Chapter 22 #2
“Careful, Your Holiness. Perhaps Flora allows you to get away with such insults, but this is my kingdom and my court. I have beheaded men for less.”
“Is that what you presume to threaten me with?”
“No, Your Holiness. For one such as yourself, I would simply force you out of my kingdom and bar the way back in, as I and my forefathers have done for as long as you and your predecessors have favoured the monarchs of Viridis.”
Just give me a reason, Orithyia, I dare you.
“You would have some difficulty doing so, Your Majesty. Your wife made promises to me, and I mean to collect,” she said, turning her piercing gaze to Aurora.
“I upheld my part of our bargain, Your Highness. I advised you in good faith. Now, I ask that you aid me. Before I asked that you help me hunt down the dualists. I can see that it is not a priority for either of you, no matter the consequences. Instead, I shall merely ask that the palace pay for the materials needed to construct a new statue of Knowledge. If this cycle of chaos becomes a cycle of calamity, as you believe it will, then leaving the capital of Altanus short one third of its divine magic in the only district guaranteed to be safe from monstrosities is the height of folly.”
So that was her ploy. If she couldn’t get him to bend, she would attack his wife.
Theron’s hands balled into fists. Always, this wraith of a woman sought to harm his wife, and as he looked to Aurora, he knew she could find no reason to deny Orithyia.
But instead of giving in, she turned her gaze to him, raising her brow in question.
His hold loosened. That’s right. They weren’t at each other’s throats anymore. They were in this together.
“Can we get out of it?” she asked him in a whisper.
“Not if we want to preserve your honour as a royal. A queen who refuses to keep her word to a high priestess will never be trusted. It would be best to give her what she seeks. Now, instead of giving her what she wants while she blames us, we can give it to her as a fulfilment of a vow.”
“I suppose that does make a better story.”
“And allows us to save face,” he added.
Aurora turned from him and faced the high priestess.
“The palace will provide you with the funds to reconstruct the statue of Knowledge. With this, my vow is fulfilled,” Aurora said, leaving no room for bargaining.
It was a shame he hadn’t been able to slip free of Orithyia’s request entirely, but he supposed it was best that Aurora was no longer indebted to the woman.
Though the bitch was likely to extort him for an exorbitant sum in the coming days.
It would probably be best to warn his nobles they were to provide the materials at a reasonable cost.
“You have my gratitude, Your Highness. If you will excuse me, I have much to prepare. Triad bless the sun and star of Aureum.”
“Go with our blessing,” Theron replied, sending the woman on her way. Given all the things that could have happened, that had gone better than he’d thought it might.
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said quietly. “The statue is going to cost a lot, isn’t it?”
“It will, and I would have liked for the temple to cover the cost themselves. I lavish them with enough funds each year that they should not have had to ask it of us. I have no doubt Orithyia will attempt to pad her coffers by draining mine. But don’t be sorry.
If I had been a better husband, you would not have turned to her in the first place. ”
“Still, I’m sorry that my promises will mean less for the people of Aureum.”
Already thinking like a queen? It warmed his heart.
“We will simply need to rein in Orithyia’s worst excesses. Polydorus?”
“Your Majesty?”
“Assign the most exacting treasury official to oversee the money disbursed to the temple of Knowledge. Make Orithyia account for every coin the palace sends her way.”
“It would be my pleasure, Your Majesty.”
“And Nireus?”
“Your Majesty?”
“Unless the dualists are attacking the palace, or a coup is in progress, never interrupt my time with my wife ever again.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Nireus bit back a smile.
“Theron!” Aurora gasped, face reddening.
Theron couldn’t help his smile at her reaction. Where was the little minx who had pumped his cock in her hands while Nireus reported to him?
“Perhaps this might be a good time to discuss the rites of the consort and a coronation for Her Majesty?” Canthus smiled.
“I agree. If this blight is to end, it would be best to send two monarchs to the ruins of the spire rather than one. I think under those circumstances, even Lord Vettias would understand if your arrival is delayed a little longer.” Polydorus nodded.
“I think we should postpone until after Drakon is dead. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you are predicted to die because of the beast.” Nireus levelled Theron with an accusatory glare.
“And what of the blight? Do you propose His Majesty hide inside the palace while it ravages the kingdom?” Polydorus scowled.
