Page 57 of A Pact of Blood

Aurelia’s gaze darts to my foster brothers. Raul’s expression has turned grimmer; Bastien’s jaw flexes.

“You know the basics,” she surmises. “Lorenzo told you what I told him.”

I start to make a gesture of apology, but she shakes her head. “It’s all right. I assume you share everything you know with each other. There’s nothing I’d tell any of you that I wouldn’t be comfortable with you all knowing. But do you really want to hear about Gavril?”

The name makes the man more real in my mind. I can picture a younger version of Aurelia casting glances across the room, ducking out into the gardens, blushing as he charms her.

Raul answers for me. “Lore’s right. If it’ll help set your mind at ease about our involvement, we should hear it.”

Her arms come up to hug herself. “I don’t know how much there is to say. I never told anyone I was seeing him—I had a lot more freedom in Accasy. My friends suspected I was fond of someone, but I never admitted who. Freedom or not, it isn’t really done for a princess to marry a man who’s only a guard. It wouldn’t have benefitted our kingdom in any way.”

“It would have made you happy,” Bastien says quietly.

“Maybe. Or maybe the guilt would have eaten me up if we’d actually managed to run away.” Aurelia grimaces. “But that isn’t what happened. He always wanted to protect people from Dariu, and when he intervened, the empire’s soldiers cut him down. From what the townspeople told us, they were getting pushy with a girl—they’d torn her shirt—and they started shoving her brother around when he spoke up. Then Gavril stepped in…”

She inhales slowly and meets my eyes again. “He should have stayed out of it, just like he should have stayed away from me. But he didn’t, and they stabbed him to death. You can’t claim you won’t face the same fate if you follow me too closely down the path I’m on.”

Raul lets out a dismissive sound. “Then we won’t followtoo close. Your Accasian guard hadn’t spent fifteen years dodging the empire’s worst. We know when to keep our mouths shut and our tempers cool.” His lips quirk into a smile. “Staying peaceful may not come naturally to me, but all I have to do is think of you for inspiration, and it’s not so hard.”

“And it was his decision to intervene,”I add.“Just like our actions are our own. You didn’t ask him to defend his neighbors any more than you’ve asked us to defend you.”

Bastien eases closer to Aurelia and sets his hand on her arm. “But we want to. I’d rather be stabbed a hundred times than run off like a coward now that we finally have a chance to make a difference.Youdidn’t run away when you had the chance. Give us the same choice.”

Aurelia manages a shaky laugh. “When you put it that way, it’s hard to argue.”

Raul gives her hair a teasing tug. “Then don’t.”

“All right. No more talk about sending you away. But we do still need to keep our distance.” She looks toward the panel. “And I should probably be getting back before anyone can suspect I’m gone.”

Bastien’s posture pulls a little straighter. “First—I hadn’t found the chance to tell you—this afternoon, I came across some records about Prospira’s confirmation rite. The written accounts are sparse and leaning more toward poetry than facts, but they mention something about watering the plants from the emperor’s body… I think it may require the spilling of your blood.”

I wince. Hasn’t this woman been wounded enough?

Aurelia’s expression barely twitches. “That’s helpful to know. I have ways I can prepare for that.”

She wavers for a moment, her fingers curling toward her palms at her sides. “I’m not sure we should even speak, at least until that rite is over with. I’ll have to judge Marclinus’smoods. Sometimes he has seemed as if he’s starting to trust me. Please remember that I’m doing this for all of our countries. It’s just not always easy to see the best way how.”

I swallow hard.“We know you’re doing your best, Rell.”

She aims her sad smile at me again. “I’d better go. Marclinus might wake soon.”

We all nod. I suspect my foster brothers are restraining themselves from wrapping her in a final embrace as much as I am.

As Aurelia slips away into the passages, a thicker gloom descends over the entire room. Raul glowers at the lantern on the table, as if it’s to blame for our circumstances.

It occurs to me that he has more reasons than just our separation from Aurelia to feel discomforted. Murmurs of rebellious behavior in Lavira have been passing through the court, and Marclinus himself referenced it tonight.

We all know how brutally the empire cracks down on any sign of dissent. My memories of watching Tarquin and his son crush the minor uprising in my own home country summon echoes of that past distress.

I didn’t go back to Rione while the fighting was happening, but Tarquin toured around the country with me at his side shortly afterward to remind the kingdom of his authority. The images of the savaged bodies hung from pikes all around the main city square rise up like ghouls in the back of my head.

“You must be worried about your people back home too,”I venture.

Raul huffs. “If they’re going to be idiots about it, there’s not much anyone can do for them.”

His brow furrows all the same.

Bastien glances toward the wall our empress vanished through. “So far, Marclinus hasn’t taken quite as extreme anapproach as I’d have expected. Maybe Aurelia really is already moderating his harsher inclinations.”

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