I wish I could have known you, he said to her, and it wasn't the first time he'd said it. Elise might even have believed him.

    She didn't respond to the ghost in her head, the spirit of a boy she'd never known but should have been family. The Althandi took that chance from her, as they took everything that belonged to her. They stole her baby brother, then they killed him.

    Elise, you're all she has left of our family. She's all you have left. Go to her. Make peace. Neither of you will come out ahead the way this is going.

    Her lips curled into a sneer. That, Brother, is where you're wrong.

    Elise shoved the double doors open and strode out onto the balcony overlooking the warm seaside. Her new estate was only a temporary base of operations. She'd grown used to never staying in the same place for long. Eight years spent as Cathis' murderous tool hadn't been conducive to putting down roots. As if the Highest King would've allowed her to.

    The mansion was at the eastern end of Oceania, the district now all but abandoned. Between the pillaging hordes of the Teulites and the aerial assault by her loyal knights, the Gaulatian forces had been driven from their fortifications. The goodfolk and nobility alike desperately fled to the docks to evacuate by sea. The Cliffside City of Oceania was hers, such as it was. She was willing to share the spoils with the plundering Teulites for now, more an understood fact than any actual agreement. She didn't ruin their fun, and they kept their distance.

    Oceania was a port within the Gulf of Teularon, a small one when compared to the Gaulatian capital of Parnaia. It was built along the seaward side of the peaks that butted against the coastline. The city was isolated unless by ship, though a few mountain passes had given the Horde passage. A small alliance of tiger lords took the impossibility of assaulting Oceania overland as a challenge. The defenders would likely have turned them back had the Horde not had aerial assistance show up, unexpected for both sides.

    Elise breathed deep of the air. The scents coming off the Gulf of Teularon were made all the better by the cloud of ash and death. The cries of battle that continued even after the city had fallen. The screams of the dying. It was glorious. Her knights had done their work well.

    Gaulatia and Teularon both knew her power now. They feared the shadow of a dragon. They cowered as flames washed over them. Above all, they knew the Dragon Empress' name to be Elise Alinwe First Summit.

    Elise, and no one else.

    The sea air felt refreshing on her skin. Sweat clung to her body, and she'd needed to cool off. Once she had a moment to recover her breath, she'd go back into her bedchamber and find something to put on. An empress' body was a work of art to be put on display, but some of it should be held back for just herself. And those she chose to indulge herself upon, of course.

    A pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind. His rough hands caressed her thighs, tracing up past her stomach and to her breasts. Her pet for the day kissed her neck, all but begging for a second go at her. Elise was inclined to allow it. Young Bashus was a vigorous and enthusiastic lover, as expected of a Garnet Knight, and there wasn't so much to do today to stop her from enjoying a distraction.

    She turned her head to kiss Bashus and guided his hands to where she wanted them. Before their rendezvous could continue into the second round, Elise was forced to stop as ether came into her blood through the bond. A signal of sorts from her dragon. Irritating, to be interrupted as she took her pleasures, but she'd come to learn that Adar never contacted her without need.   

    That, in and of itself, was also irritating.

    Elise turned and put a hand to Bashus' bare chest, firmly pushing him back a step. "We are done today, pet."

    He masked his disappointment well. Obedient, he went to one knee before her. "Command me, my empress."

    As he prostrated before her, Elise looked down on his naked body and licked her lips. Of all the half-breeds of her former enclave she'd recovered, Bashus was the most physically imposing. He was as much Altieri as Aleesh, but the only sign of it other than his size was the slight reddishness in his gold hair. Taller than the others, broad and strong from his years working within the Spired City's underbelly as a laborer, Bashus was a specimen of masculinity to rival little Enfri's prize Ruby.

    A little young for you, isn't he? Yora asked.

    Shut up.

    Winds and storms, we're talking, what, thirty years difference? Forty? Remind me, what year were you born?

    I said shut up.

    Five forty-five, wasn't it? Yora said, unabated. You mentioned to Cardin your birthday was sometime in spring, so you gotta be fifty-six by now.

