Chapter 12

Adeena broke the wax seal on the stark white parchment before she was even back through the front doors of the Guild house. Other than her grandfather, who was still sound asleep in his room, she was the only one there, so she was not in a good mood when the bell rang from outside, signaling there was someone awaiting her. She'd seen the guardsman before but only in passing just as this meeting was then.

"From the empress," he said in a monotone voice, then turned on his heel and strode out into the dark, silent street.

As she read the message written in elegant cursive, Adeena tried not to break her teeth as she tightly ground them together. She was being summoned and yet not told as to why.

Be at the palace at first light. Wear white.

As far as she could remember, there were no criminals in the palace dungeons who deserved the fate she would give them as the Lady.

Adeena didn't like this. Didn't like this at all.

Yet she found herself not half an hour later looking in on her grandfather, still asleep and dreaming peacefully as she leaned down to kiss his forehead in silent goodbye. With every moment, the quiet whisper of her white leather sounded. She walked down the hallway, taking the steps down below the house itself into the underground room where she and her assassins stored all of their most prized weapons of choice. And looming in the far corner, set into the rock wall, was the steel door of the vault only Adeena herself could open.

She wasn't going for anything, though, but rather the arched doorway leading to the tunnel they used when they needed to leave without anyone else in the homes surrounding them see them. This was the whole reason she chose the house she did once she took over leadership of the Guild of Starlight.

As far as Adeena knew, an underground tunnel system spread all throughout Krahzara. Over the years, she'd taken time to go exploring on her off days, mapping every route out, finding every exit point. For an assassin, it was one of the best finds, especially when they needed to be discrete.

Adeena absentmindedly made her way through tunnel after tunnel, hearing the bubbling of the underground spring, catching a whiff of the sewers that made her hold her breath as she crossed the footbridge to another tunnel, seeing the slivers of sunlight coming down from the grate above her head. Her footsteps sure and steady, she ascended the stone steps that lead upward after passing through another tunnel. This one, when she pushed up the grate it led to, put her out in a tight alleyway just a few blocks from the front gates of the palace. Usually, when summoned by the empress, she would find the connecting tunnel into the palace, but she wanted to make an entrance, especially when called upon this early into the morning.

Chin up and shoulders back, white hood of her cloak up on her head and casting her face into shadows, Adeena made her way through the gates, meeting the blurry eyes of the surrounding guardsmen as they widened. They didn't stop her as she strode up the steps and forcefully pushed open both front doors. More tired eyes widened when the staff realized who had made the loud entrance, pressing their backs against the walls as she made her way down the hallway toward the empress's study.

When she pushed open the doors, though, she wasn't met with Sophea. It was Malik.

Still, Adeena didn't speak, didn't remove her hood even though it seemed no one else was in the spacious room with them. Cast in shadows, she moved to his side.

"Do you have any idea of what's going on?" she asked him in a whisper.

Malik shook his head but didn't give her an answer. "It's just us here. You can put your hood down."

She did, glad to be free of the shadows it cast her into. That way, she could properly give him a glaring look. "Answer my question."

"None," he sighed, doing as he was told. "I just hope Kav..."

"Is he not back yet?"

"No, but he should be by tonight. He sent word late last night that they were taking their time but should be back by this afternoon."

"Anything about what happened in Arloerin with her?"

Her. She couldn't even manage to utter her sister's name now, even though she thought about her all the time.

"Don't know," Malik shrugged. "He didn't say anything, just that he was enjoying annoying her as always."

Adeena couldn't help herself as she snorted. "Sounds like Kav from what you've told me about him."

"There's something else, though," he said, lowering his voice. "Whispers have found their way here from Arloerin. Whispers about how Cleo's gone off alone with Ollyn and disappeared into the Cagny Forest."

"You don't think..."

"I believe the Queen of Arloerin has left this world completely in favor of going to see her family in theirs."

The sound of the smooth, sultry voice made both Adeena and Malik straighten. Adeena quickly pulled her hood up on her head as she turned just in case someone else was with the empress. But no, it was just the three of them as Sophea closed the door and locked it behind her, then made her way over to the ornate desk they stood in front of.

Every time Adeena saw her, she had to remember that yes, the stunning female was Malik and Kav's mother. Though she was well over five hundred years old, she only looked as if she were in her late thirties for human years. She had the same bronze skin, dark hair that hung in waves to her waist, and light hazel eyes. The dress she wore left her arms bare and was low cut enough to show the curves of her breasts. She only ever wore one piece of jewelry, though, a necklace made of gold and holding a midnight blue stone. A stone so dark it was almost black, one that pulsed with magic she held inside it.

"Sit," the empress commanded, pointing to the plush leather chairs. "And take off that hood, Adeena. It's just us. No Lady in White needed here. Yet."

Adeena bit back her growl and held back her magic as it tried to lunge for her. There would be a time to go for the Empress of Krahzara and, unfortunately, this was not it. She wanted information on her sister, whatever Sophea could give her.

"She's gone?" Malik asked, leaning his forearms against his legs. "Usually, she sends word to me before..."

"Well, your friendship is still barely on the mend," the empress snorted. "Kaveh is on better terms with Queen Cleo than you are, it seems. Maybe I should ask him to do what I want instead. Yet he's already a few hours out from getting back to Krahzara and she's already gone also."

"And what would that be?" Adeena demanded. "What would you have him do?"

