Page 11 of Poisoned Empire

“Dominae.”

“Dominus?”

“Domini.”

“Magister?”

“Magistri.”

Selene suppressed a bored sigh. All in all, she considered herself rather well behaved, given she was in reality a prisoner of her father’s demands. Her task was to be well versed enough in noble customs and skills to pass as Milena, a daughter of Magister Amethyst. She was to display a penchant for mischief, outrageous enough to make her very dull half-sisters seem virtuous in comparison, directing the prince’s attention away from them and towards herself at all times. From what she’d been able to glean, the real Milena was locked in her room, suffering from some potentially embarrassing illness the Magister wanted kept under wraps. The poor girl was probably pregnant and refusing to abort the illegitimate child. Daddy needed someone who could pass as Milena, without the baby bump, to show up for the prince’s command performance. And if it all went sideways? Selene knew she would be the only one punished for it.

They promenaded around the lush grounds as Carrot pestered her endlessly about how she carried herself, or held the hem of her dress as she stepped over every puddle. As they passed a group of guards making their rounds, the soldiers stopped and bowed to Carrot.

“Curtsy, Domina Milena,” Carrot said.

Selene reluctantly obeyed.

The soldiers weren’t fooled by the false name Carrot used. Once the domina turned her head, they spat at Selene’s feet and carried on. She caught snippets of their conversation.

“He’s no mage at all. No one has ever seen him wield a gift.”

“Yet the prince has the gall to force the magister to pay for his never-ending reforms. And he demands to see all the magister’s daughters brought before him, as if they don’t have suitors already. He’s courting trouble.”

Given how they openly mocked the prince, a punishable offense, her father must have said as much many times over. There was more to this whole business than met the eye. The importance of a quick getaway loomed large. Selene decided to put a little insurance in place against her father’s inevitable betrayal, running her fingers along the neatly trimmed hedges as they passed.

She’d stated her demands and he’d agreed to them. It had all been very civil and neat—discounting the corpses of her captors, of course. But what self-respecting magister would make a deal with his nobody bastard and then actually bother to pay up if he didn’t have to? People were scum. Based on that principle, he would betray her once she’d done as he’d asked and bury her body in some unmarked ditch at the first opportunity, allowing the true Milena to emerge from confinement when the time was right. She was no better than her electrocuted captors in his eyes, just slightly more useful and with a longer stay of execution. Besides, she could get everything she wanted when she was in Nadioch without his help.

Only a week later, Selene was sent on her way with Burgundy, Copper and Carrot, all neatly packed into the family carriage. There would be no teleportation mage to transport them, not when their journey was to be remarked upon and fêted throughout the province. Damn nobles and their damn performances.

Neither the magister nor magistra bothered to see them off. Selene looked at her very dull, silent sisters and sighed wearily.

“A domina doesn’t sigh,” Burgundy reminded her.

Oh, yes, this was going to be a long carriage ride.

Chapter 5

Astheytravelledthroughthe Sapphire Province, evidence of the Great War was interspersed with the recovery. They veered around ghost towns hazy with lingering curses, passed great pillars of rock paused in the act of toppling watchtowers, and rolled through communities where paint flecking from the walls revealed the charred masonry beneath. Neat bridges, cosy towns and great swaths of vibrant green forest gave way to prosperous farms, vineyards and mills butting up against walled towns, which gradually increased in size and splendour. Everywhere their well-stocked caravan travelled, they were remarked upon and celebrated. When they finally arrived in Nadioch, located snugly in the Diamond Province, there was no question in Iliana’s mind as to where she was.

The palace sat at the top of the high ground in all its dazzling magnificence, surrounded by innumerable lesser buildings as well as the high, imposing, fortified walls. Snow-capped mountains in the distance completed the perfect scene. Iliana had plenty of time to appreciate the views as their progress slowed to a snail’s pace. Carriages from all over Lethe clogged every available road leading towards the palace while vendors plied their wares on either side of them. The streets simply weren’t made to handle the congestion.

As they passed a vendor with jewel-encrusted daggers in their ornamental sheaths, hope flared in her breast. Iliana leaned out the window to get the vendor’s attention.

“One of your daggers, the one with sapphires on the sheath, and the mother-of-pearl lacquered box to hold it. The driver will pay you,” she said in her haughtiest voice.

“Your diction is excellent, but dominae have no need of daggers,” Diodora intoned.

Iliana held her tongue to keep from making a remark about the daggers her sisters were holding. Instead, she made the first step of her escape plan.

“I am to stand out, Diodora,” Iliana reminded her, accepting the dagger and box from the vendor. “To do so, I shall present the prince with a gift.”

“Very well.” Diodora nodded.

Iliana pretended to inspect the sheath, all the while enchanting the blade. Any man not of her blood who held it would be able to read her plea for help as it scrawled itself on the blade, only to disappear again when untouched. It was as complex a spell as the simple metal could hold. She only hoped it would reach the prince rather than one of the magister’s men.

Their carriage driver rapped on the ceiling, startling her.

“Dominae, I’ve been informed by palace staff that carriages are being diverted to the Hippodrome to park, and their occupants carried in palanquins to the palace gates to avoid the wait. What would you like me to do?”

---