Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aurelia
T here shouldn’t be anything comforting about parting ways with my family and childhood friends to venture deeper into the chilly dankness of the caves. Yet as Bianca, Raul, and I walk down one of the side passages with the marker lantern’s light fading behind us, the tension wrapped around my lungs eases slightly.
The only people I have to perform for now are two who know most if not all of what I’ve been through—and who’ve never been particularly invested in having me perform for them anyway.
Bianca once prodded me about my possible interest in Lorenzo, but she’s never shown any suspicion about Raul. She doesn’t appear to think it odd that he’s volunteered to defend us from the dangers of the caves.
“So,” she remarks, lifting her skirts as she steps daintily over a ridge of rock but showing admirable composure for a woman who’s probably never been in a cave in her life, “I’m trusting that you know where this spring is? Is this something you Eloxian dedicats do a lot—go wandering off into wild terrain in search of water rather than pouring it from taps?”
I match the dryness of her tone. “Only when it’s sacred water. Our emperor deserves the best.”
She laughs. “He certainly does.”
As I hold the lantern aloft to spread the light down the tunnel ahead of us, I hook a finger surreptitiously into the fabric of Raul’s trousers and give a soft tug. I didn’t answer Bianca’s first question because I don’t think she’d like the answer. But perhaps the prince of Lavira can ensure I do know where I’m going.
That must have been at least part of his motivation for volunteering as guard. He drops his hand next to my side in turn, letting his knuckles graze my waist in a brief caress.
When the tunnel splits into two passages, I halt as if dredging up my memories. Raul taps my hip.
He thinks we should go to the right. I’ll trust his impressions over my own. The spring will be completely draped in shadow until we reach it with our lantern.
I slide my small knife from its sheath behind my carry pouch and scratch a mark so we can be sure of where we came from. I’ll know my way once we make it back to the other lantern, but I don’t want to take any chances of getting lost before then.
Raul takes on a bored tone, presumably to avoid rousing Bianca’s curiosity with any warmth toward me. “This isn’t the most welcoming royal residence I’ve encountered.”
“We don’t generally come into the caves,” I reply tartly. “They’re for emergencies.” Or tests from our emperor, who probably sees that as just as vital as an emergency. “Kosmel had perfectly sound advice. Rats may not earn much good will, but they have a habit of surviving.”
Raul hums noncommittally, though I suspect he agrees with that sentiment. He dedicated himself to Kosmel, after all.
Bianca shakes her head. “It’s a good thing Ennius was being his usual stick-in-the-mud self during the past tests and barely stirred. He’d have been complaining the whole time.” Her gaze flits to me. “About how your parents weren’t getting us out quickly enough, of course. He’d never dare criticize His Imperial Majesty’s decisions.”
Of course not. Not within my hearing, at least.
The inkling of a plan that bloomed in my head during our travels comes back to me. I’m still not completely sure how I’d like to handle the viceroy.
My subtle inquiries have informed me that Bianca is the viceroy’s second wife. His first died from the spotted fever that swept through Darium about a decade ago and sometimes evaded the medics’ skills. He has a son from that marriage who’ll inherit after he passes.
If he were executed, Bianca would be left with nothing from his estate. But as long as he’s alive, she can’t officially move on either. The court has given her a pass on her dalliance with Marclinus because it’s accepted that no one turns down an emperor or his heir.
Would she even want a different husband if she had the choice? She’s made it clear she doesn’t care much for my husband’s carnal attentions either. Perhaps she’d rather be rid of intimate partners entirely, as long as she keeps her standing.
“Does it bother you to be apart from him?” I ask tentatively. “If he’d had to stay behind at the imperial palace, would you have been lonely on the tour?”
Bianca snorts. “Oh, he’d have hated having to hang back. But I do just fine without him. There’s plenty of enjoyment in discovering new sights with only one’s own thoughts in one’s head—or getting to talk about them with friends. I’ve never needed more than that for company.”
