A Dance of Shadows (The Royal Spares #3)

Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

Aurelia

D uring luncheon, I spot Gallum among the soldiers who’ve come on duty. My pulse picks up a notch.

We finally have all the pieces in place to see through our ruse.

As we get up, Father suggests that both courts could head out to the gardens to enjoy the unusually clement late-autumn weather we’re enjoying today. I’d imagine it’ll still feel chilly by Darium standards, but the sunlight beaming through the windows brings the nobles to their feet eagerly enough.

Glancing around, I catch Lorenzo’s eyes first. My hand twitches at my side. Put it now.

His gaze slides on as if he wasn’t paying me any mind, but he dips his head slightly. He’ll convey my message to Raul.

I have one more element I’d like to fit into this plan if I can, especially since it’s Linus acting as emperor today. His typical temperament could mean he reacts to the offense we’re orchestrating with sudden brutality—or that he turns his anger on my family for daring to question his soldiers.

If I can get a little help in moderating his mood, I’ll take it.

As we head out of the room, I slip my hand around my husband’s elbow and offer him my best winning smile. “Before we join the court, husband, I have a present for you.”

Linus is nothing if not fond of being showered with devotion. He grins back at me, though not without a brief flick of his eyes down my body that brings a trace of disgust into his expression. “Well then, I’m very curious to see what you’ve arranged.”

The one benefit of his increasing distaste with my pregnant shape is that his interest in pawing me has decreased simultaneously. He follows me to my chambers without a grope.

As we cross the courtyard between the palaces, he twists a stray strand of my upswept hair around his finger and tugs hard enough to hurt. I’m not completely safe from his varied attentions.

In my chambers, I retrieve the jewelry box my parents gave me. “I know this might not match your usual attire all that well, but you could always wear it beneath your shirt. The pendant is Elox-blessed—to keep one’s strength steady and will firm.”

That’s not exactly how Father explained it to me, but it’s not inaccurate either. I suspect Linus will prefer to think of strength rather than calm.

I open the box to show him the moonstone trinket. “After your interest in the Sabrellian relic and the blessed spring waters, I thought you might appreciate this ornament as well.”

Linus cocks his head with an unreadable expression and lifts the pendant by its gold chain. It isn’t a particularly ostentatious piece, the circular pendant only about as wide as his thumb.

As he peers at the sigil etched on the back, the baby bumps the inside of my belly with an elbow or a knee. I keep quiet, knowing this version of my husband won’t revel in the knowledge of his supposed heir’s vitality.

He clicks his tongue. “You shouldn’t imagine this makes up for your failings with Sabrelle’s armband.”

I duck my head. “That wasn’t my intention. Whatever can add to your glory, you should have, shouldn’t you?”

“I suppose I should,” Linus says, but he doesn’t sound all that enthused. Rather than fasten the chain around his neck, he tucks the pendant into his trouser pocket.

Will it have any effect in there? Not much if any, but I can’t see how pressing the matter will make him more compliant rather than less.

He takes my arm, keeping the same noncommittal tone. “Very considerate of you. Now let’s not deprive our court of my honored presence any longer.”

“Of course not, husband.”

I did the best I could.

When we amble out into the full sunlight of the back gardens, Raul is standing with a couple of baronissas near the doorway. He doesn’t look my way, but he curls his fingers by his side to tell me he’s already completed his task.

I finally managed to procure a packet of one of Accasy’s forbidden poisons just a couple of days ago. I left it near the hidden entrance to my rooms for Raul to pick up overnight, but yesterday Gallum never joined the guards watching over us.

We’re set to leave in just a few days to ensure we make it through the mountain pass to Goric before the first winter snow. This may be the only chance I get to determine the full extent of any conspiracy against me—and to remove the figure who seems to be my most obvious enemy.

I’ve pored over Marc’s record book several times. Not one of the staff or soldiers who’ve joined us on our tour has a gift I can imagine being used to crack a rock from a cliffside—other than Gallum.

Whether he was responsible for the other “accidents” that befell me, I can’t be sure. But his gift is too dangerous to leave unchecked regardless. Remembering the cold glare he aimed at my people before he followed Linus’s orders sends a shiver down my spine.

I circulate through the garden at my husband’s side, taking note of where Gallum has stationed himself. When my husband saunters off to join a boisterous conversation with a few of his noble friends, I abandon the security of his guards to seek out my own dear companions.