    And if I look a day over twenty-five, I'll unlock my bonds and give myself to your daughter.

    Aye, that font of youth ladies get from elder magic. Shame us blokes don't get anything similar. I hate to say it being family and all, but you're a looker, Sissi. I'd've had to beat my boyo Brandyn away with a stick to keep him from trying to court you.

    Sissi? Of all the cheeky brothers she could be saddled with. Her two elder brothers weren't so bothersome, less so now that they were just ghosts. They treated her with the respect she deserved. She wished they and Father would return already from wherever Yora and that liar claiming to be Inwe had sent them.

    Soon enough, Sissi. Why don't you and I just enjoy what time we have together, eh? We've never had the chance up until now.

    Elise shoved Yora's presence out of her mind. The act gave her something of a headache, and she didn't like the risk that came along with it. Too many times, and she'd be vulnerable to the ghosts taking control of her body. Her defense against the ghosts was even more exposing than trading ether through her bond or forging a new bond for a knight.

    Bashus remained at her feet. He glanced up at her furtively, waiting for her to speak.

    "Return to your Conqueror, my little soldier," Elise said. "Remind the Teulites the noble district of the city is mine. Bring me the head of a tiger lord, I'm not much worried about which, and I'll reward you well."

    She cupped his chin in her hand and guided him to rise. His green eyes were raised to hers with reverence as he stood. Elise pulled him into a parting kiss and accepted his tongue into her mouth. In addition to his other desirable attributes, Elise had found that Bashus was also a good kisser. That made him her current favorite and the frontrunner for her choice of prince consort.

    Truthfully, Elise didn't much care who she wed. It was a secondary concern— she needed knights more than a consort— but she needed to find herself with child. The sooner the better. As it stood, her one and only marked heir was her niece, and the girl had proven uncontrollable. Unpredictable, even, and far more powerful than Elise had anticipated.

    The apotheosis she'd felt as her forces retreated from Moran Valley, Elise still awoke at night in a cold sweat from thinking of it.

    Bashus' kisses grew more pressing, and she could feel him stirring against her hip. Elise nipped at his lips, making him pull back and touch at the drop of blood she'd drawn.

    "When you return with a tiger lord's skull, my little soldier," she admonished, backing away towards the railing. "Not before. Leave me."

    Bashus bowed his head and withdrew.   

    The bedchamber was exceptionally large, much larger than the suites enjoyed by nobles in the Spired City. Gaulatian nobles appeared to enjoy large, open rooms. This one was wallpapered, something Elise hadn't seen in person before claiming this cliffside mansion. The walls were powder blue and covered in delicate floral patterns. Other than the bed, the room was furnished with polished oak dressers and the most extravagant vanity and mirror she'd ever seen. There was a table, also, laid out with Elise's breakfast— fruit and bread only, at her request.

    "Trousers, Bashus," Elise reminded him before he left her room in the nip. "And remember, give me an heir and you'll sit in the throne beside me."

    Her lover bowed and promised he wouldn't disappoint her. Elise turned her back on him to stare out from the balcony again.

    I am so sorry, child.

    Elise froze. The ghosts shouldn't have been able to speak to her again so soon after being banished. It wasn't Yora this time. It was the liar.

    "You shouldn't be able to speak," she whispered.

    I haven't come to you, child. You came to me.   

    Go away.

    As you wish.

    Elise almost missed the Father of Wizard's ward, his interdiction that had stolen the past emperors from her mind for the last eight years. Before the ward, before that night, she'd only known her honored Grandfather Shoen, Empress Naitiru, Daretha of the Undying Flame, and other great emperors of legend. Her father and two of her brothers, her family going back untold generations since the fall, had been among them. Now, it was a pack of weaklings led by Yora Page and this liar claiming a name he didn't deserve.

    Bashus had his clothes gathered and was half-dressed when he opened the doorway into the hall. Elise heard him growl, so she turned to see what the problem was. His eyes were locked on something lower to the ground than he was, his lips curling back in a snarl.

