CHAPTER 44
Vita
“LET’S GET YOU CLEANED up,” Renatus whispered in Vita’s ear as he carried her through the palace’s empty halls, Verian following closely behind.
Their retreat from the Curia had been hasty, Renatus using a compulsion of words to convince the night guards that a terrible accident had killed the Praetor and Spurius. Their docile expressions showed they understood, and they went into the council chambers a moment after the three of them moved on into the night.
Now, they were in the open air bathhouse of the palace, the starry sky sparkling overhead. Numbness gave way to emotion, so strong it almost overwhelmed her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the men helped her undress and led her to the soothing waters of the pool.
Warmth enveloped her, though her mind still whirled .
Amulius was dead. She had been the one to kill him, along with the mage, Spurius. She had killed two men, purely with magic. Magic that had only come when Renatus and Verian were in danger.
The ones she loved.
Vita sat with that thought, trying to cling to it as opposed to the image of singed bodies, the stench of burned flesh. Renatus and Verian were with her, scrubbing the dirt and grime from her hair and body. The air was chilly—autumn finally here—but the water was warm. She caught the men glancing at each other, but no one spoke.
“I’m alright, really. I’ll be fine.” She tried to reassure them, though she knew her voice was weak, her muscles still shaky.
“Of course, sweet girl. You’re safe now.” Verian leaned in close, brushing dark locks behind her ear. “We all are. Because of you.”
The air was silent for a long while, and she was unable to resist a smile. For so long, she’d hidden her magic, bottled it up inside until she felt like she would burst. Releasing it in that manner, to save them , it was like the biggest sigh of relief.
Renatus’ soft voice broke through the silence of the night. “You both are welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”
Without hesitation, Vita pressed her lips to his cheek, and he stiffened for a moment before letting his body relax. She did the same to Verian, and he wrapped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in close.
This was exactly where she wanted to be.
Back in Renatus’ bedroom, Vita disrobed—too tired to be self-conscious—flopping on the bed with blatant exhaustion. The hour was late… or early… she was no longer certain, the past day more taxing than anything she’d ever experienced. She realized the last time she’d been in this room was when Renatus had run her off, before he came to s ave her. It seemed so long ago, a lifetime apart from where she was now.
The two men stood at the entrance as if unsure what to do, and she narrowed her eyes.
“You’re not going to leave me, are you?”
They glanced at each other, and Verian was the first to move, coming to her side and sidling in next to her, wrapping a robed arm around her bare waist.
His whispered words tickled the flesh of her neck. “I’m never leaving you again.”
The smile on her face beamed through the dark room, relief relaxing her whole body.
Renatus came to the other side of the bed, still stiff with hesitancy, and Vita held out a desperate hand to him. He couldn’t leave her, not now, not after everything that had happened.
With an uncharacteristic grin, he took her hand and edged onto the bed at her other side, resting a hand on her hip.
“Welcome back, darling.”
Vita slept heavily, not a single dream disturbing her slumber. When she fluttered her eyes open, Renatus was smiling sweetly at her.
“What time is it?” she muttered, still drowsy.
“It is morning.” His voice was a whisper, Verian still snoring quietly in her ear as he clutched her waist.
“Morning?” she hummed, a thought coming to her. “I’ve never seen you while it’s daytime. What do you do all day?”
He laughed, cupping her cheek and running his thumb across her scar. “I work in my office, rest, paint… There are only a few rooms in the palace open to light, so most are safe for me and my thralls.”
“What would happen if you were exposed to daylight? ”
Another nagging question and another laugh from Renatus. “Why do you want to know, dear? Do you wish me dead?”
A pinch of panic clutched her chest, but it was clear he was joking. “Of course not. I was just curious.”
He smiled gently, his eyes darting to her lips. “Well, it would be a particularly painful event, one I’d not like to experience anytime soon.”
Vita nodded, her mind turning back to something he’d said.
“You paint?” She tried to keep the incredulity out of her voice, but it was difficult, the image of the High Consul hunched over a canvas so improbable.
“I do.”
His eyes flicked to a corner of the room, and she followed his gaze.
A canvas lay on a wooden easel, something she hadn’t noticed last night between the exhaustion and the dark. A canvas with an image of Vita, the black hair and scar unmistakable. It was a good likeness, expressive enough to give energy to the painting.
Heat flushed her cheeks as she turned back to him.
“I did my best. It was more difficult without the subject present. I…” Renatus trailed off, clearing his throat and glancing around the room before continuing. “I wanted to have an image of you… in case you never returned, never wanted to see me again.”
The words were difficult for him to say, not the confident timbre he always had. The facade was breaking.
Emotion welled in her chest, a force so strong it almost hurt. Tears burned her eyes even as her lips curled into a smile.
“The painting is lovely,” she murmured, her voice cracking.
Renatus returned the smile, though the expression was marred by discomfort. “I… should have come to you sooner. If I had, none of this would have happened. I’m so sorry, Vita.”
“Please, don’t say that. I also could have come back to the palace long before all this.”
He brushed his fingers into her hair, his thumb running along her scar, the permanent reminder that would she would never be rid of. “It was a mistake to push you away, as if I could ever deny my feelings for you. As if I could ever rest again knowing you were out there, away from me. If I would have lost you…”
Vita shushed him. “You didn’t lose me. I’m here now. And I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.”
She held her breath, eyes glued to Renatus as she awaited the answer to her unspoken question. Was this more than lust, more than obligation? Did he really want her, or was she still just a plaything to be discarded?
Any distress left his face as he pulled her against his chest, the whisper in her ear prickling her sensitive skin.
“Darling, I wouldn’t let you leave even if you tried.”
The possession should have frightened her, but there was no malice in the words, just the devotion she had been craving for so long. The commitment she’d yearned for finally wrapping its arms around her and holding her tight.
Never letting go.
“You are mine, Vita, until the end of time.”
The words fluttered past her ears, her eyes shutting from the exhaustion that still thrummed through her body, a content smile on her face.