Page 132 of A Reign of Embers

“Nothing obvious occurs to me,” I say. As much as I want to help Aurelia every way I can, military strategy is hardly my forte.

All of us dismount to stretch our legs briefly while the true military officers further discuss strategy amongst themselves. Aurelia ambles over to join our royal cluster, her brow knit.

“I’ve been thinking of more ways we might skew theodds in our favor in the coming battle,” she says quietly. “I’ve found a rather large range of uses I can put my gift to. I may be able to create a potion that would weaken the soldiers—mentally or physically. Or perhaps even better, make them lose their nerve so they’ll outright desert.”

Raul makes a dismissive sound. “Why spare them from justice after they marched against you?”

“It’s hard to say how much they should be blamed for following a godlen’s urging.” Aurelia aims a small smile at Neven. “Not even we have been impervious to Sabrelle’s influence. If I can prove that I’m the stronger ruler, surely both she and those she’s set against me will back down?”

Neven shifts on his feet with a frown at the intended battlefield. “Sabrelle hasn’t felt all that reasonable to me.”

Aurelia squares her shoulders. “We’ll just have to see. I’ll do whatever needs doing. I just—I don’t want my reign to begin on a bloodier note than I can help, if I can help it.”

The thought of the upcoming bloodshed has been weighing on her more with each passing day. It shows in the slant of her mouth and the tension carried in her jaw.

I wish I could kiss all that strain away. Icouldkiss her now in front of all these witnesses, and no one would be shocked, but I’m not such an idiot I’d assume it’d actually solve anything.

Our biggest problem isn’t even how much blood is shed but stopping most of it from being on our side.

Lorenzo brushes his fingers over the back of Aurelia’s hand, a subtle caress that’s still more than any of us would have dared before she claimed us as her partners.“If you made a potion like that, how would you get the enemy soldiers to drink it?”

Aurelia tilts her head to one side, her gaze going distant. “That’s part of what I’ve been mulling over. I could concoct a formula that would be absorbed through the skin—but I’mnot sure how far we could distribute it catapulting vials into the soldiers’ ranks.”

An image comes to me almost as vivid as a divine vision, with a tightening of my gut. “We could work together on that.”

Her attention jerks to me. “What do you mean?”

I wave my hand toward the sky with its puffs of drifting clouds. “We should be able to combine our gifts without much trouble. Perhaps I could summon rain and we could imbue it with your concoction to pour down over Valerisse’s army.”

Aurelia stares at me in silence for long enough that embarrassed heat starts to creep up the back of my neck with the suspicion my idea sounded absurd. Then she reaches to squeeze my forearm. “Are you sure you’d want to attempt it? A collaboration that immense… You didn’t want me to attempt any collaborations at all.”

Oh. She’s simply recalling my earlier cautions.

I offer a crooked smile. “I’m not saying I like the idea of losing another piece of myself or seeing you harmed. But if that’s the only way we can win this—or the only way we win without more casualties than you can forgive yourself for—then… then I suppose an empress gets to decide how she’s going to reign despite anyone else’s misgivings.”

Aurelia’s answering smile is so bright it lights me up from inside. “We’ll do whatever we can, then.”

Raul lets out a disgruntled sound. “If there’s any other way to distribute itwithouttaking that step, maybe we should try to find it?”

Have I become the incautious one between us? I rub my face. “You’re right. I might be able to cast an already-brewed potion into the wind and rain it down without any merging of gifts. We should attempt that first.”

I just don’t know how much time we’ll have to weigh the logistics and risks in the moment.

As if in answer to my suggestion, the breeze gusts over us with a little more force, stirring wisps along Aurelia’s upswept hair.

Neven makes a puzzled sound. “What’s that?”

As I glance over, a delicate shape comes flitting through the air, so small and thin it’s only visible when it’s within ten feet of us. It looks almost like a butterfly, but there’s a shiny yet papery quality to its wings that makes me doubt it’s anything alive.

It swoops down and lands on my shoulder.

The others gape as I pluck the unexpected arrival off my jacket. It is an insect constructed out of paper, coated with a bit of wax presumably to fend off bad weather.

When I turn the figure over, it unfolds into a flatter page. There are no words, only a simple illustration of a cloud of actual butterflies descending on a castle.

Raul’s forehead furrows. “Who in the realms sent that, and why?”

My breath has caught. A giddy tremor runs through my nerves. “Who else would send a note specifically for me? It must be from my father. He has a devout on staff who can send messages across long distances with his magic.”

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