Loethar had staggered well away from his companions and no longer had his bearings. That didn’t matter. At least the nausea was passing, although he would be lying if he didn’t admit he could still sense Roddy’s nearness, like a seductive lover beckoning to him.

He would resist. He smiled inwardly. The barbarian tyrant—the monster—had surely surprised them all.

Loethar started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Elka had stolen up on him so silently it was frightening.

“What can I do for you?” she said softly.

He shook his head, annoyed that she could move so much faster than him but pleased he could say farewell. “You’ve done more than enough.” He paused. “And so have I. I’ve had ten good anni as emperor and I can genuinely take comfort that I have done as good a job—if not better—than Brennus in unifying the lands of the Set. Perhaps it’s time to let someone else take over.” He stepped onto an old tree stump, leaned on a branch and stared into the distance.

“Am I hearing right?”

He sighed with a small smile. “I know, sounds odd even to my ears but, Elka, I’m tired. And I think I’ve finally reached a level of disgust with myself that even I can no longer live with. I’ve spent those ten anni with a woman I loathed, a half-brother I had no respect or love for, a mother I was fond of but who constantly manipulated me and people who were, at best, confused by me. I was a Steppes warrior and yet I wasn’t. I’m weary of it all. To think I was about to sentence a child to the life of a living corpse . . . that would have truly been my worst act.”

“Really?” she said, her tone sharp but not cutting.

It won the desired effect. Loethar laughed sadly. “I’ve got a lot of ‘worst acts’ to answer for, I know.”

“Not the least of which was the slaughter of Regor de Vis.”

The shame pinched at his cheeks. “Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour. I want to say I was a different man then but that wouldn’t be the truth. I was a younger man, perhaps too motivated by the smell of blood in my nostrils and the wrong people around me but I made my own decisions. I regret it and have done since the moment I swung the blade.”

“You should share your regret with de Vis’s son.”

He turned. “Will it make a difference?”

She eyed him with a hard stare. “Do you want his forgiveness?”

He shook his head. “No. Nor do I deserve it.”

“So you give up?”

He shrugged. “Elka, I’m your enemy, remember? You’re not meant to be acting as my conscience.”

“And still I do.” She gave a soft sound of scorn. “What is it about you that makes me want so much more from you?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re such a mystery. I want to hate you and yet I find myself leaving Gavriel for you. You’re supposedly my enemy and yet I want to heal you. You kill hundreds of people, you slaughter kings, you have so much blood on your hands and then moments ago, when I can believe I am watching you at the height of your cruelty, you surprise me with tenderness and brilliance.” She gave a huffing sound filled with despair.

He gave Elka a searching look, his mind rattled. The woman standing before him made him feel special in a way he had never felt before. Why did compassion or understanding mean so much more coming from her . . . and why did impressing her feel so rewarding? Without warning, without giving himself even a moment to weigh his action and judge potential repercussions, Loethar leaned forward and kissed Elka.

It was a soft kiss, not exactly hesitant but certainly not swaggering. The sensation was entirely different to how it had felt when he kissed Valya—which had been rare. Bedding Valya was raw lust. There was never any feeling above the need to sate himself; kissing her was always a chore. But it felt unique to kiss Elka—he felt tenderness and affection and desire rather than a rutting lust. He wanted her forgiveness, her smile, her understanding.

She didn’t pull away, which was encouraging. He risked deepening the kiss but only permitted himself the pleasure momentarily before he pulled away, anticipating a slap or a rebuke.

Her expression was unfathomable. He waited for her to speak.

“I guess that tree stump was handily positioned,” she remarked.

Loethar looked down, then back up to her face and exploded into delighted laughter. “I never was the tallest among men but how embarrassing . . . but then I guess you must be used to towering above your men?”

She was grinning at him. Her smile faltered. “Not with Gavriel.” He waited, wondering if he’d just made a huge blunder. “We are not lovers, Loethar.”

He said nothing immediately, then cleared his throat. “I think I should apologize for taking advantage of you.”

“No,” she rushed to say. “Not at all.” Elka looked uncharacteristically flustered. “I . . . I’m just a bit surprised.”

“That I found such a novel way to reach your lips, you mean?”

She chuckled with delight. “That you wanted to reach my lips at all.”

He grew serious. “Until that moment I wasn’t sure.”

“So why did you?”

“A moment of insanity.”

