Chapter 7 #2
“What in the Loom is going on? Why is there a Viridian army at your back?” she hissed.
“Aurora invited them,” he grumbled.
“She wouldn’t!” Hyllus retorted.
Epicasta gave him an odd look.
“Hyllus, go find Aurora. Ask her what’s happened. Bring her back if she asks. I’ll wait here with His Majesty.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Hurry.”
Hyllus seemed torn but did as he was bid. When it was just the two of them alone in the dim light of dusk, Epicasta sighed.
“What did you do?” she asked, hand on hip.
“Why do you think this is my doing?” Offended, he crossed his arms.
She rolled her eyes.
“Aurora can be unpredictable at times, but she was so smitten with you it was nauseating. Clearly, this is your doing.”
“Watch your tone.” He glared at her.
“Watch yours! I came here to find a way to free you from Viridian control.” She poked him in the chest with the tip of her accusing finger.
Theron ran a hand down his face.
“Aurora agreed to be adopted by your mother and brought the army along as a princess of Viridis.”
“Why?” she asked, bewildered.
“Some of my cousin’s beasts bear a passing resemblance to her Drakon. She was incensed when Orithyia told her,” Theron muttered.
Epicasta blinked in shock, dumbfounded for a moment of blissful silence that ended all too quickly.
“You didn’t think to have this conversation with her before your marriage?”
“Clearly,” he replied dryly.
Epicasta was silent for a long time.
“Triad’s tits, you never do things by halves, do you?” she muttered, shaking her head.
“If this is the extent of your aid, then you’ll forgive me if I excuse myself.”
Theron turned on his heel, ready to be done with this ridiculous audience.
“No, wait,” she sighed, aggrieved, grabbing his himation. “You understand how monumentally you’ve fucked up, don’t you?”
“I need no marriage counselling from the glass princess, widowed thrice-over,” he growled, snatching it back.
“Well, I came here expecting to give you strategies to deal with the army, not explaining a woman’s heart to the greatest fool in Trisia, but needs must.”
“Then dispense with your great wisdom and quickly find some cave to hide in. Or you’ll be back under your mother’s thumb within a fortnight.” He waved her on.
Epicasta pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You would test the patience of a goddess,” she muttered.
“Hyllus has…told me things about Aurora. Secrets which are not mine to share if she hasn’t already done so.
But believe me when I tell you this: Drakon is the greatest threat Trisia has faced since the Great Sundering, and you would do well to remember that.
That Aurora came here to warn us of it is a gift from a benevolent deity.
Not only that, but she is vital to dealing with that threat. She must be protected at all costs.”
All things he already knew. But what were these secrets? Were there further betrayals he needed to guard himself against?
“Are you going somewhere with this lecture of yours?”
“My point is that you are unworthy of her.”
“You little—” He advanced on her.
She stopped him with another accusing poke to his ribs.
“She loved you, Theron. Blindly, recklessly, foolishly loved you. In spite of everything you are. You were given incomparable treasure, and you squandered it. Do not try to deny it, I know you in ways neither she nor Hyllus can ever understand. As only fellow royalty can. You are cruel and ruthless and without conscience when it suits you. You would not wear your crown otherwise. But Aurora is different. She’s not like us—she believes people are fundamentally good and that the likes of you and I are worth saving—loving.
And if what you say is true, then you are potentially the author of her greatest misery and the progenitor of Trisia’s doom. ”
“I didn’t create Drakon!” he roared.
“That remains to be seen,” she replied, unaffected.
Thrice-damned nuisance of a princess. He didn’t need this now.
“Are you done?”
“No, I’m not. You must remove her from Flora’s control, because she won’t hesitate to kill Aurora to get the Dragon’s Flank, no matter that she is an oracle. I’ll contact my spies to find Nerio, as should you. In the meantime, you must find a way to get rid of Stentor and—”
“He’s dead.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Raiders a week past.”
It was only a pity he’d not been able to give the man the death he’d truly deserved.
“Some good news, then. Who’s taken charge of the army?”
“Leukos.”
“Damn.”
Theron raised his brow.
“Leukos is…tricky. He’s honourable, for the most part.
No vices, respectable. Solid if impoverished family.
Has illusion magic but doesn’t use it nefariously.
Unlike Stentor, he’s intelligent. He’s also loyal to the Viridian throne without being a sycophant.
Leukos, more than any other, is as committed to securing the Dragon’s Flank as Her Majesty.
