A Dance of Shadows (The Royal Spares #3)

Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

Aurelia

W hen we reach the clearing halfway up the steepest of Costel’s surrounding hills, my husband looks rather peeved—and sweaty. I don’t think he anticipated the carriages only being able to carry us partway up and having to walk the rest of the way. And he’s dressed as if it’s already the depths of winter, his formal suit all layers of fine wool.

He spins toward my parents, who’ve been clambering up the path at the head of the crowd behind us, and folds his arms over his chest. “All right. This is where you said we should go, isn’t it?”

My father eases ahead of us to motion toward the nearly sheer hillside that rises from the clearing several feet away. Tufts of grass and sprigs of wilted wildflowers cling to pockets of soil amid the uneven rock, but this section is mostly pale, rippled stone.

“Just over here,” he says. To my relief, he motions to the gaping cave entrance that stands about halfway along the rocky surface, almost twice as tall as I am and wider still. “That’s where we conduct the ceremonies honoring Kosmel’s clever advice.”

Nothing he’s said is a lie. We do hold the annual memorials within that arcing space—because it’s close enough to the actual site and easier to gather all the city folk who want to join us there. The cave itself isn’t the one from the fable, as far as we understand.

It couldn’t be, because it’s only made up of that one large cavern with no passages branching off.

That fact won’t be obvious from the shadowy space Linus peers into. As I venture to join him, he stares into the dark depths, up at the arching entrance, and then around us, taking in the rest of the steep hillside.

My heart thuds faster. What if I judged wrong? What if he meant to offer a slightly easier divine task to the country of his empress’s birth?

I could have ruined our chances rather than saving them.

I stand serenely as he draws back a few paces and takes in the terrain again. A few dozen members of both courts as well as a swarm of curious commoners gradually assemble in the rest of the clearing, held back from the emperor by our guards.

Amid the panting and surreptitious grumbling of the Darium nobles, who’ve never made this trek before, I catch a hoarse wheeze that I suspect comes from Bastien’s single lung. I ball my hand at my side, resisting the urge to glance back and confirm the exertion hasn’t hit him too hard.

Linus clicks his tongue, his expression going unusually pensive but the manic glint I’ve learned to beware lighting in his eyes.

He tips his head toward a much shorter, narrower crevice some twenty paces farther along the hillside. “It appears we have plenty of caves to choose from. I’d say if we want to be true to the spirit of Kosmel’s lesson, we should explore territory that isn’t quite so charted. Let’s take a look at this one.”

As he strides over, Mother’s gaze flicks toward me—startled and maybe a little horrified.

Because I was right.

He wants to make this challenge as difficult as possible. I’m not sure exactly what he has in mind, but if we’d pointed him to the actual site of our ancestors’ escape into the hills many centuries ago, he’d likely have dismissed that as too “charted” as well, appearances aside. Then gods only know where he’d have directed us for his sadistic pleasure.

A few murmurs pass between the locals behind us, but no one is foolhardy enough to suggest the emperor is mistaken. And technically, the cavern he’s dismissed is far more explored than the real one of legend, both because there’s much less of it to survey and because we’ve discouraged our citizens from treating the original site as a source of entertainment.

Now I suppose it’ll serve as just that for my husband.

He walks up to the crevice, which is just wide enough for two men to squeeze in next to each other. The passage’s ceiling only rises about a foot above Linus’s head, but it veers off far into the hillside.

My husband cocks his head and then shoots a grin back at the rest of us. “Yes, I think this will do nicely.”

“What exactly did you have in mind, Your Imperial Majesty?” Father asks in a carefully even tone.

Linus rubs his hands together, his grin stretching wider. “If I have the story right, some of the first people to venture into this domain took shelter in that cave over there while fleeing pursuit. When their enemies had almost caught up with them, Kosmel appeared and told them to be as clever as rats—to vanish deep into the hillside and squeeze through tight spaces until they found another way out and could take their pursuers by surprise.”

I force a smile at him. “That’s the gist of it, husband.”

“Excellent. Then I want to see both how well you’ve all kept that Kosmelian cleverness and how energetically the people now under your rule will show their devotion to you.”

He motions to the narrower opening in front of us. “Let’s have all the Accasian nobility head in there, along with my lovely wife. Oh, and my Darium friends who’ve been most eager to help the local efforts in the past can join them as well, since they clearly appreciate a challenge.”

