Imperial Stardust by Jina S. Bazzar

Author:Jina S. Bazzar [Bazzar, Jina S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

I had intended to go speak with Lorenzo after I’d returned from touring the Capital, but things hadn’t gone as planned.

By the time I was alone in my room, I had no patience for his acerbic attitude. Still, I’d sent him a text explaining that the emperor had agreed to listen to the trade proposal and that he better be straightforward with the representative if he wanted to leave here with a signed agreement. The demands that I presented myself to the Blue Wing started almost immediately, but if I’d wanted to see Lorenzo, I wouldn’t have sent him a text.

It was a while after Lorenzo stopped texting when I heard a rumbling sound, like something massive sliding on the ground. I looked up from the commlink I was playing with, but the seating arrangement hadn’t moved. No, it was the wall beside the chest of drawers that had become a passageway.

Dolenta stood there, wearing a long coat with the hood up—and the mask she’d worn when she’d first boarded the Splendor all those weeks ago. I stood, stuffing the commlink in my pocket. “What is it?”

“Do you want to watch?”

I tilted my head, but before I could ask, she amended, “The execution. You asked about it. Do you want to watch it?”

“Weren’t you complaining about your guards not leaving you alone?” I looked pointedly behind her at the dark and empty passageway.

Dolenta’s mouth formed a sly half-smile. “You live with guards all your life, you learn how to evade them.”

I smiled back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. This isn’t a game. I can sympathize with the way you’re feeling constricted, but I can’t fault the need for caution.” I raised a hand and let it drop, unsure how to get through to her. “You know powerful people want you dead, and going out there without an escort is not a good idea.”

Dolenta raised her chin. Inside the mask, her purple eyes gleamed. “I’m going. I want to see the faces of the people who killed my friends, who paid to have others kidnap me. I want to sleep at night knowing they’re all gone.” The latter was more a whisper, but I heard her loud and clear.

“Poor kid,” Mac said. “I wonder if the emperor knows his daughter is having a hard time.”

“I can call the guards—”

“They’ll only take me back to my rooms.”

“I can get in serious trouble if something happens to you. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something did.”

Dolenta lowered her head. “Very well.” She turned to leave and I had a feeling it wasn’t to go back to her room.

“I don’t think she looked defeated enough,” Mac observed. “Want to bet she plans to go alone?”

“We both know I’d lose that bet,” I said sub-vocally.

I debated hunting down Furox or Zafra, but by the time I found either—if I found either—Dolenta would be long gone. And she didn’t tell me where she planned to watch the execution. Why hadn’t I asked for a

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.