Nica and Cataline are chattering in a small cluster of other Accasian noblewomen I wasn’t quite as close with. At my approach, they part to make room for me in their circle. I spread around my greeting, but I can’t make my request in front of all of them.

After several minutes of conversation that ranges from the latest flirtations to the winter preparations around their estates, I lean a little closer to Nica. “You and Cataline were going to show me that new type of limerberry bush you consulted with the royal gardeners on.”

They actually already showed off the plant they contributed to with Nica’s interest in botany and Cataline’s insight as a Prospiran dedicat, but they aren’t my closest friends without reason. Nica picks up on my need for a private conversation without skipping a beat. “Of course.”

As the three of us stroll away from the group, Nica shoots me a curious look. “What’s on your mind, Your Imperial Highness?”

The lightly teasing note she adds to the title eases my nerves. We’ve had plenty of moments to talk since I arrived, even ventured out to a few of our favorite haunts in the city with my guards keeping close watch, but my sense of a wall between us hasn’t diminished. There are lines I can’t cross, things I can’t say, at least not in present circumstances.

But they still see me as their friend as well as their empress. I’ve always been able to count on them.

I pitch my voice low. “I could use your help. I fear one of the soldiers who’s accompanied the imperial convoy has hostile intentions against me.”

Cataline’s expression tenses with worry. “What? Surely the emperor wouldn’t tolerate that behavior?”

“He hasn’t observed what I have, and he’s unlikely to believe it without proof. I’ve arranged the means for that, but if I put forward the accusation myself, I may place myself in even more danger.”

Nica squares her shoulders. “We’ll have your back. If anyone tries to hurt you while you’re here—I beat my fencing instructor in our last sparring match, you know.”

Cataline makes a face at her. “I hardly think anyone’s going to come at Aurelia with a fencing sword.”

“It’s the principle of the thing. I can stab someone where it hurts.”

The corner of my mouth twitches upward. “I don’t expect it to come to that. I simply need someone else to raise a complaint so that the soldier will be searched and the evidence found to allow my parents to arrest him. And two complaints will be more effective than one.”

Nica pauses in her stride. “You want us to accuse him of something.”

I nod quickly. “I’ll point him out to you. Wait until the next bell so it isn’t right after we were talking. Then go to my parents and say he made inappropriate remarks to you and then you saw him touching the wine goblets. Our guards will find a packet of lepidex on him, and it should be wrapped up quickly.”

Cataline flinches. “Has he actually been putting lepidex in the drinks? We should?—”

I touch her arm before she can whirl toward the other nobles. “No. It’s only the easiest way I could think of to provide a concrete reason for his arrest. When he’s questioned, we can hope his actual crimes will come out. And if he’s too good a liar… it should at least ensure he’s no longer on duty to remain a threat.”

She stares at me for a moment with her brow knitting. “But—what if it comes out that we’re lying? We’d be accusing one of the emperor’s people…” She flicks a nervous glance toward my husband.

No doubt she’s thinking about what happened to the baron and the duchess at the caves.

“It doesn’t matter if the guard denies it,” I reassure her. “The proof will be there. If there’s any criticism of either of you, I’ll intervene.”

I expected at least Nica to be eager to tackle our enemies however she can, but her air of determination has faltered too. “Even so… If His Imperial Majesty is upset that we caused trouble, he might take it out on our families if not us.”

“I won’t let that happen.” I’d sooner reveal my deceitful request and the reasons for it than let that horrid man cut down my friends. “He may not even know you did the accusing if the lepidex is discovered quickly enough—it won’t matter. It’s just a precaution in case anyone asks.”

Nica’s mouth twists. “I—I don’t know, Aurelia. It’s not that I don’t want to help. But it seems like stepping in could create a much bigger mess.”

She has no idea how big the “mess” already is, how much is at stake.

I open my mouth to tell her my very life is almost certainly on the line—and halt with the words snagged in my throat. The worry on both of my best friends’ faces reverberates through my chest with a stutter of my heart.

They’re afraid, and how can I blame them for that? I can’t actually promise them that I’ll keep them safe. I don’t think this plan will go wrong, but I’ve underestimated situations in the past.

They have no reason to believe that I can control what my husband does when the mood strikes him… because I can’t.

If I guilt them into taking risks they aren’t comfortable with, how am I anything but a tyrant myself?

I just hoped—I assumed —their loyalty and affection for me would overcome any fears they had. I thought they’d see it as simply another challenge for us to tackle together.

