Page 132 of The Prince's Mage

Nikias finally spoke, his voice measured but bristling. “If it had been you, there wouldn’t have been a heretic.” He spoke every word like throwing a knife. “I would have made every mark on you with my own hand.”

Marcella could feel peace slipping away. It was never going to end.

It was always going to be something. Hypatia had never been willing to settle for anything less than destruction. She just wanted to call it peace.

Hypatia laughed. “If I had known who you were when you walked into my trap, I would have killed you first.”

Nikias’ lips twitched in a dangerous way. “You would have tried.”

He rose from his seat, jerking his arm out of Aimilia’s grip. He brushed his cloak off. “I see what this is about for you. Yourvanity. It’s why you won’t stop talking. It burns you up inside to see I was able to mark the girl who is your mirror image. You can’t stand even that. Why? Are you the only one who gets to scar her and make her scream? It’s sad, pathetic, you putting your own pride above your people.”

“You haven’t even heard the terms I’m offering.” Hypatia’s lip curled up into a sneer. “This isn’t about pride. I told you. This is about justice.”

“You killed my wife.” Nikias’ voice was as void as the Abyss. “I had your lookalike marked up. After you already did. Generously, we’re even.”

“Oh, Prince Nikias, haven’t you heard? She’s not just my lookalike. She is mydearsister-in-law. The adopted sister of my husband, Konstantin. She’s quite precious to us. Besides, you already had your recompense. Your brother’s ambush killed my father, but you don’t see me still whining about it.”

Marcella felt Hypatia twitch as she spoke about her father, and Marcella was certain Hypatia wasn’t as indifferent as she was pretending to be.

Nikias, however, wasn’t able to stop the upward twitch of his lips at the mention of it.

Hypatia’s grip on Marcella tightened painfully as she continued, “No. This is about the hundreds, thousands of others who were not as strong as my sister-in-law. The ones who were not blessed enough to have your little brother wrapped around their fingers to get them off before they died. We are not anywherecloseto even.”

“And what lunacy do you propose then?” Nikias raised an eyebrow.

“It is most favorable on your end. Simply, you tortured my little lookalike, my dear sister-in-law—I will torture your equivalent, your brother.”

“No!”

Marcella wasn’t sure who screamed louder, her or Aimilia, but what she did know was the splitting pain in her head as she wrenched it out of Hypatia’s grip, hair ripping out and staying in Hypatia’s hand as Marcella shoved her away and lunged for Gavril.

The guards jerked him back, and before she could reach him, Hypatia moved to grab Marcella by the arm again, but Konstantin was faster this time, catching her and pulling her out of Hypatia’s range.

Gavril was calling out to her, “It’s alright, Marcella,deliciae, mea spes, it will be alright. I—”

Nikias clearing his throat stilled the chaos of the room.

Marcella looked back to see he had Aimilia by the arm. Her chair was on the ground as he held her back from where she’d been trying to rush toward Gavril as well. She stopped struggling against him as he simply stared Hypatia down and said, “No. You will not be torturing my brother as so-called justice.”

“I guess you don’t want him back then.” Hypatia shrugged.

Marcella, however, broke out of Konstantin’s grip and raised her hands, ready to cast as her voice exploded out of her, “You will not lay a hand on my husband. So help me, Hypatia, you will have to kill me first! We are all here because we want peace. We came to you because we thought you wanted the same. If you don’t, and you just want to keep spilling our people’s blood for nothing, fine! Give me my husband and we will go! But I will not stand here and let you abuse him because you have some kind of score to settle with Nikias.”

Hypatia stared down at her for a moment, and Marcella braced herself, ready to cast and throw it all to the wind for a prayer of saving Gavril from her, but then Hypatia just grinned. And it wasn’t… completely wicked like before.

“Huh. I didn’t know you had all that in you,” Hypatia said. She looked back over at Nikias and said, “I’ll hear an alternate proposal, but you know the actions of your people cannot go unaccounted for.”

Nikias gestured to her seat and said, “Then let’s sit down like civilized people, or at least as much of one as you can pretend to be, demon.”

Hypatia settled back into her seat as Nikias let go of Aimilia and gave her a pointed look. She glared right back at him, but picked up her chair and sat back down in it.

“You want a sacrifice to mark up. You will not be satisfied with anything less than someone submitting to whatever torture you have in mind. You want this repaid in blood so I will not waste my breath offering you tokens,” Nikias said.

Hypatia leaned back in her seat and smirked. “You are right. Someone will be bearing the agony you and your heretics have put so many of my people through. And it’s not going to be some random Solitus you don’t care about that you order to sacrifice themselves. And there will be no magically enhanced healing afterward.”

“Fine. You want a Runai?” Nikias raised an eyebrow. “Better, do you want one of our healers? To put the person wielding the knife under yours?”

Hypatia tilted her head, seemingly considering it before saying, “Not good enough. I want…”

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