Chapter 22 The Empty Vault

I shoved the big iron door with both hands. The metal was freezing and felt like ice against my palms. It let out a long, rusty scream that echoed down the dark hallway. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, but the sun did not come down here. The air was thick and smelled like wet dirt and old, dead things.

Lord Cydian walked in front of me with a small lamp. The orange flame jumped around and made long shadows on the walls. Valerius walked behind me in his dirty rags. I could hear his soft breathing and the thud of his bare feet on the stone. I did not look at him. My heart was beating too fast for that.

I needed to see the gold. My Rogue army was waiting in the sun above us. They were big, hungry men with sharp axes. They left their homes in the Dead Lands because I promised them a better life. A better life meant meat, warm boots, and gold coins in their pockets. If I did not pay them, the peace would end before the sun went down.

"Open the inner gate, Cydian," I said.

My voice was loud in the small space. Cydian pulled a heavy ring of keys from his belt. His hands shook so hard the metal made a loud rattling noise like dry teeth. He found a big silver key and put it into the lock. Click-clack. The sound was sharp and mean. He pulled the bars open and stepped to the side. He did not look at me. He looked at the floor.

I walked into the big room where the gold lived. I waited for the yellow shine to hit my eyes. I waited to see piles of coins and chests full of silver. I needed to buy grain for the winter. The snow would be here soon, and the farmers had no food to give.

I looked to the left. I looked to the right. All I saw were high shelves covered in gray dust. I saw empty wooden boxes sitting on the floor like dead bodies.

I ran to the first box and kicked the lid up. It flew back and hit the wall with a loud bang. It was empty. I moved to the next one and pushed it over with my boot. It was light as a feather. It hit the stone with a hollow sound. There was nothing inside but air and a few dead spiders.

"Where is it, Cydian?" I yelled.

I turned around to face the old man. The lamp in his hand was shaking. The light was jumping all over the room like a scared bird. I walked toward him and grabbed the front of his soft blue coat. I pulled him close until the heat from the lamp touched my nose.

"Where is the money for the soldiers?" I barked. "Where is the silver for the bread? I see nothing but dirt and empty wood!"

Cydian swallowed hard. His thin throat moved up and down. "The vaults are empty, My Queen," he whispered.

His voice was so small I could hardly hear it over the sound of my own blood rushing in my ears. I let go of his coat and felt a cold stone of fear drop into my stomach. This kingdom had been rich for a hundred years. How could the money room be empty?

"Gold does not just fly away," I said.

I turned my head to look at Valerius. He was standing in the shadows of the doorway. He looked like a ghost in the dim light. He did not look away from me. He stood with his arms down and his head tilted back.

"Tell me what you did, Valerius," I said.

I made my voice low and hard. I walked over to him until I could smell the wood smoke on his skin. I wanted him to see the anger in my eyes. I wanted him to feel how much I hated him in that moment.

"The treasury is dry, Elena," Valerius said.

His voice was flat and dead. It sounded like he was talking about the rain. I stared at him and my mouth fell open. I could not understand how one man could eat a whole kingdom’s gold in just five years.

"You spent it on what?" I asked.

I grabbed the front of his thin shirt and bunched the cloth in my fists. I shook him as hard as I could. "Did you buy gold chairs? Did you eat pearls for dinner while the children in the street ate grass? Tell me where the life of this kingdom went!"

Valerius did not pull away. He did not try to stop me. "I did not buy chairs," he said.

He spoke every word slowly. He wanted them to hurt.

"I spent every coin in this room to find a girl," Valerius whispered. "I spent it to find the girl who ran into the mist and never came back."

I felt my heart stop. I let go of his shirt like it was made of fire. I stepped back and hit my shoulder against a cold stone shelf.

"You spent it on me?" I whispered.

"I hired every killer in the world," Valerius said.

He took a step into the light of the lamp. I could see the deep lines on his face.

"I sent gold to the North and silver to the South," he said. "I paid men to turn over every rock and look under every bush. I told them I wanted your head. I told them I would pay them triple if they brought me your body. I spent five long years and every bit of gold we had to hunt a woman who would not die."

I looked at the empty boxes on the floor. I felt the weight of the iron crown on my head getting heavier and heavier. He was so obsessed with killing me that he bankrupted his own son. He had left Leo a house made of dust and debts. My poor boy was the King of nothing.

"The Rogues are expecting their pay today, Valerius," I said.

My voice was shaking from the fear of what was coming. "They are not noble men. They are hungry men. I told them this palace was full of riches. What am I supposed to say when they find out I am as poor as they are?"

Valerius did not have an answer. He just went back to looking at his bare feet. I turned to Lord Cydian, who was still shaking by the door.

"Is there anything left?" I asked. "Any gold in the other rooms? Any silver in the walls?"

"No, My Queen," Cydian said.

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "He sold the silver plates three years ago. He sold the jewels from the crown two years ago. We have been living on hope and air for a long time."

I walked out of the money room. I did not look back at the empty shelves. I climbed the stone stairs and came back into the main hall. The sun was shining in big yellow squares on the floor. It looked like gold, but it was just a lie.

I saw Silas standing by the big doors. He was talking to a group of Rogue captains. They were laughing and hitting each other on the back. Silas saw me and walked over with a big smile. He put his hands on his belt like he was waiting for a prize.

"Is the money ready, Elena?" Silas asked.

I looked at him and then I looked at the hundreds of men behind him. If I told them the truth, the palace would burn.

"The vault is being counted, Silas," I said.

I made my voice steady even though my chest felt tight. "But the men look soft. They look like they have forgotten how to fight."

I looked at Valerius as he came out of the dark stairs behind me. He looked small in the bright light.

"Take the King to the barracks," I told Silas. "Strip him of his shirt. Give him no armor. Tell the Rogues they get a turn to hit the man who branded their Queen. He is going to show them how to fight like a real pack today."

Silas’s smile turned into something dark and sharp. He grabbed Valerius by the neck and shoved him toward the doors.

"I think the men will like that more than gold," Silas said.

I watched them drag him away toward the yard where the wooden clubs were waiting. I knew I had no gold to give them, only a man they hated to hit.