The border skirmishes have drained his family’s coffers over the generations, and only by securing it will they have a chance to rebuild.
You won’t be able to trick him into making a misstep.
Your only hope is to appeal to his interests—promise him a secure border, clean up the mountain raiders, and make it contingent on Aurora’s safety. He’ll know what that means.”
“Anything else?”
Might as well use this irritating interruption to the fullest.
“The baggage trains are vulnerable. If you want to slow the army, hobble their supplies. The nobles are prone to being spooked if it seems to be the spirits’ doing. Oh, and if you have anyone who can do it, poison the soldiers’ food. Nothing lethal, but enough to make them too ill to travel.”
He really didn’t like these glimpses of their similarities.
“Most of the nobles have run back to Boreas. And the raiders made short work of the supplies in the attack. The soldiers have been stealing from towns along the way.”
Epicasta frowned.
“Of course they are,” she sighed. “It’s getting late. My advice, should you choose to take it, is to learn how to grovel and pray your wife accepts your apologies.”
His hackles rose instantly.
“A king doesn’t grovel.”
“But a wise husband does.”
Theron scowled at Epicasta. She threw her hands up in disgust.
“She might as well have been convinced you’d hung the moon before your wedding.
Supposing disappointment due to an underwhelming coupling wasn’t the reason she turned on you, I suspect you have all the tools necessary to win her back.
In any case, if you fail to do so by the time we next meet in Aureum, I’ll tell Hyllus the truth. ”
“And what would that be?” he bit out.
“That you never truly loved her.”
“How dare you!”
Wrath surged like a tidal wave inside him. He sank his magic into her—a threat and a warning.
“I dare because it’s true. I don’t believe for a single moment that your black, withered heart is capable of it. Hyllus might believe you, but that’s because he wants to see the best in people. Except even at your best, you were never capable of that.”
“Speaking from experience, Princess?” He pulled back his magic. She wasn’t worth his effort.
But she remained calm.
“Yes. I know what real love is, Your Majesty, and I saw a great many things in your eyes when you looked at her, but love—true love—was not one of them.”
“And you think to threaten discord just as you’ve told me to smooth things over?”
“It is not a threat. Merely a warning. She doesn’t have to remain at your side when this is all over. And Hyllus is more than willing to help her return home if she wishes it. Become the kind of man who is worth remaining for, or you will lose her.”
“I won’t lose her,” he growled. “And certainly not to your husband’s meddling!”
“I should hope not. Else you truly will be the greatest fool in all of Trisia.”
His next retort was interrupted by screams.
“Stay here!” Theron ordered as he rushed back to the camp.
There shouldn’t be another raid. After the disaster of the last one, he’d had his people hunt down and end the bandits. But some lights in the camp had winked out entirely, while others blazed as if whole tents had once again caught fire.
When he reached his commander, Nireus already had a report for him.
“Monstrosities, Your Majesty. Please make your way to Myrina’s tent!”
Another scream rent the air.
Aurora.
Left in the tent to her own devices after she’d dismissed her attendants to see to their own matters, Aurora felt a little lost. She paced, wearing a hole in the simple rug, her hands wringing the soft fabric of her nightgown.
She couldn’t forgive what Theron had done—the lies he’d told and how desperately heartbroken he’d made her.
Nor could she consider trusting him until the beasts were dead.
But she couldn’t forget the care he’d shown her, nor that he seemed changed—kinder, calmer. Apologetic.
She gave up the pretense of exercise and sat on the edge of the bed, her hand on his pillow.
The hopeful part of her wanted his change to be real—lasting.
But her growing cynicism warned her it would pass, that he was incapable, and all she was doing was setting herself up for further betrayal and heartbreak.
Her mission was of greater importance than her heart, and she couldn’t afford to be swayed by a man who had already proven false.
So much rested on her shoulders, so many lives, so many futures. It was too much to bear.
Aurora lay down, staring up at the roof of the tent, the flickering light of the brazier throwing shadows across the golden felt. She wished she weren’t so alone.
“Psst, Aurora.”
She gasped, sitting up. The voice had come from outside the tent, just by her head. And she recognized its bearer.
“Hyllus?”
“Forgive the intrusion,” he said, slicing through the felt of the tent in one seamless movement before slipping inside.
Aurora had to do a double-take. For a moment, she thought he was Silvanus, but for his towering height. She jumped into his arms all the same.
“I’ve missed you so much!” she cried. “Where’s Epicasta?”
He held her close, his arms a warm comfort.