Page 71 of The Duke and the Disciple

“No, don’t get up.” She kissed Aleksy once more and released him for more fun with the striped cat. “I’ll come to you.”

“I’m barely pregnant, Aesylt, I don’t need?—”

“And it isn’t what I meant.” Aesylt held up her hands as she slid onto the chair across from Imryll. The table was positioned in front of a curved window full of colored glass, which bathed the snow outside in prismatic hues. “Anything from Draz since yesterday?”

Imryll’s hands slid away from the stack of papers she was holding. Her eyes flicked toward Aleksy with a sigh. “This morning, yes.”

Aesylt waited.

“Nothing new.” She folded her hands and bowed her head. Her red waves fell over her shoulders. “Except I’m told it is no longer safe for me to send dispatches to the Reliquary, as protecting our location is top priority.”

“What?” Aesylt leaned in. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Imryll turned toward the kaleidoscopic window. “The Reliquary has been waiting for this. For us to miss a deadline, submit errors in our work. And I sit here, pondering how they’ve played us, how they must belaughingat us, and wonder if my dream was the wrong one all along.”

“Imryll.” Aesylt slid both hands across the table and grabbed hers. “Look at me.”

Imryll’s chin dimpled. She turned to face Aesylt.

“Power knows no dreams.” She shook her head. “Whatever the Reliquary is becoming, it is not what it was conceived to be. But if those of us who know this don’t keep fighting, keep trying, thatisthe path it will take. What we are doing here matters. Itmatters. Ipromiseyou it does. Your dream is the one this realm needs, and we cannot give up.”

Imryll smiled tightly and withdrew one of her hands to wipe her eyes. “The last time the north crossed the Rhiagains, they paid dearly. There’s only so far I’m willing to go to protect this dream, Aes. And it starts and ends with the safety of our people.”

Aesylt lowered her gaze. “We’ll solve it. I promise.”

“I didn’t expect to miss my council, but I do. Anton and Jasika are both so different, and I value that.”

“I may not be on your council, but I wouldn’t encourage you to continue if I didn’t believe it was the right thing to do.” Aesylt pulled her hands back and into her lap. If she was going down a treacherous path, she had to be quick about it. “I was there when the Rhiagains retaliated, and I know one thing, Imryll. And it’s an important one. Conceding to bullies, to tyrants, only empowers them. More than anything, I want to pretend that never happened, to keep our people safe in a bubble of warmth and love. But the Rhiagains must answer for what they did, and if we cannot best them in war, there are other ways. Better ways. And we’re doing them.”

The study doors opened, and Pieter walked in. “Ah. Forgive my interruption.”

“Not at all.” Imryll sniffled and stood with a politic nod. “Please, come in, my lord.”

“My father is a lord. I am most decidedly not.” Pieter’s smile spread across his face. “I came to inform you both of a weather shift coming, and soon. The winds have turned off the range, and a blizzard is expected before nightfall. Our elemental diviners predict it will be over before we know it, but we should all be safe inside when it happens.” He nodded at Aesylt. “So I came to escort you to the tower.”

Aesylt understood the weather in a way most did not—the science of it, what caused the snow levels to drop, the pressure to change, and the temperature differentials required in the creation of storms. It was all knowledge the Reliquary would hold onto and parcel at their leisure, if allowed. Knowledge everyone in the realm had a right to. “Very well. Thank you, Pieter.”

He nodded and waited for Aesylt to offer her good-byes.

She leaned in close as she embraced Imryll, whispering, “Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. The scholar and I are conspiring our own ways to make this work. Trust in us, as we trust in you.” She kissed her cheek and backed away.

Imryll’s look was unreadable as she nodded, her eyes shifting into a slight squint.

Aesylt squeezed Aleksy and followed Pieter.

“And how are you finding the tower for your research?” he asked, gesturing for her to go ahead when they turned down the hall.

“It will be perfect once the skies open up for us,” she said carefully, thinking of the lord’s words, of Imryll’s. Aesylt’s nerves frayed in anticipation of the troubles closing in on all sides.

Guards opened the rear doors for them, and they stepped out into the wintry afternoon. The wind had already picked up, and snow swirled around them. “And I trust you and the scholar are getting on?”

“We always have.”

“Quite well, it seems.”

Aesylt’s boot caught on a flagstone. “Pardon?”

“Have you looked through the books I left?”

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