Page 156 of A Reign of Embers

As the crowd shifts to investigate the offerings, the air hums with enthusiastic chatter. No one shouts in protest about my declaration—no one questions my right to make it.

I’ve seen them through a civil war and shown them just how strong the empire still is, without the need for tyranny.

Affection for these people and all the others throughout the empire swells in my chest, softening the ache left by all the other funerals we’ve needed to hold for our fallen soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

They fought for what they believed in, for a better empire. I’m going to see that everyone still living gets that, whether it happens the way some expected or not.

My husbands ease closer around me, Marc resting his hand on the back of my elbow, Raul taking my hand. Bastien gazes out across the plain and then shoots a grin at me.

“They’ve already started on the dancing. You deserve to be part of this celebration too, Signal Star. Come on.”

As ever, I’m more than happy to follow his orders. We descend the steps to the fringe of the crowd and form a circle of our own amid the merriment.

Hours later, when we return to my apartment after the reveling, I reach for my door without thinking. I’m about towithdraw my hand and fish for the key when the deadbolt slides aside as if by magic.

Not as if. Thatwasmagic. I stare at the door for a few seconds, my mouth gone dry, and then try the knob.

It turns smooth as butter. The door swings open to beckon me in.

A startled laugh snags in my throat.

Raul lets out a soft whoop of encouragement. “It seems the palace recognizes just how well you fill the role of empress too.”

The oldest enchantments in this building are meant to respond only to imperial blood. I wasn’t sure how we’d handle Coraya’s lack of that once she was old enough.

It seems I don’t need to worry about it after all. The stones and wood have embraced my rule too.

That magic came from the gods originally. I suppose it’s following their lead. They’re all on my side now.

My guards are gaping too. When I glance at them, one drops into a deeper bow. “Good night, Your Imperial Majesty.”

No trace of resentment shows on Marc’s face. He takes my elbow to lead me inside. “As it always should be.”

Chapter Fifty-Five

Three years later

Aurelia

Queen Anahi and her family arrive for the Unity Festival first. The elegant carriages crafted from the same sleek but sturdy wood as Rione’s famous ships roll through the imperial estate’s gates and over to the white-washed palace that overlooks the orchard.

As the queen of Rione once greeted me on arriving at her home, I wait to welcome her with my husbands, my guards, and a bustle of staff around me. Even though we’ve conducted this festival twice before—and hosted other visits in between—my pulse kicks to a faster pace.

Anahi accepts the footman’s hand to help herdown from the vehicle and bobs her head to me—a little lower than is really necessary when we’re theoretically on equal ground now. Old habits die hard… but they are fading faster than I dared to hope.

I dip my own head in return. “I hope your journey was smooth and swift.”

The queen smiles at me more warmly than she offered on our first meeting. “It was, and made all the more enjoyable by anticipation of the festivities to come.”

Lorenzo steps forward, and his mother squeezes him in a quick but emphatic hug. He clasps his father’s hand before his sister grabs him in an embrace of her own.

When the crown princess draws back, she clicks her tongue at her brother. “You need to come visit us again soon, Lore. A Rionian shouldn’t go too long without being on the sea.”

He grins back at her and flicks his hand in a gesture of agreement.

We’ve barely seen the Rionian party into their traveling palace before a page informs me that the Cotea convoy has been spotted. I hustle over to their accommodations, where the walls and windows boast various adjustments the avid innovators have made during their visits.

King Stanislas reunites with his son a little more stiffly than Lorenzo’s family, but Bastien beams as they shake hands and ducks down to murmur to his little niece and nephew.

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