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Chapter Forty-Two

Aurelia

M y thudding pulse chases my footsteps through the halls. I gesture for Marc to follow me all the way into the mirror room along with Axius.

I’m not facing the woman who’s determined to crush me alone.

The air in the hidden room off the imperial office tastes even staler than usual. It fills my lungs with a weight I can’t shake off.

I step in front of the mirror slowly, with my head held high. Tribune Valerisse’s image shows on the gleaming surface. Her dark eyes narrow at the sight of me.

She stands with a strict military posture, her lean frame emanating the athletic strength I’ve seen from her in motion.

The tightness of her thrice-braided hair looks equally strict, securing every chestnut-brown strand away from her coppery face.

She’s still wearing a high officer’s uniform, her gray- and-black jacket and trousers perfectly smooth and unblemished.

There are no ambitions of imperial purple on her… yet.

“Aurelia,” she says in her brusque voice, as if we’re equals—or as if I’m below her, from her disdainful tone. “Good. I wanted to give you one final chance to step down with a little grace before I knock you off that throne.”

I stare right back at her, summoning all the calm I can. “That won’t be happening—either part of it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” She flicks her fingers toward the mirror. “Did you really think I wouldn’t hear about your plotting with the minor royals? I’ve confiscated all of these blessed relics. The only one who’ll be communicating with you through them is me.”

My gut hollows out. My one clear connection to the royal families is lost. My offering to Jurnus has been ruined.

How much does she suspect? What are my chances of persuading them to help if she’s scrutinizing their movements even more warily than before?

Valerisse isn’t finished. Her lips curl with a trace of a sneer.

“The discovery inspired me to conduct a more thorough assessment of my forces. You won’t be hearing from any of your spies again either.

The people of Rodrige will be admiring their strung-up corpses until the birds pick clean their bones. ”

The well of cool serenity inside me turns to ice. The chill spreads through my veins.

I only keep my horror from my voice through sheer force of effort. “All of this is treason, tribune. I’m acting in protection of the empire by the rights granted to me?—”

“Sabrelle has removed her favor,” Valerisse interrupts. “The empire wouldn’t exist without her support, and she wants you gone. I’m pleased to be her champion. And she’s given me such a gift to bolster my divine mission. ”

She shoves up the sleeve of her jacket in a jerk. Her arm beneath is bare nearly to her shoulder—where, just below the short sleeve of her shirt, a steel armband grips her bicep.

A hound and a stallion bound across the metal ring. Their eyes flash with tiny rubies.

Beside me, Axius sucks in a hitch of breath. I can’t breathe at all.

This must be why Valerisse lingered in Rodrige despite sending some of her army onward. She was searching for the same relic Linus sent me on a hunt for months ago, the one I purposefully refused to find while giving him a replica instead.

The Sabrelle-blessed armband Elox felt was too dangerous to remain in mortal hands. The ornament designed to give the wearer all possible boldness in battle.

Now it encircles Valerisse’s arm like a divine mandate.

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out.

Valerisse scoffs and lets her sleeve drop. “We march on Vivencia with no further delays. Your days are numbered, false empress, and that number is dwindling faster than you can imagine.”

Before I can say a word, the image in the mirror wavers and snaps away.

I sway on my feet for a moment before my legs stiffen enough to catch my balance. My voice comes out hoarse. “Summon my other advisors. We need to meet at once.”

Less than an hour later, I rest my hands on the tabletop in the strategy room, needing all the steadiness I can gain from its cool, solid surface. “And how long will it take before Valerisse’s forces are at Vivencia’s walls?”

The scowl that’s marked Axius’s face since the tribune delivered her announcement deepens.

He motions to the map of Dariu expanded on the table’s surface.

“Most of her followers are infantry, traveling on foot. Even if she sets a hard pace, we have about a week. And I doubt she wants them exhausted when they reach us.”

Counsel Etta speaks up. “But she’s using even that timeline against you. We’ve already gotten a report from one of the border towns her army passed by—they pillaged the place for supplies and declared it your fault for refusing to back down.”

Cleric Pierus winces. “She wants all the common people to blame the war and its hardships on you even though she initiated it.”

“If she can convince them that I’m holding on to the throne illegitimately, they’ll believe her.

” I pinch the bridge of my nose as if that sensation will bring my frantic thoughts into better focus.

The uncomfortable weight in my chest has only grown with the passing minutes, as if I’m carrying a boulder.

A boulder Valerisse and her patron godlen heaved at me. And I have no one I can hand it off to.

“We have no real choice, do we?” I say. “We need to face her and put all our power into shutting down this incursion.”

The high commander shifts uneasily on his feet.

“By every report, her army far outnumbers the forces we’ve been able to gather—and some of our people are still recovering from the pox.

We may be a little better off by the time she reaches Vivencia, but to order them to take up a strenuous march right now… ”

I might be sending them to certain death, with plenty of discomfort along the way.

I swallow a sigh. “If the other kingdoms will contribute?— ”

Etta frowns. “We can’t count on them. Gods only know how she’s threatened them after discovering the mirrors.”

Which could work in my favor, making the thought of her victory even less palatable…

or very well work against it, making the risk of supporting me feel too great.

And we have no way of knowing which it’ll be when I can’t get a message to them and a response back in the time it’ll take for Valerisse’s army to arrive at my doorstep.

“I’ve signaled my sister,” I say. “What support Accasy can supply will be on their way.”

But marching little faster than Valerisse’s people are capable of… We might already have fallen by the time Soreena reaches us if we’re otherwise left to our own devices.

Axius looks as if he’s carrying a boulder on his shoulders as well. “I’ve been scouring the last missives we received from our spies for any details that could indicate a weakness… Perhaps she missed one or two of them and we’ll hear more still.”

