Chapter 165: Me and Her

"You wanted to see me, my lord?" Amara walked into Lucius study.

Lucius stood by the large window with his hands clasped behind his back, his attention fixed on the scene beyond the glass.

The distant sounds of shouting and movement still carried through the palace. His men were preparing for war.

"You saw what is out there at the boundary, did you not, Amara."

"Yes, I did."

"Kieran has sent his spawns to wage war against us." He said. "It is a little soon. But it is not shocking that he would."

There was a faint edge of amusement in his voice as he turned, gesturing to a chair for her to sit.

Amara watched him carefully as she sat.

Lucius walked toward his desk but did not sit. Instead, he leaned against the edge of it, his arms folding across his chest.

"You promised me something when we first met." he continued. "You promised that you would deliver the Northern Territories into my hands but you never did tell me why."

"Not just the Northern Territories." Amara replied. "The whole world. The Alphas. Every subject who has ever knelt to them. Kieran’s little kingdom was only the first door in a long corridor."

Something akin to satisfaction flickered across Lucius’s face.

"Hmm, so you said."

He reached down and picked the letter knife off the desk, turned it once between his fingers.

"And is your promise still the same, Amara? Will you do that which you promised me?"

"My promise to you has not changed."

"Mm." He regarded her. "You see, I think it has. Ever since we found out about the girl. About Ayla, and what she is... you have shifted your loyalty to her."

Amara’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"To her?" she echoed.

"Yes, Amara. Do you think I do not see how close the two of you have become?"

Amara held his gaze.

"You wanted me to be by her side and you wanted me to teach her, to watch her." Amara’s voice remained calm. "How else do you expect that to happen?"

Lucius said nothing and Amara could feel his eyes studying her...searching. He was trying to determine whether she was lying or she had begun to betray him.

Whether Ayla had somehow managed to turn her against him.

Amara gave him nothing.

She had lived too long to be intimidated by him and she was sure he knew that too which is what scared him about her.

"I would need you when it is time to meet the princes head-on at the borders." Lucius said, ignoring her question.

"And when will that be?"

"Soon." His lips curved slightly. "Do not worry about it. I have called some men to our aid."

"Men." She said it slowly, drawing it out. "What men?"

"Don’t you worry about it. As for Ayla. She needs only know how to attack. That is all I want from her. I want her forged into a weapon for me and me only. Can you do that?"

There it was, Amara thought. The truth of what Lucius was and what she had been unable to see when she sided with him in the first place. He wanted her powerful enough to destroy his enemies and obedient enough to never turn that power against him.

"Of course," she said.

"Then I promise that my promise to you will remain the same."

Amara’s lips tilted slightly in acknowledgment.

She slowly rose from her chair and inclined her head in a bow before crossing the room to the door.

Lucius did not stop her.

Amara walked to her chambers, her mind churning with thoughts. Lucius suspected her, it was the only reason he would summon her this way and say such things as he said to her.

She had to speed up Ayla’s training before he eventually caught up with their plans.

When she had first met Lucius, she had believed fate had heard her at last. She could still remember that day and the first time she had looked into his eyes and seen Caelan. The reincarnation of the man who had loved the first Omega Dualis.

The man who had once stood beside Morgana when the entire world stood against her.

What other sign had she needed?

After everything she had lost and everything that had happened, the Moon Goddess had placed him in her path.

Or so she had thought.

She had believed Lucius was the answer and the key to the destruction and revenge she had prowled the earth seeking.

With him, she could tear down the Alpha hierarchy. She could make sure no Omega would ever be treated as Morgana had been treated again and she had been willing to help him, stand beside him and give him and his men power to defend their enemies.

But Lucius was not Caelan.

The more time Amara spent around him, the more obvious it became.

Lucius was ruthless and he cared nothing about her cause as he had led her to believe.

Lucius wanted the control she offered him against his enemies.

Finding Ayla had been her sign to discard him but she had continued her work with him thinking surely she was reading him wrong.

She wasn’t.

Amara reached her chambers and closed the door behind her then she walked toward the mirror.

Her reflection stared back at her. An old woman. At least, that was what the world would have seen if it knew the truth.

Too many centuries has passed and she had survived all of them but for what?

To watch Morgana’s reincarnation become another man’s weapon?

No.

She would not allow it.

She had already failed Morgana once and she would not do it again.

So she had made her own plans.

She had been making them since the night they arrived back to Emberfall after escaping the northern territory.

She would teach the girl and wake up her ancient powers

And then it would just be them.

Herself and Ayla... or in this case Morgana and her.