Chapter 52
AIMILIA
Aimilia needed distance, but she wanted Nikias. At least, the person Nikias seemed to be in front of her.
It had taken all her willpower to turn her head.
Everything was such a mess.
She turned the necklace over in her hand.
Setting aside Hypatia’s premonitions and the possibility Nikias was playing her again, where did that leave her?
If he loved her… would she wear it?
Did she love him? Or was she just enjoying being wanted?
He hadn’t quite said he loved her. Did she dare believe that Nikias could love anyone that wasn’t Faustina? That he could love her?
Aimilia tucked the necklace into her pocket and pushed herself up, muscles stiff and groaning as she moved to examine the tray and the ruined tea set, a blush staining her cheeks as the memory of what had broken it flooded her again.
If Nikias knew just how close he was to her putting that necklace on, he wouldn’t let up. Aimilia wouldn’t be able to resist him, and it would all be over.
If this was a trap, she was right where he wanted her to be.
If it wasn’t…
She needed to be more careful. She couldn’t afford to give him hope. Could she let herself love him?
Could she be resigned to being second best to Faustina for the rest of her life? Nikias couldn’t love her the way he’d loved Faustina. That was an unchangeable fact. His love for her was a force of nature.
If Aimilia let herself keep falling in love with him, just how badly would this devastate her? When the truth came out…
Nikias was going to break her heart.
If Aimilia let herself love Nikias, it was going to devastate her twice as much as when she’d loved Gavril. She’d survived when Gavril couldn’t return her feelings for him, but Nikias…
She couldn’t stop the part of her that was desperate for Hypatia’s premonitions to be wrong. She couldn’t stop the part of her that was holding her breath, waiting for Nikias to call her amata and not when he was convinced she was his first wife.
Aimilia was brought out of her thoughts as she looked at the liquid pooling in the cup’s saucer. The sunlight reflected off the dark liquid, long since having gone cold. The color…
A closely guarded secret of House Mitis was the technique they used to brew the plant native to their lands to create a vitae-replenishing tea.
An even more closely guarded secret by the main branch was the technique they used to brew the plant into a tea that would sedate someone, and if made strong enough and used repeatedly, it could destroy a person.
The average Runai would never even know the difference until it was too late. Or even in the months following. The king certainly had never figured it out. They tasted exactly the same. They looked almost exactly the same.
Aimilia, however, was one of the few alive who had enough experience with both in order to tell them apart.
But even she could only do so if she was looking for it and had the right lighting.
Aimilia took her pinky and touched the cool tea. The color was off.
She lifted her hand and let the droplet roll down and fall back to the tray.
Poison. And if she had to hazard a guess, strong enough to knock her out for the rest of the tournament but not strong enough to leave lasting damage.
So much for winning fairly.
Aimilia left the tray on the ground, resisting the urge to kick it.
It wouldn’t take her uncle long to return, expecting her to be unconscious so he could clean up the evidence. She didn’t want him to know that she’d discovered his attempt to take her out. So it needed to stay an accident.
But that only strengthened Aimilia’s resolve.
She would stay the course and become Head of House Mitis. Cyprian would pay for this.
When a healer finally came by, Aimilia explained the mess by saying she’d accidentally knocked it all over with her bad arm.
The healer had only hummed and said she would send for a servant to take care of it, but otherwise Aimilia was fine; she just needed to ensure she rested between then and the next event in a day.
Aimilia promised to do so, eagerly escaping the healer’s wing, pausing only to inquire about her cousin. Still no news.
She spotted Ovidius sitting outside her room. They weren’t even letting him in to sit with her?
That didn’t bode well.
She rubbed her pinky finger against her thumb. She paused and looked back over her shoulder at Eleni’s husband dozing in his seat.
Aimilia didn’t like what was going on, that was certain.
She made it back to her room and focused first on cleaning up, working through her thoughts.
What if Cyprian was trying to sabotage more than just Aimilia?
But what had Commander Eleni done to deserve his ire? Everyone knew she wasn’t a threat to him. And how exactly could he have sabotaged her when he’d been fighting his own cerberus on the other side on the stage?
Aimilia tied off her braid and looked at herself in the mirror. Maybe she was being paranoid.
A knock sounded on her door, and she called out over her shoulder, “Unless you’re here to tell me congratulations on making it to the next round, Mother, I think we’re better off waiting until after the tournament to do this whole charade again.”
The door creaked open and in the reflection of the mirror, she saw Turpis lean against the doorframe to watch her. “Should I be offended you thought I was your mother?”
Aimilia really needed to stop doing that. The number of times she’d guessed wrong was starting to get embarrassing.
“You should be offended it didn’t occur to me you would come here to my room. Are you checking up on me, Lieutenant?” She turned in her seat at her vanity to face him. “I promise you a little scratch like that on my arm doesn’t merit all this fuss.”
He took a step farther in, crossing his arms. “Can’t you let a man have an excuse to come see you? Maybe I am here to congratulate you. You showed up all the other commanders. They’re all sweating now.”
Aimilia certainly knew Cyprian was, if he was desperate enough to poison her.
