Page 127 of A Pact of Blood

Maybe one of them will know how to tackle Aurelia’s concerns better than I do, though even that thought makes my throat constrict more.

Raul emerges first, giving us a crooked smile that’s just shy of a grimace. I understand why when Bastien steps out… with Neven right at his heels.

Aurelia blinks at the lot of them. “Youallcame.”

Raul jabs his thumb over his shoulder toward Neven, his tone wry. “The kid figured out we were up to something and insisted. After the other night, I thought it was better having him here than leaving him to go make friendly with the imperial army. He knows plenty already.”

Neven glowers at him. “I wasn’t trying to be friends with the high commander. I thought I might find out something useful from him, especially since the bunch of you hardly tell me anything.”

He steps past Raul and dips his head to Aurelia, giving her due respect as empress. “I told you before that I felt like I need to figure out a real purpose. After the things you said, and thinking about everything that’s been happening in court, and praying to Sabrelle—it seems like the most important way I can contribute is helping you like my foster brothers are. Protecting you when I can, since you sometimes need it.”

A gentle smile touches Aurelia’s lips. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, but I appreciate your support.”

Raul folds his arms over his chest. “As if we haven’t been offering enough protection—as much as anyone can around that fucking prick Marclinus?”

Bastien presses his knuckles to the other man’s arm. “At least Neven’s got the right idea. We’ve gone too long without giving him a real chance.”

He shifts his attention to the youngest of us. “You know you can’t breathe awordof anything we discuss here—or the fact that we meet with Aurelia at all—to anyone.”

Neven draws his substantial height up taller. “Of course. I’m not an idiot. I didn’t tell anyone about the waystation, did I?”

He aims a shy smile at Aurelia. “We have someone who actually cares about people outside of Dariu in the imperial family now. Obviously we should do whatever we can to keep you there and see that your influence grows.”

So now even the teenager among us is taking stands bigger than mine. Was I just wasting Aurelia’s time by having them come later and keeping her to myself for the past hour?

“I can’t argue with that,” Raul mutters, giving Neven a playful cuff to the head, and turns to Aurelia. “How did your experiment with the hound go?”

The sag of her shoulders tells me immediately that’s part of the problem.

She sinks down on top of one of her trunks. “It didn’t go anywhere. I don’t think we can use that tactic—working with animals.”

Her new kitten trundles over to her with a mew as if it thinks she’s dismissing it. With a tight smile, she scoops it onto her lap and starts rubbing its back to enthusiastic purrs.

“His guards noticed the hound coming and used magic to block it before it got all that close to him,” she goes on. “And it was running at him quickly. I can’t see how anything would be able to reach him while they’re around, and they always are.”

Bastien walks over to set his hand on her shoulder. “Now we know that. We have lots of time to think of other strategies.”

“I know. That’s just the only one I had any hope for so far.” Aurelia sucks in a breath. “But I don’t even know if I’llhave the chance to make other plans. I—I asked Marclinus for ideas for proving myself to the rest of Dariu. They all lovehimfor whatever reason, so I hoped he might give me something useful. But instead…”

Her mouth twists. When she lifts her gaze, she’s looking at Raul.

His forehead furrows. “What is it?”

Her free hand balls where it’s resting on the trunk beside her. “The army is sending several of the main Lavirian rebels to the capital. Marclinus and I are each supposed to fight and kill one as part of the Sabrellian confirmation rite.”

Raul’s gaze darkens, but he steps closer too. “It isn’t your fault. It wasn’tyouridea. And they’ll all be executed anyway.”

“But it wouldn’t have been me doing it. I wouldn’t have ended up making a display of crushing the other countries of the empire as part of my rise to the throne. If I even manage to.” Aurelia’s head droops. “I don’t know if I can just push through like I have the trials before. I can hardly stand the thought of doing it. If I falter, for all I know, Marclinus will let me die. Not that surviving the failure would be much better.”

Panic skitters through my veins.“Of course it’s better. As long as you’re with us, you still have a chance to win some other way.”

“I’ll have looked pathetic in front of thousands of citizens, so many soldiers, the court… and my godlen. What if this is my punishment for going against Elox’s urging in the first place? He wanted me to peacefully accept the lot I’ve been given, and I refused, and now...”

“It isn’t hopeless,” Raul insists. “I’ll train you as much as I can. Every night, all night, if we have to. This is his sick idea, not yours.”

“That’s not how it’ll look. Or how it’ll feel.” She swipes her hand past her eyes. “It seems as if every time I make amove, I set something in motion that’s even more awful than what I was trying to address.”

Bastien gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “In a situation this complicated, setting things right is never going to be a straightforward path.”

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