Crimes of the Vault

Chapter Six

"Tempest Maolent, Queen of the Vault." Reed's voice bounced off the walls around them in a powerful hum, her arm still curled around his as a way to anchor her to the floor beneath her, because she was sure she was going to float away.

"That is no Queen." One of the Kings spat, the glass in his hand trembling, liquid sloshing up over the sides. "That is nothing more than a foolish girl playing royalty."

"Calm yourself, Tyrone." A King from the back scolded lightly, stepping into the foreground of the room, deep red eyes shining at Tempest, pale blond hair curled back from his face and pinned with silver beads.

"King Cyril." Tempest greeted with a polite nod of her head. "It's always a pleasure."

The King approached her swiftly, ducking down to press a kiss to her cheek and though it burned like straight fire against her skin, and made her stomach bubble dangerously, Tempest accepted it, feeling the sudden tension of the room only get worse, a slight growl ripping through the air, though it was cut off abruptly.

"Lovely to see you again, Tempest." Cyril told her quietly, leaning over to give nods to Mac and Reed at her side. "Macmillan, Reed, it's always nice to see you all well. A shame Wixar and Nexus couldn't join us."

"They wanted to." Tempest assured him, ignoring the eyes of the rest of the room and she smiled, their grumbles and low threats barely reaching her ears. "But they had to stay and look after things. Sudden influxes and all that. And, you never know when the Imperials will come knocking." She sent a glance over the King's shoulder at the Imperial General still standing in the room, watching as he flinched under her gaze.

"They truly are tricky." Cyril agreed with a smirk, stepped away from her, though didn't go far as he swung his arm to the rest of the room. "Let me introduce you to the rest of our company today before we get any further into the meeting."

Around them, the Kings all stared, and said nothing as Cyril began to point to each of them, making sure that she was familiar with all of them though the introductions really weren't necessary. Tempest was very familiar with all of the Kings, their titles, and the battles they had won in the past, most of them wars against each other or the Warlocks, her own people.

"And, of course, I'm sure you've heard of the Emperor, his Imperial Majesty, Sebastian Castellian, first of his name."

Tempest turned, her first mistake, catching sight of the tall Wolf standing nearby, and lifted her eyes up to meet his, her second mistake.

The moment her eyes locked with his golden ones, she felt her entire body freeze, though she did everything in her power to keep her expression clear.

It was nothing like the first time they'd seen each other. Back then she was afraid, she was vulnerable, she had been taken by force from the Great Wood, forced to her knees in front of the court, and wondered if she was going to die by the hand of the mysterious Emperor.

She was better than that.

"We've been acquainted." Tempest said coldly, holding eye contact with the Emperor, her hands clutching Reed's arm tightly as Mac left her side to grab them drinks from across the room. Her ruby painted lips turned into a frown as he trailed over her figure, golden eyes darkening into a deep black, but Tempest refused to look away from him.

The eye contact held for a little too long, tension in the room thickening until it was nearly impossible to breathe. Tempest knew better than to hold eye contact with the Emperor, anyone who knew anything about speaking to royalty should have known better than to look him in his eyes. Anyone else would have been forced to their knees, begging for their lives.