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Chapter Forty-Six

Aurelia

A t the medic’s words, a chill sweeps through me. My jaw goes slack for a second before I attempt to compose myself.

My guards are already hustling forward, two of them grabbing the devout by the arms. He struggles against their grasp, his eyes flashing. “The empress tarnishes Elox’s name. She calls him her chosen godlen, and yet she’ll give us no peace!”

Is that what he’s taken offense to about me? He thinks I should roll over and let Valerisse trample me, my daughter, and the empire I’ve given so much to save?

As my teeth set on edge, crimson light flickers around the man. A glowing image of a stallion rears over him before vanishing in a blink of an eye.

He has Sabrelle’s support too. Of course he does—she’s found a way to twist even the ideals of the godlen most opposite her to her ends.

“That’s enough,” one of my guards snaps. More soldiers are closing in to drag my critic away.

And the entire crowd is gaping, the celebratory atmosphere I managed to create disintegrating.

“Wait!” I step toward the medic, ignoring the lurch of my heart and Marc’s grunt of protest.

My people need to see that I am still in favor of peace wherever I can have it. That I won’t shout down complaints without giving them due thought.

I tap my bodice over my godlen brand. “I follow the teachings of our godlen of healing and peace as closely as I’m able. Elox has never called for an absence of all violence. One of his greatest teachings is that sometimes blood must be spilled to clear the ground for peace.”

A principle that helped keep me strong while I schemed to murder not one but two emperors.

The medic screws up his face as if he’s considering spitting at me. “You’ll bring only ruin. You’ve placed yourself above it all, no matter what words you speak. Nothing touches you, and you think that’s made you divine, higher than the rest of us who’ll suffer.”

His accusations sound like a bunch of vague blather, but my mind locks on to the comment about nothing touching me. What does he think has tried to “touch” me?

We knew someone at the palace must have been rousing members of staff against me. Is he upset that I’ve escaped those attacks?

Perhaps we’ve found the traitor who riled up the other staff against me. Hiding among us in plain sight all this time…

I don’t wish the crowd to hear about the threats I’ve faced and to wonder how many more I can endure after all, so I keep that suspicion to myself.

“I promise you, none of that is true,” I say. “It’s the enemies of the empire who are threatening us with ruin. I’ve never struck out against anyone. I meditate with Elox every day, and I know?—”

“You pervert his cause! You twist his ideals! You?—”

One of the soldiers clutching the medic’s arm slaps a hand over his mouth. “The ravings of a lunatic,” she hollers for the benefit of the crowd.

Or one whose mind is addled by another godlen’s influence.

I swallow thickly, groping for the right words to set this spectacle back on the right course. My sense of certainty escapes me.

What if he isn’t totally mad? Can I really say I’ve set the empire on a more peaceful course with all my schemes?

I lift my hands skyward in a silent plea to Elox. An omen from him now would settle all this conflict.

For a few strained thuds of my heart, nothing comes. Then a pale glow forms around me, shimmering off my skin.

I’d almost believe it really is my godlen signaling his approval… except it doesn’t hold the same unearthly warmth I’ve felt from Elox’s touch before.

My gaze twitches sideways. Lorenzo meets my eyes, his face set with concentration.

He’s conjuring this illusion for me, to “prove” I’m worthy before the crowd by whatever means necessary.

We really are facing all our challenges together, aren’t we?

I tamp down a pained laugh. The crowd is gasping in awe. Even the medic has stopped struggling, his eyes wide with his startled stare.

Let’s end this .

I extend my arms toward our audience. “Please, revel in the peace we have and all those you love!”

A renewed wave of cheers breaks out.

The soldiers escort the medic away, presumably to lock him up in the palace cells alongside the junior staff he roped into his plot, and my personal guards close in around me.

Marc’s voice comes out tight. “We should get you back to the palace.”

For once, I don’t mind him giving the orders.

My three princes accompany me in the imperial carriage for the short drive. Even though my gut is still tangled about our last moments in the square, I reach toward the opposite bench to squeeze Lorenzo’s hand. “Thank you.”

He smiles crookedly and makes a sign that amounts to, I’m here for you.

Raul huffs. “Is there no depth Sabrelle won’t stoop to? Can’t she admit when she’s wrong? What fucking good is might if you throw it around like a club, battering everyone in sight?”

Bastien’s face is drawn. “She’s been the primary godlen of the most powerful country in the continent for centuries. I suppose even the divinities aren’t exempt from ego.”

“She’d better get over it soon.”

Or we’ll do what? It isn’t as if we can literally go face to face with her, only the hordes of supporters she keeps flinging at me.

Bastien turns to me. Some of the tension fades from his expression with the brightening of his dark green eyes. “You really told them. You—they all know now.”

Yes. The enormity of the announcement I made before the medic’s interruption washes over me again in a giddy wave. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you what I intended. I didn’t want any of you trying to argue me out of doing it.”

Where he’s sitting next to me, Raul hooks his arm around mine. “You were amazing. Not that I think we should start getting you off in front of the entire court, but… it’ll be pretty incredible not having to pretend I see you as nothing but my empress.”

His remark brings a mix of joy and nervousness squirming through my chest. The common people accepted my confession well enough, but they see me as a figure nearly as high above them as the gods. The court only just swallowed the idea that I’ve dallied with a guard.

Well, at least the princes are about as close to my station as anyone can get. And my earlier point about Marclinus’s many indiscretions will hopefully stick in their minds enough to stop them from muttering too openly about the number of partners I’ve accumulated.

