Page 127 of The Oracle of Dusk

His heart warmed at the sound of her pleading. Her jealousy.

“Then the feeling is mutual. But if it’s not her, it’ll be another of Flora’s daughters. I made a vow I can’t escape.”

And if he balked at marrying Epicasta, Orithyia would tell Flora exactly what he’d said and he’d be a prisoner in Boreas for the rest of his days.

“She’ll be forced by the queen to kill you.”

He chuckled.

“I know, and I have countermeasures ready. Is that what you fear, that she’ll take me from you?”

Aurora blushed, nodding. Theron pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“The marriage will be in name only, a political necessity so that I can return to Aureum. She’ll have no power to harm me, to vex you, to rule—nothing. What we have together won’t change. My attention, affection, respect, devotion, all of it is already yours. And if you want an official place at my side, then the very moment I’m finished that farce of a ceremony, I’ll make you my one and only concubine. When we return to Aureum, our binding ceremony will be a hundred times more lavish than any wedding ever held. You will be my wife in every way that matters.”

He could see that she wanted what he offered, that she craved to own a piece of him no one else could touch. But her brows pinched and tears gathered in her eyes.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Yes, you can,” he replied.

She covered her face with her hands as her breath hitched with sorrow.

“No, I can’t. I can’t do that to her. I can’t be another reason she’s forced to suffer. It’s not right.”

Another reason? Had Epicasta spoken with Aurora? What had she poisoned his little fairy’s mind with? Theron pried her hands from her face.

“What did she tell you?”

“That she loves another. That if she doesn’t do as she’s told, he’ll die, and the only way he’ll be free is if Flora gains control of the Dragon’s Flank. I can’t let that happen to her.”

So she had a lethal weakness and Flora had decided to ruthlessly exploit it? Normally, he would put all his resources into acquiring that weakness for his own purpose. But the look in Aurora’s eye, determination mixed with something else, made his blood run cold.

“What have you done?”

Aurora sympathised with Epicasta, and was cunning in her own way. She knew of dozens of ways to sneak out of the vivarium. Who’s to say she hadn’t ferreted out countless more snaking through the main palace? If she’d helped Epicasta flee the capital, Orithyia would blame him, accuse him of causing trouble. He would never return to Aureum.

Aurora pressed her lips in a mulish line, defiant.

His gut sank.

“If I’ve succeeded? Changed her fate.”

An explosion shook the ground. Theron grabbed Aurora and lunged into the relative safety of the courtyard as the columns swayed and cracks raced up the walls. His eyes widened in shock.

“Did you just…was that your doing?”

But her eyes were as wide as his. She shook her head.

Theron got to his feet and hauled her up as the people of the temple rushed outside to see what had happened. When the doors of the temple were flung open, the plaza was shrouded in a cloud of dust. Screams rang out as paladins and priestesses rushed in. Amidst the clamour, one voice, a man’s, rose above it all.

“Justice and Vengeance, Knowledge and Lies, Passion and Death! They are two sides of the same goddesses! One cannot exist without the other! The Second Sundering was heresy, and your temples are an insult! Now the trove of ancient treasures hoarded by the heretic Orithyia belongs to the true believers! Cower and atone! Embrace the truth of dualism!”

“The hoard,” Aurora gasped.

Theron tightened his grip on her hand.

The dualists had gone and stolen the lot, no doubt. He cursed his horrid luck. If they’d waited just a few more days, it might have all been his—Aureum’s.

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