“Such a devoted wife,” Raul says, clearly teasing.
Bianca arches her eyebrows at him, perhaps thinking of his reputation among the court of seducing noblewomen away from their husbands. “I appreciate many other aspects of our partnership. And I’ve never been tempted to stray except as my emperor requests.”
She truly hasn’t longed for a kinder lover, it seems. It’s freedom she’s sacrificed.
As I turn that information over in my head, a branch in the tunnel comes into view up ahead. Raul tugs my skirt to direct me onward, past it. I add another scratch of my knife.
“His Imperial Majesty does seem to inspire great loyalty,” Raul says, with a sideways glance toward me as if in understated criticism. “So many rewards with that high position.”
I tsk my tongue at him. “I’m sure being a prince of Lavira comes with plenty of rewards as well. You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy them once your fostering is over.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to hustle me out of the imperial palace. I’m not done there yet.”
A heady shiver races through my body at the thought of all the things we mean to accomplish together.
When another passage splits off on the left, Raul taps me toward it. Just a few paces down its narrow route, a faint trickle of water reaches my ears.
My spirits lift. “We’re almost there.”
Bianca brushes grit off her gown. “Thank the gods. Let’s see what a blessed spring looks like.”
Even in the atmospheric lanternlight, I can admit the water source isn’t particularly impressive. We come up on a shallow pool perhaps five feet across, rippling where a few thin streams trickle down the walls into the hollow. The wet stone gleams with glints of mica, but the water itself looks perfectly normal.
As Bianca studies it with a bemused expression, I uncork the flask Linus sent with me and dip it into the cool liquid. My gaze skims over the rest of the alcove that holds the spring and lingers on the gritty white patches on the opposite wall.
The devout I came with told me about that mineral deposit—that it has a mild calming effect. At the time, I gathered a bunch of scrapings for later use.
After I’ve filled and stoppered the smaller vials as well, I straighten up and nod to Bianca and Raul. “You can both take a sip if you’d like. Offer thanks to Elox and ask that he clear your mind to make room for new understanding.”
Bianca kneels down first. While she scoops up water onto her palm, I rub a little of the mineral off the wall into the flask I haven’t yet closed up. Once I’ve pressed the cork into place, I swirl the container to dissolve the white powder.
There are very few occasions when I don’t think we’d all be better off if Linus were a little calmer.
Bianca steps back, wiping her mouth. With a skeptical expression, Raul goes for a sip too.
The vicerine gazes off into the darkness beyond the lantern glow, her brow knitting. “All I see with much clarity is that the sights at the end of our diversion weren’t really worth all that tramping around in the dark.” Her mouth curves into a crooked smile. “But all the same, I’m glad I came along, in case it made the journey a little more pleasant for a friend.”
A pang of fondness I couldn’t have imagined I’d ever feel for the woman in front of me ripples through my chest. I give her arm a quick squeeze. “It did.”
Raul watches us, peering at Bianca as if he doesn’t quite recognize her. “A gallant sentiment,” he says in his mocking tone, but I think I catch a gleam of respect in his eyes.
He pauses as if searching his own head—or the shadows. His shoulders stiffen. “And it seems clear to me that we should hurry up and get back to the rest of our party before we lose track of them completely.”
My pulse stutters. He must be able to tell that the city folk digging out the cave-in have made significant progress.
How much more time do we have before they finish? I can’t ask him in front of Bianca.
It mustn’t be horribly urgent, because Raul sets a swift but not panicked pace back through the tunnels. We note my knife marks and spot the lantern marker gleaming in the distance in a matter of minutes.
The rest of the group has, of course, moved on from here. Bianca takes the second lantern, and we hustle onward, with me actually choosing our route this time.