“Ah,” she replied, turning away, but he caught the hurt in her eyes.

“Elka, wait,” he said, reaching for her. “It was a moment of insanity. I know how you feel about de Vis and I took advantage of your compassion for me. But it felt like I was in the grip of a momentary madness. I had to kiss you or risk never knowing.”

Her face softened. “Never knowing what?”

“Whether you’d welcome it.”

She touched his face. “I’m confused but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad you risked it. Thank you for freeing the boy.”

He sighed. “I must leave.”

“To where?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps in disguise I can make it to a port and then board a ship for somewhere far from here.”

She looked suddenly anxious. “Don’t go.”

“I can’t stay.”

“So the whole idea of empire is suddenly cast aside?”

He looked at her, aghast. “Forgive my surprise but weren’t you part of the conspiracy to overthrow my rule? Isn’t this what you want?”

“I was part of nothing, other than helping Gavriel de Vis find his past. I didn’t really care who ruled Penraven or the new empire. It has little impact on my life in the mountains. I was dragged into this struggle but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was on Gavriel’s side.”

“And now?”

He watched her chest rise and fall as she appeared to grapple with an internal battle of conscience. She shook her head. “Now I’m quietly confused. Your ability to rule is not in question here. The truth is you have done a lot for the former realms. The unification into empire, while brutal, has also given all the people of those lands a brighter future.”

He sighed, noticing that she had sidestepped his question. “Let my family fight over the scraps. I am done.”

She took him by his shoulders and he winced. “That’s a strong grip you have there, Elka.” She laughed and he was sorely tempted to kiss her again but the moment passed and she began talking again, desperate it seemed to push sense into him.

“Now listen to me, Loethar, when I took you away it was for a raft of different reasons. These last days I’ve begun to see a whole new side to you. The very fact that you are Valisar convinces me that you have every right to fight for rulership—and perhaps, I’ve begun to accept, you are the rightful heir.”

The rightful heir. “You stagger me.”

“Listen, I’ve spent ten anni getting to know and love a man called Regor. Everything changed—he changed—when he discovered his past and that gave me pause. In defying him I have discovered that you are not the monster you are painted and although you have done things that chill me to the marrow of my bones, I can begin to see why you’ve been driven to such lengths.”

“You want me to fight for the crown.”

Elka looked up to the sky. When she returned her gaze to him it was unwavering. “Slinking away to ultimately vanish is not the answer. You have a duty to your people—all your people—to protect them from whatever is coming. If Leo and his brother are going to slug it out for sovereign right, you should do all in your power to keep everyone—Steppes or Denovian—safe from the wrath of kings.”

“The wrath of kings,” he repeated quietly. Then he sighed.

“Do you really no longer want to rule?” she asked pointedly.

“Elka, I had everything as emperor, or at least I thought I did. The truth is I had an empty existence. People were scared of me and I was surrounded by either sycophants or traitors. Love has never been in my life. I can count my friends on two fingers, and of those the one I genuinely admired was working behind my back to bring me down; the other, it now turns out, was a magical bird. The only person I can count on is you . . . and I’m your prisoner, not a friend, and we barely know each other.” She raised an eyebrow but he didn’t pause. “So, no, ruling hasn’t satisfied me. I am more bored, more at odds with myself than ever. I thought killing Brennus and humbling the Set would reward my years of isolation and despair but it has made me feel more empty than I thought possible.”

“So disappearing is the answer?”

“Only if I want to live. Leonel can—”

“Leo has no vision, Loethar, and you know it. He is a boy and his motivation is based on pure hate and revenge.”

“So was mine.”

“No. If I understand you correctly, your motivation was your right to rule. You are the true heir; you always were. Neither Leo nor Piven is fit to rule. You are! And Stracker needs to be stopped. You can stop him.”

He stared at her with a searing gaze. “You want me to take responsibility for all the claimants, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes, that’s precisely what I would want from you. You set this chain of events in motion. You made war on Denova. And you’ve unleashed Piven in his madness and Leo on a narrow-minded trail of revenge and Stracker’s sudden elevation from tattoed brute to a pretender for emperor. This is your mess, Loethar.”

“But you have taken away my own means to clean it up.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You would use a child?”

“I didn’t—but it would be for the greater good, Elka.” He ran his bandaged hand through his hair. “What do you want from me?”

“This is not even my war, not my land but I’m now helplessly involved against my better judgment and—”

“Involved? Why? Because I kissed you?”