    "Let her pass, pet," Elise said. "Don't go antagonizin' her. That's a fight you won't win, and I'd rather you kept the parts she'd slice off."

    Elise came in from the balcony and pulled a scarlet, sleeveless robe from off her bed. She tied off the sash as her visitor entered. The small, young woman cast a hostile glare at Bashus as she shoved passed him and into Elise's bedchamber.

    "The same to you, Temri. Your fellow knights are your family."

    Temri arched an eyebrow dubiously but didn't argue. She wasn't one to speak needlessly— hardly said a word at all. Until Elise coaxed a few phrases out of her, she'd feared Temri had become a mute in the last eight years. After what she suffered while surviving alone in the slums of Eastrun, Elise couldn't imagine the horrors she'd been forced to endure.

    No, I can imagine exactly what horrors, she thought, and it made her furious and simultaneously protective of her youngest knight.

    Elise didn't know what land's blood diluted Temri's Aleesh heritage. The girl had brown skin as dark as Elise's, hair just as golden, and eyes just as green. She was lucky to have survived the culling the Althandi put Elise's youngest followers through. Her petite stature might have been all that spoke of her being part something else. Temri was small and skinny for her age, though Elise couldn't be sure how old she was. If Temri herself knew for certain, she hadn't mentioned. Certainly no older than fifteen and likely younger. All Elise could recall of Temri from before that night was a sickly, little girl that often huddled alone in forgotten corners of the enclave.

    Alone no longer. Temri was a daughter of Shan Alee raised to the Second Summit as Elise's personal attendant, and that was ample reason for Elise to see that she was protected.

    Temri's traditional Aleesh attire revealed that she remained skinny. Her ribs were visible against her skin. The white silk band covering her small chest would have fit a child half her age, and the loincloth exposed narrow hips. Underweight though she was, she did appear healthier now than when Elise and Cardin found her. The grime that had once appeared part of her was bathed away, her hair was cleaned and cut evenly to her jawline, and Elise's new Citrine Knight had completed the spellcraft to straighten Temri's teeth and regrow the ones she'd had beaten out of her by slummers.

    Once Bashus shut the door behind him, Elise beckoned Temri forward. Her Beryl Knight didn't need further encouragement and scampered forward. Elise welcomed Temri into her arms and stroked her golden hair.

    "Sweet girl," Elise crooned softly. "Are you well, my most beautiful of knights?"

    Nestled in Elise's bosom, Temri nodded. "He's coming."

    "My Ascendent?"

    "I hate him," Temri hissed.

    Elise felt no need to rebuke Temri for speaking ill of her dragon. Truth be told, she hated Adar, too. It infuriated Elise to see how Adar the Ascendent was treated with deference by the mighty under her command. He was their Eldest, not only of just the golds but of all dragons. That afforded him respect, no matter how he came to be bound to her.   

    "Sit, my love," Elise said to Temri while steering her towards the table. "Eat with me."

    "Not hungry," Temri muttered, stubbornly clinging to Elise.

    "Eat," Elise insisted through her laugh. "Flames know, you're needin' some meat on these bones." She prodded a finger against Temri's ribs, eliciting a giggling squeal.

    "Just fruit?" Temri asked while fending off Elise's tickling.

    "Aye, seems so. I can send for somethin' more iffen you want."

    "Squid," Temri said excitedly. "And clams?"

    Elise hid her shudder. She wasn't acclimating to the local seafood as well as the others. She draped an arm around Temri's shoulder and guided her to walk alongside her to the table. "Whatever you want."

    A firefly light spell summoned the maid waiting outside the door. Elise kept the previous estate owner's staff on hand. Good servants were hard to come by, after all. The maid was a buxom Gaulatian girl, red-headed, brown-eyed, and skittish as anything. After what Elise did to the last chamber maid— pitched over the balcony for slipping cyanide into Elise's tea— the girl had good reason to be on her toes.

    "Squid and clams for her worship," Elise said. "And be quick about it."

