Page 32 of Ties of Deception

I fell asleep with my hand resting on the hilt of my dagger beneath my pillow, just to feel a lasting connection to the excitement of the night.

Chapter

Thirteen

Ihovered in the fathomless void.

A voice sounded in the darkness, barely distinguishable, as though coming across a great distance.

“She is dying because ofyou. Do you think being the Aidis makes what you’ve done acceptable?”

Another voice sounded more like a shriek. “You killed her. You bring nothing but death.”

A plain room materialized around me. My lungs burned, each breath an agony. I was lying on the floor, splinters grazing my cheek. I reached out one hand, straining for the closed door. None of my limbs worked and I could barely shift my weight. I wasn’t going to make it—the distance was impossible.

There was one word in my mind. Begging. Pleading.Ethen.

I sat up in bed, breathing heavily, and looked around for the origin of the voices. Everything was silent except for bird song and the soft rustle of curtains drifting across the marble floor in the breeze. It was barely dawn. My heart calmed.

I massaged my forehead as I cracked a yawn, everything protesting at being awake. My body felt normal again, and there was nothing off about my breathing. It had just been a dream—a brief, half formed dream. I frowned as I tried to remember the words. Had that been a strange memory-like fragment like the basket of pomegranates? Or had my mind made it up after seeing the suffering of so many last night? Either way, it had faded so much that it was hard to tell. I lay back down, my mind still heavy with sleep, and allowed myself to drift off.

I slept in late and woke feeling jittery with anticipation. I tried my best to hide my frustration from my maids at having to wait a whole day, but I couldn’t think about anything other than the Aidis and what I had seen last night.

I remembered Pris’s warning not to even look at an Aida or their gods lest they seduce you and claim you as their bride and whisk you away to the Unseen Lands. Such a prospect didn’t seem nearly so terrifying anymore. Not that I was about to let this go further. I still didn’t know what he wanted from me, and it was hard to believe he was as altruistic as he seemed.

But, in some strange way, he had known what I needed more than I’d known it myself. I’d finally done something useful and learned more about myself in the process.

A butterfly flew between the curtains to land lazily on my finger, slowly fanning its beautiful purple wings. Another landed on my desk.

Flavia gasped. “Oh, it’s good to see a sign of you being happy, my lady. After the empress’s letter and orders, we were all worried.”

I watched the butterfly, mesmerized as the powder on its wings glistened in stray beams of sunlight.

That afternoon, I painted pictures of the bird in its cage and arranged flowers from the gardens. I dozed on silk cushions and ate juicy melons. Everything was designed to help me rest and be happy. Everything that was designed to prevent me from thinking beyond myself to people in hospital beds only a mile or two away, too poor to be treated in their own homes. Everything in this world was designed to make me feel like reality didn’t exist.

I thought about how that hospital would now be empty, the staff finally able to get some well-needed rest, and smiled. I might not trust Ethen, but I was grateful to him for last night. And though the way he had grabbed my face at that first meeting still annoyed me, he had kept his word and not laid a single finger on me since.

I asked the maids to leave as early as I could without raising suspicion, and watched the sunset between the gauzy curtains that were wrapped around the pillars. It had been another clear, hot day, and pinks, purples, and reds streaked across the sky between the trees.

A sudden voice made me jump out of my skin. “You really did send them away early. I was expecting to wait another hour at least.”

I whirled around to find Ethen standing in the middle of the room, helping himself to some wine. “How…isn’t it too light for you to sneak around? How did you know I’d sent them away?”

He shrugged. “I was watching from the roof of your villa. I had some letters to write, and thought I might as well write them up here so I could keep an eye on things.”

I gaped at him. “You’ve been sitting on my roof? Writing letters? In broad daylight? But weren’t you hot?” The red clay tiles were barely sloped and burned to the touch in the daytime.

He grimaced. “Yes. It was very hot. But my clothes keep out a lot of the heat. In the Unseen Lands, it’s far colder. The sun doesn’t shine directly on the land like it does here. The sky is always a grey haze during the day. And so, we make insulating clothes to help us cope whenever we leave. Getting used to the sun is a bit of a shock.” He smiled at the memory.

I walked toward him and sat on the couch, burning with curiosity. “What are the Unseen Lands like? Do you miss them?”

He paused to pour me another glass of wine. I thanked him before he took a sip from his own glass. “Yes, I miss them a lot—both the place and the people. They’re very…different from here. The landscape and fashions are far less colorful, but very beautiful in their own way. When you look out from the palace tower in Erebus, you can see the river Tier, gleaming like a giant silver mirror. Behind it rise the Black Mountains, their base always shrouded in pale fog. I like the contrast of something pale, ethereal, and ever shifting, with the constant black stability of the peaks. The way the mist sits over the water every morning…it is beautiful.”

I nodded along but struggled to imagine such a strange land. It sounded so monochrome. I wondered if Pris would be able to smuggle me any library books on those lands so I could learn more.

I licked my lips, choosing my next words carefully. “But you’re staying here until you find a bride? Because you have to be wed a Grace to bear children and so an heir to the throne?”

He sat down seeming a little uncomfortable with that question. He kept his eyes on his wine. “Notabride. I’m looking for one person in particular. I’ve been waiting for her.”

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