“The blight won’t be helped by a dead monarch.” Nireus folded his arms.
Canthus cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should ask our future queen about the specifics before we argue amongst ourselves.”
All eyes turned to Aurora then. She was already paling, her former blush long forgotten.
Bile rose in Theron’s gut. He wasn’t certain he wanted to know what his wife knew of his demise.
If what she knew was simply what she’d read as her history, he would have some hope of changing the outcome.
But what if what she knew was due to a vision?
He wasn’t certain her visions, once seen, could be averted.
“I…what I know is what I’ve read in the histories left behind in my time.
A decade before I was born, we unearthed a biography of Theron, written after the first cycle of calamity.
It was fragmented, but it said that he was the first monarch to die during the first calamity.
The means or exact date of his death are not known. ”
Theron frowned.
“Then why did you say that Drakon would be the death of me?”
“In my time, many of the things Drakon said to me made little sense. Recently, I have come to suspect that he knew of you, of us, intimately. The beast whispered in my ear, saying things a lover might…things you have said in almost the same way you’ve said them.
He was mocking me, the prey he chases across the Tapestry, and presumably mocking my relationship with my fated as well.
I can only surmise that in every lifetime, as he hunts me down, he hunts you as well, knowing that he robs me of my fated.
It is the only reason some of his words and actions make sense. ”
“Words and actions?” Theron asked, his heart plummeting.
Aurora gripped her skirts and looked down at her lap.
“The link is telepathic. I could hear his vile insults and…feel things as if someone were touching me. The avatar of my time was able to help block it out using his divine magic.”
That monster had not only hunted but dared to assault his wife? Had whispered threats in her ears? Had said things a lover might to taunt her? Rage unlike he’d ever known burned through him.
“Canthus.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Are any of Batea’s great serpents or any of their component beasts still alive in her kennels?”
“A few, Your Majesty.”
“Slaughter them all and burn the corpses. Any notes she made are to go into the nearest fire pit. Nothing but ashes should remain. And redouble our efforts to hunt that beast down.”
“As you command,” Canthus replied, marching out of the palace with his orders.
“Thank you,” Aurora said.
“I should never have allowed those beasts to be made. I should have killed them all the moment you asked it of me.” He pinched his brow. And it was too late now. The worst of them was still on the loose, every day potentially becoming the very monster that had hunted his wife.
Aurora didn’t reply. He couldn’t expect her to. He’d been such a fool, and now it had come back to bite him.
“Do you mean to wait until the beast is slain before you travel to the spire near Lord Vettias’ estate in Cor, Your Majesty?” Polydorus asked.
“Though it would be the most prudent course, it could be months before that happens. Can our coffers and grain reserves survive both that and the damages of a cycle of chaos?”
Polydorus frowned.
“It would be…trying.”
Nireus sighed, frustrated.
“If we’re to send two monarchs all the way to Cor, when both are threatened by Drakon, then we’ll need to provision ourselves accordingly. It would be safest to travel with a veritable army. Better yet if we can convince the avatar and a number of paladins to accompany us.”
“Co-ordinate with Canthus and see what can be done,” Theron replied.
Nireus bowed and was on his way.
“And what of the rites and coronation?” Polydorus asked.
“Oh, um…” Aurora blinked, surprised by the question.
“Give us some time to discuss it, Polydorus.”
“Of course. Is there anything else?”
“Have dinner sent to my rooms.”
Polydorus bowed, excusing himself.
Theron held out his hand for Aurora. She took it and they walked to the gardens.
Perhaps some time in one of his more relaxing gardens would help him say what needed to be said.
They passed the first garden where they were likely to be interrupted, instead going further in.
The bustle of the palace was replaced by the chirping of birds and the buzz of insects.
Aurora was uncharacteristically silent, her eyes faraway.
“I had hoped to give you more time to come around to the idea of being my queen.”
As they sat down on a nearby stone bench, Aurora sighed.
“I haven’t…really thought very seriously about becoming your queen. I had either thought to put off deciding, or to use the title for whatever power I could and then leave.”
Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but given his treatment of her, not entirely unsurprising either.
“And now?”
“I’m…not sure. I’ve never wanted that kind of position or responsibility before.”
“Not even as the confidant of a princess?”