    The maid curtseyed before rushing to obey.

    Elise sat, and Temri scooted her chair to butt right against hers. The girl lounged unashamedly against Elise's side while nibbling at a slice of kiwi. Elise kept an arm around her, gently caressing her skin. By impulse, Elise bent to smell the top of her head, breathing in the clean scent of her hair. Temri hummed approvingly through her mouthful of fruit, all but melting against her.

    The daughter you've never known, the liar sighed. Were it only in my power to return to you what you've lost, child.

    Elise stiffened. You don't know that. I'm not barren.

    So much violence in your past, the liar said. So much suffering. The wounds you've taken across your years of fighting have damaged parts of you, and the bonds cannot erase old scars. I am so sorry, child. It is not in my power to help you, but you must not lose hope. As your niece would tell you, miracles exist.   

    You prefer her, Elise thought in accusation. You'd have me kneel to her.   

    Not kneel, he said. Embrace. She needs you even more than you need her. You have much to teach her, much to give, but there are more important things she has to give to you.

    Such as what? Elise asked, doubtful it would be anything of use.

    Your niece is a midwife, child. That head of hers holds knowledge to help you conceive the baby you desire. Flames take me, but our little gathering in here knows better than anyone how hard you've tried over the years. More than that, you long for her. That is the true reason you have never struck her down, though you certainly had the power to. It's why you sought a keeper to grant her the bloodsong you carry should you fall. You wish to hold your own flesh and blood in your arms again.

    Elise held tighter to Temri's shoulders. The girl reached for a bowl of pomegranate seeds and began eating them one at a time, unaware of her empress' internal dialogue.

    Long have I watched you, Elise Alinwe. How I've mourned what your pain has forged you into. Without a father, without brothers or sisters, without a mother to love and burdened with saving your people, you were laid bare and vulnerable to what Shoen wishes you to be.

    Grandfather made me strong, Elise thought vehemently.

    No. He made you hard.

    He saved us, Elise thought in denial. He did what he needed to save the world. He sacrificed his own people to do it. Without him, humanity would already be dead.

    So it is, but...

    But nothing! Leave me.   

    Together, you and Enfri can find the truth Shoen lacked. To the north, child. Your goal and hers both lie in the north. Find our people, save them, and never raise your fist before extending your hand.

    The liar withdrew before Elise could force him away. Bastard. That meant he'd be able to come back at his leisure.

    "My empress?" Temri whimpered.

    Elise snatched her hands from Temri's shoulders. The skin was pale where her fingers had dug cruelly into her flesh, and blood beaded around cuts from her fingernails.

    "I'm so..." Elise stopped herself. An empress never asked forgiveness. "I didn't mean to hurt you, my love. Here, let me."

    She focused her sorcery on the tiny wounds she'd inflicted. Flesh essence pulsed in a vibrant rhythm within the Weave, and Elise used it to seal the small cuts.

    "I was lost in thought," Elise said in explanation. An empress had no need to explain herself, but the thought of Temri growing to fear her was unbearable. "It won't happen again. I promise."

    Temri's breathing slowed. She'd been panting, on the verge of hyperventilating. Even now, her eyes had a haunted look to them, as if she were seeing the slums of Eastrun once again.

    Elise held her close and spoke soothing words. "My most beautiful of knights. My little soldier. Nothing and no one will ever harm you again, my sweet Temri."

    Her Beryl calmed until she once again nestled against her. Temri sighed contentedly and seemed ready to drop off. Elise kissed the top of her head.

    Temri was nearly a grown woman, come of age at least. Her manner remained as that of a child, and her years of malnourishment left her yet to attain a mature body. Temri was stuck in an in-between place much as the ghosts in Elise's head hung between life and death. There was also the darkness in Temri, that which made her perfectly suited for a bond with a rose dragon.

    Elise pulled the dagger out from the back of Temri's loincloth. It'd been tucked behind the waistband. "Use a sheathe, my love," Elise advised. "No cuts on your rump when you sit."

