Page 109 of The Oracle of Dusk

After all, attacking someone in the temple plaza was an affront against the Triad. The royal palace might as well have spit on the statues of the goddesses themselves. By law, the moment Aurora had been assaulted in the plaza, she was a ward of Justice’s temple, and her treatment after that moment was a serious insult. But Flora had never worried herself over taboos and consequences, not when Orithyia and her daughter always cleaned up after her. He would save the details of what Flora intended to force him to do for the right moment. Perhaps at the trial?

When the paladin gave Theron instructions to return to the temple with a paladin once he’d collected his things, Epicasta stood like a statue beside him.

“Fool.”

“You lost this round, Princess.”

“The temple can’t save you. You still need to be purified and pay restitution. Rest your head under the temple’s roof if you like, but you can’t escape what’s to come.”

Maybe not, but at least Aurora could. It might have been better to find a way to allow her to slip away in the middle of the night, but now that she’d come to Flora’s attention, only the attention of those with some power in Viridis would protect her from Flora’s worst caprices.

“Nerio will purify me. And with her arrival, any restitution I’m forced to pay will be fair andjust.”

“And where is the wandering high priestess? How long will it take to find her, bid her to come, and wait for her arrival? Much can happen, even in the span of a week.” She looked around at the gory scene before them pointedly. “Besides, even if you hide behind the temple walls, Her Majesty is within her rights to demand your attendance at court. After all, it wasn’t she who attacked your paramour or chained her here. All you’ve done is given yourself a paladin babysitter whose sense of justice rarely sits well with the machinations of court.”

She had a point, but it was a challenge he believed himself capable of overcoming. Besides, his paladin babysitter, as she called it, would be there to observe Flora’s behaviour as well.

“That’s a great many words to say ‘I lost.’”

“You’re an ingrate and a fool, Your Majesty.”

Theron snorted. What need did he have to thank her for doing as she was told? Once the dust settled, she was going to be hailed and fêted. She’d brought the paladins in the nick of time, saving all who could be saved.

“I’m sure you can spin this to appear like a prescient hero.”

“It would have been better had you died.”

When he’d stood in front of that monstrosity, knowing what would happen and knowing the consequences if he’d lived and been forced to do as Flora was going to command, he’d agreed. But now that he was alive, given a second chance, he would never wish for it again.

“Run along then and sulk in your room, Princess. I have more important matters to attend to.”

“Goddess save me from arrogant swine,” Epicasta muttered. “The avatar took your paramour to the room down the hall, and has yet to emerge.”

“Was she…? No, move out of my way.”

Theron pushed passed the princess, flinging open the doors to rooms where furniture had been trashed and guests hid. Finally, he came to one where he could hear Aurora’s voice coming through the thin door. He was about to fling open the door when he heard her laugh. It caught him up short, his hand hovering over the handle.

He’d never heard her laugh like that before.

Theron opened the door just a crack. Aurora was tucked in bed, Hyllus seated at her side. The way they were looking at each other, the genuine light in their eyes and smiles, it was like they shared some amusing secret no one else was privy to. It made him feel ugly inside. She’d never smiled for him like that. Never looked at him like he meant the world to her.

Theron wanted it with a ferocity that shocked him.

He clenched his fists at his sides and tamped down on his magic as it seethed inside him. Of course she looked at Hyllus like that. The avatar was a ‘good man.’ He exuded boyish charm. In his naivety, he believed in the good inside others, and found it reflected back to him in those with similar, naïve dispositions. And it helped that he’d probably been responsible for saving everyone still living in the vivarium. He need not be jealous of the—jealous? Jealous?! No, that’s not what this was. It was preposterous. He was not some dog growling at any who approached his new toy. He was the King of Aureum. If he wanted Aurora, he would find a way to make her come to him pleading for the pleasure he could give her. Against a young man with no experience in matters of seduction, he had nothing to fear.

So why did he hesitate to intrude on them? Why did he still feel like there was a pit of snakes in his heart?

There was nothing for it. Any longer out here and he was going to become the fool Epicasta accused him of being. Theron pushed open the door.

“Theron!” Aurora sat up, her face pale and drawn.

“Your Majesty!” Hyllus jumped from his seat on the bed and clasped forearms with him.

“Do I have you to thank for my life?” Theron asked Hyllus as he gripped the avatar’s arm in turn.

“Not entirely. Aurora risked life and limb to keep you alive until I got here. She’s incredibly brave.”

“Yes, I know,” he said, taking in the sight of her.

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