Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence, blood, psychological abuse, and themes of trauma. Reader discretion is advised.
Nimue and Jaziel stared each other down for several long moments, each silently measuring the other. A storm still lingered in Jaziel’s lavender eyes, though his expression remained composed, while Nimue regarded him with open distaste.
Jaziel let out a slow sigh as the tension in his gaze seemed to settle. Leaning casually against the door, he crossed one boot over the other, posture loose and relaxed. Nimue shifted beneath his attention, her arms folding tightly across her chest as she took a slow step backward, putting what little distance she could between them.
Jaziel smiled at the gesture.
“Well?” she snapped, impatience slipping into her tone. “Can we get this over with? I have things to do.”
She glared at the young man. The scariest thing about Nimue was that she had never once treated him with the respect he was owed.
Jaziel scratched lightly at his neck before tilting his head, weighing his next words carefully.
“So you were the previous emperor’s mistress?”
His tone remained level, almost conversational, a small curious smile crossing his lips. but Nimue had watched this boy grow up.
His smiles were always lies.
She clicked her tongue, annoyance crossing her aging features.
“Is that all this is about?” she scoffed. “What do you want… an apology for something I never wanted?”
Something in her voice sharpened then, venomous, yet beneath it her eyes churned with something darker, as though the memory itself unsettled her more than the man standing before her.
Jaziel noticed. He knew exactly what kind of man his father had been. Better than anyone. He was certain there were countless women scattered throughout the kingdom carrying stories far uglier than the one before him.
That wasn't the true issue.
“I couldn’t care less,” he said quietly. “I was simply curious.”
Pushing himself away from the door, he crossed the room until only a foot separated them. His expression had gone blank. Nimue lifted her chin slightly to meet his in defiance.
“Why manipulate my sister?” The coldness in his voice surprised even her.
Understanding flickered briefly across Nimue’s face.
This was not about the emperor.
Not about history.
Not even about the fact she had once carried the king’s bastard.
No.
This was about his darling goddess.
Jamila.
Of course it was. Jaziel never moved this forcefully unless it involved his sister. But just as it drove him, it could be used against him.
“Manipulate?” she echoed, tilting her head with false confusion.
A faint smile touched Jaziel’s lips at the act.
“Oh… you mean Jamila’s ascension.” Her eyes widened slightly as though understanding had only just dawned on her. He couldn’t help but smile at the performance. She really was such a little actress.
Then her expression turned to ice.
“I hate to disappoint you… but that was entirely your sister’s doing.”
Her eyes sharpened.
Cold.
Unwavering.
Jaziel sighed softly and shook his head in disappointment.
“You really insist on making this difficult.”
Then his hand was around her throat.
Nimue’s breath caught instantly. Her eyes widened as pressure crushed against her windpipe and she clawed at his wrist, nails scraping uselessly against black leather gloves.
“I have no mercy for liars,” Jaziel said. His face remained emotionless, though the corner of his eye twitched faintly with irritation.
His grip tightened.
Her lungs burned. Her vision blurred as the edges of the room slowly darkened.
“Now…” he continued calmly, watching her struggle without emotion, “shall we try this one more time?”
Her movements weakened.
Her hands slowly fell from his wrist.
A desperate nod was all she managed before darkness threatened to swallow her whole.
Jaziel smiled.
“Good girl.”
He leaned forward and pressed a brief, almost affectionate kiss against her temple before releasing her.
Nimue collapsed to the floor, coughing violently as air rushed painfully back into her lungs. A bruise had already begun to bloom across her throat.
Her body trembled.
Her breathing came in ragged gasps as she forced herself upright. She noted that using Jamila would be a bad call, She needed to revise her approach.
Jaziel crouched in front of her, watching quietly.
The shine in his lavender eyes had dulled slightly, as though the entire interaction was beginning to bore him.
Nimue glared upward, wiping drool from her mouth.
Her legs were too weak to stand fully, so she remained kneeling before him.
“Yes,” she rasped. “I did everything I could to place Jamila on that throne.”
“Why her?” Jaziel asked, tilting his head slightly. “If power was your goal… I would have been the more logical choice.”
Nimue pushed herself slowly to her feet as strength began returning to her limbs, though her chest still rose too quickly.
Her eyes darted briefly around the room.
No windows. No escape.
The only door stood directly behind him. There was no chance she could rush past a trained soldier, and if she tried, she was certain she would die.
If she was not already on her way to the stars.
She had made a mistake.
Still, she refused to give this predator the satisfaction of seeing her fear.
For the briefest moment, Jaziel’s face blurred. The young man standing before her vanished, replaced instead by the previous emperor. She clenched her fists until her nails bit into her palms, forcing the image away.
“I chose her because she was Just and wise,” Nimue said.
