Page 26 of Ties of Deception (Tethered Hearts)

Chapter

Twenty-Six

“ I ..I…” Why couldn’t I think of something to say? The empress lifted her chin, her expression smoothing as if she’d made up her mind.

“It was me.” I whirled around in shock to see Ethen enter the room with a stony, cold expression. It was that look I had never seen him wear in private—only intensified. It made him look like a villain. A complete stranger. He swaggered, his sword on his back, and everything about him seemed dangerous. He didn’t look my way or acknowledge me, his eyes fixed on the empress in challenge.

She stood in surprise, caution widening her eyes. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but what exactly was you?”

The corner of Ethen’s mouth curved into a smirk that was truly villainous, sending shivers down my spine. “I poisoned the ambassador, of course. I gave the remains of the poison in a vial to Lady Purity—she is one of the more gullible Graces—and persuaded her to believe that Lady Charity was behind it. The two are at odds and will believe anything negative about the other. There was no kitchen servant. I put it in his drink.”

The empress’s hand went to the base of her throat. “And why are you saying this now?”

He smirked. “Because I wanted everyone to know it was me. I used nightstar so that everyone sensible would assume the Unseen Lands were behind the assassination. However, your hopeless investigation is clouding my efforts. As much as I enjoy seeing the Graces squabble among themselves, I hadn’t expected their groundless accusations to be taken so seriously.”

The room stared at him in stunned silence. Half of the onlookers looked terrified; the others were too shocked to move. He still didn’t look at me—nobody was looking at me now.

It couldn’t be true. He was lying to save me, but…the way he spoke and acted was so convincing. And the details he gave…they fit.

It wasn’t hard to conjure Ava’s face in my mind and imagine her exasperated words. ‘See, I told you. He’s selfish. He’s only using you. He killed you in your last life. He’ll get you killed in this one too.’

The empress recovered enough to sit back on her throne with a regal pose. “You’re a guest at our court, yet you’ve murdered another of our guests and caused an international disturbance. Surely, you understand there will be severe consequences to your actions?”

He tilted his head, his expression so dangerous that I took an involuntary step back. He was terrifying when he acted like this. “Consequences? Do you not realize I could kill every person in this room in an instant? There is no Grace here with strong enough powers to counteract mine. None of them are my Fated.”

I stared at him in horror. This was just an act. It had to be an act. But it was also partially true. He could kill everyone here if he wanted. Is this how Ava had always seen him?

The empress gripped the armrests of her chair. “To make such a threat is an act of war against the empire. You may be powerful, Aidis, but your people are not. Nor are they numerous. Be very careful.”

The god of death flung back his head and laughed—a jarring, mocking sound. “Do as you wish. I don’t care.” He turned and walked out, the ferns either side of the door shriveling to brown. Not a single Amazone moved to stop him.

The room remained frozen, staring after him. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. Even if it had all been an act, this version of Ethen as the Aidis was shocking.

The empress’s commanding voice snapped me out of my thoughts as she spoke to an Amazone. “Take the Lady Purity back to her family in Yienna. She is not allowed to leave her villa while I decide what to do with her. She may receive petitioners, though, and work hard to help me make up my mind. When Lady Charity has recovered, she too will return to her family on the outskirts of the city.” She turned to face me. “I’ve had enough. One more negative thing from you, and you’ll be retired at once. You will never return to the palace again.”

I opened my mouth, then bowed my head in shame. I hadn’t helped uncover what was going on with the Graces. And now Ethen wouldn’t be able to either. We would have to leave at once, and we had failed. Unless everything he had just said to the empress was true, and he’d been playing me the way Prince Sebastian played the other Graces. Or, as Ava had said, using me to get what he wanted.

I clenched my fists. No. I would not believe that about Ethen. He had paid me so much attention and given me so many assurances. He had only acted like this to save me. The fool had even risked starting a war. What I had just witnessed was another show of love. It just didn’t feel like it—especially since I didn’t deserve it when I’d ruined everything.