Her expression turned wintry. “You flatter yourself.”

And now he did kiss her again. This time he meant it. There was nothing exploratory or tentative about his ardour; his embrace was tight and demanding. And Elka responded. She moved beneath his mouth, closing her eyes and melting around him. He felt as though he was losing himself and for the first time he wanted to.

He pulled away savagely, before it went too far. He glared at her. “Gavriel de Vis is a fool!” he growled and walked away, using the time to calm his mind.

Eventually he made his way back to where he was surprised to still find Ravan patiently waiting. Roddy sat encircled by Ravan’s long arms, rocking back and forth. As Loethar approached he stood, alarmed.

Janus was dozing, eyes closed and snoring lightly as if entirely bored by all the drama surrounding him.

“Why are you still here?” Loethar demanded, the seductive call of magic as repulsive as it was compulsive. He was using all of his inner strength to resist Roddy now and was deeply disappointed that the pair of them had not taken their chance at escape.

Loethar noted how Roddy looked toward his friend nervously. He watched Ravan gracefully unfold his long limbs to stand.

“I wouldn’t desert you, Loethar,” Ravan replied.

The words were so kind that they tore at Loethar’s heartstrings. No one but Vyk had ever stuck by him. And here was his bird—in a new form—still holding to their friendship even though Loethar had threatened his well-being.

“You should have escaped when you could.”

Ravan shook his head. “I knew you wouldn’t do it.”

“I would have!” Loethar insisted, angry that everyone was making presumptions about him.

Ravan’s expression didn’t shift. “Then why is Roddy standing here whole?”

There was no snappy, neat answer for that. How did he begin to explain that a giantess from the mountains had got beneath his skin and was now affecting his conscience, his way of thinking? Damn Elka and her high principles!

“Just go,” he said, waving his hand. “Roddy makes me feel sick and I know I do the same to him.”

Elka reappeared, throwing a soft, somewhat sheepish glance his way. He wasn’t sure what her look meant. He had no doubt that her emotions were as mixed and confused as his were. He watched her nudge Janus, who snorted awake.

“Ah, forgive me,” the doctor said. Then his eyes widened. “From this angle, Elka, your—”

“Janus!” she snapped and he flinched. “Get a hold of yourself. There’s a boy here.”

Janus looked mortified. “Forgive me,” he said, struggling to get to his feet, prompting Elka to sigh and help him. She hauled him upright.

“Just try thinking first.”

“I do,” he mewled. “It doesn’t help. I just catch sight of your big, perfectly sculpted br—” Her scowl stopped him but Loethar was sympathetic; Elka had a similar effect on him.

She turned, having regained control of her calm countenance, and looked to Roddy. “You are free to go. The Emperor will not claim you.”

Something bit at Loethar’s mind as she said this. “Wait!” Everyone turned nervously toward him. “You said you were promised to someone. There are only three Valisars that I’m aware of, which includes myself. But you denied you were meant for Leo or myself and it is obvious that Piven has no need for you.”

Roddy’s eyes lit up. But he glanced at Ravan first as though seeking permission. Loethar noticed the man give the boy a small nod.

“I am promised to the princess.”

“Princess?” Loethar murmured, his throat tightening.

“You explain, Ravan,” Roddy said. “I feel too dizzy and sick to talk anyway.”

Ravan obliged. “Your majesty, the daughter of Brennus and Iselda survived.”

Loethar looked at his old friend unblinking. He ran the words again through his mind and still they made no sense.

“Loethar?” Elka asked.

“That can’t be right. I saw the dead newborn. I watched the tiny girl cremated. I witnessed Iselda casting her daughter’s ashes to the four winds from the palace battlements.”

“I was there too, majesty. Except that was not the royal child. It was a newborn girl, yes, but not the daughter of the Valisars. The princess was secreted away to safety on the night of her birth, before you’d even reached the gates of Brighthelm.”

Loethar gave a groan. He walked away a few paces, then he spun around again, pointing.

“Tell me everything!”

Ravan nodded. “I will tell you what I know. Corbel de Vis was charged with the task of getting the princess away to safety. I have no idea where she was taken. King Brennus made the arrangements.”

Loethar’s gaze narrowed. “No woman could feign the heartbreak I watched Iselda go through. I saw her change from a strong, courageous queen into a shell of a woman.”