    "No one sees it 'til I want them to," Temri said through a yawn.

    "I'll find you somethin' better," Elise promised, setting the dagger down as if it were part of the place setting. "A behind-the-back knife sheathe isn't hard to make."

    The maid returned with Temri's squid. The ugly monsters turned a pinkish brown once they were roasted over an open fire on a skewer. The boiled clams sat in a dish of melted butter and garlic. The maid set the tray on the table in front of Temri and curtseyed before she withdrew.

    "You were fast," Elise said in simple praise. "Continue to serve well and I'll see you protected from the Horde."

    The maid murmured her thanks before going to stand just outside the door once again. Just as Temri started gnawing on the rubbery mass on a stick, four men came in through the door. One of them made a point of barreling into Elise's maid and knocking her to the floor.

    Elise clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Mind your step, Erthyn. Respect my daan. She serves the First Summit."

    "It gets in my way again, I'll just find you another." Erthyn said it with a too-pleased smirk plastered on his face.

    "What I think you meant," Elise warned darkly, "was 'yes, my empress'."

    Erthyn dropped the smirk. "Yes, my empress."

    He was one of Elise's two Amethyst Knights. In the old empire, it'd been the Amethysts who procured slaves from among the daan. Erthyn had fair skin for an Aleesh, a pointed chin, and a scrawny build. Elise once heard Cardin quip that Erthyn probably ate soup out of the divot in his chest.

    Cardin was the next in line. As the others in his group, he wore traditional Aleesh men's clothes appropriate to their place on the Second Summit. They had loose trousers and a sarong made from white silk, metal armbands on their forearms with an inset gemstone to show their order, and naked from the waist up. Unlike the others, Cardin also wore a stained and battered fedora Elise wished he'd get rid of; it clashed terribly with his fine wardrobe. Cardin's olive complexion and light-brown hair were just enough that he might pass for a Nadian to someone unfamiliar with Aleesh.

    With Garret gone— blessedly, in many respects— Cardin now served as Elise's First Knight. He was her Moonstone, her knight-marshal. Many, Aleesh and dragons both, wondered why Cardin wasn't her favorite for prince consort over Bashus. With all the favor Elise showed him, they were mystified why she didn't ever offer him the chance to lie in her bed.

    The man next to Cardin wasn't a man at all. His golden skin and long, black hair were as unlike an Aleesh as one could be. His blue eyes, piercing yet calm, were lidded as he watched Elise expectantly. Adar the Ascendent, Elise's bonded dragon, wore armbands set with a white diamond in each.

    The last in the group was Ardule. Alone among Elise's knights, he wasn't an orphan of Elise's enclave. A lucky catch of sorts, he was a surgeon she'd found two weeks earlier practicing his trade in Vayl. Ardule was practically pureblooded, though his especially dark skin spoke of some northern relations. As her first and only Citrine Knight, Elise valued him highly. She'd needed new knights to recoup her losses in Moran Valley.

    "Your permission, my empress?" Ardule asked.

    Elise nodded to him. At once, Ardule came forward to kneel beside Temri.

    "I ask for patience, imé. Might I see how those teeth are coming along?"

    Temri's manner had changed inexplicably as soon as Ardule approached her. Her cheeks darkened, and she kept her eyes lowered. Without making a fuss, she set down her squid skewer and opened her mouth.

    Ardule showed her his hands before taking hold of her cheeks and peering into her mouth. "All remains well," he said. "I nay see cause for concern. I only ask you refrain from biting the hands of your fellow knights, imé. At the least, wait until they remove their gauntlets."

    "Guess I'm never taking off my gauntlets around Temri," Cardin said. "Frankly, boyo, I don't see how you're still packing all your fingers, handling her like that."

    Ardule gave Temri's cheek a pat before rising. He bowed to her and to Elise before returning to stand with the others. "Our beloved's Beryl is wise to know the difference between the hand that heals and the hand that harms."

    Elise peered at Temri's blushing sidelong. Ardule was gifted in many ways, but he was blind if he didn't see the little one's infatuation.

