Page 152 of A Reign of Embers
Her words couldn’t have pricked deeper if they camefrom divine inspiration. My chest constricts with the thought of the loyalties that lead to the deaths all around me.
I’ve fought so little of this war in any way she’d actually consider fighting. My allies have taken the worst of the blows.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t earned my throne, though.
“You have no idea how much strength it’s taken for me to get to this moment,” I retort.
She scoffs. “Sitting pampered in your palace in Accasy and then more of the same here in Dariu—and you think you can talk about struggle? The Darium empire was built through combat and domination. You would never have lasted a day during the founding.”
A quiver tickles across my throat. When I speak, my voice resonates as loud as hers.
“It isn’t the time of the founding any longer. We’ve left the Great Retribution far behind. We can be more than survivors grappling with each other to come out on top. As a tribune, I’m surprisedyoudon’t know how much strength there is in bringing people together for a common cause.”
At the corner of my eye, I see Bastien standing shoulder to shoulder with Lorenzo now. Is it their gifts working together, air and illusion, to project my voice like hers?
Can she not see how much strength there is in what we’re accomplishing right now?
She doesn’t want to.
Valerisse rolls her eyes. “We march into battle with all the blessings of our godlen of war, the godlen who gave the imperial family their sacred charge. Sabrelle will see you fall.”
I raise my voice even louder. “The empire answers to all the godlen, and I have their blessings. I’m guided by all of them for the good of all the empire’s people. Let them show they stand with me as I have honored them, even as Sabrelle turns her back on the rest of our divine guardians!”
Sheens of light flicker within the barrier: orange and green, blue and pink, yellow and gray and a wash of deep purple that wavers all around me as if Creaden himself has wrapped me in his approval.
Then white. The pure, soothing white of my chosen godlen washes over me from above like a stream of warm sunlight.
Elox may not have offered an open show of his support before, but he’s here now. He’s facing this challenge with me.
Gasps that are all astonishment and awe rather than pain reach my ears from the soldiers surrounding us. Valerisse’s face hardens into a mask of resentment.
She takes another step forward, her sword lowered but her fingers clenched around the hilt. Her words take on a sneering lilt. “Show you can earn Sabrelle’s favor, then, as you’ve failed to so many times before. Are you actually going to fight, or only hide up here behind your guards and soldiers? Let’s see what might the ‘empress’ can bring to bear!”
My limbs quiver with the urge to answer her challenge, to launch myself forward with a swing of this sword—but that’s exactly what she wants. She’s goading me, knowing that if it comes to a regular skirmish, she has years if not decades of experience over me. She wants to show my failure in combat before all the soldiers assembled on both sides.
Every particle in me longs to demonstrate the strength I do possess, the respect I’ve more than earned.
Valerisse and her godlen have backed me into a corner too many times. I came here, I did battle with her, but it’s been as much on my terms as I could make it.
If only she’d step close enough for me to use the addling potion in my ring… But I doubt I could touch her before she ran me through with that sword.
A chill trickles through me despite the support the gods showed me. I won them over, but can I really win this fight?
What if my methods aren’t enough? Should I take my chances while I have them and attack Valerisse? With the blessed sword, I might be able to snatch Sabrelle’s favor from her…
Even as that doubt grips me, I feel the gazes of the people all around us. The soldiers still standing who marched here on my behalf, the princes who threw in their lots with me over their own families, the man who was once emperor and now hails me as his empress.
They followed me because they believe inme, in all the ways I’m different from the rulers before. Great God save me,Ibelieve in me too.
I’ve trusted in my own methods to see me through so much struggle before. I will not let my principles be compromised any further.
I’m not a warrior. I’m not a killer—never willingly.
The woman in front of me is, though. Perhaps in her tactics against me, she’s revealing what would get under her skin.
I let my own sword dip as if I no longer see her as a threat. Drawing on the well of calm I’ve cultivated inside me, I meet her eyes with all the serenity I can exude. “Why should I fight you when you know I’ve already triumphed? Eight godlen support me, while you can only call on one. You talk about strength, but the only kindyouknow is lashing out with fists and blades.”
Valerisse’s eyes narrow. “That’s how strength is enforced, which you’d know if?—”
