Page 90 of Stardust Child

“You won’t know unless you come back,” she said a little fiercely. “But if I don’t, then…we’ll…we’ll just have to try some more.”

She made him laugh, and it made it easier to let her go.

As the gates creaked open and the morning light cascaded down the Berlawes, Ophele stood between Juste and Edemir to watch them go, petite and lovely in her fur-trimmed cloak with all her beautiful hair cascading loose over her shoulders, and no sign of tears in her eyes. She looked like his duchess. He couldn’t have put it into words, but to him, she had become Tresingale: everything he hoped it would become, and everything he wanted to protect.

At the front of the line, Tounot’s voice rose in a marching song, and Remin nudged Lancer forward, moving out of the gates.

Chapter 9 – The House on Top of the Hill

YEAR 794 OF THE DIVINE THE HOUSE OF AGNEPHUS

At Starfall in Segoile, there were many palaces.

Two were designated for an Empress.

Gentian Palace was the smaller of the two, a shining marble construct covered in carved, painted flowers. It had been built by Emperor Viotin Agnephus III, who had dearly loved his Empress, and surrounded her with dreaming blue gentians and fountains made of lapis and crystal. It was an annex to the Emperor’s own residence, and no one but the Emperor and his lady were permitted inside its central chamber. But stories told of the great crystal dome open to the stars, and the enormous round bed where white moonflowers climbed the walls to perfume the air.

When Emperor Bastin Agnephus was married in the spring of 794, that was not where he installed his Empress.

The Palace of the Distant Star was larger and further away, a grand complex with its own gardens, stables, and administrative buildings. It was situated on a hilltop on the western side of Starfall, with a high crystal tower that glowed even by starlight. Built by Emperor Deverin Agnephus, who hadnotloved his Empress, it was as far as it was possible to be from the Emperor’s residence while still being within the walls of the sacred city.

Empress Esmene had not had everything her way. The wedding ceremony had been held, but it was a week before she came to Starfall, in an open carriage that proclaimed the arrival of the new mistress of the Empire and with no acknowledgement whatsoever from Bastin. The week’s delay had been due to House Melun’s attempt to have her installed in Gentian Palace, but Bastin would sooner have burned it to the ground. This was not something they could force him to do. If she wanted to live in Starfall, it would be in the Palace of the Distant Star, or not at all.

It was said that the sight of that palace’s crystal tower, a tiny gleam as if from one of the fainter stars, had soothed Deverin Agnephus, as if his Empress had been located in some faraway galaxy. It was a mild comfort to Bastin Agnephus to know that he was not the first Emperor to loathe his wife, but the fact that that Melun woman resided within Starfall at all was like knowing there was a snake in his chamber. Somewhere.

“Nothing to be done about it now, Divinity,” Laud Ereguil counseled sensibly. “Might be best to come to terms with her.”

“Like you have with your betrothed?” Bastin inquired waspishly. Everyone was talking about how Laud Ereguil, young, wealthy, and the highest-ranking unwed noble in the Empire, had been ensnared by one of Segoile’s most infamous Roses. It was perilously easy for an unwary man to be maneuvered into compromising a maiden, even if he was a duke. The only recourse for an honorable man was to propose.

Laud’s face darkened.

“I’ll hear her out, at least,” he growled, though he didn’t look pleased with the idea. “But yours is not the first political marriage in history, Radiance. As my sister has been reminding me, one party is almost always reluctant in these situations.”

“I’m surprised the lady caught you,” Bastin remarked, giving his friend an opening to talk about his troubles, if he wanted to. Bastin was deeply sympathetic to anyone who was forced to marry.

“They’re always wanting mercenaries in Rendeva,” Laud replied, and won a wan smile.

It was true, though, that his was not the first political marriage in history, and he was certainly not the first Emperor who had been forced into one. Maybe it would have been possible to make peace with it, in time. If Esmene had come to him herself, he might have found a way todeal with her. If he could have separated her from House Melun and its demands, it might have been more bearable. Or even if they had just left him in peace to get used to the idea, perhaps…

“I regret that the Temple has also expressed concern,” said Duke Dardot Melun, head of House Melun and father of Esmene. He had been pressing for an audience with the Emperor for over a month, and Bastin had only granted it when Melun threatened to call in the House of Agnephus’s considerable debts.

“If the Temple is concerned, they can come say so themselves,” Bastin replied, seated at his desk and pretending to focus on one of the many papers there.

“I would be reluctant to involve them in anyformalway, especially in a matter that involves my own divine son-in-law…” Melun trailed off, letting the implication linger.

For all the divine blood in Bastin’s veins, both of them knew who held the power here. Dardot Melun had a great many strings he could pull: financial, religious, political, and—if Bastin was truly willing to make it a contest—perhaps he would even use the Court of War, which had long been in Melun hands. The Empire’s finances were in ruins after the failed campaigns in the Andelin, the position of the Temple was very clear on the necessity of consummating a marriage, and the Court of Nobility had already made its ruling on the validity of Bastin’s betrothal.

But it wasn’t enough for House Melun to place their daughter on the throne. No, no. They wanted the succession, without delay. Bastin set down his quill and met his father-in-law’s eyes, cold and flat.

“Does your daughter know you’re here?”

This was probably the last chance for peace.

“A maiden, even an Empress, cannot press such a delicate matter for herself,” said Melun, with a smile that confirmed that this was in fact at her request, and it felt as if something in Bastin’s chest solidified into ice.

“You may leave.” He was so angry, he could barely speak the words. And not just with his bitch of a wife or her bastard father. Bastin hated his own father with such venom, he ordered all the busts and portraits of the man removed from Starfall that same day. His father was responsible for this. He had bankrupted the House of Agnephus with futile wars, then sold his son to pay for it.

The next day, he went to the Palace of the Distant Star.

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