    "You aren't botherin' me for no reason," Elise said, fixing Adar with a heated stare. "Out with it, already."

    "The Strider has given sending from Nadia, my empress," Adar stated. "The usurper's legion has taken on reinforcements from her holdings in Altier Nashal. Her forces now stand at seven thousand strong."

    Taking care to be gentle, Elise removed Temri from her side. She leaned forward over the table and gripped the tablecloth in a white-knuckled grip. "That is more than twice what she had at the battle."

    "Yes, my empress," Adar confirmed, emotionless. "As I reported before, what you faced in Moran Valley was an expeditionary force deployed to march at speed that had been joined by the levies drawn from her vassals. The greater portion of her armsmen stayed behind in Ecclesia. With Kimpo the Huntress recovered, speed is no longer as great a concern to the usurper as strength. It is my opinion that Melcia remains her destination."

    "And the fey?" Cardin asked.

    "Flames take the fregs," Erthyn scoffed. "They burn just as quick as armsmen."

    "You ain't seen an ogre rightly hoggled off before, mate," Cardin retorted. "The only reason my boyo Hap's never twisted a man's head off is because he's a softie. Gets squeamish at the sight of blood. His kith, not so sensitive."

    "The Strider is the best scout among your dragons, my empress," Adar continued, "but she is unfamiliar with the ways of fey. She has not the expertise to differentiate one tribe of goblins from another. From my own experiences with them, garnered in my time pressed into the usurper's servitude, I would estimate that four goblin tribes have come to her side, as many as five ogre bands, and two full clans of orcs. Three thousand warriors in all and the personnel to support them."   

    "Almost half of what she's got," Cardin said, his tone growing dark. "Faluria might not know fey, but she's good with banners. The girl had nine houses with her when we fought her. She's up to twelve. Most are young, small, or both, but the levies add up fast. She's got Ulthred and Dumar bringing in strategic resources for her to use or trade as she sees fit. Strom and Corwyn to make farm boys into soldiers. And lets not forget she's not just bringing her own elder magic to the table. She's got the augurs from House Karst and the backing of Ecclesia."   

    Elise didn't like what he was saying, and she liked his tone even less. It strayed too close to challenge of her authority. "Say what you mean, Cardin," she growled.

    "You can't beat her," he said.

    Rage flared in Elise's chest. It came so powerfully that Adar might have felt it through their bond. At once, the anger turned cold. Elise turned to Temri and caressed her face. "Go, my Beryl," she said kindly. "Take the tray with you. Be sure to eat it all."

    Temri held her gaze for one moment before obeying without a single word of argument.

    "Ardule, Erthyn, get out."

    The Amethyst and Citrine bowed before they retreated alongside Temri. Once the door closed and Elise was left alone with Adar and Cardin, she rose to her feet.

    "I can't beat her?" she asked, deathly quiet. "I... can't beat her?"

    Elise looked at Adar, and he averted his eyes. She looked to Cardin, and he didn't turn away.

    "I expected treachery," Elise said. "It's inevitable. But I never thought I would hear it from you, Cardin."

    He glowered back at her. "If truth is treachery, you've no business calling yourself Alinwe."

    Elise grabbed the edge of the table and threw it aside. The plates and dishes smashed against the wall and shattered. She stalked forward and seized Cardin's jaw in her vice-like grip. Defiant, he stared back at her without blinking.

    "From you, Cardin?"

    Adar surreptitiously took a single step away from them.

    "Let's face facts, shall we?" Cardin said and tilted his head towards Adar. "We did what you wanted in Nadia. We got you your Imperial, but we learned what we're up against."

    "Meaning?"

    "We outnumbered them," Cardin said. "We had half-again as many dragons as they did, but by the end, those numbers flipped the wrong way. We lost Davyn. We lost the Huntress. We lost Garret and the Watchman. Ten dragons killed, four captured, another swapped sides, and six are still too wounded to fight without knights to draw from. We're under half strength from what we were in the Spired City, and we didn't down a single one of the usurpers. You were the only one of us with blood on their hands by the time we flew off with our tails between our legs. We've barely more dragons in fighting condition now than we have knights, and more dragons join your niece every day."

