THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 13: ILLIYA

CHAPTER XIII
Illiya
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The Annex. Did they name this place that themselves? Or was it passed down knowledge—a Callaisian secret that had managed to fool an emperor in his own palace.

A long period of silence befell the room. It was only interrupted once Julian made his way down the stairs, slamming the cellar door behind him.

Dana winced at the loud bang. She was now sitting right beside General Altan at the table, her boots up and coat already slung over the chair.

"Wake the whole palace, will you?" Dana glared past me, aiming her annoyance at Julian.

"It's mid-afternoon." Julian walked by me. He took the seat beside his cousin, falling into it with a heavy sigh. "They're all awake anyways."

"It's sarcasm, smartass."

General Altan did not react to Julian and Dana's bickering. His gaze was still trained on me.

He motioned to the other seat beside him. "Please sit, Adalina."

Stop it, I wanted to tell him. Stop calling me that.

"She still thinks we want to kill her." Dana said when I hesitated to take the seat.

"I don't think that anymore." I was completely blank-faced despite the raging anxiety that boiled inside of me. From the corner of my eye, I could see he was still staring.

Julian laughed. It was the only sound in the room, belting out awkwardly amongst the other's silence. "Then why are you acting like a goat seeing the butcher's knife?"

"A degree of a respect is still necessary towards the princess, Julian." General Altan commanded abruptly. The laughter stopped.

It was then that I saw the General that hid behind a regal face.

Dana pursed her lips and looked to the floor, mirroring my own discomfort. Julian leaned back in his seat, staring ahead.

To my surprise, a smirk played on General Altan's lips as he looked at me. "I doubt you'd like to be compared to a goat, right Adalina?"

"How did you know?" I blurt out, unable to take him saying my name.

"Know what?"

"Are you trying to be coy?"

His stone eyes were less beautiful and more unsettling in that moment. They reminded me of carvings of the gods, staring down mercilessly at praying men.

General Altan gestured towards the seat beside him again. This time I took the invitation, whether it was out of fear or a strange compulsion—I didn't know.

I sat on the edge of the seat with my hands pressed tightly together on my lap. My fingernails bit into my skin; so hard that I suspected that I had drawn blood.

"Start from the beginning, Nicholas." Dana gave him an exhausted look. "You don't want to scare the poor girl again."

There was a long silence as General Altan seemed to decide what to tell me first. I looked between the three warriors, their expressions hiding everything and nothing at the same time. It reminded me of the times I was a child, looking between my parent's knowing glances.

A deep breath and then a question.

"You know what happened to the Illiyans?"

I had waited for an immediate revelation. Instead I was met with more history.

"Yes. Elysia conquered them all." I said as a memory came to surface. The day I had embarrassed myself in front of Calden. The flowers.