Counsel Etta wasn’t one of that number, but her mouth twitches as our nobles stir uneasily. “What sort of challenge will this be, Your Imperial Majesty?”

Linus flicks his hand at her dismissively. “I was getting to that. We’ll call down a little rockslide over the entrance, and then we’ll make a competition of it. Those inside search for another way out while your city folk dig open the entrance. Whoever fails to complete their task before the others will get to enjoy this cave as their permanent residence for the rest of the week, just as those old Accasian refugees did!”

My stomach sinks. With the advance preparations I advised Mother on, I’m not all that worried about our safety within the cave. But he’s set it up so that no matter what happens, one group will lose and be consigned to the dank darkness for several days.

The previous murmurs rise into a discontented muttering, but Father heads off any overt complaints with a raise of his voice. “We’ll happily demonstrate the tenacity all Accasians share in your honor. Rockslides are rather rare in this area, though.”

“Not a problem.” Linus snaps his fingers toward the line of guards. “Gallum, you’re the one with the gift for shaking up the earth, aren’t you? Let’s have you put that talent to good use.”

A soldier I’ve never taken much note of steps forward with a tick of his jaw. My body goes still as I take in his features—a bump on his nose where perhaps it’s been broken in combat, heavy brow but narrow chin, thick reddish-blond hair cropped short like a field of just-scythed hay.

If this man has a gift that could bring down a rockslide big enough to cover the cave entrance, he could also have sent a single rock tumbling down at my head, couldn’t he? And possibly have shaken the ground to startle a horse one time and trip me another?

As those questions pass through my head, Gallum’s gaze sweeps across me and the Accasians gathered nearby. Both his eyes and the set of his mouth harden as if he dislikes what he sees.

Alarm jangles through my nerves. I don’t know why this stranger would have wanted to harm me… but perhaps he hasn’t done it for his own ends. Linus is obviously aware of his talents.

Could it really be true that the more sadistic twin has been aiming to outright murder me?

If that’s the case, he’s attempting to do it by more subtle means today. I suppose I’m safer than usual as long as Gallum doesn’t join us in the caves.

Linus makes a shooing gesture to direct the Accasian nobles toward the crevice. He glances over his shoulder. “Vicerine Bianca, you leapt into the fray in Rodrige. Baronissa Damina and Baronissa Hivette, the two of you as well. I believe my three foster brothers are always eager to help. Who else was there…”

He points out a few of the other Darium nobles who intervened to protect the kids in Lavira. As they move toward the hillside as well, leaving our host of soldiers behind, my husband shoots one last smirk at me. “And my lovely wife, I hear there’s a spring of water believed to be Elox-blessed within this hill. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding that alongside your other concerns. Bring me back a bottle, would you?”

It’s not really a question. A servant shoves a small glass flask into my hand. The nobles, both Accasian and Darium, glance back to see my response.

I can’t let myself falter here. I’ll be guiding the people of both my homes in a minute—I need all of them to trust me.

Linus’s first mention of the challenges he’d assign to me wavers up through my memory. He said we couldn’t let any country think their empress favored others more.

I tuck the flask into the pouch at my hip and smile back at my husband. “What a perfect opportunity to collect Elox’s blessing. Let us extend it to our loyal subjects as well. I can take a few more vials to distribute among the victors of this game.”

Linus blinks at me, his expression momentarily darkening. He obviously didn’t expect me to not just embrace his demand but expand on it.

It won’t help his image any if he appears to doubt his own request. He motions to the staff interspersed through the crowd. “Well, you heard your empress. Get on with it.”

In a matter of moments, I have three smaller containers the servants were able to scrounge up also tucked in my pouch. Linus jerks his chin toward the crevice, holding out his arm to stop my guards from following me.

Striding after the nobles, I lift my head high and exude all the assurance I can, as if there’s nowhere I’d rather go. My heart keeps hammering at my ribs.

It’ll be all right , I remind myself. You took precautions. These caves have always been ours.

But gods only know how much else could go wrong. It’s not just my own people I have to protect but the Darium nobles who’ve been willing to throw in their lot with me.

How inclined will they be to follow my lead again now that they’ve faced the consequences?

The baron just ahead of me balks at the mouth of the cave. He glances back toward Linus. “Your Imperial Majesty, you can’t seriously expect?—”

My husband cuts him off with a remark that somehow sounds both brusque and bored. “You can go in or meet death right now. Your choice.”

