Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
ASTER
“ Y ou are going to get her killed ,” Erynna hissed at me the second I walked into the dining cart. I skidded to a halt and stared at my sister, wide-eyed. She jumped from her seat, storming at me with so much force I feared it’d knock the train off the rails. I took a few steps back and held a hand up.
“Before you kill me, you’re going to have to elaborate.”
Erynna groaned and wagged that manicured, pointy little finger at me. “Do not play that game with me. What were you thinking? One second she is kissing you, and the next you are twisting her up in your sheets. You two weren’t even quiet. Do you realize what sort of power this would give Atlas if he found out?”
“Do you think Atlas cares about Morgana’s virtue?” I said with a bored sigh, moving beyond Erynna to eat my breakfast. “The only people who could possibly know are fiercely loyal, too scared to spread the gossip, or… apparently… my sister. I hardly see the issue.”
“That is not the point.” Erynna rushed over to the table and sat across from me, grabbing the fork just as I had reached for it. “Atlas doesn’t give a damn about her virtue. Frankly, Archmage Oren is the only man who might use it as a political weapon against you, but by the time he finishes the accusation, half the Ton will have already passed to the next topic.”
I leaned forward and offered her my most fabricated smile. “Are you done scolding me, sister? We aren’t at the University anymore.”
“And what about when she is?” she said with a low hiss, her eyes colored red with anger, but more than that, she was ruined by concern. It hardened her features, from the lines around her frown to the tilt of her narrowed eyes. “Six months, brother. The council will expect her to go through the very same trials we did. Are you so daft?”
My face settled. “Surely she will only be tested on her power. They wouldn’t—” I paused, choking on the words as my hands retreated into my lap. “Her resolve. Mental fortitude. That matters, but none of the other things matter. She doesn’t need to be trusted to reign over a nation, Erynna. They wouldn’t test such things like virtue. Morality.”
“Yes, they will,” Erynna said and shook her head. “She will be tested as if she spent as many years abstinent and virtuous as we did. They don’t care where she came from.”
I chuckled bitterly, shaking my head as I struggled to find the right words. “That just won’t do. I’ll make sure of it.”
Erynna cackled and folded her arms across her chest. “ Everything is a weapon that can be used against you now, Aster. Especially with Father so far gone. You need to fix this.”
With a scowl, I hissed, “And how do you suggest I fix this, Princess? She has already been soiled by their definition.”
“Keep your cock in your pants, make her hate you again, and focus on getting her strong enough to pass the rest of the tests. Even if they see her as a whore, she can still survive.” The insult was a raspy whisper on her tongue. Erynna’s words were venomous. I remembered what turmoil she’d gone through when the headmaster found out she’d kissed a boy at seventeen. She had been refused socialization for nearly a year after the incident—all for a kiss. And during the trials, it was brought up as a topic of decency.
Gods. I was a fool—a fool to put Morgana in such danger, to think they’d show her mercy and shelter her from the real torture. Those trials we’d endured were physical, mental, and stood on every pillar of fine society. They were archaic, but I hadn’t the power to change them.
I wouldn’t be able to until Vespera was nothing more than a memory, throne or not.
Hanging my head forward, I closed my eyes and focused on the silence. The ringing, deafening silence.
“Fix it,” my sister repeated with a desperate whisper. “Neither of us care about her virtue, you’re right. But others do. Very, very dangerous people do. Atlas will act like it’s the worst thing to have happened in ten years if it means earning their favor.”
She stood, leaving me in solitude to sulk in this truth.
I had to fix this.
But, gods, did it hurt me to do such a thing.
Morgana needed to hate me. I needed to be the villain so that in six months, they’d think I’d ruined her for power. So that she might survive the wrath of such tests.
I just hoped she’d understand when that day finally came.