    "That will rectify itself," Elise snarled.

    "A hundred," Cardin snapped, daring to raise his voice to her. "More than a hundred follow her, and we've little more than twenty. She's got vassals to draw from for her Arcane Knights, and once in the air, one of her crewed dragons is worth three of ours."

    "Then you will get me more!" Elise shouted. "If I am to rule the Continent, I need more beasts of war."

    "They're people!"

    His outburst looked as if it stunned him as much as it stunned Elise. She released her grip on his jaw and stepped back.

    "That is why they choose her over you," Cardin dared to continue, though in a more subdued tone of voice. "She offers them a standing in her Shan Alee equal if not greater than her knights. She does not make examples of the ones who step out of line. She is the example. Unlock this gold's bond right now, and you know full well who he'd fly to the side of. Don't think we all forgot who he's really speaking to when he says 'by your command, my empress'."

    Adar struck Cardin across the jaw with a backhand. The blow tossed Cardin to the other side of the room. His stained fedora dropped to the floor at Elise's feet. "Do not question my allegiance to our beloved!" the Ascendent roared. "You were granted the Second Summit as a kindness, half-breed. Know your place!"

    Cardin shook his head to clear the stars out of his vision. Before he recovered, Adar stormed over to him and slammed a heel down onto his chest, pinning him to the floor.

    "Traitor," Adar snarled, his blue eyes flashing and teeth bared. "Allow me to bring you his head, my empress."

    Elise unclenched her fists. "Dear Adar, you fool," she cooed. "Do you really think me so dull-witted?"

    Adar went rigid as Cardin writhed beneath him.

    "Cardin's job is to tell me what I'm not wantin' to hear," Elise said, striding towards them. "I toss around words like traitor and treachery, but my little soldier knows I don't mean it. And you really thought I'd let you kill my most loyal of knights? My First Knight? My precious Moonstone? Drop the act, dragon. You merely do as you're told to spare yourself the pain of your shackles, and no other reason."

    She reached Adar and pulled her robe open. She pressed herself against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist. One of her hands quested under the front of his trousers.

    "I wonder if the Diamond I slaughtered touched you like this," Elise said. She ran her tongue up his nape. "She must have for you to love her so. A pretty, little thing. Beautiful." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Weak. Dead. You're so dutiful to sweet Enfri. The hundreds you've turned to ash for me, all because she commanded you to obey me as you would obey her. Tell me, my Ascendent, do you see their faces when you rest at night? Do you see pretty Pacifica's?"

    Adar's voice was as steady as it was cold. "I need not wait for dreams for their faces to find me. My fallen Diamond's most of all, but you are depraved if you believe she was my lover."

    Elise removed her hand and stepped away, smiling in a way that didn't reach her eyes. She refastened the sash of her robe. "Let Cardin up, dragon. You won't weaken me further for your beloved."

    Once he did as ordered, Elise sent a few tendrils of power to strike against his half of their shared soul. Not much, just enough to send a jolt to remind him of who held the leash. As she'd learned with the Huntress, breaking a dragon only made them incompetent.

    Elise wondered if Enfri even realized how fine a gift she'd given her. An Imperial dragon, dutiful and loyal, and Elise didn't even have to force him to obey.

    "How you must hate her now," Elise mocked.

    "My empress," Adar said, "do you really think me so dull-witted?"

    Elise arched an eyebrow.

    Adar turned and came to stand a scant inch from her. "I know to whom my hatred belongs."

    "Hate who you like. All you are belongs to me."

    He stepped around her and made for the door.

    "Adar," she called after him. "I didn't dismiss you."

    He stopped in place.

    "Give Cardin back his hat."

    Adar bent to retrieve the fedora from where it had fallen. He returned to Cardin who had finally picked himself up off the floor. As if Adar were presenting the Imperial Diamond to the Highest King, the Eldest of all dragons knelt and offered the hat up to him.

