Page 145 of A Dance of Shadows

I’m going to save the woman I love, because this love makes all of us stronger. It’s already toppled one emperor and planted a new heir in the imperial line.

The current emperor has claimed his place through his own sort of illusion. Unfortunately for him, I have plenty of experience with those.

Aurelia’s eyes have welled up. She blinks hard, with a chuckle that sounds a little choked. “We still don’t even know how I’m going to stay standing. With both Marc and Linus to contend with…”

“We don’t have to deal with both of them tonight,”I say.

She releases Bastien’s hand to swipe at the few tears that have seeped from her eyes and gives her cat a reassuring scratch of the chin. “What do you mean?”

“If we remove just one twin from the scenario, the other loseshisadvantage. He can’t complain about the loss without revealing the life-long deception. He’ll be thrown off-balance, and that’ll give us time to arrange a public ‘accident’ the way we always planned.”

Bastien studies me with increased intensity. “Who are you thinking we tackle first, then?”

“Aurelia pointed out that Marc won’t know she’s aware of the full deception yet. Before Linus switches places with him at the end of the night, we need to find a time for her to lure Marc out.”

I smile at her.“You have plenty of means of knocking a man out. And we have a whole network of passages where no one knows to look. We drag him down here, find out if he and Linus have been plotting anything else you should know about, and then dispose of him when we have the chance.”

Raul’s grin returns, fiercer than before. “We chop him into bits and toss him in the river.”

Aurelia’s gaze goes distant in thought. A little more color comes into her sallowed complexion. “I think that could work. If you can secret me into the emperor’s apartment?—”

Raul cracks his knuckles. “I can remove the barriers on the panel to his room, just like I did for yours.”

“Perfect. Then I can go in and call out to him while he’s in the hidden room. All I need is for him to come out to find out what’s wrong, and I can dose him with a sedative.” She rubs her sapphire ring.

Bastien has perked up too. “We’ll forge a note supposedly from him. Say he’s tired of switching off and has left seek his fortune elsewhere or something like that. So Linus won’t have any idea what really became of him.”

I can picture it already.“Linus will be so confused and overwhelmed by having all the responsibilities thrust on him, it won’t make any sense for him to attack Aurelia. He’s going to need her, at least at first. He’ll probably act out more in front of the court, but that will make orchestrating a believable accident even easier.”

The corner of Aurelia’s mouth has curved upward. “I’ve even gotten some ideas from my would-be assassins. Maybe a rock could fall on his head or he could get trampled by a horse.”

I caress her cheek again.“One step at a time, all the way to the throne. We’re going to make it happen.”

I’m setting an imperial homicide in motion, and I’ve never felt so sure of anything in my life.

Chapter Fifty-One

Aurelia

Nobles in fancy dresses prance and whirl all around me. The crowd of them in the ballroom is dizzying.

I’ve gotten so used to the smaller traveling court that I forgot just how immense the full palace assembly could be. Especially with so many having timed their arrival to welcome their emperor back home.

Dancing with a bulging belly has become rather cumbersome, but Linus shows no sign of concern for his wife’s potential discomfort. He presses as close to me as he can, his smile sharp and his grip on my hand crushing. I can practically see him imagining how he’ll smash my skull.

When he releases me, I make it through a couple of awkward dances with tentative noblemen and then retreat to one of the chairs set along the wall. As I sink onto the cushioned surface, a cramp like the one that hit me this morning radiates through my abdomen.

Just more of my body’s preparations. And I likely have weeks more of them to look forward to, on top of all the other aches and pains.

Why do people call pregnancy a joy?

Ignoring the fading pang, I scan the crowd until I manage to catch Bianca’s eyes. If I’m going to make it through the next few weeks, I have other sorts of preparations to make.

When I smile at her with a slight tick of my head, she glides over to sit next to me. A furrow forms in her brow. “I hope you’re well? The dancing isn’t too much of a strain?”

“Not as long as I take my breaks as I need them.” I breathe deeply and adjust my position on the chair. “I was hoping you might do me a favor that would give me an additional reprieve.”

Bianca lifts her chin without hesitation. “Of course. Whatever you need. Gods know I owe you plenty.”

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