Page 105 of This Monster of Mine

Sarai’s eyebrow drew together. “Cisuré wasn’t acquainted with Aelius then.”

“She wasn’t?” Linus snorted, and a strange sick premonition rose in her as she thought back to haltingly answered questions and the odd hints of history between Aelius and her oldest friend. “Four years ago, he brought her here and vowed before the Elsar to make her his Petitor.” He shuddered. “And here we are. Like he knew that the previous three would die.”

She staggered in shock. “They knew each other before the Robing?”

He looked at her like she was dim. “That girl has been trailing after him for years now, from the temple to his vigile station. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a regular in his bed—”

“Enough!” she interrupted sharply. “I asked for facts, not defamation.”

Relishing his dropped jaw, she took a steadying breath, ordering the gaping hole in her stomach to close. She would make sense of everything later, from Cisuré signing the warrant to why she’d lied to her. Right now, she had a job to do.

“Besides the scuta, have you heard of any runes or magic that require faith to work?”

“A Summoning could qualify,” Linus muttered. “But that depends primarily on the summoner’s will, though that can be intertwined with faith.”

So there’s no precedent for Aelius’s supposed ancient runes. Another strike in her favor. “Our magic isn’t infinite. It gets depleted and needs recovery like any other muscle. So why do you think the scuta work every second of the day?”

“Faith doesn’t tire,” Linus mumbled. “I don’t understand what you two want. Jovian asked the same questions. Not a lot of faith in him either and look at where it got him.”

Exchanging a glance with Kadra, she thanked the disgruntled Master Cleric and left with his reluctant promise to let her rummage in the Temple’s library.

An ever-increasing din greeted her outside. Just past the gate fencing the Temple, thousands descended upon the Aequitas, elbowing each other for entrance.

Admia’s trial. Her shoulders sagged. Aelius had wasted no time in rushing the conviction. All the evidence on iron dust that she’d been hoping to Materialize from Admia’s head was going to be lost upon her death.

“He’s charged her with treason for offing Helvus. She’ll be subjected to a Summoning,” Kadra murmured behind her. “Only two events command this high a turnout. The Robing. Or a god.”

She cursed. “How did no one question the scuta? Why pay for and plant something outside their homes without knowing how it worked?”

“Some questions are dangerous,” Kadra said softly. “The scuta are a culmination of every ounce of the people’s faith in the Guilds, theTetrarchy, and the gods. Unknotting that tangle means daring to question all of it. Few ever start.”

“You did.”

A grave sigh left him. “And it changed nothing.”

“It brought me here,” she said and sensed him turn to her. She watched the crowd surging into the Aequitas. “I should go see it, shouldn’t I?”

His gaze ranged from her clenched hands to the pulse throbbing at the base of her throat. “Aelius is presiding over it.”

She raised her chin, mounting Caelum. “I’ll have to contend with him at some point.”

“Your friend will be there too.”

“I—” Her voice cracked. “I know.”

He watched her for a moment. Then, moving to Caelum’s side, he reached up and gently cupped her cheek.

“Come outside when it’s over. I’ll accompany you home.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with worse.”

“I can tell.” His voice went even softer. “But you aren’t alone anymore.”

He turned abruptly and mounted his horse, veering toward his Quarter in a blur of black and gold. Spreading her fingers over the warm impression of his hand, Sarai decided that they’d both gone mad.Everything has changed.

When not involved in a trial, Petitors held the best seats in the Aequitas: in the first row, to the right of the dais where the presiding Tetrarch sat, and directly before the defendant.

Admia was a wreck of blood. It trailed from lacerations in her flesh, dampening her tunic as Aelius’s vigiles gave her a few choice prods across the stage. A month ago, she’d swanned about Aelius’s convivium. Now, she raised her head at his command, battered features emanating loathing.

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