Page 109 of The Prince's Mage

It wasn’t long before they reached the center of the camp where the largest tent was and this time it was Marcella escorting Gavril inside the command tent.

Of course the first thing Marcella saw was the one who resembled the reflection in the mirror.

The Desero demon.

Hypatia.

Chapter39

MARCELLA

Marcella went completely still at the sight before her.

On the other side of the tent, Hypatia stood at a table, bent slightly to examine it. Her husband, Konstantin of Montis, stood by the other side, looking tired and bored while Hypatia was wholly enraptured. High Priest Panagiotis sat in a chair beside Hypatia’s war table, looking equally exhausted.

“Chiefess Hypatia, the soldier, Marcella, and her prisoner, the Inimicus prince,” the lieutenant called out as they stepped into the tent.

Immediately, every eye snapped toward her and Gavril. She could see his eyes widen out of the corner of her own and she was certain both their hearts were racing faster than when they’d galloped away from Areator. She could hear Gavril’s breaths quicken beside her. She stepped in front of him, brushing her hand against the back of his as she did so, murmuring in his language, “Steady. I am with you. I will protect.”

She heard his breathing steady behind her as she knelt in front of Hypatia, clasping her hand to her chest, as she returned to speaking her own language. “My lady, Chiefess Hypatia, my deepest apologies for the delay, but today I return blessed by Asentai with the fulfillment of your orders. Prince Gavril to use in negotiation against the Inimicus.”

Hypatia was still leaning on the table, her hands braced on it as she looked up, glancing over Marcella for a moment before tilting her head and narrowing her brown eyes onto Gavril, studying him the way she had everything in her life that Marcella had ever seen her handle.

“Prince Gavril. While I was slightly hoping to see the eldest again, the Inimicus we caught did tell us it was this younger prince who had captured you, so the chances were good he was the prince we were hearing had taken an interest in you.” Hypatia spoke, her voice a toxic honey, slow and deliberate in a way the Inimicus tongue wasn’t capable of. She smiled, wide, dangerous. “But I can’t say I’m disappointed it’s the younger.”

Gavril startled at hearing his name but stayed silent.

An Inimicus they’d caught?

But Marcella didn’t dare interrupt to question her.

Hypatia slowly straightened up, rolling her shoulders, and her chiton shifted with her. Her curls were gathered in a loose ponytail and draped over her shoulder. She glanced over at her husband and said, “You of little faith, Konsta, did I not tell you little Marcella would come through with a prince?”

Marcella had only seen Konstantin of Montis in passing before. A girl of her status did not interact with him. At least, Hypatia had never made Marcella pretend to be her in front of him, which would be the only possible scenario it would have happened in. Though that might be to her detriment now.

Hypatia at least was the problem she knew and not the one she didn’t.

But whatever Hypatia’s relationship was with her new husband—new enough considering Marcella supposed she’d been married nearly as long as Hypatia had been, she just hadn’t known it—it didn’t show. He just crossed his arms and said, “I did not doubt what you saw, only your insistence on hounding her with ravens. If it was meant to be, why would you have to send messages to make it happen?”

“You understand nothing of Sight.” Hypatia rolled her eyes and shot him a sneer before turning back to Marcella and grinning. “Ignore him, he’s irrelevant. Little Marcella, I knew you were blessed to look like me for a reason. Asentai had big plans for you, and you have followed through today. You have saved so much clan blood from spilling.”

“Thank you.” Marcella needed to tread carefully. Hypatia was not one who could be manipulated and would respond poorly if she thought she was.

“Rise, I will fulfill what I promised you upon your success. But before I let you go, I will need everything you saw or heard, plus—you spoke in their tongue a moment ago, didn’t you? I am a touch rusty, the most recent practice I had was interrogating that Inimicus we caught—after we figured out how to unsilence him. If you are proficient, you can help translate while I question the Inimicus prince.”

The way Hypatia’s lips twitched at the word ‘question’ had Marcella forcing back a shudder and the bile rising in her throat. She imagined of the few things Prince Nikias and Hypatia would agree on, it would be the way they questioned their enemies.

She would not let a single hair on her husband’s head be harmed.

And again… the Inimicus they’d caught? Who’d been silenced…

The mage who’d attacked her that Gavril had left behind. At least he’d been left behind before the marriage ceremony and everything that followed, so it was possible their secrets were safe. And if Hypatia knew them from her Sight, she likely would have started much more agitated.

Marcella pushed herself to her feet. “I did, but he is better in our tongue than I am his.”

“That’s true,” Gavril finally spoke.

Hypatia’s eyes widened slightly while Konstantin took a step back and High Priest Panagiotis shot up in his seat.

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