Page 148 of A Game of Veils

My throat constricts. Everything that happened tonight was indescribably fantastic and yet also not. How can it even be all right?

We had this fleeting moment of cherishing her, as Aurelia so accurately put it, and tomorrow we send her to her doom, whether her death or consigning her to Marclinus's whims for the rest of her life.

It is what it is. It's why she traveled to Dariu in the first place.

But she couldn't have anticipated just how awful her betrothed would prove himself to be. I grew up with the prick, and even I wouldn't have imagined Marclinus would treat the ladies vying for his favor quite so sadistically.

It’s clear Tarquin has raised his son to match him in cruelty.

I don't know if I can handle seeing Aurelia’s resilience and spirit ground down until she's nothing but a shell of the woman she's meant to be. Until the earnest compassion that comes so naturally to her wilts on the barren ground he'll offer.

I won't be around to see most of it, of course. I'll get to return to Cotea within a few years, to find a match among the local nobles and set myself up in a position to provide some small help to my family and our kingdom closer at hand.

It seems ridiculous that I once resented the princess for the time she had before she was sent here. As if those early years of freedom will do anything but make the bars of her new, impenetrable cage glare more sharply.

The hopeless ache that's spreading through my chest brings me back to the moments after Pavel exploded with fury, while Emperor Tarquin barked seething commands and the guards wrestled my foster brother into submission. While I stood by grasping out and finding only empty space, scrambling for something I could do or say that might save him.

Wondering what signs I missed, what mistakes I made that led to the catastrophe.

Am I going to simply watch while another person I care about is destroyed in front of me?

Aurelia shifts and starts to get up. Raul adjusts his position with her, keeping his arm around her waist as she sits next to him on the settee.

I automatically move to take a seat at her other side and slip my hand around her elbow. The smattering of purple scars stand out against the tanned skin of her forearm as a reminder that there’s so much more to this remarkable woman than just a beautiful body.

Lorenzo looks perfectly content to remain on the floor, tipping his head against her knee. When she runs her fingers over his hair, his eyelids dip. You'd think he's about to purr like a cat.

But when our gazes lock, the same worries running through my mind shadow his dark brown eyes.

Aurelia reaches to twine her hand with mine while leaning against Raul’s shoulder. There’s a melancholy note in her voice that I’m not used to. “I’m glad we were able to have this.”

Raul presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Don’t assume we can’t have it again.”

As if that cocky statement will give her much comfort. Does he think a thorough fucking every few weeks will keep her safe from everything Marclinus will make her endure?

It seems Aurelia’s concerns relate to events much closer at hand. Her gaze drops, and she lets out a hollow laugh. “If I’m even around for us to consider the possibilities. I saw Lady Fausta and Vicerine Bianca conspiring after dinner… Bianca brought her something secretly.”

I sit up straighter with a jolt of apprehension. “You think it had to do with the last trial?”

“I don’t know what it was, but I can’t imagine Fausta doesn’t have some kind of sabotage planned for tomorrow’s trial. She’s shown she’ll do anything to ruin my chances. And this will be her last opportunity. She won’t hold back.”

Every particle of my body tenses in denial. “She won’t get away with anything significant. Tarquin will have the trial set up so the court can watch—he always has so far.”

Entertaining his nobles while he castigates them for their presumption. No one could ever accuse the emperor of failing to multi-task.

It does mean that the worst Fausta’s attempted during a trial is caustic words Aurelia can shrug off.

The princess shrugs. “This time, she might not care if people see. She could gamble that Emperor Tarquin and Marclinus won’t disqualify her for publicly harming me at this stage—or she might think the chance at taking me out of the game is worth any risk. Or whatever she’s planning may be so stealthy she thinks she can accomplish it under their noses.”

An edge of a growl creeps into Raul’s voice. “She can’t keep anything from me. We’ll be in the audience—I’ll check her for anything threatening she’s hiding. We can intervene if we notice her about to go at you.”

Lorenzo nods emphatically.

My own conviction grips me harder. “We’ll make sure we notice. We’ll watch her every move.”

That vindictive shrew isn’t harming one more hair on our princess’s body.

Aurelia’s fingers tighten around mine. “Thank you.”

---