Veiled Empire Read Online Free PDF

had caught himself about to reveal some dire secret. But no—he was staring at something ahead of him. Voren stepped to the side in order to see what held his attention.
    Emperor Rekaj stood in the doorway.
    “Draevenus,” the emperor said, his voice like stones raked across a woven basket. “I thought I made it clear that you were no longer welcome here.”
    “I’m leaving right now, Rekaj,” Draevenus replied.
    Voren, in silence, examined the two mierothi males as they regarded each other. Rekaj stood a hand taller than the younger Draevenus, though still twice that short of Voren’s height, and possessed a face with none of the younger mierothi’s smoothness. Draevenus quivered, ever so slightly, like a pressed coil waiting to release. A hunter crouched for the killing leap. Rekaj, too, seemed to notice this stance. With one hand stroking the long dagger at his belt, the emperor laughed.
    “Best get to it then, boy.” Rekaj stepped aside, waving towards the open door behind him.
    Draevenus sighed. “Until next time, Voren.” With that, he strode from the room, slamming it shut behind him.
    Leaving Voren alone with the emperor.
    “Most honored one.” Voren bowed at the waist until his torso was parallel with the ground, hoping the brush of mockery in his tone went unnoticed.
    “Why was Draevenus here?” asked Rekaj. “What business did he have with you?”
    Voren frowned. “He . . . merely wished to say good-bye.”
    “Good-bye?”
    “Yes.”
    The emperor furrowed his brow at this but waved a dismissive hand. “No matter.”
    A knuckle rapped on the door, and one of Voren’s daeloth minders poked his head in. “Emperor,” he said, “I have word from—”
    “Stuff your message!” Rekaj said. “And you tell the council that they await my pleasure, not the other way around!”
    Eyes wide, the daeloth jerked a nod and departed.
    Gods, please, do not lose your temper. Voren shuddered, remembering the last time he had witnessed the emperor’s wrath unleashed. Thankfully, it had not been aimed at him. This time, however . . .
    Best be exemplary in manner. Just in case.
    “Emperor, I am, as ever, your humble servant,” Voren said, careful to refrain from even a whisper of insubordination, glad his subtle insolence from before had been missed. “What was it you wished to see me about?”
    Rekaj breathed deeply, seeming to calm somewhat, Voren hoped. “Yes. There is one small matter I wish to discuss with you.” He brushed smooth his black-and-red-silk attire—the vestments of his station. “There was . . . that is to say, did you feel anything unusual today?”
    Voren fought the urge to shudder. He’d never seen the emperor so perturbed and did not know what to expect. “Unusual? How so?”
    “As in . . . sorcerous disturbance.”
    Voren thought to the recent event between the wisps. Could that be what he was referring to? It did not seem likely.
    “No,” replied Voren after a few moments. “I felt nothing today that could qualify as ‘disturbance,’ sorcerous or otherwise. What is this all about?”
    The emperor ignored the question, clasping his hands behind his back, and began strolling aimlessly, eyes glazed over. Voren knew better than to disturb him during one of these fugues, for he was well familiar with what was happening behind Rekaj’s blank expression.
    Reality had to be placed on hiatus, after all, if one wished to access ancient memories.
    Something happened, something new. Yet, it is connected to something so very old? None of the possibilities reassured him. Voren did not need to access his own memories to know there was little from his past he would wish to see returned.
    The emperor swiveled back to Voren, features firmly back in the present. “Tell me one thing, then. Have you entered communion lately?”
    “Communion? No, of course not.” He chuckled, half from nerves, half from disbelief. “I would have no one to talk to, naturally. Unless, of course,