Page 72 of Ties of Deception

Constance shrugged. “I don’t think she cares. I use my own powers to do so— I’m not borrowing Ismara’s—hence why Graces are weaker than the Fated. I am simply creating more life. It was what I was born to do. Besides, my mother never took an active interest in me. As a small child, she left me with her priests in Atos, the country that worshipped her most. I doubt she or my father follow much of what goes on anymore.”

Of my thousands of questions, one stumbled out of my tongue as if at random. “Does the empress know?”

Constance nodded. “Yes. I have worked closely with her, her father, her grandfather, and her great-grandmother. But I wish to keep my identity a secret. I do not wish to become a target of the Unseen Lands for Blessing my own people. And the empress doesn’t know about our marriage.”

I blinked, the rush of information overwhelming. “Why do you want the Aidis to marry an Amazone? Do you plan to weaken their descendants, ending the power of your brother’s line so they never stop you from making Graces?”

She laughed. “No, no, nothing so dramatic. The empire has the Graces and Amazones, but we have no access to the powers of death—if we gain those, the empire will be invincible. If we could combine the Amazone’s vitality of life with the powers of death in battle, nobody would ever threaten us. Our empire would be secure forever, and we could bring more countries under our protection and Blessing. With my powers, I could help them conceive children that draw from both of their powers. Multiple children, hopefully. We would create something new.”

Ethen had said the powers of life and death always had to be kept separate and could never exist in the same person. He’d said there needed to be a careful balance. Surely Ismara and Ienar would hate what Constance was trying to do. But what if it worked? Constance’s powers alone were terrifying, but if she had an army of both life and death behind her…

I felt sick. “So you would keep the Aidis here to use his children as guards and soldiers like you use the Amazones?”

She shook her head. “He could return to the Unseen Lands for the majority of the time. His Amazone wife would stay here and raise their children. The Aidis are immortal. They don’t need another ruler. They could merely rotate out of retirement. The children would be looked after here and be trained up as great military leaders. We would be able to extend our borders, create more Graces, and Bless the whole world. There would be no more famines. No more wars. No more instability. And you could help us build this new world, Purity, as you would be the last of the Fated.”

I swallowed. “But what if the Amazone can’t bear him a child?”

A small frown wrinkled the freckles across Constance’s nose. “I have studied this area in great detail. My powers will be enough, I am sure of it.” I remembered Pris telling me that pregnant and infertile women waited for hours to visit her temples and thought of the pile of books in her rooms.

I stared at her, trying to untangle the mass of information from my mess of emotions. She really believed the world would be better if she was the one ruling it with Sebastian. And maybe, in some ways, it would be. But so far, even the small island of Atos was far from perfect. The Graces had been put in an environment where they were forced to deceive and scheme to survive. There were so many things already wrong with this plan. The world Constance dreamed of making would be one of fear, not peace. A world where she would poison anyone who stood in the way of more power, just like she had the ambassador, and lie to even the people closest to her.

And I still didn’t know what exactly she did to ‘test’ other Graces, those who she had created. My voice went very quiet. “How exactly did you threaten Serene’s life?”

Constance winced. “I’m sorry you were the one to find her, Purity. We caused her horse to break its leg and die so she became lost in the fields north of Fierro. Our people were there watching, of course, but she didn’t know that. She was lost overnight and nobody came to rescue her. When she started chewing on uncooked grain the next day, one of our Amazones pretended to find her and bring her home. We were confident the Aidis wasn’t watching her or interested in the starving, cold Grace.

“But when she came home, instead of resting and recovering, she became frantic. Her mind was in a bad place, caused by far more than our test. I don’t know exactly why, but she chose to die rather than be retired.”

Maybe because she’d realized they were the same thing.

I looked away and pressed my fingers to my mouth. Poor Serene, driven so far by other people’s games, she had no escape after Ethen turned her down. All because of Constance and Sebastian’s tests and a world full of lies.

The stressful contest for Sebastian’s bride when he was already married. The shame Patience had endured when her dress fell free. Charity poisoning herself to bring me down. The control and forced ignorance of the Graces. It had all been triggered by Constance.

The weight of it stunned me to silence.

Sebastian handed me the apple. “Rest, Purity, and try to stay calm. Nothing bad is going to happen to you or the Aidis. He will marry somebody else just like the last Aidis did, and your life will be easier now. No more games. You will be free to live your life and help us shape Atos as a valued member of the empire. Everything hard is over now.”

I nodded and mechanically took a bite. I had to stop them. I had to help Ethen. He had shown me so much devotion, and I had shown him so little back. He had waited decades just to kiss me. He had risked everything for me—even war.

And I loved him. Our relationship might be a shadow of the one that had come before. I might be a shadow. But I could still love him enough to fight against this marriage to some Amazone against his will, to not want his children kept away from him and used for their powers.

But I needed to know why he hadn’t come. Was it because he knew my being alone in my rooms was a trap? I didn’t think that would stop him. Had he given up on me? Or was there something else. He had saved me in the council room, wouldn’t he save me again? Even if he no longer planned to take me away? I didn’t understand him well enough.

I needed to beher—not a shallow Grace with no memories or thoughts of her own, but the strong woman Ethen had loved even beyond death. I needed to be Snow.

The Graces brought to life by Constance had no memories. She could only bring back the bare essence of who they’d once been. But my soul had been extracted by Ismara before Constance had seen my light and grabbed it. My memories were still there, if only seen in glimpses. I wasn’t a shadow. IwasSnow.

I needed to see it all. The strengths seen by Ethen’s Aida friends. The weaknesses seen by Ava. Only then could I really be me. And only then would I know how to help Ethen.

I twisted the plain gold band around my wrist. “Thank you for the apple, but…please can I have a pomegranate, instead?”

Constance raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked to Sebastian as she stood. “I don’t see why not. I will fetch one from the kitchen.”

I closed my eyes and calmed my racing heart. “Thank you.”

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

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