“The queen’s grief was likely real, your majesty. She believed that the child she cremated was her daughter. I think it was the losses of both the princess and her precious Leo that gave her the excuse to die.”

Loethar looked at Ravan, aghast, as he let the concept settle into his mind. Then he turned to Elka. “And you think I’m cruel. I can’t hold a candle to my half-brother Brennus,” he snarled. “Did he kill a child for the ruse?”

Ravan nodded. “I believe he did, though he did not dirty his own hands with the deed.”

“No, of course he wouldn’t.” Once again he turned to Elka. “This is the king you all admired. The king the whole Set looked up to and took its lead from. The king everyone mourned. He is as guilty as killing innocents as I am. But at least I did it honestly. Everyone saw my bloodied blade. I was at war. Brennus was simply a murderer!”

Elka swallowed and took a few steps toward him, laying a hand on his arm. “It’s why you must not walk away from this. No one knows the truth. The real story is only now emerging. Your agile mind is every bit as clever and cunning as Brennus’s. People should know that you are Valisar and that you are the rightful heir to the throne, that Brennus effectively stole it from you.”

Loethar blinked. The notion wasn’t new but when it was put to him as Elka had just outlined, he could suddenly believe that Brennus was the villain of the tale, not him.

She hadn’t finished. “We’ve now got four people on the loose who all think they have a right to rule. But only one of them has proven he can, has absolute right on his side, and frankly is the best Valisar to sit that throne.”

“The princess didn’t choose to oppose you,” Ravan counseled.

“That’s right,” Roddy said. “She can only be ten anni. She probably doesn’t understand any of this.”

“I’m not levelling any blame at the child. She was another of Brennus’s pawns. Even Leonel is a pawn. He didn’t choose this path—his father pushed him onto it. Piven . . .” He shook his head. “Piven I don’t understand. I had a bond with that boy. I couldn’t bring myself to kill him even though I knew I should.”

“So you humiliated him,” Ravan remarked, no accusation in it but also no tenderness.

“That was the excuse I used. Valya, Stracker, even my mother would have happily had him smothered, not because he was an invalid but because he was linked to the Valisars. But I couldn’t hurt that child. There was something so intriguing and charming about him. I grieved at his loss.”

Ravan shrugged. “Well, now he’s your enemy, Loethar. Don’t be fooled. Piven is not the sweet smiling innocent you remember. He walks in the body of a youth but he has the mind of a wily old man.”

“And now he has his aegis,” Loethar murmured. “Be on your way, Roddy. Go find your princess and give her your magical protection if you still wish to. In all of this mess, she is truly the innocent.”

Roddy stared at him. “Although you make me feel so sick you really aren’t nearly as frightening as I thought.”

“It must be my handsome looks,” Loethar said and caught Elka’s smirk. Even Ravan chuckled silently.

“No, that’s not it,” Roddy continued, sounding serious. “I just don’t think you were ever as bad as you were said to be. You did a very good job of making everyone fear you.”

Loethar gave a lopsided smirk. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Er, well, you killed several thousand people,” Elka reminded.

“Stracker did most of the killing,” Loethar said absently. “But yes, I am responsible for it. I planned it. I sanctioned it.”

“The thing I’m trying to say,” Roddy said, looking exasperated, “is that I don’t think the Princess needs protection as much as you do.”

Loethar’s gaze flicked back to the boy. “What are you saying?”

“You are not a bad man. Not as bad as I have always thought, anyway. You let me go. What would you do right now, if you could do anything?”

Loethar frowned. “I would leave this empire to Leonel and Piven to fight it out. I would find the princess and take her to safety; she is the only kin I have who might give me a chance at being part of a family. And I would disappear.” He saw Elka’s chest swelling; she was preparing to launch a fresh tirade. He wanted to smile because Janus saw it too and his eyes were nearly out on stalks. “But,” he said, holding a hand in the air to her, “Elka will not permit that. So, taking her wishes into account, I would still protect the princess. But I would also likely find myself doing battle with my two nephews because I don’t think either of them is a suitable ruler. And . . . I would kill my half-brother, Stracker. His death has long beckoned and I am the right person to deliver it.”

He threw his hands up in the air, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. “But this discussion is of no consequence. Go, you two. Find your princess and run away with her. Keep her safe while her two brothers fight it out using their famed Valisar magic. Janus, thank you. Elka . . .” He hesitated. “I hope our paths cross again.” It sounded pathetic even to his ears but he really didn’t know what to say to her. “I hope you can find de Vis again. Tell him I’m impressed he let Ravan and Roddy go.”

