Mark of the Empress | The Empire Saga #2

Chapter Three

Alex was pacing as Treyan entered the bedroom, carefully shutting the door behind him. Even then, she paid more attention to Sara as she bounced the baby on her shoulder.

"Will you stop at least for a minute so that we can talk?" he asked her as he sat down on the edge of the bed, removing the elastic band that held his hair back and retying it into a ponytail. It was a nervous habit of his, but everything about having Bria in their home was nerve-wracking.

"I'll talk if it involves getting her out of our apartment," she consented as she sat on the opposite side of the bed.

Treyan adjusted himself to face her. "I'm trying here, Alex. I really am. Do you think this is easy for me? Any of this? Do you have you any idea how badly I want to throttle her while she's sitting across the table from me?"

Alex glanced at him. "What's stopping you?"

His eyes bore into hers. "We need to hear her out. She got here somehow, and we need the knowledge as to how and why. She needs our help, and we need hers. It's called diplomacy."

"It's called being foolish," Alex muttered as she nuzzled baby Sara in her arms.

"Well, I suppose there's time to figure that out."

Treyan laid across the length of the bed, bringing his face to the height of Alex's lap. Running a gentle hand across Sarayna's cheek, the cooing infant gave her father a gummy smile. "She's beautiful, don't you think? Very much like her mother." He smiled at Alex, silently begging her to give him just a bit of reassurance.

Alex still refused to look at him but did smile slightly in return. " I'm sure her brother is just as dashing as his father."

Treyan heard her words waver and looking up saw the tears that began to well in her eyes. Quickly, he sat up and brought her into his arms, leaning her head on his shoulder as the sobs wracked her body. "Hush, nirr ruya, it will be all right," he whispered into her hair as her body shook.

As if Sarayna could sense her mother's distress, she, too, began to whimper while still within Alex's arms. Treyan stood from the bed and took the baby from his wife before she could protest, and he was soon gently rocking her back and forth as he began to pace around the room.

He didn't realize he had started singing until Alex brought it to his attention.

"How do you know that song?" she asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I should ask you the same," he whispered as he laid the now sleeping baby back in her bassinet. "You sang it to me while I was on my deathbed not so long ago yourself."

Alex shook her head. "Not those lyrics though—I don't know those words."

"No, but you hummed the melody, which is all the same. Where did you learn it?"

"I'm not really sure. Maybe my mother sang it to me when I was a baby?"

"As my mother did to me. At first I thought I was imagining it while in my feverish state, but it seems I was not. It was a comfort, hearing it again." He shrugged it off, "but now is not the time for nostalgia."

He returned to the bed, sitting next to Alex and taking her hands in his. "We need to find out all we can from Bria. It pains me to admit it, but she is most likely our best hope in getting back to the Empire."

"Is there really no other option?"

"There most likely is, but in the meantime, I'm going to hear her out."

Alex began to object, but Treyan shook his head.

"You don't need to come back out with me—in fact, I prefer it if you don't. You're intimidating her—"

"Good."

"I need her to have a certain level of comfort if she's going to tell me anything.

"So, good cop, bad cop?"

Treyan cocked his head to the side, confused.

"Never mind," she said dismissively. "And once she tells you what you may or may not want to know?"

"We won't allow her out of our sight."

"Then what about tonight?"

"Tonight, you will sleep in here with Sara, and keep her in the bed with you. Bria will remain in the living room. I will keep watch."

"All night?"

Treyan nodded. "You may think me a fool, but I'm not foolish. I don't trust her, but so long as you and Sara are here in this house with her, I will make sure I am guarding you both every minute."

He meant it. Every word. Too much had happened when he depended on others to care for his family. He was not going to make that mistake again.

Reluctantly, Alex agreed.

"Good." Giving her hands a final squeeze, he leaned over and kissed her softly. "Now it's time to break the news to our guest."

Bria sat exactly where Treyan left her, the untouched mug of coffee now frigid between her hands. Sighing, he took the seat across from her, but this time he was done playing diplomatic games. A glimmer of hope twinkled within her irises as he sat down. Treyan didn't know what she was expecting from them, but Alex not returning with him seemed to make her more at ease. He had a feeling that he could kill two birds with one stone, as Alex would say.

"Bria," he began. "Before the Empress and I agree to helping you in any manner, there are a few bits of information we will need from you."

"What will you have of me, my Prince?"

Glaring slightly, he cleared his throat. "First, you are not to call me 'your Prince' for I know I have not been considered as such for quite some time."

Her cheeks reddened, and she dropped her gaze, nodding slowly.

"Second, you and I are going to discuss how you got here, and while we're at it, I assume you'll eventually tell me what has happened to my brother."

Her eyes widened. "You'll help Lord Reylor?"

"I didn't say that, and he is not a Lord either. I just want to know what trouble he's in now that could possibly be worth the travel between realms on the off-chance that the Empress and I would even consider coming back with you to assist him."

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing now?"

"We're not doing anything to help you or him, and nothing is happening at all until we figure out exactly why you're here—and if returning is even a viable possibility."

The former mistress sat straighter in her seat and appeared to lean closer as if to better grasp his attention. "My Prince–I mean–Treyan, I assure you, anything I can do to be of service, you have my word—"

"We both know how little your word means, Bria," he cut her off, and they sat in silence for a moment longer, each submerged in their own plotting.

Finally, Bria broke the silence, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What do you expect to do, once you find what you're looking for?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Treyan ran his fingers over the bridge of his nose. "For starters, what I wouldn't give for a copy of The Complete Manual of Key Construction right about now."

"Oh, do not despair," she assured him lightly as she reached into the satchel by her feet. "I've brought it with me."

Before them lay the one book Treyan neverthought he'd be so happy to see in all his life.