“You haven’t gotten anything in the past couple of days, have you?”

He shakes his head. “No, but there was often a day or two between notes even before. They’d need to be even more cautious now. There’s a chance.”

A chance. How flimsy must it be?

Neither of us mention the prince we sent off into Valerisse’s domain. I have no idea if Raul even reached Lavira.

Was his attempt to steal the mirror there what alerted Valerisse to my gambit?

If her soldiers caught him in the act, I can’t imagine there’s any chance at all she’s allowed him to live.

An ache squeezes tight around my heart, bringing the burn I’ve been struggling to suppress back into my eyes. I blink hard and drag in a breath .

None of the advisors around me has any idea just how much Raul meant to me. They wouldn’t understand how shaken I am.

I can’t appear weak even before them, not when I’m barely holding on to this empire as it is.

“We have time to gather more information and devise additional strategies,” I say finally. The statement doesn’t feel definitive enough, but I’m not going to give orders I can’t say for sure won’t screw us over rather than bring us closer to victory.

How did I ever believe I was going to win against a woman so bolstered by the godlen of war?

Axius nods sharply. “I’ll have more possibilities to present to you in the morning.”

The cleric clasps his hands in front of him. “You should speak to the court tonight. Murmurs are passing through the halls—they need clear information and reassurance.”

I’m not sure I have much of either to offer, but I’ll have to conjure some no matter how I feel.

I dip my head in acknowledgment. “Have them gather in the audience hall at the ninth bell. I need a short while to think through what I’ll say.” My gaze slides over the tabletop. “Perhaps this image of our great country will inspire me.”

It’s more that I don’t want to have to step out into those halls and face the murmurs myself just yet, but my advisors take my request at face value. With a few respectful parting words, they file out of the strategy room.

When it’s only me and Marc at his post by the door, I slump over the table, my head on my arms. The weight pressing down on me might as well be an entire mountain.

Careful footsteps cross the floor. Marc sets his hand on my back. “We aren’t going to let her win.”

I force myself to raise my head with a hasty swipe of my eyes. “So many people have suffered—so many people are suffering—because I’ve refused to back down.”

“And how many more do you think will suffer in the future if you let her steer the empire to her ends?” He grips my shoulder with a firm squeeze. “I know that’s not the empire I want to be living in.”

“It’s closer to your family’s legacy than anything I planned,” I mutter.

The moment the words have tumbled from my mouth, a jolt of regret hits me. But Marc only chuckles roughly and gives me a gentle tug to my feet.

Face to face, he holds my gaze, his hands wrapping around mine. “We’re going to make our own legacy. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to look or if I’ll approve of every part of it, but I want to see what this world can be when you get to stretch your wings.”

My throat constricts. Apparently he’s forgiven me for wanting to destroy the dominance the imperial family established so long ago.

The knowledge doesn’t touch the deepest pain inside me. The thought of the other man who might never stand with me like this again, who I might have sent to his death, digs into my chest like a shard of glass.

Something must show in my expression, because Marc touches my cheek. He doesn’t have to ask what else I’d be anguished about.

“Raul will make it back,” he says, like a promise. “I’ve never met a man more devoted or more stubborn.”

“I don’t think devotion or stubbornness are all that good at deflecting swords.”

“She’d have to catch him first. He’s got plenty of talent to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Which is why I sent him. Why he might have insisted on going even if I hadn’t. But what does any placing of responsibility or blame matter if he’s gone?

I inhale with a hitch of my lungs. “I’ve tried so hard to be fair to everyone, to minimize any harm… but maybe I reached too far, too fast.”

Marc makes a dismissive sound. “Do you think he’d have encouraged you to do anything other than try for everything you can? I know I wouldn’t.”

As I meet his eyes again, he leans in to brush his lips to mine.

It’s the first time he’s kissed me since he discovered the full extent of my plans. The offering is tentative at first, as if he thinks I might not welcome him .

I loop my arms behind his neck and kiss him back with all the affection I have in me.

Does Marc have any idea how much it means that the man who once looked at me with such skepticism now throws himself whole-heartedly behind my schemes—even to his own detriment? What I feel for him could never threaten my love for my princes, but our bond is just as special no matter how different.

They stood by me through the worst I faced, schemed alongside me every step of the way.

He gave himself over, choosing to lose his brother, his throne, and his empire rather than lose me.

When our lips part, Marc tips his forehead so it rests against mine. He traces the line of my jaw in a caress that only softens the ache inside a little. “If I could do anything to bring him back faster, to stop Valerisse before her soldiers get anywhere near you…”

“I know. You’ve already done a lot. Maybe we all simply need to sleep on this problem, and answers will come to us.”

I don’t really believe it’ll be that easy, and I doubt Marc does either. But he doesn’t argue, only teases his fingertips over my hair with a soft smile. “I have every faith that you’ll prevail.”

I can’t stop myself from bobbing up on my toes to claim one more kiss. Marc hums encouragingly and nudges me up against the table—and the door hinges squeak alongside a gasp.

The two of us jerk apart, far too late. As a flush burns across my cheeks, I find myself staring into the shocked face of the footman who pushed open the door, his lips parted as if frozen before he could speak a greeting.

Beyond him, several more faces set in equally startled expressions stare in at us: my other guards and a baron and baronissa whose eyes have gone totally round.

“Your Imperial Highness,” the footman fumbles. “The—er—Baron Nonum and his wife wished to speak?—”

“It’s all right,” the baron interrupts. “We can see the empress is… otherwise occupied.”

He and the baronissa scurry off, no doubt to share the gossip with the first members of court they can find.

My stomach flips over. I’ve certainly given them something to talk about.

Have I just shaken the court’s faith in me even more?