Page 32 of Clash of Kingdoms

My eyes dropped in sadness.

“That’s how it would be if you turned.”

My eyes moved up again.

“Knowing you would never see your parents again.”

That was just as painful as losing Aurelias. Never seeing my father’s face. Feeling my mother’s spirit. Hearing my brother’s laugh. Knowing I would live several lifetimes while they knew I would never cross into their eternal realm…was too hard to bear. My father would be distraught. My mother…she’d be devastated.

“I think you have your answer.”

FIVE

VINE

I sat at my mahogany desk, the golden sconces along the walls lit with flames. It cast the room in a golden hue and pushed the shadows far toward the thirty-foot ceilings. My elbow was propped on the golden armrest, my fingertips against the bottom of my mouth. The schematics were before me, but my eyes were tired of staring at them.

The heavy doors far on the other side of the room opened, and then Rakier entered my chambers, his boots tapping against the gold-plated floor. It was a long walk, at least seventy feet to where my desk sat against the window overlooking the chasms.

The doors to my bedchambers were open, and he couldn’t help but glance at the naked woman asleep in my bed. He focused his stare on me and pretended he hadn’t looked. “The Teeth have left their passage and approach our domain.”

All I did was give a slight nod.

He pounded his closed fist against his chest, gave a slight bow, and then departed my chambers.

A sleepy voice came from my bedchambers. “Come to bed…”

Like I hadn’t heard her, I left the chambers and walked out.

This part of the city was quiet.

Braziers burned along the long walkways, the flames reflecting off the gold material. The sea of darkness far out into the distance was illuminated by the distant glow of crystals…crystals that were far less bright than they used to be. Some were along the ceiling, showing the surface of the earth that was leagues away. I passed guards on my way, and every time I passed, they saluted me in the same way, their fists banging against the steel plates that covered their chests.

It was a long walk that consisted of many different pathways. I finally reached a gate made of solid gold. Thirty feet high and impenetrable by any outside force. The guards silently opened the gate, not needing permission to allow me entry. Before I passed, they saluted me.

It was another eighty feet to the main doors, which the guards opened for me as well. Civilizations aboveground condensed their kingdoms into small plots of land because they were restricted by space. We had no such problem, so our kingdoms stretched for leagues and leagues, through the chasms that connected beneath the surface.

The doors shut behind me, and I entered the palace, stairs on either side leading to the second landing of doors. At the opposite end were three thrones, all at the same level, and the throne in the center was occupied.

My boots thudded against the floor as I approached, every step echoing off the gold that plated these halls. If humankind were to see our kingdom, they would see we were far richer than any king on the surface.

Lord Ashe sat upon the throne, his skin a mixture of black and gray, like the remains of a burned pyre. Flesh that should be bright and taut with youth looked faded and weak. There was a tear over his cheekbone, a pale bone visible. His hair was the color of midnight, black with an intense shine, long and well-maintained. He was both weak and strong, at the end of his life but also the beginning. He was outfitted in deep blue robes, his boots dark like his hair. He stared with eyes both intense and weary. “Vine.” There was a strange vibration to his voice whenever he spoke, a bass that came from his entire body, not just his mouth. “Your presence shines like gold.”

Lord Ashe was one of the Demon Lords, a being that had existed since the beginning of time, his mind greatly misunderstood because it had experienced not many lifetimes, but all the lifetimes. He was one of the servants of Velkum, the mortal enemy of the gods. And once the gods were brave enough to show their faces, Velkum would strike—and win dominion over the entire world.

None of us had seen Velkum in the flesh. That was a privilege only for the Demon Lords. With his magic, Velkum reincarnated us once our bodies were defeated, bringing us back to the pinnacle of our prime. “The Teeth have left the mountains and approach our domain.”

Lord Ashe gave an empty stare, as if he hadn’t heard what I said or didn’t care about it.

But I knew that wasn’t the case.

“Escort Rancor into our domain. Entertain the Teeth…until we’re ready to put them to work.” His voice reverberated against the gold-plated walls. His eyes were heavy, like the exhaustion of eternity had spoiled his energy. “The soil must be tilled. The crops must be watered. The harvest must be collected. That is their purpose—to put food on the table for us to eat.”

But instead of crops, it was crystals. “It will be done, Lord Ashe.”

“I know it will.”

SIX