But it isn’t, because it involves the empire. Because even here where Dariu’s demands have rarely touched our court directly, where the previous emperor only visited once in my lifetime, even the most privileged among us are terrified of Dariu’s might. Linus’s recent demonstration of brutality has only deepened that terror.

I swallow down my protest and manage a smile. “It’s all right. If you don’t want to take the chance, I understand.”

I also mourn.

As I turn back toward our cluster of friends, my gaze slides over the rest of the nobles gathered around the garden. The Accasian and Darium parties are still keeping rather separate. But over there, a couple of marchions have cornered Lady Elina with leering gazes.

If any of the local noblemen were acting that pushy, she’d have slapped him. Now, she’s keeping her hands tightly clasped in front of her, smiling through gritted teeth.

Over by the fountain, one of the viceroys crows with laughter and smacks Duke Picolu on the shoulder. “That’s why you wild northern folk should let us do the thinking!”

I’ve watched the duke cuff more than one man who’s attempted to insult him in the past. With the Darium viceroy, he only gives a stiff chuckle of his own.

The people of my home court are all afraid—every one of them. I’m not sure I can blame any of them. It’s only that I never realized… I assumed that if I was willing to risk my own life to protect our kingdom, they’d stand with me.

I don’t know if even Father and Mother would go along with my arrest scheme if I admitted to the lies involved. The way they reacted earlier when I spoke about pushing for change…

Resolve gathers into a hard knot behind my sternum. I’m even more on my own than I imagined when I left my kingdom, but at least now I realize that. I might have only myself and my princes to rely on, but that’s enough.

And now I know a few more Darium nobles I’ll want to see the court rid of before my daughter arrives. It’s become such a long list.

Girding myself, I drift toward a row of flowering hedges. Lorenzo is sitting on a bench nearby. As I wander past him, my back to most of the court, I murmur as surreptitiously as I can manage. “They won’t speak up. I need a voice from you.”

Lorenzo doesn’t stir, and I meander on through the garden before returning to my husband’s side—and the shelter of his guards.

After a time, a chillier breeze washes over us. Mother calls out the idea of moving to the archery range so those who wish to can show off their skills.

I stop myself from peeking at Bastien, warmed by the thought of watching him demonstrate his main combat talent, but tension remains coiled inside me. What if Lorenzo doesn’t see an opportunity to act in time?

Then, as the nobles bunch closer together on our way across the grounds, an arch female voice that sounds vaguely like many noblewomen but not definitely like any specific one hollers across the crowd. “That guard—the tall one with the pale reddish hair—I saw him put something in one of the wine goblets!”

As most of us whirl around, I notice a glimmer around Gallum that’s just a little too bright to be sunlight—another illusion to make sure our attention goes to the right person, I assume.

It’s gone in a blink, and another voice—this one male—travels from seemingly nearby. “That’s the one. Gallum, isn’t it? Search him and see what he’s done!”

Scowling, Linus strides forward. “What’s happening here?”

Father meets him with a few of his palace guards in tow. “If there’s a concern about your guard’s conduct, perhaps it’s better to have my staff handle it than his colleagues?”

Linus huffs, but it’s an undeniably reasonable point. “All right. Who’s accusing him?”

His gaze slides over the crowd, but no one comes forward, of course. It doesn’t matter. In the middle of Gallum’s sputters of bewildered protest, one of the Accasian guards has already fished the packet from his jacket pocket.

She frowns. “What’s this?”

“I don’t know,” Gallum insists. “It’s not mine.”

“You were carrying it on you.” She eases back the flap and takes a tentative sniff. Her expression hardens.

She catches my father’s gaze. “I’m pretty sure this is lepidex.”

Father’s jaw works. He turns to Linus, his voice even but taut. “Possession of that toxin is illegal in Accasy. It’s used to knock victims out for all sorts of despicable behavior.”

Linus rounds on Gallum. “What in the realms were you thinking? Where did you even get it?”

The soldier looks as if he’s scrambling to find any words at all. “I don’t—I didn’t—it wasn’t—” But a stark blotchiness has come over his face that looks more panicked than indignant or confused. As if he knows he’s screwed up somehow or other.

As if he’s afraid of how much else about his conduct might be exposed.

High Commander Axius has pushed through the crowd, his expression stormy. He stares down his underling. “You’re going to answer for this.”

Linus waves his hand impatiently. “He’s your responsibility. Have King Josif put him wherever Accasians put their criminals, and we’ll discuss what to do with him later.”

A trickle of relief seeps through my nerves. I turn away—and find Nica watching me, her own face pale.

As if she’s a little afraid of me .