A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 26: The Weight of it All

"But I don't have the love or respect of the people. Nor do the royal bastards."

"Not yet, but that can be changed. If I can be turned into a candidate, so can they... and you."

He leans against a tree trunk in an aloof manner, smiling as he states. "I already told you that I won't be taking the throne."

I scoff at his brazen attitude. "So when you say it, I'm just supposed to accept it as fact?! But when I tell you that I won't take the throne, it leads to us arguing about the idea until we give up until next time?!"

"You can try to argue with me about the possibility of me taking the Romallian throne, but we both know you won't win. Aside from my royal blood, which can't be proven, there's nothing that recommends me to the position."

"We can train you to rule just as we plan to train one of the royal bastards. And you can lead the gladiator army."

He shakes his head. "You're really grasping here, Candra. You know that no matter what you do or who you promote, the people will still choose you. It's unfair, but it's the truth."

I place my hands on my hips and let out a desperate sigh as I look up to the sky. I refused to admit that he was right; I wasn't going to give up my chance for freedom without putting up more of a fight.

I refused to be Empress.

"We're not giving up on our search for the bastards." I declare with conviction. "Nice try, though..."

Rowan is silent for a moment, trying to decide if he should continue the argument until he gets a more favorable result. He begins to chuckle to himself and nods as he bows his head in agreement, choosing to let the matter go for now.

I look around the clearing to the spot where Loxley and Arlo had disappeared through earlier. Once Rowan and I had returned from watching the parade of people singing the lullaby, he sent Arlo and Loxley back to our campsite to gather the others so we could move on. I couldn't hear the distant sounds of a small army barrelling through the forest just yet, so Rowan and I still had a decent amount of time to talk.

"I had an interesting conversation with Sextus back at the training grounds."

Rowan slides down the tree trunk to get into a comfortable sitting position. "What did he say?"

I furrow my brows as I think it all over once more. "I don't think the Galacian people will be so easily swayed to returning to the Romallian Empire. There are a lot of loyalists; people like Sextus..."

"So you're saying killing Gaius won't be enough?"

"They're loyal to the Empire, not necessarily the Emperor... just like the Romallian people. It's going to be difficult to convince them to follow the Romallian ruler of our choosing."

"What are we going to do then?"

I walk over to the empty space beside Rowan and take a seat. "I don't know yet. It's just something I wanted to bring to your attention..."

He nods. "We'll figure it out."

"It's just another thing to add to our ever growing list." I offer him a sympathetic smile.

He returns the gesture. "Someone has to bear the burden. I'm just glad that we're no longer doing it alone."

As annoying as it was to constantly argue with Rowan about our plan and the future of the Empires, I had to admit that it was nice having someone else around to take some of the responsibility off my shoulders. Before I met him I felt like all decisions were left to me, even when someone else ended up taking credit. When things went wrong, I shouldered the blame. Everyone seemed to look to me for answers, following my command as if it were law. It was draining and overwhelming for one person alone. Rowan must have felt the same way when he set his plan in motion, giving Arlo and Loxley direction and watching as his choices either succeeded or failed. Now that we were partners making decisions together, I felt more confident in the outcome no matter the consequences.