. You have not been pampered and spoiled. You have no conceit or vanity. Your mind is keen and ready to be educated. You are ambitious and courageous. Your strength will not fail you in the challenges ahead.”
She took Elandra’s cold hands in hers, and smiled. “You are our next empress, child. Destiny has called you, and it is my honor to train you to meet it.”
Conflicting feelings raced through Elandra. This seemed so impossible, and yet she could not deny what the Magria was saying. What about the man in my dream? she started to say, then held it back with instinctive caution. In her heart, she wanted to believe he was the man she was destined to marry, not some debauched old man.
Instead, she skirted the question uppermost in her mind with another. “Why did you send dream walkers to haunt me?”
Something unreadable crossed the Magria’s face. She hesitated visibly. “That is another matter, which we will discuss at the proper time.”
“And my father?” Elandra said, frowning. “What has he to say to this change?”
“For your father, the alliance and its advantages remain the same. He will be informed.”
Elandra’s mouth was dry. She swallowed, but it did not help. “And . .. and the emperor?”
The Magria stroked Elandra’s hair. “My child, the emperor will be besotted when he sees his lost Fauvina restored to him.”
Elandra drew back sharply from her caress. “I am not this woman you speak of. I am myself!”
“Of course. But it will help win his heart.”
Fresh doubts crowded Elandra’s mind. For the first time some of the implications began to sink in. The emperor was as old as time, or nearly so. The emperor was said to consort with demons and those of the shadow world. The emperor had murdered all his children save one, the current prince. The emperor was a ruthless tyrant, whose word was absolute law. Invoke his displeasure, even once, and a person’s life was forfeit.