Elven Legacy

Chapter 86

Viper

Empress Imxi had convened her two top mercenaries – freshly returned from their mission overnight – to a breakfast meeting in her imperial gardens.

No shocker. It was always the gardens with Imxi. She was a bit obsessed.

Man, I just wish it didn't have to be so fucking early.

The morning was brisk and foggy, and frankly not that warm at all.

Viper suspected she might be late.

Which didn't matter much, because Blood Eyes was the one with the precious crescent moon opal, anyway. He'd probably already given it to Imxi. Just before – or after – having passionate sex, from being finally reunited.

It's like, just get married already.

Viper was in a shitty mood. Must've been a mix of sleep-deprivation, carriage soreness, nose bleeds and headaches.

After crawling from her bed, she'd donned snug black pants and leather bustier, studded arm guards over fingerless gloves, and black leather boots that reached her knees.

Sometimes, when she visited Imxi's palace, Viper made an effort and wore a dress, or something.

Not today.

The gravely footpath crunched under her boots as she ventured deep into the gardens. The young man tending the roses had been nice enough to point her in the proper direction.

Viper felt apprehension bubbling up inside her as she started to hear their voices. They rose and drifted through the foggy air, adding to the myriad bird songs and buzzing of hummingbird wings.

Imxi's voice, Blood Eyes' voice, Juna's voice, and another. A soft feminine voice.

The so-called Demon Queen.

This would be Viper's first time meeting her.

Her heart was doing some noticeable thumping. Her mind, though, felt conflicted. On the one hand, she was skeptical as hell, as if she were about to get her future read by some cheap street corner fortuneteller.

On the other hand, she kind of really wanted to make a solid first impression.

Just in case the Demon Queen's for real, and all that.

Tiny lizards scurried past her boots as she raised her black-clad forearm to push aside a magnolia branch, and she emerged into the intimate courtyard, shrouded in fog and surrounded by wide-leafed shrubs and trees. Everything still covered in morning dew.

The four of them sat around a pale wood table. Imxi beside Blood Eyes, Juna and a slender woman with rich dark green locks facing them, with their backs to Viper as she came up short.

Why didn't anyone tell me she had green hair?

Their conversation stopped.

Viper locked eyes with Imxi. She was radiant as always, in a long-sleeved burgundy dress, pale brown hair loosely braided with a delicate golden headpiece.

Morning people. I don't get it.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness," Viper said in a raspy voice, like she'd been smoking all night. It got like that when she was tired. And she was always tired.

Imxi smiled, and it was almost motherly, even though there was only a five-year age gap between them. Imxi could give that impression. An old soul in a young woman's body.