    "Blazing..." Cardin muttered as he snatched his hat from Adar's hands. "Hold back a tad next time you put on a show, eh?"

    Wordless, Adar stood.

    Elise flicked her wrist at him. "Now, my Ascendent, you're dismissed."

    Adar bowed and turned to go.

    The liar returned, and his voice was angry. I can forgive much, child, but I cannot forgive how you treat the mighty. They are...

    Elise wrenched her mind from him with relish, accepting the resulting pain as if it were a trophy. The ghosts were all silenced now, but more importantly, they were blind. The elder magic prevented them from telling Enfri what they knew of her, but Elise guarded some things more closely than any of them could suspect. Even Shoen didn't know the full extent of Elise's deception.

    She turned to regard Cardin, who was putting the fedora back in its proper place. Once Adar was gone, she went towards him. "Do try to choose your words more carefully around the others. We wouldn't want them gettin' any funny ideas, would we?"

    "I was out of line, my empress."

    "It's just us, my little soldier. But yes, you were." She touched his face. "How I wish you were marked, my most precious of all my knights. I could've had you as my heir."

    Cardin dropped his eyes. "My blood is impure."

    "I commanded my cousin to take an Aleesh man as her husband. Instead she chose to listen to her heart and wed that Nadian boy. The chances of her bearing a bond forger became slim, but I forgave her, because she gave us you and your brothers. Not bond forgers, but still vessels of elder blood. Fine boys, all of you. Strong. Smart. I knew from your first breath you had it in you to become a great knight."

    Cardin's eyes darkened. "Cathis killed them. He killed mama, then he took you away from me, too."

    "We'll avenge them," Elise promised, "and I will never leave you again."

    She embraced Cardin and delighted in imagining the liar's face if he knew how wrong he was. Elise could hold her flesh and blood in her arms whenever she wished.

    "The Sanguine Tower was only the start," she said as she released him. "When I found you again in your saloon, I knew... I knew Fate was with us. You and I will watch these kingdoms burn, Cardin, and Shan Alee will rise from the ashes."

    He met her gaze, determined. "Command me, my empress."

    "I want to learn more about Enfri's tricks. The vampire that's latched onto her learned them from someone, and Garret was kind enough to suggest who that might've been. Take your Inamorata, go to Parnaia, use the chaos of their war with the Horde to slip in, then abduct Lady Thal Renoit. Be careful, Cardin. She was Garret's father's first apprentice, and studying lost magic is her life's work. The old bat won't go without a fight. Bring her to me so we can learn everything she knows."

    Cardin smirked. "Real teleportation. I wouldn't mind something like that in my repertoire." He reached up to his neck as if to tug at a collar he didn't have anymore. He settled on flicking the brim of his fedora.

    "They worked out a counter to my favorite illusion, so that won't help us anymore. We need better spellcraft, and if we can get a lost magic or two Enfri doesn't know, all the better."

    "Draxa and I'll get it sorted. Could use backup. Send Semile and the Ballista along with me."

    Elise considered it, then nodded. "Done. Be gallant with Semile while you're at it. She could be just the vessel you need to sire a bond forger."

    Cardin shrugged. "Might be I could lay on the ruffer charm. What about you? Take some well-earned luxury from Oceania while our forces recuperate? Another few tumbles with Bashus?"

    "No," Elise said. She turned from Cardin and approached the dressers. Either Bashus impregnated her or he didn't. Either way, there was a pressing matter awaiting. Even liars let a few truths slip, and the one in her head was right about one thing. "We're as recuperated as we'll get in this ruin. You say we need more knights? There are plenty waitin' for us in Melcia."

    "The Reach Enclave," Cardin said with a whistle. "Ardule says his people came from there originally. He might be our train ticket in, but you think you can get there before the usurpers do?"

    "We will," Elise said with confidence. She selected her finest raiment from the dresser. "I've already seen to it your sweet, innocent cousin will meet with... trouble on the road."