Page 121 of A Pact of Blood

I clasp my hands on my lap. “Husband, I’ve been thinking about another matter. Considering recent incidents, including what we saw here at the waystation…”

Marclinus cocks his head. “What about it? Spit out whatever’s on your mind, wife.”

I draw my posture a little straighter. “I don’t think the efforts I’ve been making so far have been enough. No one in Dariu should be able to doubt that you’ve chosen the right partner to serve you. I need to make a larger, more overt demonstration of my loyalties, something that will prove to our people just how devoted I am to them and this empire. You know them better than anyone. I’d love to hear what you’d suggest.”

A gleam lights in Marclinus’s eyes. “Would you now? Let me think on it. I’m sure we could come up with something delightfully impressive.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Aurelia

It’s barely halfway through the morning, and the mid-summer heat is already sweltering.

The court moved from the hall of entertainments to the gardens an hour ago, but the sluggish breeze hasn’t lifted anyone’s spirits. The nobles are clustered in patches of shade, accepting glasses of tangy juice from the servants who haven’t stopped circulating since we arrived.

It seems the southern weather is determined to suffocate me.

Even Marclinus, who was in exuberant spirits earlier this morning, appears to have deflated slightly. He’s taken a prime spot on a bench by the largest of the garden’s fountains, where the spray offers a little relief, but his recent laughter has sounded a little weary. He keeps swiping at the sweat on his brow.

I study him surreptitiously from the blanket where I’vesettled with Bianca and a few of the other noblewomen, a glimmer of hope lighting in my head. I think I could convince him to come with me into the thicker shade of the palace woods for a private walk—or at least, as private as any of our activities are with our guards lurking nearby.

Yesterday was our first full day back in the capital, and he had a pensive spell that left him locked in his office most of the day. Who knows what moods I can expect in the weeks to come?

I need to take my chances when I can get them.

I drain the last of my juice and hand off the glass to a servant before getting to my feet. “I think I’ll get my book from my chambers. It is pleasant to read outside.”

My meandering route toward the doors takes me past the nearest of my princes. Raul is sprawled out on a blanket chatting with a couple of ladies, with a lazy grin I can tell doesn’t show any real interest.

I don’t look at him as I walk by, but I twist my fingers at my side in a silent message.Come to my room.

I continue on into the palace, pretending not to be sharply aware of the two guards following behind me, and make my way to my apartment. The moment the door is shut, separating me from their watching eyes, I let out my breath in a rush.

Their constant monitoring is even more suffocating than the weather.

My kitten bounds over to greet me and butts her head against my shin. I scoop her up and cuddle her to my chest as I move across the room. “I hope you haven’t been too bored, Sprite. I’ll see what I can find for you to play with when I’m not around.”

She squirms eagerly in my arms, rolling onto her back and batting at my chin with a paw. I can’t help laughing, with a twinge that’s both affection and guilt.

Am I really going to start feeding her potions to test their effects? It feels a lot less like a brilliant plan when I’ve got the subject snuggling up to me on my pillow every night.

I’ll just have to be ever so careful about the contents and the dosage. And not start anything until I’m sure of my strategy.

Which today’s gambit should help with.

Tucking Sprite under one arm, I retrieve the book that provided my excuse to go inside and also an item of silk I squeezed behind the bed’s headboard where the cleaning staff wouldn’t notice it. I’ve just set the kitten down in the bed when the panel in the wall slides open.

Raul props himself against the edge of the hidden entrance and aims a much more ardent grin than he offered the court ladies at me. “What can I do for you, Empress?”

I have to smile back. “I don’t think you’re going to find this request all that much fun. But it’ll give us important information. I’m going to convince Marclinus to stroll into the woods with me. I’d like you to ‘accidentally’ let one of the hunting hounds loose when we’re nearby.”

Raul’s eyebrows leap up. “Part of your brilliant strategy? You don’t expect the thing to attack him, do you?”

I shake my head. “Of course not. I just want to know how quickly his guards will respond to an animal running toward him.” I hold up the silk garment. “You’ll need to bring these and give the hound a good sniff so it knows who it’s supposed to be tracking.”

His eyebrows manage to arch even higher. “Are those…?”

“A pair of Marclinus’s drawers that he ‘misplaced.’ I figured they’d hold his scent better than a sock. Don’t think about it, just tuck them away.”

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