Sophea turned her full attention on her, light hazel eyes narrowing just slightly at the venom she heard in her tone. "What I am going to have you do, my dear. And that is to infiltrate Arloerin society to look for even the most miniscule of weaknesses and exploit it."

"And you won't find any."

Both Adeena and Sophea both looked at Malik, who'd been the one to speak. Fire was alight in his dark eyes, fury making his clenched jaw twitch.

"Why can't you just leave Cleo be?" he demanded his mother. "Why try to do any more harm to her than your actions already have?" He gestured to Adeena. "You've already taken Adeena and Evander away from her, tried to have her killed twice, and now want to dismantle her kingdom..."

"You better watch your tone, son," Sophea warned, her eyes darkening as they narrowed into slits. "And it's not like I want our dear Adeena to do the deed. She will just be my informant. I have...another...who will be taking over for her in time, though I have a few more weeks to wait until they're here."

"Who is it?" Adeena demanded. "Who do I have to protect my sister from because you're set on seeing her dead?"

The empress's smile made a shiver rush down both Adeena and Malik's spines. "Who said I wanted to see her dead? Overtaking a kingdom to bring a queen to her knees...that is what I'm after. Someone has taken an interest in her. Someone who has an interest in you, too, my dear Adeena.

"So, you will go to Arloerin as I ask," Sophea continued. "You will search for any whispers of weakness among her people. And you will report back to me when you find them or else you and your grandfather will not be welcome in my domain for any longer. Don't think I will let you go. Your bodies will be sent in bags to your sister and grandmother, just so they can see you were so close and yet they can never bring you back to them."

Adeena barely kept hold on her magic as both light and dark reared its head back in a growl. "I will kill you and everyone in this godsdamn kingdom who is loyal to you before you even touch me."

With a smile as bright as the sun glistening over the Mirrored Bay, Sophea touched the stone at her breast, glowing with a strange magic Adeena's own couldn't even decipher. "I would love to see you try."

And, just as quickly and quietly as she'd come, Empress Sophea stood from her chair and left the room.

"I'm going to kill her," Adeena said through her teeth, not even bothering to hide her shaking hands from Malik. "I'm going to godsdamn kill her and anyone else who gets in my way. It will not be with magic. I want to hear her scream as I put my dagger into her. I want blood."

Malik reached over to grab hold of her hands. "Adeena..."

She yanked them away before he could. "Don't you dare touch me, Malik."

"I didn't know what this was about. I swear it."

"I don't care anymore. I'm done. Don't think I won't pack up the Guild and leave at nightfall."

"Then do it. But just know that she will send whoever she's in contact with to Arloerin. My mother has never been one to make idle threats."

No, she definitely wasn't. It had happened a hundred years prior, too, when word got around Laria that the Arloerins had struck riches in their surrounding lands. Though Sophea would have happily gone to take what they had by force, it was because Adeena mocked her that her sister was the one leading the excavation, the one who'd plucked the first gem from the rock wall of the mine. She knew her sister would be seen as a savior to the barely surviving people of Arloerin, though they'd managed to push themselves up on their knees with the start of their vineyards. But the wine took time to make. Time and money they didn't have until then.

Just a few weeks after Adeena's childish mocking...word spread of how Crown Prince Malik had been sent by his mother to the western-most kingdom of ruins with a full-fledged army at his disposal. Before Adeena was even able to make her own move against the empress, yet another word had traveled back...about how the Arloerin people rose behind their newly declared Queen Cleo and defeated those who'd threatened to take away all they'd worked for.

And this time, Adeena's howls of laughter and mocking ended up with her locked in the dungeons behind iron bars fortified with blood magic even her darkness couldn't manuever around.

Yet, over those next years, decades, Adeena continued to silently cheer for the twin sister she'd lost with every accomplishment she heard she made.

But maybe, just maybe, it was high time she'd joined her. Maybe once she learned Sophea's motives, she would aid in defeating the Krahzaran empress once and for all.

First, she needed to get to Arloerin and take down whoever this other person Sophea was working with. She knew, however, that she would more than likely lose her heart to the kingdom she'd once called home as soon as she stepped foot in it.

"I'm leaving tonight and you're giving me one of your best mares. I'm leaving the Guild in Selise's hands while I'm gone," Adeena said in a cool, even voice. "But there is no way in hell I'm going for Sophea's interests. I'm going for mine. And mine are to make sure no harm comes to my sister or her kingdom, the very place she's given all of herself to in order to keep it safe and protected."

Malik didn't seem surprised in the slightest. "That's what I thought."

Cleo wouldn't be there, though, not if Sophea's informants were correct. And she would more than likely be gone for a few weeks.

"I won't see her," Adeena whispered then. "And she won't see me."

Malik didn't need any elaboration as to what she was talking about, the silent meaning behind the words.

This time, she let him take her hand. "I wish you would, just for a second. Then maybe you'll see my meaning when I tell you she's doing extremely well ...and yet she's still missing a significant piece of herself. You."

"I can't, Malik."

"You won't, you mean."

"I won't when your mother threatens my grandfather."

"And you know I will not let anything happen to him while you're away."

That much, at least, she could trust. He loved her grandfather just as much as she did.

Adeena stood, knees shaking slightly, then pulled the white hood back up on her head.

"How long will you be gone?" he asked then, standing beside her.

"A few weeks at most."

Maybe the rest of her life...if Arloerin gripped her with its glittering claws and showed her what home and family truly meant.