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Beside me, Daryus’s expression was determined, he ground his jaw and ordered Lady Natoi to be transferred to one of the imperial prison cells.
“Emperor, what is the meaning of this?” Lady Madeema accosted us in the middle of the hallway, followed by several of her guards.
“Ah, Lady Madeema, just the merrily I wanted to see,” Daryus said with barely contained disdain. “Follow me to my suite. We have a few things to discuss.”
“I think I’d rather stay where I am if I am to be scrutinized,” Lady Madeema retorted coolly.
“Suit yourself. Guards, arrest her!” Daryus pressed out.
At once, Lady Madeema’s guards took up a defensive stance behind her, hands hovering over the holsters of their blasters.
Daryus pushed me behind him. “You don’t want to do this,” he bit out.
Lady Madeema regarded him thoughtfully. “A pity. We would have made a glorious couple. Instead, you chose this… pathetic lifeform,” she tsked and shook her head. “I should have known better than to count on a male.”
She lifted her arm to signal her guards to get ready.
Daryus stood to his full height. “Careful, I am still your emperor!” he thundered at Lady Madeema’s guards.
Slowly, one by one, their hands retreated from their blasters, heads lowered. Daryus waved his guards forward who took a stoic Lady Madeema into custody. Her guards moved aside to let us pass.
I still threw nervous glances at them, expecting one or the other to pull their blaster and shoot us in the back. My fear wasn’t for myself though. I took Daryus’s arm, needing to feel his warmth and strength as a cold hand choked my heart in fear for him.
It seemed to take hours until we reached Daryus’s suite, passing people who stopped and stared at us after curtsies and bows. Whispered words reached my ears, but blood was rushing too hard through them to understand any of them. I didn’t breathe freely until we entered Daryus’s living room, where Garth and Silla still sat, rising at our approach.
I noticed Garth’s countenance turning guarded when he caught sight of Lady Madeema, while Silla looked more curious. Neither one of them spoke though.
The guards stayed outside and Lady Madeema strode into the middle of the room, commanding it with her presence. She splayed her palms up and in front of her, her eyes directed straight at Daryus. “What do you want to know?”
“Where is Sir Priough?”
That seemed to take her off guard, and frankly, me too. I would have thought he would have asked her about her involvement in my abduction and the reason behind it, but it seemed he already had his answers there.
“Sir Priough?” she stalled. “I told you, his ship was shot down.”
“Cut the frygging lying. You and I both know he’s still alive. Where is he?” Garth pulled Silla behind him, as if he worried about a physical confrontation and her getting in the middle. “If he was dead you would have known by now who did it.”
“The Cryons of course,” Lady Madeema replied, lifting her chin in defiance.
“The Cryons didn’t know he was in our possession,” Daryus thundered.
“Oh please, of course they did. Do you really think they bought this dryck of him getting lost in your palace?” Lady Madeema scoffed.
Daryus stepped right in front of her, and I took a step back. His face was a mask of sheer fury, the kind I had never seen on him. He looked angry as hell. “Where. Is. HE?”
A small shudder moved through Lady Madeema’s body, the only sign that his close presence unnerved her. “I will have you dunked in acid, merrily, until you tell me.”
“Daryus,” I exclaimed horrified. He didn’t look at me, anger poured from every single one of his pores. Garth stepped closer to me, Silla behind him, seemingly wanting to shield me from Daryus.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Lady Madeema’s words were brave, but her tone faltered.
“Try me,” Daryus replied. The veins on his neck stood out in barely contained rage and his voice had dropped dangerously. He kept balling and unballing his hands as if ready to strike her.
Garth’s hand grabbed my arm and I realized I had taken a step toward Daryus. Garth tried to pull me back, slowly shaking his head at me, while not taking his eyes from his friend.
I had heard about Daryus’s famous temper tantrums, had seen evidence of it, but I had never witnessed one, nothing like the cold fury coming off him in waves now.
“He’s down in the cells,” Lady Madeema finally conceded.
