Chapter 6 #3
“You’re not a prisoner. You may go where you please. And your fever is low enough that your health is not in danger.”
Just how much had he changed while she’d been unconscious? Would she wake tomorrow to find this new version of him had all been a dream?
“I would like…” What did she want? To be away from him and put her walls back up? To stay at his side and explore this strange transformation? “…to stay.”
She could swear she saw some of the tension in his shoulders relax, though his tired expression betrayed nothing.
No one could keep up an act indefinitely. If this was all some trick, she needed to know, to wear him down so she could finally see the truth of him. She wanted to know what he would do with the merest crumb of her trust.
“As you wish,” he said, his voice gentle.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, Lord Leukos is asking to speak with Her Highness,” a guard standing at the front flap of the tent called inside.
“Who is…?” Aurora asked, her brows furrowing.
“Stentor’s replacement,” Theron answered. “A Viridian dog. Better behaved than his predecessor, but a dog, nonetheless. You need not entertain him if you choose not to.”
No, it was better she get the measure of him sooner rather than later. And make certain he knew there would be no more visions, no more paying in blood for loyalty. Either he followed her lead, or she would whittle them down until only those who understood the gravity of her mission were left.
“I’ll see him.”
The man who was ushered into the tent was soaking wet, his long face made even more so by the dark hair plastered to the hollows of his tanned cheeks.
He couldn’t be more than thirty, and yet his eyes seemed too old.
His armour was that of a nobleman, as beautiful as it was functional, and yet it looked like it had seen better days.
Dents and scratches couldn’t be hidden despite the polish, and his himation, while sturdy and new, was not nearly so fine as she’d seen worn by others.
A few days’ worth of stubble darkened his cheeks and chin, suggesting he either didn’t have an attendant with him or didn’t bow to the current Viridian fashion for clean-shaven faces.
She supposed if he kept growing it, he would make himself indistinguishable to the Aureans, who preferred beards of all lengths. He bowed deeply to Aurora.
“Greetings to Her Highness Aurora, daughter of Queen Flora and the star of Aureum.”
Well, that seemed…promising.
“What business do you have with me?” she asked.
“I’ve come to give you a report. With your permission?” He eyed Theron, who leaned back in his seat scowling at the nobleman.
“You have it.”
“The raid cost the lives of one-tenth of the soldiers and a number of nobles. The soldiers who deserted are being hunted down for court marshal. Two-thirds of the nobles have fled back to the capital in the days since. Many of the supplies were lost or burnt, and we have been slowly requisitioning what we require from the towns along the Queen’s Road. ”
Aurora gripped the sheets. So many senseless deaths. Leukos flicked his gaze to her hands and continued.
“As for Stentor and Bacus, they were found amongst the dead. The healer who caused your infection was dismissed from the army and remanded into the custody of His Majesty King Theron, where he ordered her legs crushed. The clerics who assisted in harming you have been demoted to acolyte, stripped of their divine magic, flogged, and sentenced to manual labour in the temple of Knowledge for the rest of their days. Her Holiness Orithyia has made gifts of gold, cloth, wine, livestock, and rare herbs to both Her Majesty Queen Flora and His Majesty King Theron to atone for her part in the wrongs done to you.”
Aurora looked to Theron with alarm.
Why had so many people been punished? Why had Orithyia given gifts to both Theron and Flora rather than to her?
“You had her legs crushed?”
“It was no less than what she deserved. If she had the skill she’d purported to when she allowed you to be maimed in the first instance, she would have been able to heal herself.” Theron shrugged.
“I don’t understand…”
“You are a princess of Viridis, Your Highness,” Leukos began.
“These are the proper protocols for when a royal who is under the protection of their parent or their spouse has been harmed. Given the severity of your injuries, His Majesty King Theron and Her Majesty Queen Flora were lenient with the punishments and the compensation they asked for. They could have demanded the entire extended family of each of your attackers put to the sword, but His Majesty thought you might object. If you wish it, I can send a letter to Queen Flora on your behalf asking for their deaths as recompense.”
“No! No. That’s…that’s more than enough.”
“If that’s all, then you should leave my wife to her recovery,” Theron said.
“No, wait, there’s more I want to discuss,” Aurora objected.
Theron frowned at her, opening his mouth to complain when he was interrupted by the guards stationed outside the entrance to their tent.
“Your Majesty, Commander Nireus has asked to see you.”
“Very well, allow him to enter,” Theron replied.
As Theron began a hushed conversation with his commander, Leukos knelt at Aurora’s side, his expression unreadable.
“Please ask me whatever questions you have, Your Highness.”
“I…I won’t be having any more visions. I won’t buy your loyalty with my blood. Either you remain at my side to slay Drakon, or you leave.”
The corners of his lips twitched.
“I believe all those who came on this journey with the intent to use your visions in that way have already left. If any remain, I shall chase them out of my ranks. We remain loyal to the royal house of Viridis.”
“Does that include me?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Any who believe differently will be punished.”
He was saying all the right things, and yet Aurora could not take his measure. Leukos’ gaze slid over to Theron and Nireus as their heated whispers grew louder.
“Excuse me, I’ll be back shortly,” Theron grumbled as he stood and followed his commander from the tent.
Left alone with Leukos, she expected the facade to drop. Instead, he sighed with relief.
“I thought it would be weeks before I had a moment alone with you, Your Highness. I am glad you have developed a sense of self-worth.”
She frowned, pulling away from him. He blinked in surprise and held up his hands.
“I mean you no harm. And I would not ask for a vision. In fact, I respectfully ask that if Your Highness does have a vision concerning me, that you don’t tell me of it. I’ve no desire to know my future.”
“Then what do you want?”
“To warn you about your husband. Or rather, to give you the tools to control him. From what I understand, court politics do not come naturally to you. Neither does manipulation.”
“You say that as if you think it should.”
“For a noblewoman, such things are as natural as breathing. But you are not starting from a place of absolute weakness. His Majesty is fond of you, and most importantly, he is being devoured by his guilt. Take advantage of that.”
“Are you…giving me advice on my marriage?” Her brows rose.
“It seems someone has to, given all that has transpired. You can be assured that he has already found your every weakness and used it to exploit you in turn.”
Aurora scowled. She was not at all appreciative that he’d hit the nail on the head. Theron did know her weakness—him. She already knew the way to rile him up, courtesy of Orithyia’s advice, but swaying him was another matter altogether.
“What do you propose?”