A soldier beside him stirs as if bracing himself to deal the killing blow. The baron’s face ticks, and he hurries through the crevice.

I follow him in. Several steps past the opening, the passage widens into a space that’s more like a room, though still relatively small and low-ceilinged. I step close to my family, catching Soreena’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze I wish I was surer of myself.

I’m the last to enter. As Mother steps away from us deeper into the cave, a rumble sounds over our heads, reverberating through the stone.

It’s followed by a rattling, pelting sound. Rocks and boulders careen over the entrance we came through, diminishing and then completely blocking out the light.

Someone sucks in a breath on the verge of a sob. Then lanternlight flares, illuminating the tight cluster of perhaps forty of us braced in the cave.

Mother hands out the five lanterns as she lights them. “Here we go. We’ll find our way out. None of you newcomers need to worry. This cave system has plenty of openings.”

At a scraping noise behind us, Soreena tenses up again. “But if we return before the city folk out there can clear the main entrance, the emperor said he’ll punish them for it.”

She glances at me as if hoping I’ll correct her impression of my husband’s statement. Unfortunately, I can’t.

In fact, whatever edict Linus announces for one group or another’s “failure” will probably be worse than she could guess. She’s only just getting to know him.

Other conversations must be going on at the fringes of the crowd, because Lorenzo’s illusionary voice speaks as if he’s right at my ear, reporting on one. “Raul can use his gift to feel how dense the cave-in is. He’ll be able to tell when the people outside are getting close to removing all the rubble. He says he can track down your sacred spring too, if you need any help with that.”

Right. We have plenty of talents on our side too, even if I can’t reveal some of them to the rest of the group.

My mind scrambles for a reasonable solution. What exactly did Linus say?

Whoever fails to complete their task before the other…

I raise my voice to carry through the nervous murmurs, taking as light a tone as I can manage. If I can make it sound as if my spirits are high, perhaps my companions won’t see the mess I’ve gotten them into as such a horror after all.

“His Imperial Majesty made it a race, one he expects to have a winner and a loser. But there are only two groups competing. If we succeed in our tasks at the same time, then it’s a tie—we’ve all proven ourselves capable.”

My friend Cataline shifts her weight from one foot to the other, hugging her thin frame. “How will we know when the other group is nearly done to time our arrival right?”

“We’ll find our way out quickly but keep our distance and send someone ahead to quietly watch. They can let us know when we should emerge.”

That someone can be Raul, who’ll be able to monitor the situation without getting anywhere near enough to the clearing for Linus to spot him.

Of course, it’s possible my husband will decide that we all lost rather than that we all won. I’ll do whatever I can to swing him in the latter direction.

One of the Accasian noblemen speaks up in a hesitant tone. “Are you sure we should risk it? If the emperor sees that tactic as breaking his rules…”

He trails off, but his anxiety prickles over me.

He’s already seen enough of my husband that he doesn’t trust my judgment. Having served as their princess for twenty-one years hasn’t earned me even that much trust in the face of Linus’s sadistic insanity.

I thought at least the people of my home country would have faith that I can guide them through whatever comes.

I square my shoulders. “I’ll take full responsibility for our strategy. If my husband objects to the decision, I’ll be very clear that it was mine.” I let the corner of my lips tick upward. “But there’s no reason he shouldn’t assume it’s mere coincidence.”

As long as no one informs him otherwise, I think goes without saying.

There’s a moment of pensive silence, broken by a clap of Bianca’s hands. She lets out an airy giggle. “What an adventure! We can all be as explorers of old with our empress leading the way. Far more thrilling than hauling rocks, I’d say.”

The trickle of laughter that follows her assessment steadies my nerves. If we can turn the potential terror of this challenge into a triumph, I may find myself with more allies rather than fewer.

Father lets out a light chuckle of his own. “I’d put my mind to a plan, but my daughter, our empress, has already come up with quite a clever one. So let’s set off. It may take time to work our way through the tunnels, but I promise you, we’ll see you out of here before too long.”

That last statement will be mainly for the benefit of the Darium figures who’ve joined us. Those of us born in Accasy have faith in the caves and the godlen who once guided our people through them.

Father takes a step forward and then pauses with a nod to me. Bianca did suggest that I’d be taking the lead, as little as he’s used to that order.

Girding myself, I take the lantern he offers me and set off down the passage.

