Page 16

Aurora

“T his is all just a formality. I promise,” Damian said through clenched teeth as we walked the hallway toward the sovereign’s office. Jair walked ahead, while his men trailed behind in pairs. “Nothing is going to happen.”

“Relax,” I said, putting a hand on his forearm as I tried to exude far more confidence than I felt. “It’s going to be okay.”

“That’s what I just said.”

“So, why does it feel like I’m the only one who believes it?” I teased.

Damian’s face grew even more closed off.

“I’m serious. If, as you say, this is all just formality, then that means it’s theatrics. A show.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” he confirmed.

“I know all about that,” I told him. “It’s politics. I can handle politics. Given I’m innocent, it’s going to be even easier.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” he grated. “That’s the problem. The sovereign doesn’t do things ‘for show.’ She’s a better leader than that.”

“Then why is she doing it?” The answer came to me before Damian replied. “She isn’t, is she? This reeks of something else.”

“There are several members of the ruling council with her,” Jair mumbled under his breath. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

I looked at the back of his head. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He still didn’t look back.

I let it drop, understanding full well what he was doing and the tightrope he was walking because of his respect for Damian.

When we reached the office of the sovereign, Jair rapped his knuckles respectfully on her door and announced us.

Damian smiled at the commotion on the other side. Clearly, whoever was in there with the sovereign did not like hearing that Damian had come along as well.

“Enter,” a cool female voice called a second later.

Jair let us through the door but remained outside, closing it behind us.

“My sovereign,” Damian greeted the woman sitting behind the big desk with extreme honor, saluting with his arm across his chest, fist to chest, elbow out, and then bowed deeply.

Taking a cue from him, I curtsied politely, deciding it best to treat the sovereign as a foreign monarch until told otherwise.

“How may we be of service?” he asked, standing stiffly at attention.

He didn’t, I noticed, address the trio of individuals standing off to the side of the sovereign. In fact, he didn’t even glance at them.

It was an interesting array of characters. The locus of power in the room was very clearly the woman behind the large desk. From the way she sat to the perfection of her platinum hair and the sharp glitter of eyes a similar shade of green as my own, it all ensured she was the center of attention.

I had to admire it because she did it all without moving, without needing any gimmicks or trickery. She simply was the seat of power. And nobody could change that.

The three people standing to her right, however, were so coated in slime it was easy to tell they were career politicians. They liked the game and the power that came with it. They didn’t, however, have any of their own. Two of them stood out, the man on the left with the perfectly groomed hair and impeccable suit, and the woman in the center with the permanent sneer twisting her nearly gaunt facial features.

Immediately, I knew they were the loudmouths. The outspoken ones with far too high a sense of self. I ignored them and instead focused on the man to the right, standing closest to the sovereign.

“Councilor Kerstun,” Damian said very quietly, noting my shift of attention. “In the middle is Councilor Laurana and then Councilor Parun.”

I filed those names away. Kerstun. Laurana. Parun. Whoever they were, despite their shortcomings, they’d amassed enough power to arrange this meeting in the middle of the night. That meant they were not just hot air bags who liked to hear themselves talk. Others listened to them as well.

“You stand close to a thief, Magistrate,” Councilor Laurana said, voice full of acid. Was that directed at me, or did she and Damian have history? I wasn’t sure.

“I stand where I belong, Councilor Laurana. And I would remind the councilor that I, not her, am the judge of who is or isn’t a criminal.”

The council woman’s amber eyes turned orange as flames danced through them, reflecting her anger at the rebuke.

“So, you willfully associate with a thief?” That time, Kerstun spoke up.

“As willfully as you throw around unproven accusations … Councilor.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from smiling. It was an excellent retort. Even the sovereign’s cheek twitched slightly. She didn’t intervene, however, and I didn’t have any knowledge of her to understand why. It could be because she agreed with the councilors and just found Damian funny. Or it could be that she disagreed and was staying silent to let him tear them apart. I just didn’t know yet.

“In the three days since the human arrived here, two important items have ‘gone missing,’” Council Laurana explained.

“My name is Aurora,” I said. “You can say it. I promise it won’t bite you.”

The female councilor’s eyes blazed with fresh fury at being spoken down to. “She was reported to have been seen wandering around on her very first night here. Several palace guards recalled seeing her outside of her quarters and not on the dormitory floor either. She seemed to be making her way lower.”

Beside me, Damian stiffened just a tad. I noted it and wondered at that. The councilor made no mention of me being on the restricted levels. He was only inferring I went there. Had Damian not told them where he’d found me? And if so, why keep that to himself?

