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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] of escape, something that would certainly break that trust forever. Dersai came to stand before him and straightened the collar of Jaden s shirt almost absently. His dark eyes trained on Jaden s. You will follow me to the throne room and stand behind me with my guards. Jaden nodded and waited for further instructions, but there were none. He was not to be told of what this all meant, then. His master turned away, pulling on his formal gloves. His lips were drawn so tight that they looked almost bloodless. He drew a deep breath then, as though preparing for something, and gestured to Jaden to follow him out the double doors. The emperor s elite guards standing in the hall saluted Dersai and fell into formation behind him, leaving Jaden safely enclosed between the two forces. People passed by in the great hallways, so Jaden tried not to gawk at things. He had only ever been in the servant s quarters, never in the main part of the palace, apart from that first day. His impressions of that time were blurry indeed. There was muted splendor everywhere. Nothing too ornate, but all of it screamed luxury, money, and power. No one lived like this unless they were powerful. They paused into one of the massive galleries where many people had gathered. Several came forward to speak to the emperor, bowing deeply. Jaden stood silently behind him, watching and listening with the elite guards looming behind him, wondering again why he was there at all. He glanced around, then noticed immense paintings on the wall. After staring at them for a few moments, he realized they were portraits of previous emperors. Dersai s ancestors? And a grim lot they were. There was not a smile to be seen amongst them, and their eyes were intense and hooded, with a hint of darkness in their depths. Jaden shivered. His moved his gaze to the end of the royal portraits, and there, like a beacon, was a portrait of a young man very young, perhaps fourteen or so. The light of life shone from him, bright and fierce. His eyes were clear and with a 64 J. C. Owens sense of humor in them. This portrait s contrast to the other paintings was startling, disturbing almost. Jaden s gaze traced those features, realizing with a sense of disbelief that this was a portrait of Dersai. There could be no mistaking those features, not when Jaden had touched them, knew them now perhaps almost as well as his own. He glanced back to his master and felt a sadness well up within him. How had that beautiful boy turned into the care-worn man Jaden held in his arms each night? Were the burdens of being emperor that heavy? With a last look at that portrait, Jaden followed as his master began to wend his way through the crowd, pausing here and there to speak for a moment but then continuing with a certain determination. There was obviously something that needed to be done. The great doors before them began to open as the palace guards saw their emperor approaching. Jaden drew in a deep breath as they passed through them and into the throne room. Here was opulence designed to impress. The floor was golden marble rare in the extreme interspersed with black mosaics. At one end was the throne, which was intricately carved black wood with gold inlay; it rose above the floor on a dais of blackest marble. To the rear, behind the throne, rose banners in profusion, but most prominent was a massive floor-to-ceiling one, black with a golden wolf in midleap, jaws wide. Beautiful golden embroidery edged it, and a huge jewel formed the wolf s eye, which looked real enough to blink. Murals and paintings ringed the whole room, and from a brief glimpse, Jaden could only surmise they were of past battles and events of Tranaden. With a deep bitterness, he wondered whether there was one portraying the fall of his own lands under the might of the Tranaden army. He managed to school his expression as his master moved with purposeful stride to the throne, Jaden and the elites close behind him. The Emperor s Wolf 65 The emperor seated himself in the massive throne with the ease of familiarity and watched as his nobility began to file in. Jaden stood at parade rest behind Dersai s right shoulder, watching it all. The guards ringed around both him and the emperor, making Jaden feel somewhat hemmed in, but the men had indicated no surprise or displeasure at his presence, so he guessed he could trust them at his back. As he watched the nobles, Jaden soon discerned that they were nervous and uncomfortable, as though they knew what was going to happen. Strangely enough, though, when they looked at their emperor, they did not seem to fear him. Indeed several looked sympathetic; a few even looked away with what appeared to be tears in their eyes. Jaden could not understand this. This man was the most feared entity in the known world. Would his people not know this more than anyone? Perhaps the kindness he had seen in Dersai these last weeks was the true soul of the emperor. If so, where was the tyrant, the killer he had encountered in Astoria? These people seemed to know, and Jaden resolved to question others when he could. Silence fell then, which was impressive with so many people in attendance. All eyes were fixed on the emperor. His Imperial Majesty waved a hand, and a door to the side of the massive throne room swung open. Four men escorted by guards were brought through. Each of the men was chained and gagged, and they looked to be in rough shape, perhaps beaten. Jaden s mind balked. His heart began to tell him where this was leading, and he wanted to deny it. Surely not& The prisoners were brought before the throne and forced to kneel. The guards then forced their heads back by their hair so they could do little else but look up at the emperor. Three of the men seemed to be thirty or so years old; the other prisoner was quite young. Seventeen perhaps? It was hard to tell. The young one seemed much more terrified than the others, who stared up at their captor with stony defiance. 66 J. C. Owens For his part, the emperor watched with calm interest; his silence and hooded stare made him look far too much like the wolf his banner portrayed. When at last he spoke, his voice was quiet, though easy to hear in the stark silence of the hall. You have come into my country, killed two of my guards, and tried to attack my royal person. I think you are well aware of the penalty for this. One of the men tried to spit through his gag, his eyes raging. The emperor was still for long moments; then he leaned forward, and people began to shift backward as though they saw something rising within him. The prisoners froze, their expressions betraying their rising fear. Jaden knew then that whatever inhumanness he had seen in the emperor s eyes in the past was back. The emperor rose with lazy grace, drew his gloves off with slow precise movements, and dropped to them to the floor before he descended the stairs of the dais like the predator he was. You do not come into the lair of the wolf and expect to live. He let his hand stroke through the boy s blond hair, petting him in the same fashion as he often stroked Jaden s hair. Jaden shivered. The boy cringed away, terrified gaze locked on his captor. The emperor merely smiled and stepped away, moving through the men, stopping to capture each man s chin and force him to meet the emperor s dark gaze. Each man was defiant for a moment; then it seemed as though they saw for themselves what lay within the emperor. Then they went pale indeed. When the emperor turned Jaden s way, Jaden searched those eyes and shuddered. Now he could see what had terrified everyone else. Once again reviving [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |