KINGSLAYER

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She hated powerfully: Klymene, Ermalai, the Kalingi. She loved powerfully too: Zensa, the huntresses, Antinoch, Saria. But people like her mother and Ourania had nowhere to go. She was never there for her sister. She rejected her mother. Why should she hate them for the things she projected onto them? Did they ever love her—or would they have gotten rid of her for what she did?

It is about letting yourself be fulfilled even if it breaks your heart.

Jaylah's insides went cold.

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She could not sleep. Instead, she pulled out Saria's gift and began to write about what haunted her.

I fear I have become too good a friend to fear and anguish and desperation for too long. Now I have become them.

Mother could not save me from this fate. How could I save anyone else?

I now understand how the cycle is able to continue. If I bear offspring, they will be the same kind of monster I am.

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Jaylah's eyes were dry from exhaustion as she strode out to the open courtyard. On the edge of the circular design stood Ermalai and a few of his men looking over the railing. Below them, the hundred new soldiers stood at attention to be surveyed. A nauseating mass of red.

One of the Navrikans leaned in to whisper in Ermalai's ear. He then looked over his shoulder to behold Jaylah. Despite the severe admonishment Sozen Asaka had recently given him, his thin lips parted in a grin. "Come, Empress. Join us."

She already had the intention to. She stood at Ermalai's side with her hands folded behind her, being sure to plant herself just a bit too close for comfort. The sergeant below called out an order and the soldiers, moving as one, each shifted into a defensive position.

"Aren't they magnificent?" Ermalai asked. Enjoyment was evident in his voice. "This is only the smallest taste of what my army is like. I have a thousand times as many across the sea waiting for the moment a conflict arises."

Jaylah knew his claims were not empty boasts. Still, she said, "I will give you a chance to rescind your demands and allow the war slaves to be released back home alongside these men."

He laughed out loud, a throaty, malicious sound. "You are in no place to threaten me. You will marry my son regardless. I am winning no matter what."

"This is not what I want. You cannot possibly think you can force me to—"

"Gods." He threw his head back. "You have grown into such a demanding little girl. Look." He pointed downward to where her own soldiers were stationed around the perimeter below in case the Navrikans stepped out of line. "Your men are present. If you make any foolish decisions right now, I will have them torn apart by my soldiers' bare hands. Have you ever seen a stampede in the wild? The victim is crushed over and over again until he is nothing more than a bloody sack of skin." He gave her a long look. "I know you care deeply about your reputation and the people that uphold it. What could you do to me?"

This time, she did not feel the desire to grab him and make him bleed. Not yet.

I will teach you desperation, she thought. I will make you sob on your knees.

Alexander told her Ermalai refused to be the villain that declared war and dragged their peoples into another conflict. Alexander was still loyal to him. Zensa was untouchable unless he wanted war from Tilana, and therefore so were the huntresses that took her in. He could not take anything from her.

She could do anything she pleased.

"I suggest you think twice before referring to me as little girl," she said, and dropped the hidden vial of Godfire in her hand into the center of Ermalai's soldiers. 

He immediately leapt back, as did the three other officials he was with, but Jaylah never flinched. Not even when the Godfire exploded in the patio and enveloped all the men in a sickly red cloud. Fire burned immediately and intensely, more so than the normal kind. She watched the way it latched onto everything—not only clothing but skin. It went up in flames so easily like it was kindling and not flesh.

Their perfect rows devolved into mayhem as they ran to and fro, rolling on the ground to put out the flames only to find it did nothing to diminish them. There was a pool on the end of the patio. Several men jumped into the shallow water and emerged still on fire. It was better than magic. It was science.

Bodies piled up on the ground, still flaming like hot rocks. Her men had caught fire in the chaos too. They were combining with the Navrikans to scream for help, all of them bombarding the wall below her. Antinoch was just inside; Jaylah could call to her for help. But Jaylah did nothing, simply watched how thoroughly the Godfire enveloped every single person and burned even after their bodies disintegrated. They were stuck down there, as the patio was sunken down besides the edge beyond the railing, which dropped down hundreds of feet. It was the death trap she had planned for.

What she had not planned for, however, were the last few of her burning soldiers that stood on the railing and took the plunge through open air. Only then did she shift her position to check their splattered bodies so far below. The impact had completely snuffed out the flames. How interesting.

When it was done, she felt Ermalai come up near her to see what she saw. The smell of cooking flesh wafted upward. "They were innocent," he said, though he did not seem particularly displeased. Simply surprised.

Jaylah looked upon the corpses of the Navrikan men—boys, really. They had likely just left their mothers, by the looks of their young bodies. "No one is innocent." She left Ermalai and the fire behind.

Once she reached Antinoch, who did not yet know what happened, she said, "Send word to Fotelis. The first experimentation was an overwhelming success."