Page 91 of A Dance of Shadows

Another potential doorway into Aurelia’s true attitudes, but not one the empress needs to lie about.

Aurelia shakes her head. “I prefer to meditate directly with my godlen. I don’t believe my way of thinking has altered since my arrival in Dariu.”

She glances across the square. A prickle runs over my skin at the thought of our borrowed time running out, but Aurelia shows no signs of distress.

“Let me present one particular matter to you now,” she says. “I’ve become aware that some of the more prominent Darium citizens have been cutting deals directly with Lavirian merchants rather than following the tenets of our imperial agreements. That must cause you some trouble in keeping trade running smoothly.”

Mother lifts one shoulder in the mildest of shrugs. “It’s hardly an urgent problem.”

“All the same, I’d be happy to exert some influence to return such transactions to the sphere where they belong, so you can give them the proper oversight. You could consider that an opening gesture to confirm that you can count on my assistance should you need it.”

“If we should feel such intervention is necessary, we’ll certainly let you know.”

The tiniest trace of frustration shows in the minute tightening of Aurelia’s jaw. They aren’t giving her any opening at all to show the brilliant, caring woman I know she is.

Her voice softens while remaining steady. “I’ll welcome that. You may also keep in mind that without the intervention I’ve already made on your country’s behalf, there are ten children who’d be getting their lessons from Darium soldiers rather than a temple school that I expect they’ll find more fulfilling.”

Neither Mother nor Fernam give any sign of surprise, but I know them well enough to tell that their initial silence meansthey didn’t realize it was Aurelia’s doing—and so they don’t have a response already on the tip of their tongues.

Our empress didn’t settle the matter alone. I added a few small shadowy “signs” and Lorenzo conjured illusions of critical voices to provoke a current of uneasiness in the Darium court. Aurelia simply nudged Marc toward declaring that the ten winning children would be best served by attending school at the local temple of Sabrelle to prepare them for later service, with a stipend to their parents to cover the loss of their help around the home.

Mother bobs her head again. “Duly noted.”

Before she can go on with any more of her roundabout prying, Aurelia lifts her hand in a gesture of thanks. “I’d better return to the rest of my court. I appreciate you hearing me out.”

I guess she can tell she won’t be getting any further with them today. It’s a more powerful move to be the one to end the conversation than to have it ended for her.

She glides away across our section of the square, her guards falling in behind her. Mother gathers herself for further mingling with our own nobles, but I plant myself in her path.

“That was a lot of bullshit,” I say, low but curt. “The underhanded trading has irritated you for as long as I’ve been alive, if not longer.”

Mother clucks her tongue at me in that fondly condescending way that never fails to raise my hackles. “You exaggerate the emotions involved, dear boy. The facts may rankle your temper, but we know unfortunate circumstances will always exist and need to be worked around.”

I glower at her. She expects me to be a hothead, so she’ll get one. “Youwouldn’tneed to work around it if you’d work with Aurelia instead.”

She pats my shoulder with a compassionate but equally condescending air. “This has never been your domain, Raul.That’s all right. We can manage these affairs ourselves. The subtleties of diplomacy don’t come easily to everyone. I can admire the ambition of trying to immerse yourself in that side of the family trade all the same. I know you mean well.”

For fuck’s sake.

Several harsh remarks sear up my throat, but I clamp my jaw against them. If I snap at her, she’d see the outburst as proving her point.

Fernam comes up beside me and gives me a light punch to the shoulder. “We may have learned a bit that’ll be of some use. It wasn’t a total fumble, little brother.”

As if any failures of this meeting are mine.

Fuck them. We’ll stomp down Marclinus and steal the whole damned empire without their help.

Mother hums. “The empress does appear to be a more formidable presence than I anticipated, able to hold her own counsel. We’ll have to keep an eye on her and consider any moves she makes with all due thought.”

Her words smooth the edge off my anger. At least they seem to think better of Aurelia’s capabilities than they do of mine. That’s what was most important.

But even as I look forward to telling the woman I love so, I can’t quite hold my tongue. “You should?—”

Mother shakes her head at me. “I think that’s enough. We have a festival to enjoy, after all. Don’t stress yourself, Raul. We have all these matters well in hand.”

They brush past me without waiting for my response. I trail behind them into the thicker crowd of nobles, fuming silently but so forcefully it’s lucky smoke isn’t streaming from my ears.

Spotting Marclinus—well, Linus—across the courtyard does nothing to improve my mood. He’s swiveled back toward the rest of our mingled courts as well, clutching not one but two entire bottles in his hands. No doubt he snatched up the mostexpensive options without any thought to whether the rest of us might want to sample them.

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