I summon my memories of the cave system map I studied with avid curiosity more times than I can count. We were making for the opening around the side of the hill by that massive oak. We need to take this left… and then this right… Straight through this section, over the gap in the floor that wafts chillier air…
When voices travel down the passages toward us, Bianca brightens. We pick up our pace, striding forward to find the entire group gathered around slivers of light that aren’t from any lantern.
But only slivers. Father is standing right by the theoretical opening, one of the larger noblemen beside him. He shoves at something just below a gap of daylight, and then the lord takes a turn.
“Your Imperial Highness!” someone calls out at the sight of me. Both men glance over.
I pause at the edge of the group, dread congealing in my gut. “Is the opening blocked?”
Father grimaces. “It appears there was a bit of a rockslide on this side of the hill as well. Just a few large stones, nothing we shouldn’t be able to move, but a smaller one is wedged in next to them so tightly neither will budge.”
I inhale slowly, absorbing that information.
Lorenzo’s voice winds through my thoughts from where his foster brother has rejoined him. “Raul says the people at the other entrance have cleared more than half of the debris, and they’re moving faster now. He thinks we have less than an hour to get back to the clearing.”
My throat constricts. It’ll take us at least half that time just to walk around the hill without making a noticeable disturbance so we can coordinate our arrival with their success.
We’ve got barely room to maneuver at all. Certainly not enough time to backtrack to any of the other openings that might be less obstructed.
If normal strength isn’t enough… Neven didn’t pitch in back in Rodrige, so we don’t have him and the benefits of his gift with us. Is it possible Raul’s shadows could apply enough pressure to pop the stone free without anyone realizing what he’s doing?
Wait. We don’t even need to find that out. We have another prince here with a gift strong enough to shove a mass of rainclouds tens of miles across the sky.
I seek out Bastien’s gaze where he’s standing with his foster brothers and make a hasty gesture in his view. Need help.
His eyes twitch, but he dips his head slightly in acknowledgment.
I just have to give him cover.
I ease through the crowd to the opening, smoothing my voice to give no indication of fear. “Let me have a look. Maybe it needs a more delicate touch.”
Father studies me but doesn’t question my request. He must doubt that I could do anything he hasn’t been able to, but he also knows I was prepared for more challenges than he anticipated.
“Set the stage,” Lorenzo tells me. “I’ll make sure no one sees exactly what happens. Bastien can take care of the rest.”
I motion my companions back. “Give me a little room.” So there’s less chance that they’ll feel the wind, no matter what Lorenzo’s illusions can do to disguise it. “Let me just try…”
I take out my knife and wedge it against the smaller stone. “Come on now.”
As I make a show of wrestling with the blade, a concentrated punch of air rushes past my hands to smack into the stone.
The rock lurches up and pops out. A giddy laugh I don’t have to fake tumbles out of me. “There we go! Who’ll get these boulders out of the way?”
Father and the lord step back in to shove the larger rocks aside. We all scramble out into the open air amid a treed slope that’s nowhere near as steep as the one where we entered.
The fresh breeze has never tasted so sweet. I beam at my fellow nobles—including Bastien, for the second I can hold his gaze before my attention sweeps on over him.
We got ourselves out of that mess—the four of us, collaborating without anyone even realizing.
Now we need to finish the job without it ending in an even bigger mess.
Father and Mother let me take the lead again. I guide our party on a winding route between trees and shrubs. As we get closer to the clearing by the nearly sheer rockface, I slow my pace.
A few voices filter through the trees alongside a thud that might be a rock cast aside. The figures in the clearing are still too far off for us to see, though. I have no idea just how close they are to finishing their part of the task.
Bianca frowns and then glances at Baronissa Hivette. “Baronissa, don’t you have a gift that allows sending messages from a distance? Perhaps we could signal the city folk that way.”
A trace of a blush colors the young baronissa’s cheeks as most of our heads swivel toward her. She curtsies for my benefit. “I wish I could help, Your Imperial Highness. My gift requires having an item belonging to the person the message is to reach—and it can be rather… noticeable.”
