Page 72 of A Dance of Shadows

The gods might have shown me one way to complete my quest, but that doesn’t mean the way I first chose was wrong.

I won’t become the same force of destruction my husband has.

Shaking my head, I offer my guards a sheepish smile. “I fear I’ve been drawn off-course. I must get to the Eloxian temple—I’m surer than ever that the answers lie there.”

The whole walk back to the carriage, my stomach lists uneasily. I’ve disagreed with my chosen godlen’s messages before, but I’m not sure I’ve ever rejected a divine sign quite this emphatically before.

What if I’m making a mistake? Elox has sometimes known things I haven’t.

But despite the doubts churning inside me, I can’t quite convince myself that demolishing a centuries-old tree and the homes of two families for the glory of the empire is what he’d want.

Whatever other reasons he might have had for pointing out the location to me, I hope they’ll become clearer in time.

It’s a short ride to the pale turrets of the city’s Eloxian temple. Raul gets up from where he was sitting at the edge of the marble fountain in front, holding a brown leather book. “I think I found what you needed.”

“Excellent.” I hurry over to join him.

As he passes the book to me, he tucks a metal band into my hands out of view beneath the book. I offer him a smile as grateful as seems safe. “Thank you for your efforts. I’ve identified the site of the relic, right here on these grounds. Perhaps this will help me determine how to retrieve it…”

Keeping the armband he gave me carefully out of sight, I flip through the pages. While I pretend to read, I walk around the building.

I approach one of the statues carved into the white stone: a depiction of Elox raising his arms amid a flurry of soaring doves. Bending down, I pretend to fiddle with something behind his marble legs.

After a suitable amount of pawing, I stand up holding the armband Raul gave me aloft. My first full glimpse of it settles my nerves. It isn’t identical to the image from my dreams, but it’ssteel and marked with Sabrelle’s sigil, with a rearing horse on one side and a loping dog on the other.

The faint bumps between those images and the sigil suggest they were once part of separate trinkets that Raul had soldered together, but the luster on the steel gives the impression of great age. He did incredible work with the time he had.

Linus can’t know exactly what the original looked like. Fables can’t be expected to be entirely accurate. This should be close enough.

I brandish the supposed relic before the guards. “I’ve found it! Now we’d best get back to the palace so I can prepare myself for the pledging ceremony and my husband’s birthday feast.”

And hope that I can ready this trinket to Linus’s satisfaction before he puts it to the test.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aurelia

By the time we’ve reached the palace, I have no time for more than the draping of additional ornaments over my dress and hair and a powdering of my face. As a footman beckons me to the carriages, I grab a purse that matches my gown and hastily stuff it with several strips of cloth and a blood-congealing ointment from my stash of supplies.

Linus might happily throw me to the wolves if I argue with his schemes, but I’ve been able to get away with tending to the loyal subjects who’ve accepted his demands before. I’m simply coordinating my interests with his. Keeping his chaos from overflowing.

As long as I can continue presenting my efforts that way, we’ll see how much I can help the people of Lavira.

It’s only a few minutes’ ride from the palace grounds to the large square I visited this morning, just off the broad royal promenade with its marble arch. We pass between the statues of Prospira and Jurnus, who hold aloft a carved banner oftheir mingled symbols, and into the grand stretch of polished cobblestones.

A platform covered in purple velvet has been assembled off to the side of the arch. Cookstands set up on various temporary tables roast chunks of spiced meat and fry sugared dumplings that send a delectable mix of scents into the air.

As Linus said, the Lavirian royals are generous hosts. I suppose you get farther in a negotiation if you set the other party at ease by plying them with comforts and treats.

The royal family and its key supporters stand off to the side of the platform. The queen and Raul’s brother shoot warm smiles my way when they notice me studying them, but mostly they circulate among themselves. The energy and chatter of their cluster reminds me of buzzing bees. A rhythm that could lull your senses—and leave you unprepared for a sting.

Raul stands between them with a grin flashed here and a guffaw tossed out there. In the brief glances I allow myself, I can’t help thinking he looks more tense among his relatives and local colleagues than I’m used to seeing him in the imperial court.

Lorenzo’s and Bastien’s ruling parents seemed to disapprove of their temperaments. Raul told me before that his family considered him too volatile as a kid to be part of their true legacy. Can they really be peeved that he hasn’t somehow negotiated their separation from the empire or some other impossible dream?

Tribune Valerisse strides along the edge of the platform, making remarks to the soldiers ringed around us. I notice High Commander Axius’s gaze following her, his mouth set in a stiff line just shy of a frown.

How does he feel about her taking charge of the local soldiers so avidly? I’d have thought their goals aligned, but maybe hisego is bruised that Linus gave orders to her directly rather than through him.

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