The rest of our party streams along behind me. A few uneasy murmurs reach my ears, but the light and the confidence my parents and I have shown have cut off any panic.

We shouldn’t even need the stash of food the palace servants will have hidden along with the lanterns. At least it’s there in case the test proves more difficult than we expect.

Nica falls into step beside me. My other closest friend has her mouth set in one of her familiar wry smiles. “Quite the husband you landed. He’s certainly ambitious… about what all of us should be accomplishing.”

My lips twitch with a matching smile even as my stomach sinks. She doesn’t know the half of it.

“He has a distinctive temperament,” I agree, and pause. What else could I tell her that wouldn’t sound like treason to the Darium nobles among us?

What else would I even want her to know about the life I was bartered off to for the greater good I might be able to accomplish? Do I want my friends picturing me living in misery and under constant threat?

The life I’ve been dragged into is so different from the days we spent here in Accasy, where the Darium forces were generally only a simmering frustration in the background. Their presence never tainted the palace and court.

Nica has no idea what it’s like to live constantly on guard, putting on an act for everyone around you.

Neither does Cataline, my parents, my sister, or anyone else I knew before my marriage. They might not even recognize the woman I’ve had to become.

I settle on a statement vague enough that it can sound positive. “We’re finding our ways of working with each other. But I’m dying to know what’s been happening here since I left. What have you been up to?”

Nica starts telling me about a new festival she’s organizing, efforts around her home estate to redistribute extra farm yields to those most in need, and a lord who’s recently been making advances. She motions Cataline over to add another perspective.

I listen with smiles and nods—and a guilty twist of my gut. My attention keeps wandering away as it often does when the Darium nobles chatter about the latest shoes in fashion or furniture acquisitions. My friends are focused on plenty beyond personal frivolities, but their concerns still feel far removed from the worries weighing on me.

Lorenzo’s voice comes to me like a caress. “Keep showing that strength, Rell. Everyone is seeing that there’s nothing to fear while you’re charting the way.”

I blink back a sudden prickle in my eyes, my fingers itching to squeeze his hand.

We wind on our current course through a couple of wider tunnels and then, after a brief consultation between my parents and a couple of the older Accasian nobles, squeeze through a narrower passage one by one into a small room beyond. We rarely venture into these tunnels, but the maps of them are checked and confirmed every few years.

They did once serve as the first Accasians’ most essential escape route. We plan to be ready should we need them for a similar purpose again.

I touch the rough stone walls here and there, feeling for moisture. I only trekked to the spring in the depths of the cave system with an Eloxian devout once, a few years ago. It isn’t marked on the maps, at least not the royal ones.

I took on a larger quest with what seemed like necessary bravado, but it won’t do me any good if I appear to fail in it. Do I want to give Linus another false version of his request with the risk that he can tell the difference? The hill’s spring water is only said to grant clarity of mind, something I doubt Linus could recognize if he was drenched in it.

But after his punishment for my last misstep, I’m not sure it’s a gamble worth taking.

A flutter and a nudge in my belly solidify my resolve. It’s not just my own life I’m protecting.

Lorenzo speaks again as if right at my ear. “Raul says it’s slow going at the entrance. A lot of the rocks that fell last are particularly large and difficult to move.”

I turn my head until I can make out his dark face at the edge of my vision and then nod in answer. I have time then.

I clear my throat. “Now that we’re well on the right course, I’d better divert from the rest of you to seek out the blessed spring. From what I recall, it isn’t too deep into these passages. If I take one lantern and we leave one where we parted to mark that spot, I’m sure I can find my way back and then catch up with you.”

Mother’s face tightens with worry. “I don’t think you should go alone.”

Bianca pipes up from just behind me. “I’m curious to see more of all this Accasian history. I can keep Her Imperial Highness company.”

Nica and Cataline exchange a glance. Before they can speak, Raul’s voice rings out in a low drawl from where he’s pushed over beside me. “I’d imagine Queen Irini is more concerned with our empress’s safety than her social agenda. I’ll go along too—I know how much His Imperial Majesty wants his wife returned to him in one piece. I think three is plenty for what should be a quick diversion.”

His last words are firm enough that my old friends stay silent. Do they agree with his assessment, or are they afraid to challenge anyone who’s theoretically speaking for the emperor?

“Three will do,” I say brightly, and accept the lantern that’s handed to me. “I can see which path you’re following. Enjoy your adventuring! We’ll return soon enough.”