Page 99 of A Vow of Embers

“I was going to, but I decided to stay behind with Zalira. She’s worried about running into Stephanos. Suri and Ahyana will come with you.”

“So she told you?” I asked, and Io nodded sadly. She was tugging at the dress on my right and accidentally pressed against the part that hurt.

“Ow!” I said.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine. Just a bruise. Is there something in Ilion where when people get married, if one person gets hurt, the other person does too?”

She looked at me, extremely confused, but my whole adelphia had become accustomed to me asking strange questions without explaining why. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. But I have access to research materials now, so I can look it up.”

“From where?”

“I met with the healers and they agreed to train me.” She finished tucking my dress and stepped back to admire her handiwork. “Not that they have much of a choice. Xander told them they had to help me. In the lead healer’s vault, there was an ancient book they had locked up in a glass case. I broke the lock and took it.”

“Io! What are you going to do when he finds out it’s gone?”

“Who’s going to accuse a princess of stealing?” she asked.

“But you did steal it.”

“Yes, but he won’t accuse me of it. He was the one who left the vault open, which is dangerous because that’s where they keep the worst poisons. And gallons of my father’s truth serum.”

“Truth serum?”

She placed some combs in my hair, pulling it back from my face. “My father didn’t trust anyone at the court, and so he used to put that serum in every bottle of wine and every bit of food so that people couldn’t lie to him. He was a bit paranoid, especially toward the end. What I should do is pour that serum down both your and Xander’s throats so that you two will admit to your true feelings.”

“We have admitted to them. We hate each other.”

“So you keep saying.” Her tone indicated she did not believe me. Io patted at her side, as if she expected to find something. “I miss the pouches we used to wear at the temple. Maybe I’ll start wearing mine again. They’re convenient for keeping everything you need close by.”

Ahyana and Suri entered the room and they had both dressed up. I told them they looked beautiful. Suri pointed at me and gave me a thumbs-up while Ahyana told me to turn around. I whirled once and she laughed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. You look wonderful. I just feel bad for the prince.”

“Me too,” Io said with a smile. “You go and have fun, and I’m going to curl up with my book. I’ll let you know if I find anything useful.”

Suri seemed to know where we were headed, so I followed her. I kept putting a hand against my somewhat bare stomach, trying to keep the two panels flat against me. We hadn’t gone very far when Stephanos approached us.

“Ahyana?” He sounded bewildered and then began to look around. “Is Zalira here? Where is she?”

“I’m going to talk to him,” she said. “I’ll catch up with you.”

Part of me wanted to stay behind and support her, but I knew she could handle this alone. I hoped Stephanos didn’t try to find Zalira. She wasn’t ready to see him. Suri and I continued on and I realized that this was the first time I’d been alone with her since they’d arrived.

“There is a treasury here. I want to steal a key and have you help me search it to see if the eye is here.”

She nodded but she had that wary expression on her face. The one that said she was concerned.

And that she wanted me to tell the rest of the adelphia.

“I can’t tell them. I can’t risk Io confessing it to her brother. And you know that’s a possibility.”

Suri frowned at me, letting me know her thoughts on that.

“That’s not fair,” I said. “She’s done it before. If she thinks finding the eye will put me in danger, she would be the first one to tell Alexandros.”