I wasn’t that woman he had loved before, the woman who had captured him heart and soul. There was little of her left apart from a taste for pomegranates. I was a liability, a weakness. What if he had recognized that?

I thought of the words that he had written about Snow. ‘ You fought until the end. And you won. Always.’

I had failed at everything. I had been manipulated and deceived. I was not the sort of woman a man should wait a lifetime to be with. I was just…an empty shell created to be used by others.

I wasn’t sure how I could face him if he was forced to save me because of a vow I could barely remember. Part of me didn’t want him to whisk me away to a role I didn’t deserve and wasn’t qualified for. Especially not if I caused his country to go to war.

I couldn’t convince the empress that I could rule Atos, so how could I rule the Unseen Lands with Ethen once his father passed on the mantle? I knew even less about that world than this one.

An Amazone clamped a hand down on my shoulder and led me out of the room. “You’re to be locked in your room and escorted to Yienna this evening.”

I didn’t reply but let her march me back up the stairs to my bedroom. When I opened the door, Flavia was absent.

I sat beside the balcony and waited for Ethen to come—or one of his men. Though I wasn’t sure how I would face him now, I could at least apologize and remember the real him, rather than the terrifying, cold version from moments before. He’d always been quick to reassure me after those public moments in the past. But nothing moved except for the breeze.

Minutes ticked by. Then hours. Flavia didn’t return. Nobody came. I knew how easily Ethen and his men could sneak in here, and there was no extra guard presence in the gardens.

A maid I didn’t recognize brought me lunch. I sat next to the balcony and waited, twiddling the plain gold band around my wrist.

Ethen, where are you? Don’t come. Do come. Speak to me. Be free of me. Don’t leave me.

I craved his comfort, but I didn’t deserve it.

When the sun turned fiery red and stretched shadows across the gardens, I swallowed hard and went to find a cloak. He wasn’t coming. Maybe he was just as disappointed in me as I was in myself. He had lied to save me. Maybe he saw us as equal now. He had killed me in the last life, but he had saved me in this one. He owed me nothing anymore.

‘We swore vows to each other before Ismara and Ienar to become Fated, and I will always keep my vow. I will always be here for you in whatever form.’

So where was he?

I couldn’t hold him to those vows. Not when he had made them with somebody so different than me. Maybe he’d realized that Snow was gone forever and was grieving. Or maybe he’d rushed back home to inform his father that his supposed Fated had caused a war.

Whatever it was, he hadn’t even sent a man to let me know. My throat thickened, and I ground my teeth. This was driving me mad.

A knock sounded on the door, and then an Amazone entered. “Lady Purity.” She gestured for me to follow.

I was guided straight down toward the atrium without being accompanied by anyone to bring my bags. I wondered again what had happened to Flavia. I steadied my shaking breaths. Whether Ethen eventually came to rescue me or not, this would be the last time I set foot in the palace. A sense of shame and failure kept my eyes glued to the floor, rather than observing the beauty one last time.

The guard led me out the door and down wide steps that spanned huge, fluted columns toward the driveway. A carriage was already waiting—this one had reinforced wooden walls, rather than the standard litter with only curtains between the occupant and the crowd. I frowned. Was that really necessary? I wasn’t a criminal—just a fool.

I slowed my pace, but the Amazone was insistent. “Please climb in, Lady Purity.

I hesitated, but nobody else was around. The Amazone pushed on my back. “Please don’t make me insist.”

I climbed up and the Amazone bolted the door behind me. It was pitch black inside. Something definitely wasn’t right. I turned to shout, but the shadows moved, and hands grabbed my head. Something soft and damp was pressed to my mouth. I recognized the scent. The incense in my room. Moon blossom.

I struggled, but my fingertips were already tingling. My arms and legs felt weak. I didn’t even manage to hit my attacker before I fell unconscious.