Chapter 55
AIMILIA
Aimilia jumped off the tower, hands flying as she cast. She flung a vitae whip around the tower closest to her, Cyprian’s. Wind whistled in her ears as she fell, and Aimilia wasn’t going to doubt Hypatia’s horrifying abilities ever again.
Her whip locked tight, and Aimilia’s arm jerked as it caught her. But her hand began slipping, and she wasn’t going to be able to hold onto it much longer. She was still going to fall.
Right before her grip gave out, a hand sank into her cloak. Aimilia looked up to see Cyprian holding on to her. Aimilia quickly scrambled to grab onto the holds of the tower, and Cyprian let go.
She let out a whispered, “Thank you.”
Cyprian nodded and pressed on while Aimilia climbed down. His actions only proved her point. Cyprian didn’t want her dead.
He couldn’t force her to marry Nikias if she was.
When Aimilia hit the ground, the crowd erupted into cheers.
She spotted Turpis on his feet, hollering louder than most everyone else.
It wasn’t long after her descent that the other commanders finished.
Aimilia only walked a few feet before they were cheering for them and not her anymore.
She took a few staggered steps, heading for the side building so she could sit down and catch her breath.
Before she reached it, she was enveloped in a pair of arms, being crushed against an increasingly familiar chest.
Aimilia instinctually sank into him as Nikias’ hand clutched the back of her head and his arm tightened around her waist. The crowd was still buzzing behind them as Cyrpian finished. Nikias squeezed her tightly and said, “I hate this. I can’t stand watching you do this.”
As much as Aimilia wanted to stay in his arms and admit just how tired she was, she didn’t. She got her hands between them and pushed back. “You’re making a scene.”
His eyes burned as he stared down at her. “Who cares? You almost died.”
Aimilia scoffed. “I wouldn’t be that dramatic. I caught myself. No skilled Runai would let themselves fall like that.”
And hopefully that fall had been the one from Hypatia’s premonition. Their conversation was interrupted by Cyprian hitting the ground and the crowd erupting again. Aimilia politely clapped even though her blood boiled at seeing him.
Just because he’d helped her a little didn’t change the fact that he tried to sedate her.
She was going to have to be careful around him.
Commander Prisca stepped back out and began addressing competitors and the crowd.
She made no mention of Aimilia’s tower collapsing.
It was evident that no one had expected it, but Commander Prisca wasn’t just going to admit it. They had an image to maintain.
Nikias’ hand grabbed hold of hers, keeping her from going anywhere unless she wanted to make an even bigger scene, leaving him while Prisca talked.
As soon as Prisca had dismissed them, Cyprian started to make a beeline for the two of them.
He arrived just seconds before Clelia appeared behind Nikias shoulder.
Aimilia spotted her mother in the crowd, slumped in her seat and fanning herself, looking like she might faint still.
Aimilia felt a little bad for her mother, having to watch all of this as well, but she felt less bad than if her mother had actually attended her graduation tournament.
Then she would have seen just what Aimilia was capable of and just how little she ought to worry.
This was nothing. She didn’t know why everyone was making a big deal about it. What they should be more concerned about was the fact that her tower had been tampered with and rigged so she would fail. Aimilia watched as Queen Clelia approached, unperturbed by it all.
Cyprian narrowed his eyes at the queen as Nikias moved to step in front of Aimilia. Cyprian kept his voice low as he said, “I think all four of us know that wasn’t supposed to happen. And the Runai out there aren’t stupid. They’ll figure it out too.”
Aimilia said, “Someone deliberately tampered with my tower. It was set to collapse when I reached the top. Someone tried to kill me.” She glanced at Queen Clelia, holding her dark gaze. “Or at least eliminate me from the tournament.”
Nikias’ grip on her hand tightened, and she heard him take in a sharp breath, but Clelia wasn’t fazed at Aimilia’s veiled accusation.
She glanced at the rubble on the stage. “This was clearly the work of those Stonai that attacked you on the road and attacked our king in Areator.” Aimilia opened her mouth but Nikias pushed her behind him before she could speak and accuse the queen directly.
Nikias said, “That is a likely possibility. I will have our best begin to look into it, and in the meantime, increase security for the last event.”
Aimilia tried to step around Nikias. “The Stonai aren’t capable of rigging something like that. They would have to be in the vicinity to pull that off.”
Clelia smiled. “Then if that’s the case, we ought to have them found before they disappear again.”
Aimilia opened her mouth again, ready to insist that it made no sense for the Stonai to target her or even just one random column, instead of setting them all up to collapse, especially when they could have attacked the crowd if they were nearby, but before she could Cyprian stepped forward.
“Forgive her, Your Majesty. She’s just a little rattled from the whole thing.
I’m certain she’s grateful that Prince Nikias will look into who targeted her and ensure they’re brought to justice. ”
Clelia gave him a nod and then turned to Nikias. “I trust you will handle this matter.” Nikias bowed his head and said, “Yes, Mother.”
