The Immortal Queen Tsubame: Ascension by H.D. Strozier Read Free Book Online

what the council planned to do and is still planning to do. So don’t try to use me as your excuse for why you’re conflicted,” Marcel said, his voice not necessarily harsh, but definitely an octave or two lower than usual.
    “That may be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that whether you meant to or not, for whatever reason, you lied.”
    “I didn’t lie.”
    “Misled then.”
    MaLeila and Marcel stared at each other for a few beats, neither willing to back down. Finally Marcel looked away and said, “You’re right. I’ll give you that. No matter what the reason, I did mislead you even though I wasn’t trying. I was trying to be as honest as I could though.”
    “That’s the point.”
    MaLeila could reconcile that Marcel was another version of Devdan from another world. She could even reconcile that he misled the council to help Tsubame’s plan fall into place. But what really bothered her was that she didn’t know him as much as she thought she had, only a faucet of him.
    “Fine then,” Marcel said as he stood from his seat and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “Come with me.”
    “Come with you where?”
    “On a date.”
    MaLeila raised her eyebrows and said, “I just told you that I essentially don’t know if I can trust you and you ask me out on a date?”
    “So you can get to know the real me without me having to hide my past, who I am, what I am. You’ll get all of me, without the secrets and then you can decide whether you still want me or not,” Marcel explained.
    MaLeila pressed her lips together before she opened her mouth and told Marcel that there wasn’t a question as to whether or not she still wanted him. She already decided she did. But the question remained was it because of her lingering feelings for Devdan or did she want Marcel because he was his own person? And if he was his own person, could she separate that in her mind and see it. And that was on top of the fact that the circumstances of their relationship was based on secrets if not lies.
    “Where would we even go?”
    Marcel shrugged. “I’m sure there’s something around here to do?”
    “And Tsubame would be fine with you disappearing and whisking me away with you?”
    Marcel huffed. “She’s my queen, not my slave master.”
    In the end they settled for a walk through the dilapidated city. They walked in comfortable silence as they passed half ruined buildings one block and then perfectly sound and safe structures with vendors outside them the next.
    “You okay?” Marcel asked.
    “Yeah. Just reminds me of home as weird as that sounds.”
    “It’s not. Whether you call it the slums or the hood or the ghetto or low income, it looks the same wherever you go, albeit with some worse than others, but still the same. A bunch of poor people who can’t overcome the obstacles their oppressors put in their way,” Marcel said. “I think Tsubame feels the same way. While they’re ostracizing her on television, she’s been out here every day getting water to families, helping people grow food, rebuilding their homes. It’s part of her plan of course, to make people think she’s some power thirsty woman scorned who killed her future husband and she may be doing it partly for the fun and challenge of it all, but Tsubame genuinely feels a kinship to these people.”
    “So you’re telling me that Tsubame, despite her ruthlessness, is a benevolent queen?”
    “Wouldn’t you be ruthless to defend the people under your charge or to right injustices done to those who are innocent? Especially when it’s the ruthlessness of those who take pleasure in oppressing others that get them their power in the first place. Nothing less can be used to take them down,” Marcel replied.
    “That’s one hell of a philosophy.”
    “It’s the one that works. Trust me. I lived through revolutions and wars and the people who are respected the most are those who would never actively aggress someone, but would