Not ideal when we hardly want my husband realizing that we’ve strategized against his more brutal purposes.
“It’s good to know your strengths all the same,” I tell her. “I think we can coordinate without any plan so elaborate.”
I meant to send Raul to keep watch, but he can track the city folk’s progress just as well from back here. It would seem strange if I singled him out after he already joined me in at the spring.
So why shouldn’t I face the potential danger? I promised my companions I’d shoulder the blame if my plan went wrong, after all.
I won’t even have to get close enough that it’ll be a significant risk. Lorenzo can pass on whatever Raul senses without anyone being the wiser.
Holding up my hand for silence, I lower my voice to a whisper. “I’ll keep watch and signal you when you need to come—when I do, come fast .”
I venture through the brush as far as I dare, staying where my companions can still make out my form amid the trees. The voices get louder. I catch a glimpse of Marclinus’s violet jacket, of the patchy grass dappled with chunks of stone, but I can’t see what remains in front of the cave entrance.
It doesn’t matter. I don’t need to.
“Wait,” Lorenzo says. “They’re close to opening it up, but not quite.”
I stand braced and staring as if I’m watching the city folk’s progress, my thumping heart counting off the seconds. Down the hill, bells peal out the hour in the city.
Another rock thumps aside, and another, and?—
“Now, Rell! They’re just hauling at the last boulder.”
I wheel my arm in my signal to the group and propel myself forward, only slightly slower than I’d prefer so the others can catch up. Twigs and leaves crackle underfoot.
We emerge at the edge of the clearing just as the last huge stone that blocked the entrance rolls aside with a heave.
The city folk raise a cheer at the sight of us and the uncovered cave. “Empress Aurelia!” a few yell. Someone gives a whoop of excitement.
As I raise my hand in acknowledgment, Linus’s attention snaps from the cave to the arriving nobles with a flicker of bewilderment—and consternation?
My heart squeezes, but I march forward with a laugh as if I’m nothing but pleased with the outcome. “It seems all of us were equally tenacious. That’s Accasians for you.”
Linus opens his mouth and closes it again before offering a smirk with no warmth at all. “So it appears. What incredibly auspicious timing.”
I don’t like the edge in his voice.
An instant later, his attention flicks to the nobles behind me. He points out a duchess and the baron who balked at going into the cave, who have trailed slightly behind the rest of the crowd.
“These two seem to have little enthusiasm for their return. I can’t have my subjects dragging their feet to meet my requests. Lieutenant?”
The guard behind him doesn’t speak, only jerks his hand at his side.
With a sickening snap, both of the stragglers’ heads list to the sides at an unnatural angle. Their eyes dull; their bodies crumple.
The soldier broke their necks.
Cataline muffles a thin shriek with both of her hands. A scream of my own burns at the base of my throat.
Linus has never gone this far before—he’s always let the natural dangers of the challenge do the murdering.
He’ll hardly care that I think his brutal orders unfair. Gods save us, how much worse can he get?
His gaze is already roving over the other nobles as if seeking a new target. I gulp down the bile that’s risen from my gut and hustle the last few paces to reach him.
Offering him my sweetest smile, I dig into my belt pouch. “I brought you your blessed water. Perhaps it will give you insight into how to best wrap up this remarkable test.”
An eager glint replaces the sadistic satisfaction in my husband’s eyes. He watches me retrieve the flask. “It wouldn’t do to use up such a resource all at once, but I am curious to sample a little…”
He tips back a swift swig. His throat bobs. As he lowers the flask to his side, an expression that’s almost dreamy crosses his face.
Has the calming mineral done its work alongside Elox’s blessing of clarity?
I wait with my hands clasped in front of me, willing them not to clench. Linus hums and tilts his head to one side, then the other.
“Brilliant,” he says abruptly. “Absolutely brilliant! You do your empire proud. Now let us go feast and discover how else you all might impress me.”