“She was lost,” Damian said, speaking up.

“No, let’s be honest,” I said, putting a hand on his arm. The sovereign’s eyes saw that and narrowed slightly, but she made no comment. “I wasn’t lost. Well, I was , but it wasn’t on accident. I’d been trying to escape. To get out of the palace so I could go home.”

“Long swim,” Kerstun said with a snort.

I gave him an icy smile. “I was unaware at the time that we were on an island. After all, I’d only been here for a few hours at that point.”

“So, you admit to leaving the quarters and going elsewhere?”

“I do, Council Laurana.”

“You see? She was there. She was a human. She did it. She stole the scepter!” The sneer that seemed laser-etched onto Laurana’s face only deepened, further twisting her porcelain features into hatred.

“That’s your evidence?” I said, yawning deliberately. “That’s why you woke us all up at this hour?”

“It is enough,” Kerstun said confidently.

“Sure, for a prejudiced group like yourselves, I bet it is. You could convince yourselves of anything. Even if it’s far more likely that one of your own is behind this string of thefts. Especially given that they know what the hell has been stolen! As I said, I was here less than twenty-four hours. How could I have found out about this fancy scepter and stolen it and then somehow hidden it where you couldn’t find, all in that time?”

“That part is easy,” Council Parun said, finally speaking up. His voice was calm, matching the calculating look on his face. “You already knew about it. The knowledge was with your people ahead of time, and they sent you to get it.”

I laughed in his face, which the tall, somewhat slender, Parun clearly did not appreciate. “You’re joking, right? You have to be. There’s no way that argument stands up. If we’d known that much about you and your people, about dragons, then we could’ve done something to make sure we didn’t get our asses kicked so thoroughly by you.”

Parun glared, and I gave it right back.

“No humans have been to the island before now,” the sovereign said, interjecting. “They could not have known.”

“Unless someone told them,” Parun suggested.

“So, it was one of your own,” I pointed out. “Besides, if someone was sent to steal them, don’t you think they would send someone who could, I don’t know, not get caught ? Come on. I’m many things, but a competent thief is not one of them. Trying to put the blame on me reeks of desperation. I can smell it from here. So will the rest of your council, and you know it.”

“You might be surprised by what the council thinks,” Kerstun interjected, not happy with all the attention Parun was getting.

“Oh, so, they’re just as prejudiced as you three? That’s unfortunate. I’d hoped someone could get off their high horse and think critically instead of just yell loudly and maneuver for more power. Isn’t that what your people expect of you? Or are you more like humans than you care to admit, and are just doing this to look good for political gain?”

Damian didn’t bother to stifle his snort. That, combined with the three sets of daggers staring my way, told me everything I needed to know about the accuracy of my statement.

He did decide to speak up again at that point. “I will remind the council members that Aurora is under my protection. I have given my word to watch her. Any accusation against her is one against me. You may have your opinions on humans, but do you have any reason to doubt my word?”

I stayed quiet now, recognizing he was trying to end the sham of a meeting and send the council members packing. If I said much more, it would only rile them up more.

“Well?” the sovereign prompted her council members in the silence that followed. “Can any of you find fault in the magistrate?”

It was Parun who spoke for them all. “No, Sovereign, of course not.”

“Good.” Her voice was hard, emphasizing her feelings toward it all. “If there’s nothing else, then I thank you for your time, councilors.”

Everyone knew a dismissal when they heard one. For a moment, I thought Laurana was going to continue protesting, but a hard look from Parun sent her heading to the door.

I made eye contact with him as he passed. He looked at me and didn’t flinch.

That one is dangerous .

“I’m sorry for that,” the sovereign said once the door was closed and silence reigned again. “But they aren’t wrong. It is suspicious.”

“Of course,” Damian replied graciously. “But she was with me for the other time, and I have been given no reason to doubt her word. As you have seen, Aurora is not afraid to be honest.”

“Indeed,” the sovereign said, glancing between us. “I noticed that.”

“By your leave, then?” Damian asked, gesturing to the door.

“Unfortunately, there’s more bad news,” she said.

“More?”

The sovereign nodded. “One of our border guards is overdue to report in. I want you to see what you can find. Take her with you. That way, if anything else happens, you have an ironclad excuse, and we can begin to find out who is actually doing this.”

“Take her with me?” Damian glanced at me, then at his sovereign.

“She’s got a good spirit,” the sovereign replied lightly. “Yes, take her. Go find our missing guard. See what happened to him.”

“Of course,” Damian said.

We paid our respects and left.