I smile at all of my lovers, shoving my nerves down to wriggle in my gut. “I wish I could have brought our love out into the light sooner.”

Lorenzo brings my hand to his lips. “I’d have stood beside you in secret my whole life if that’s how it needed to be, Rell.”

That’s all the conversation we have time for before the carriage jerks to a halt by the main palace entrance. As I step out before the looming marble structure, the worries I tried to suppress come crawling up again.

“I should go to the temple,” I say. “Give myself over to a more intensive meditation with my godlen. I don’t want Elox to think I value the illusion of his support over the genuine article.”

Please, let him not be offended by Lorenzo’s hasty deception. He wouldn’t have wanted one of his disciples to wrench me off course, would he?

Perhaps I haven’t given him enough consideration these past several weeks while I’ve courted the favor of his fellow godlen.

None of my husbands, not even Marc, protests that we have more important matters to see to. Perhaps they recognize the importance of this task to my confidence.

“Do you want company?” Bastien asks.

I shake my head. “No, I’ll focus better on my own. I’ll see you soon.”

And then, because I now dare to even with nobles departing from their own carriages farther down the drive, I lean in to give him a quick kiss.

The prince of Cotea’s pale skin flushes from neck to cheeks. A little of my giddiness returns, enough to carry me through the palace halls to the temple doorway.

As Marc peers into the domed space, he frowns. “Now that one devout has come at you, I’m not sure we should hang back even in here.”

“He only threw words at me. I escaped unharmed.” In any outward fashion, anyway. “I have faith that the gods will watch over me.”

He backs down, though his frown doesn’t budge.

I kneel on the now-familiar silk cushion beneath Elox’s placid statue and close my eyes.

My godlen didn’t lend his support during the confrontation I just faced. Did I offend him in some way before today?

I tip my head to the light that streams through the stained-glass panes above. Elox, I welcome your guidance as I always do. If you feel I’ve gone astray or that I’ve failed to do your principles justice, please let me see.

As my heart thuds on, the shapes on my eyelids barely budge. A sense of hopelessness has started to well inside me when my mind drifts into a dream-like vision.

The whole of the empire stretches before me like it does on the map table in the strategy room. I hold my arms toward it as I did to the audience in the city square, and gentle white light washes across every town and river, forest and mountain.

The vision dwindles as quickly as it rose up. I blink and peer up at Elox’s statue.

Is he saying that I’m on the right path to spreading peace as we always imagined? Or is he telling me I need to do more to make it happen?

Why has he gone so distant when I need him most?

A cleared throat breaks through my uneasy contemplation. When I glance toward the doorway, Axius has joined my guards.

He stays where he is, but I’m not sure there’s anything more I can glean from this place.

I get to my feet and hurry over. “What is it?”

The high commander grimaces. “I apologize for interrupting your worship, Your Imperial Highness. We’ve had a new communication through your… most direct means.”

The mirror. My breath snags in my throat. “Valerisse again?”

What new threats could she throw at me?

Axius dismisses my suggestion with a twitch of his head. “It seems she wasn’t able to take control over every artifact you put in place. Although I don’t know what the message is.”

He doesn’t feel comfortable saying more when staff or members of the court might be near enough to overhear. I can appreciate his discretion, even as the suspense gnaws at me all the way to the mirror room.

Lorenzo is already in the office waiting for me, a cautious smile lighting his face. My heart skips a beat. “Your mother?”

He nods and beckons me into the mirror room. “I haven’t spoken with her yet, but Axius summoned me.”

I suppose it’s unsurprising that Valerisse’s reach couldn’t extend to stealing back the relic I gifted to Queen Anahi. I’m not sure how quickly the tribune could communicate with any soldiers who might still be loyal to her all the way in Rione.

Small blessings.

As we position ourselves before the mirror, the queen of Rione studies both me and her son with an oddly tentative air.

Remembering the news I’ve now made public, I let myself twine my fingers with Lorenzo’s in front of her.

He glances down with a jolt of shock and then smiles far more brilliantly than before, adjusting his grip on my hand.

When I return my attention to the queen, she’s outright staring, but a trace of a smile has touched her own lips.

“An image came to me not long ago,” she says. “Of you standing with my son—and two of the other princes the empire has taken in?—and declaring what he means to you. It felt so real… It was, wasn’t it?”

Even if Elox has eased back, Ardone must have spread the pronouncement of my love. A heady shiver passes through my chest.

I squeeze Lorenzo’s hand. “It was. I thought, with the relationship I’m hoping to form with Rione and the other conquered countries, that I should be open about the smaller relationships that will help us build those first bridges. Although they don’t feel all that small to us.”

“No. I can imagine they don’t.” She pauses. “I’ve also gotten wind that your enemy is on the move.”

I lift my chin. “That’s true. We expect to have to engage her forces in a matter of days.”

“And woe betide us all if she strikes you down,” Queen Anahi says, sounding as if she actually means it.

She dips her head to me. “Let us begin our relationship of cooperation in earnest now, Your Imperial Highness. I’ve already sent all the soldiers we can offer to the boats to set sail on your word.

They’ll reach you as quickly as they’re able. ”

My lungs tighten. I can’t imagine Rione’s squadrons alone will be enough to turn the tide.

I don’t know if I can promise them anything but a slaughter.

But she’s putting her trust in me. I have to accept it—and ensure I prove her right.

“Send them,” I say, with all the determination I can summon. “Let us put down the usurper and usher in the future every country of the empire deserves.”