And then Clelia was gone. Aimilia just glared at Cyprian. He wasn’t off the hook either, but she’d rather keep him guessing about how much she knew than reveal all that she had. He said, “I’m glad nothing happened to you, Aimilia. You did well.”
Aimilia said, “There’s only so much you can do in a no-win scenario.”
Cyprian said, “And it’s a good skill for a commander to have. It’s important to know when you’re beaten.”
And then he was gone too.
Aimilia turned to Nikias, but he was still just staring at the ground. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the crowd, half dispersing, half watching them.
She tried to pull her hand away, but Nikias seemed to wake up when she tried. He looked up and tightened his grip. He then glanced at the ground and started pulling her away.
Aimilia followed him, glaring at his back. They found an isolated spot in the trees nearby, where no one from the crowd would be coming. When they stopped, she ripped her hand out of his grip and said, “You and I both know that wasn’t the Stonai.”
Nikias pulled his hands back and huffed. “Obviously. She must have realized I started swapping our scores.”
Aimilia shook her head. “No, she’s she set out to do this from the start. We both know it was her. She rigged that tower so that I would get a no-win scenario and lose points, and that wasn’t enough. She had to rig it to collapse too. Your mother just tried to kill me.”
Nikias reached out for her. “Aimilia—”
She took a step back. “And not only did she just try to kill me now, she also tried in the very first trial. So I don’t want to hear about how she only just now started this. She has been trying to kill me since the beginning of this tournament. The cerberus that killed Eleni was meant for me.”
Nikias’ eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
Aimilia crossed her arms. “Commander Eleni died in the night. Her wounds were too great. That cerberus, it wasn’t like the others.
It wasn’t supposed to be random. It had been selected for me, but because of how it was in such a rabid frenzy, the handlers couldn’t control it long enough to reach me, so they gave it to Eleni.
It was supposed to be me on the ground with my throat ripped out. That’s what your mother wanted.”
Nikias was a ghostly white and he shook his head. “That can’t be—I mean, how could you possibly know? How can you be certain?”
Aimilia just crossed her arms. “I just had to ask the right questions. That’s not the point here. Your mother just tried to kill me. And she’s trying to pin the blame on Stonai that you know you’ll never find. Are you just going to let her get away with it?”
Nikias stepped closer, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t want to let her get away with anything. I have no intention of letting her harm you.”
Aimilia laughed. “Then do something about it. Your father is not here. It’s just you and her. Why don’t you just stand up to her for once in your life?”
Nikias ripped his hands back. “Oh, that’s so easy for you to say. Even when your family is furious with you, they still try to save you. Cyprian is your active competition, and he still helped you. You can complain about them all you want, but none of them have ever lifted a hand to you.”
“They may not have, but they’ve done plenty.
This isn’t about me or my family. This is about you.
Do you think that when your father dies, all your problems are going to be solved?
What exactly do you intend to do about your mother?
You’re so desperate to marry me, but that woman won’t stand for it.
She’ll keep trying to kill me, so then you’ll have no choice but to marry who she wants you to marry instead. ”
“I won’t let her.”
“Then prove it!” Aimilia couldn’t stop her desperate, frantic plea. He’d stood up to his father for her before, why wouldn’t he again? Was she no longer worth the risk?
Nikias fell silent, staring at her silently.
If he loved her, why wouldn’t he prove it?
Aimilia said, “Well?”
Nikias whispered, “I wish I could make you understand, but you can never understand.”
Aimilia shook her head. “I don’t think I want to understand.”
The two of them stood there, a gentle breeze rustling the branches above.
“I don’t want to fight.”
Aimilia crossed her arms. He took a step closer and Aimilia’s breath caught in her throat.
She didn’t want to fight either. But how could she ever know if he was being genuine?
It was easy for him to say all the right things, to claim he would protect her, but when it came down to it, would he actually defend her against his mother? Would he actually protect her, or would he just sentence her to the same fate he was trapped in?
If he was just trying to manipulate her, then of course he would just say what he thought she wanted to hear, but he wouldn’t actually do it. Nikias was very good at saying what she wanted to hear. But when it came to his actions, that’s where his manipulations fell apart every single time.
Nikias started to reach for her, but Aimilia stepped out of his reach. She shook her head. “I—I should go. I’m sure the announcement of Eleni’s death will start to make the rounds. I expect we’ll have the funeral tomorrow. Everyone’s already here.”
“Aimilia, wait—” Nikias grabbed her arm. “Can we please just talk? I don’t understand what’s going on. I thought—I thought—”
Aimilia pulled her arm back. “If you’re not going to do something about the fact that your mother just tried to kill me, I don’t think we have anything left to talk about right now.
There will be plenty of time to talk when all of this is over.
But right now…” Aimilia shook her head. “Right now, I just need some space.”
Nikias watched her go. Aimilia hurried away before he could try again. She had to cut it short. The longer she talked to him, the easier it was to believe him. Aimilia couldn’t afford that right now.
It was clear she was on her own, or at least, she couldn’t trust Nikias to be her ally. Thankfully, she had another. With Turpis’ help and Hypatia’s premonitions, who needed Nikias?