Page 108 of A Dance of Shadows

An instant later, his attention flicks to the nobles behind me. He points out a duchess and the baron who balked at going into the cave, who have trailed slightly behind the rest of the crowd.

“These two seem to have little enthusiasm for their return. I can’t have my subjects dragging their feet to meet my requests. Lieutenant?”

The guard behind him doesn’t speak, only jerks his hand at his side.

With a sickening snap, both of the stragglers’ heads list to the sides at an unnatural angle. Their eyes dull; their bodies crumple.

The soldier broke their necks.

Cataline muffles a thin shriek with both of her hands. A scream of my own burns at the base of my throat.

Linus has never gone this far before—he’s always let the natural dangers of the challenge do the murdering.

He’ll hardly care that I think his brutal orders unfair. Gods save us, how much worse can he get?

His gaze is already roving over the other nobles as if seeking a new target. I gulp down the bile that’s risen from my gut and hustle the last few paces to reach him.

Offering him my sweetest smile, I dig into my belt pouch. “I brought you your blessed water. Perhaps it will give you insight into how to best wrap up this remarkable test.”

An eager glint replaces the sadistic satisfaction in my husband’s eyes. He watches me retrieve the flask. “It wouldn’t do to use up such a resource all at once, but I am curious to sample a little…”

He tips back a swift swig. His throat bobs. As he lowers the flask to his side, an expression that’s almost dreamy crosses his face.

Has the calming mineral done its work alongside Elox’s blessing of clarity?

I wait with my hands clasped in front of me, willing them not to clench. Linus hums and tilts his head to one side, then the other.

“Brilliant,” he says abruptly. “Absolutely brilliant! You do your empire proud. Now let us go feast and discover how else you all might impress me.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Aurelia

My maids are just finishing fastening a delicate gold-and-sapphire ornament in my hair when one of my guards calls through the door. “King Josif and Queen Irini are here to see you, Your Imperial Highness.”

I smile at my maids. “I think you’ve offered all the help I need. Enjoy yourselves for the rest of the night.”

I open the door to let them slip out and welcome my parents into my chambers. Both stride inside with rather grim expressions. Mother is clutching a carved marlwood box.

She summons a smile and holds the box out to me. “Happy birthday, darling. We wanted to see you before the official celebration begins, whatever it might entail.”

My husband demanded that a banquet and a ball be held tonight for the occasion. I suppose having his empress honored reflects on his own glory—when he’s in the mood to benefit from my happiness rather than tormenting me.

The pensive air that’s followed my parents into the room sets my nerves jangling. But when I pop open the box, I find nothing remotely ominous. A luminous moonstone pendant shines in the lanternlight on a simple but finely crafted gold chain.

I lift it, turning it in my hand, and discover Elox’s sigil etched on the back of the pendant.

“It’s godlen-blessed,” Father says in an unusually hesitant voice. “Meant to calm one’s emotions and center one’s soul. We came across it a few months ago, before we knew— In the coming years, perhaps you’ll need even more fortitude than you’ve already gathered. But after yesterday’s events, it occurred to us that if you could convince Marclinus to wear it…”

They’ll have observed just as I did that my husband’s temper evened out a little after he sipped the blessed waters. I suppose they’re hoping this relic might produce a similar effect.

I won’t deny that thoughts along those lines passed through my head last night. If I could somehow get a continuous supply of the mineral scrapings that calmed him, contrive to regularly add them to his food and drink without being noticed…

But even if Icouldaccomplish all that, I’m not sure the effect would make much of a difference. He might have decided to end the test as he did regardless.

Within a couple of hours of returning to the palace, he was already shouting for his friends to entertain him and making mocking remarks about the Accasian cuisine. He started pawing at me during dinner so determinedly I had to feign enough passion to convincingly drag him back to my bedroom rather than endure his groping in front of my family and friends any longer.

And then he kept grimacing at the sight of my uncovered belly, even after the hallucinations took over.

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