He treated his Familiar like a servant, too. He needed to be punished for it.
I pushed open the door to Cameron’s suite, wheeling myself inside. The interior was entirely dark, nothing but the light of the moon glowing through the sheer curtains to guide my path. I moved slowly, approaching the Emperor’s bedroom.
From the interior of my dress, I pulled a fiercely sharp dagger. It glinted in the moonlight, craving violence.
Cameron was fully asleep, snoring loudly. He’d never see me coming. I rolled up to the bed and lifted myself onto it, softly depositing my weight beside his.
Cameron groaned, rolling over and reaching out his arms. “Drea. I knew you’d come back?—”
I pounced on Cameron, laying over his body as I used one hand to grasp his throat, the other placing the dagger against his neck. I pushed my weight down upon my arm, choking him.
Cameron startled, floundering in the night. He seized up when he realized the person who was attacking him was me. I felt his heartbeat quicken as his eyes widened in surprise.
“Go ahead and call your guards. Killing the mother of the Elvish race is a catastrophe the monarchy will never get over, even with what I am now.” I held the dagger to his artery, threatening to press down.
Cameron spoke, though his voice was strained with the pressure I was putting on his windpipe. “They told me you were insane. You truly have to be mad, to attack the Emperor in his own bed.”
“I’m the one person in this palace who isn’t afraid of you.” I pressed the tip of the dagger against his throat until it drew blood. It trickled down his neck, staining his silk nightshirt.
“What is the meaning of this? I could make you wish you were never born, girl,” Cameron hissed.
“You can’t take anything from me. I’ve lost my marriage, my Familiar, my magic, and everything that matters. I have nothing left to lose.”
“You have your family and friends. There’s plenty of those to go through,” Cameron rasped.
A belligerent fury erupted within me when he dared to threaten the people I loved. He still didn’t understand who was in charge around here. I dug the tip of the knife in, twisting it so it stung. Cameron gasped with pain. “Go ahead and make a move against my family. Want to see who dies first?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Why are you here?”
“To give you a final warning. You will not strike Charlie again.”
“He is my son. I can do whatever I like,” Cameron snarled.
“You have no claim to him. He is mine, and mine to do with as I please.” Cameron cried out, though I choked my fingers around his neck. “You mutilated something that belongs to me. Tell me why I shouldn’t repay your actions blood for blood, and cut off your cock right now.”
“You want to divorce him,” Cameron hissed. “Why would you?—?”
“Until I do, no one will touch him. I don’t need to forgive him to claim him, and he’s still my property unless I say otherwise. My name’s still on that marriage contract. Unless I set it ablaze, you’ll stay away from my husband, and let me decide what to do with him.”
“You cannot dictate anything to me. I am the Emperor!” he snarled.
“I am the future of the Elven Union, not you. You are nothing unless I say otherwise, and if I decree it, that shall be your name.”
“Why not just kill me now?” His eyes glinted, like he worried I would.
“I’m keeping you alive to prevent another uprising, because another coup can’t happen again. It’ll split your people and break the empire. Unfortunately, you are a necessary symbol of unity that must remain alive, but other than that, you have no purpose.”
“You have no idea of the resolve it takes to run a kingdom,” Cameron gasped against my knife.
“I don’t have my magic anymore, but I’m still deadlier than you could ever imagine. The next time you hurt Charlie, I will take your life as slowly as I can, and I’ll pleasure myself to the sound of your tortured screams.”
I pushed Cameron out of the bed, and he tumbled off the mattress and onto the tile. He clutched at his bleeding neck as he stared up at me, and I uttered, “No real ruler has to wave his cock around, pretending he is the Emperor. Everyone knows who a true leader is the moment they enter the room, because strength is what they embody and who they are.”
I lifted my chin. “Now lie on the floor like the coward you are until sunrise, Nothing. Then get up, put your clothes on, have your breakfast, and pretend this never happened. When you go to bed, you’ll see my face in your darkest nightmares. If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you ever do. I have eyes in the palace everywhere. And they’re all watching you.”
I got back in my chair and left. Cameron remained on the floor, sniveling and whimpering.
And I left him there. Just like the weak, sorry, pathetic nothing he was.