“Tell him yourself!” she snapped. “You are not just walking away from this.”

“I don’t know what you expect of me, Elka. I am not in a position to do—”

“With me as your aegis, you will be,” Roddy said, cutting across Loethar’s words.

The boy’s words silenced everyone.

Finally, Ravan spoke up. “Did I mention that Roddy is a very brave soul?” he asked conversationally.

“I absolutely will not agree to this.” Elka’s words cut off Loethar’s reply.

“Giant! This is not your decision!” Roddy hurled at her. “Ravan and I have discussed it. We want to do this.” He pointed at Loethar. “I want your word that you will help the princess.”

Loethar’s eyes squinted as he focused only on Roddy.

“I will give myself to you if you share the same cause as us,” the boy said. Glancing at Ravan, he continued. “I won’t be giving up my life, just my freedom. And freedom is a sacrifice I’m prepared to make for the princess, for Cyrena, for Sergius who died so terribly, for the man called Clovis.” He pointed at Loethar. “He can make everyone feel safe because he wants the barbarians and Denovians to live as one. It’s his half-brother who wants them still at war. And Leo would want the same. Piven . . . I don’t know what Piven wants.”

Ravan joined in. “Piven wants chaos, I think. He has no conscience.”

Elka turned to face Loethar. “Not this way. Please, Loethar . . . he’s just eleven anni.”

Loethar felt trapped by their individual demands. It was Janus who broke the standoff.

“Elka, I’ve been thinking, while I would gladly chew your toenails—”

“Not now, Janus,” she hissed at him, looking fraught. “Can’t you just for once measure your words?”

He blinked, stung by her waspish attack. “But, Elka, it’s a good idea,” he stammered. Then he straightened. “I may have a disease but that doesn’t mean I can’t offer up useful—”

“Be quiet, Janus. My patience with your lewd comments is sorely tested,” she warned.

He wasn’t to be deterred, though. “Go ahead, then, maim the boy—but don’t ask me to clean up the mess,” he said, waving his hands as though tired of all of them. “It was good feeling needed but as usual my ailment has trespassed. Farewell, all. I shall try not to miss your breasts, Elka. By the way, that last comment wasn’t my illness talking!” He made another dismissive gesture and began walking away.

“Wait, Janus!” Loethar called. “Lo strike me! Why didn’t I think of such a simple solution?”

“What are you talking about?” Elka said, looking between them.

“I understand,” Ravan said, nodding to himself. “Why shouldn’t it work?”

“What?” Elka demanded.

Loethar moved to her and calmed her rising fury with a hand on her arm. “I consume something non-fleshy from Roddy’s body.”

Dawning spread across her face. “Like a toenail,” she finished, sounding embarrassed.

“If Janus is right then there is no need to hurt Roddy.”

“But he still loses his freedom,” she persisted in a much smaller voice now.

“That is true. It’s up to Roddy now.”

Roddy shrugged. “I had no other plans,” he admitted, prompting Loethar and Ravan to share a sad smile. “At least this way my life becomes exciting, even important. I’ll make my mother very proud. Protector of the emperor!” he said, triumphantly jabbing a small fist in the air.

“Oh, Roddy,” Elka said, and Loethar noticed her eyes were misty.

“I won’t hurt him, I promise you, Elka,” Loethar said. “And I’ll abide by your wishes,” he added before nodding at Roddy, “and his rules.”

He gave her an encouraging small smile as he squeezed her arm and then walked over to Roddy, amazed by the powerful surge of desire and nausea. He crouched on his haunches before the child.

“I know this is as hard on your health as it is mine, Roddy, so let’s do this quickly before we both start rushing for the bushes again. Are we in agreement?”

Very solemnly and clearly fighting his own revulsion, Roddy nodded. “We are.”

Loethar held out a hand and Roddy placed his small one in it. Surprising himself as much as everyone around him, Loethar changed position so he was kneeling before Roddy and then pulled the boy to him and hugged him. “I kneel humbly before the bravest person I have ever met. We will do only good things with our magic, I promise.”

Roddy hugged him hard back and Loethar felt choked by the affection and the youngster’s trust.

“We’d better hurry,” he said. “I think I’m going to vomit!”