She smiled at him. “Good to know. Have you been spying for me in order to get that information?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Are you in the market for an informant?”
Now that he mentioned…
The necklace weighed heavily in her pocket. If she confided in Nikias, he’d want to stop the tournament, or at least her participation in it. Or worse, he’d ask her how she knew he was trying to poison her, and she’d have to reveal Cyprian’s plan and the poisoned tea.
And what if he put the pieces together that the only way she could recognize Cyprian’s plan was because she’d used it herself against his father?
What would he do if he learned it?
Clearly there wasn’t any love lost between Nikias and his father, but Aimilia’s actions had been the catalyst for Nikias being subject to Hypatia’s torture. Could he ever forgive her for that?
“Aimilia, is everything alright?”
She looked up from the ground, Turpis’ voice shaking her out of her reverie.
“Actually, I’m not certain it is.”
If Turpis was offering… why shouldn’t she take advantage of it?
Turpis came fully into the room and to her side. “What is it? Can I be of service?”
“I need you to look into something for me. Can you find out what is going on with Commander Eleni’s injuries? No one is telling me anything, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s something more going on here.”
Turpis looked over his shoulder at the closed door and lowered his voice. “I’ve already been asking. Some people suspect she’s been poisoned, and that’s why the healing isn’t working.”
“Poisoned?” How was that possible? Cyprian wouldn’t have been able to give her poisoned tea, as she would have had a healer with her since she’d been taken away and her husband now sitting vigil.
He would have had to sneak into her room in order to keep dosing her, and Aimilia knew from experience that was not as easy as it sounded.
“That’s what the rumors are saying, but I’ll dig deeper, Commander.”
“When would it have happened?”
Turpis tilted his head. “Do you think the cerberus could have done it? If she was fine before the trial, when else could it have occurred?”
“But cerberuses aren’t poisonous by nature. Otherwise I would have been poisoned, and any of the other commanders who were injured.”
“So no matter what, this would have been deliberate.”
Aimilia nodded. “And if so—”
“You could be next, especially after that showing. Commander Eleni was the third favorite amongst the betting.”
“Which one of us is the favorite?”
Turpis winked. “You’re my favorite. You have the potential to make me a very rich man.”
“Is that why you’re helping me?” His hand was on her knee, and it certainly wasn’t eliciting the same feeling as Nikias’, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
“You become Head of House Mitis and maybe then I tell you why I’m helping you get there.”
Aimilia opened her mouth and started to move to push his hand away, but a knock on the door interrupted, and it was opening again before she could do anything.
“Aimilia, I—”
Nikias stood in the doorway, cutting himself off when his eyes landed on Turpis’ hand on Aimilia’s knee.
“You know you’re supposed to wait until the person on the other side says to come in, right?” Aimilia said, rising from her seat and dislodging Turpis’ hand with the motion. Turpis also rose to his feet, eyes narrowing.
“Apologies, I just wanted to check on you after I saw you this morning.” But Nikias wasn’t even looking at her; he was just glaring at Turpis.
Turpis grinned. “As you can see, she’s perfectly fine, Your Highness. Wasn’t your mother looking for you earlier?”
Aimilia’s breath caught in her throat as Nikias’ jaw clenched.
His wrists and arms were clean of bruises, but if he’d been coming to see her after his mother, Aimilia was certain it was just a mirage.
“I believe Commander Prisca was looking for you, Lieutenant.” Nikias stepped to the side and gestured to the door. “You wouldn’t want to keep her waiting, or make her think you’re shirking your duties. There is a tournament to run, after all.”
Turpis looked back at her.
She took a deep breath. “Thank you, Lieutenant, for checking on me.”
Turpis nodded and bowed. “Of course, Commander. Sleep well.”
As he passed by Nikias, he murmured something Aimilia couldn’t make out, but then he was gone. Nikias’ only response was to glare at the door as he shut it behind him. “What was he doing here?”
Aimilia huffed. “None of that is any of your business.”
“It isn’t?” Nikias scoffed. “Anything involving you is my business.”
Was it? The necklace sat heavy in her pocket. Did he think because he’d given that to her he had some claim on her?
“Is that what you think?” Aimilia glared at him.
Why was he so upset by Turpis checking on her? Was it jealousy?
Or fear she would slip out of his spell?
Nikias blanched and crossed his arms. “Aimilia, you’re competing in a tournament that could kill you. Of course anything involving you is my business. I am trying to keep you safe.”
“Well, then we’re done here. Turpis isn’t a threat to me.” Aimilia waved her hand.
“We’re not done here. What did he say to you?”
She certainly wasn’t going to tell him now.
Aimilia walked right up to Nikias and said, “Nothing of importance. Please, I’m exhausted, and I need to rest. The last thing I need to do is deal with your massive ego and possessiveness simply because an old classmate of mine wanted to make sure I was well.”
Nikias stepped back, jaw clenching. “I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”
“Goodnight, Nikias.”
She shut the door after him and leaned against it with a sigh.
She needed an ally, and it couldn’t be Nikias.