Sovereign (Irdesi Empire Book 2) by Addison Cain

Author:Addison Cain [Cain, Addison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

A wall of windows framed the bland cityscape carved out of Irdesi’s mountain range. Sigil stared absentmindedly at decrepit, beige flotsam, at black banners snapping stark in the streets, distracted by the feel of another’s hand carding through her tangled hair.

Warm at her back, the emperor asked, “Might we talk a little longer?”

That was the third time Sovereign had made such a request since she’d willingly followed him into the palace. Every time silence came, every time he lost her attention, he would ask again and she’d respond with, “We can talk.”

“Who is the Convert—”

Sigil’s shoulders stiffened. “You know Elba’s name, her rank, her history. Do not insult me, Sovereign, by pretending otherwise. Tiburon told you where I was.”

Strong fingers tangled near her scalp, Sovereign pulling just enough to draw icy eyes to meet his. “What is it about her that drew your attention?”

Finally, a good question. “The baker’s mind is...” she paused, choosing her words carefully, “...soothing to be near. Enough that I can ignore all the Convert babble your Adherents polluted her with. She’s friendly. She showed me kindness, having no idea who I was—wanting nothing in return. The only other person who’d treated me that way was Que.”

Sovereign’s fingers went to the knots binding a pilgrim’s rags to Sigil’s shoulder. He began to pull at the laces, completely ignoring her mention of the dead Axirlan. “Adherents merely exist to see you protected. You imagine enemies out of accomplices.”

Feeling the knot give, the slide of her dirty cloak being pulled aside, Sigil turned her attention once again out the window. “They exist to assure your godlike stature through a pseudo-religion based on lies.”

Mouth warm on Sigil’s exposed shoulder, Sovereign asked, “And which part is lies?”

Talking was less appealing if he was going to play games. Sigil’s annoyance grew obvious. “If you have a point, Sovereign, make it.”

Teeth grazing her nape, an arm circling her middle to warmly palm a breast, Sovereign created an embrace that could become a restraint should his next words anger the female. “If I were to tell you Adherent preaching is not untrue—at least in the basic sense—I am convinced you will not take it well.”

Sigil curled her lip and cackled. “I am not the compassionate savior of Converts.”

Sovereign’s hold tightened. He spoke as if serious. “Your part in their creation is greater than you realize. At the Cathedral, Elba told you—in so many words—that you reside inside them all. Her claim was not an Adherent lie. Conversion serum is a virus created from your fetal cells. It attacks its host and alters key parameters in human DNA, making them susceptible to herd dynamics and suggestion from beings they recognize on a cellular level as their superiors.”

His hold tightened fractionally, in a strange blend between a hug for comfort and a reminder he was stronger should she think to fight. “Some Adherents would argue they are your offspring—a subspecies edging towards a hive mind that can be further conditioned to mimic our race.

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