Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman

because he has been hiding in the Pellan palace. That witch-queen, Olympias, was protecting him, perhaps in return for magical assistance in some way.”
    Was? Why the past tense for Queen Olympias? Jacob wonders. Wouldn’t the queen still be protecting this Riel in the Pellan palace?
    â€œWho knows what powers Riel granted her in return for his safety?” Bastian continues.
    Jacob hears the crunch of gravel underfoot as one of them starts walking. “It would explain what happened to the Hemlock Torch,” Gideon says, as the crunch stops. “What kind of magic could have an effect like that on Socrates’ torch? Perhaps only the magic of one of the primal gods.”
    They are now very near the column Jacob is hiding behind. If he darts toward the door, they will surely see him. He holds his breath and keeps his arms tightly at his sides.
    â€œBut why do you believe Riel is in the Pellan palace?” Gideon asks. “And hidden by the queen? Where have you been? You asked for time to complete a secret mission and bring us back information. Now that I know the information, tell me, what was the mission? Where did you go?”
    Jacob hears a boot kicking gravel. “I regret, High Lord, that I cannot say at the moment. But I swear I will find the last god, in whatever form he takes, and bring him to the Lords.”
    â€œIf you do, you will be the best of the Aesarians,” comes the resonant voice. “Rest assured, your name will be inscribed at Nekrana. Never before have we...” Gideon’s voice fades as the two men leave the courtyard. Jacob peers around the column at their retreating forms and sees no way of following them without being seen.
    Questions churn in his mind like a river in spring flood. What does it mean, the last god? The gods are asleep—they have not come in contact with men for hundreds of years now. Is Bastian trying to waken them? Why was he on a secret mission? But another thought grows larger and larger until it pushes all others from his mind: the best of the Aesarians. High Lord Gideon said find Riel and become the best.
    Now Jacob knows what to do. Now he has a new star guiding him toward his new goal, the goal meant to replace the green-eyed girl in his heart.
    Jacob will beat Bastian to the last god. Jacob will bring this Riel to the Elder Council. Jacobwill be the best of the Aesarians.

Chapter Seven
    ABOVE THE CRUMBLING stone courtyard of the ancient fortress, the sky spins wildly as the men turn the wheel to which Cynane, princess of Macedon, half sister to Alexander, is chained. The spinning alone makes her nauseated, but she knows that what’s coming next will be worse.
    The iron bars crash down on her arms and legs and ribs, smashing her bones. Her shrieks are so piercingly terrifying that the pounding stops for a moment as the men take a step back from the wheel and wait.
    Sweat rolls off her face. Tears stream down her cheeks. She is no longer human. She is pain.
    Then the smashing starts again.
    By the time the wheel stops spinning, she feels the agony slip away like water running out of a drain, along with the dizziness as the bones and skin and muscle mend in a gentle warmth. When she feels thick, muscular hands examining her arms and legs and chest, she is too exhausted to open her eyes.
    â€œAnd so, once again, within moments, all injuries are healed,” says a deep voice that is unthinkably beautiful to hear even in this horror. “Can you imagine, Ambiorix, if we had soldiers like this? We would be invincible on the battlefield. Within a few years, we would rule the world.”
    â€œThrough magic , High Lord?”
    â€œIt is no dishonor when warriors use the enemy’s weapons to conquer them.”
    She feels huge hands on her cheeks and opens her eyes. Above her looms the face as dark as night. The large eyes—glittering like faceted obsidian—study her as if she is an interesting object he found on the