Page 16 of The Oracle of Dusk

“I was slated to become Princess Phaedra’s newest guard, in fact.”

“No,” Aurora gasped.

She couldn’t imagine the serious, staid Silvanus running around after Phaedra and putting up with her antics. All her current guards shared her sense of humour and had learned to pick their battles.

“Oh, yes. Empress Neverita wanted her youngest on a tighter leash.”

“I mean this in the nicest possible way, but she would have made it her mission to chew you up and spit you out just to prove a point,” Aurora said.

“Now I get to do battle against Drakon. Hard to say which is the more gruelling beast to subdue.”

Aurora chuckled. No one won against Phaedra when she set her mind to something.

“You’d best be careful not to say that to her face.”

“Duly noted.”

“And Fae’s not that bad.”

“A resounding endorsement, clearly, given I received one just like it.”

Aurora blushed and cleared her throat.

“I mean it! You’ll never find another soul as loving or loyal.”

“I’ve experienced the loyalty. I suspect the loving is something she saves for a select few.”

In that he was correct. But it bothered her that he had a negative view of Phaedra. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that they didn’t see the woman she truly was. After all, Phaedra was very good at crafting her public image and holding people at a distance. But she hoped Silvanus would see Phaedra as Aurora did. She deserved to have more people in her life who truly knew and cared for her.

“Everyone thinks being a princess is all parties and ballgowns and luxury. I used to think the same. But her fate was decided before she’d even been born. She never got a chance to have her own dreams, let alone pursue them. Her life is one of constantly being on display, of duty and sacrifice. Once I learned the truth, I have never once envied her that. Is it any wonder that she saves her true heart for those who’ve proven themselves worthy of it?”

“Fate rarely does Her chosen any favours,” he murmured, almost too quiet for her to hear. Yes, she supposed they three had that in common now. There was little to envy in that. “Although there is something I’m curious about. How is it that a merchant’s daughter turned acolyte becomes the princess’ closest confidante?”

“Initiate,” she corrected him, before realising it meant next to nothing now. Her whole life before this point mattered not a whit. It was strange to think that fate had robbed her of who she was.

“Apologies. Initiate.”

“How did you know all that?”

“High Priestess Orithyia made sure I knew everything about you before I arrived. And you’re quite the curiosity among the imperial guard candidates.”

“Oh?”

“And the more I know, the better I can protect you.”

“Oh.” Aurora tried to push it from her mind. “Well, to answer your question, I punched her.”

Everyone always asked that question, hoping for some secret key to worming their way into Phaedra’s good graces. But hers was a friendship that had come roaring into Aurora’s life like a gale. Silvanus was quiet for a long time after that.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, a slash of bright pink and gold tinging the midnight blue. The loper cantered along the rocky desert path. Once, this would have been green and full of life. But much of Aureum had dried up in the ancient past, just as the rest of Trisia had, its mighty rivers reduced to a trickle, forcing the capital to move closer to the border with the still-verdant Viridian imperial centre. Her dig site had been at the ancient royal capital, Altanus, now buried beneath the sand and rock of thousands of years.

“No matter how many times I turn that over in my head, I can’t picture you punching the princess,” Silvanus said.

Aurora laughed. Neither could anyone else.

“I wasn’t nearly so mild-mannered as a child. I was terribly jealous of Fae, and she of me. One day, I’d had enough of her prancing about the temple library with her sycophants in tow, praising her wild magic. I marched right up to her and gave her a black eye. She returned the slight, and from there it was a lot of hair pulling, biting, kicking and screaming.”

“And you weren’t executed?”

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