But Jaziel remained silent.
Waiting.
Looking down at her as though he already knew there was more.
Her jaw tightened.
This brat was far more perceptive than she had once believed.
“And because she trusted me,” she admitted at last. The truth settled heavily in her chest. Still Jaziel said nothing.
“I would never allow another monster to sit on that throne,” she continued, her voice sharpening as her gaze locked onto him. “Not after your father.”
Jaziel’s jaw twitched.
The first crack in his composure in a while.
Good.
If she stalled long enough, Shani’s monstrous ears would hear them.
He would never risk destroying the carefully crafted image of the sweet, devoted uncle.
“I am nothing like my father,” Jaziel said. His tone remained calm, but beneath it she caught the faintest tremor of frustration.
A small smile touched Nimue’s lips.
“You’re right,” she said softly.
“Your father was at least honest about the kind of monster he was.”
Jaziel did not so much as flinch, so she continued.
“Unlike you…” Her lip curled in disgust as she looked him over. “A serpent pretending to be a lamb.”
Her eyes hardened.
“This kingdom has no need for someone like you.”
Jaziel’s expression remained perfectly still.
But something inside him shifted.
Only a little longer.
The empress and Shani would return soon.
But then she saw it.
Not rage.
Not hatred.
Hurt.
For a brief moment, he looked like the frightened boy he had been years ago, the child she tormented simply because he resembled the emperor.
And against her better judgment, her lips loosened.
“If I had my way,” Nimue hissed, “I would have had Jamila slit your throat while you slept.”
The moment the words left her mouth, her eyes widened.
Shock crashed through her.
She had never intended to say those words aloud to anyone. Especially not to him.
Jaziel’s eyes darkened.
Something inside him snapped.
For one terrible moment, the world went red.
When awareness returned, his ears rang and the metallic scent of blood filled the small room.
Nimue was on her knees.
Blood spilled between her fingers as she clutched at her throat. Wet, choking sounds escaped her lips as she opened and closed her mouth soundlessly, her face far paler than he remembered.
Jaziel lowered his gaze.
A dagger rested in his hand.
His dagger. The one he always carried at his thigh.
But it looked different now.
Its curved silver blade dripped crimson onto the dark floor.
He stared at it for a moment, almost confused.
Then his eyes returned to Nimue.
Fear.
For the first time in his life, he saw fear in the older woman’s eyes.
The strong, terrifying Nimue was afraid.
Afraid of him.
And suddenly, he laughed.
Soft.
Almost delighted.
“This,” he said quietly, looking down at her, “is where people like you belong.”
His smile returned as he watched the blood slowly stain the front of her uniform.
His eyes narrowed as he took in the sight.
Gentle.
Almost admiring.
“You know…” he murmured, “red really suits you, Nimue.”
Her hands slackened.
Her eyes rolled back, and a second later her body tilted before collapsing onto the floor with a heavy thud.
Blood spread quickly across the dark stone.
Silence followed.
Jaziel exhaled slowly.
The monster is dead, he thought, as a terrible weight finally lifted from his shoulders.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Distant, but approaching quickly.
His gaze snapped toward the door.
He moved instantly, slipping beside it so that when it opened, he would be almost completely hidden, the dagger still clutched in his hand.
Ready for anything.
After all… what was one more body?
The door creaked open slowly.
Carefully.
Then the footsteps stalled.
“Nimue…?” a voice whispered, trembling.
The voice was small.
Familiar.
Jaziel froze.
Shani stepped into the room.
Her movements were slow and unfocused, as though some invisible force was pulling her deeper into the darkened chamber. She winced at the coppery scent hanging in the air, but continued forward until she was fully inside and no longer safely within the doorway.
For one brief moment, Jaziel hesitated.
He stared at the small trembling girl, her dull eyes fixed on Nimue.
Then he inhaled slowly.
The dagger slipped soundlessly from his hand in one motion.
The door closed in another.
The soft click of it shutting made Shani flinch.
Before she could turn, Jaziel moved.
One hand covered her mouth and nose as he pulled her backward against his chest.
She struggled violently against him. Far more strength than should have belonged to a seven-year-old.
But in the end, she was still only a child.
She fought for a moment longer, her strength slowly fading… then her small body went limp.
Jaziel held her there a moment longer before carefully lowering her to the floor.
His fingers pressed lightly against her neck.
A pulse.
Steady.
Relief slipped quietly through him.
“Sorry you had to see this, princess…” he said gently.
He reached toward her head, only to freeze at the sight of his bloodied glove.
Then his eyes lifted once more toward the room.
Toward the body.
Toward the blood.
A faint smile returned.
Rolling up his sleeves, Jaziel stretched his neck before turning his attention back to the scene before him.
“Well…” he murmured softly.
“No use leaving a mess.”