Page 35 of A Reign of Embers

“That sounds perfect. Although you’ll need to be careful how far and quickly you push them. Not many in the court like the idea of embarrassing themselves in public.”

“We can ease them in… Oh, I see some orange over there! That must be Inganne’s section.”

As she picks up her pace, I can’t help glancing back toward Marc. He’s giving us plenty of distance even with his shadowing, hanging some ten paces behind, but his gaze remains fixed on Aurelia as if she’s the only thing he can see.

As if she’s the only thing he’dwantto see.

The intensity in his eyes and the yearning I can practically taste emanating off him set my skin prickling. I have to suppress the urge to step closer to Aurelia and wrap my arms around her in a shield of affection, as if I need to ward off his. If what he feels for her could even be called affection.

We need to work with him. I believe he wants to protect her. But I can’t shake the feeling that he’d claim her for only himself all over again if he could, whether she agreed or not.

He doesn’t make any move to interfere or even interject himself into our conversation, which I’ve let him overhear my end of. Aurelia doesn’t pay him any mind, so I force myself to dismiss his presence as well as I can.

It’s my help our empress needs most right now anyway. The success of this festival could depend on how well I guide her.

As we move between the decorations and apparatus splashed with Inganne’s favored color and many others besides, I dredge up as many memories as I can from the festivals I attended as a child, especially those back in Rione before I was dragged here as a hostage.

My home kingdom values the godlen of creativity’s contributions more than Dariu ever has. They think life is all about might and dominance. We’ve always wanted to foster artistic inspiration.

I point out a couple of familiar items.“Those discs make for a pretty elaborate game of collaboration that the kids usually find entertaining. There are opportunities for their parents to get involved too, to make it even more of a joint effort. And that long banner—I don’t remember seeing it played here in Vivencia before, but in Rione there’s an activity that’s sort of a mix of obstacle course and follow the leader that’s popular.”

“You’ll have to explain the rules of that one. I never saw that in Accasy either.” Aurelia stops to finger the edge of a swooping silk canopy embroidered with a complex pattern. “Usually there’s some paint that gets thrown around.”

More memories from back home swim up.“We can do better than that. Maybe large murals on the walls of buildings that children and parents can add to together, or a swath of fabric they could paint and then you display it at the palace. There’s a game you can play with the art, each person attaching one shape or symbol to the one before.”

“I like that.” She taps her lips, studying a carriage thatholds a sculpted tree dotted with silk butterflies. “If we include a parade, we could get the children involved with that too. Show off minor talents, dance around, all in good fun. Although the nobles might balk at their children mingling with the commoners to begin with…”

“We could save that for the end, once they’ve already gotten comfortable.”

“Yes, perfect. It doesn’t feel like quite enough, though. We want the festival to have a lasting impact that Inganne will approve of. The art might help with that. I’ll need to think on what other elements could be more permanent.”

“Simply making the festival an official annual event might be enough,”I point out.“An additional honor to her alongside her usual yearly celebration. I’ll keep mulling over other possibilities … I should stop by the library. There might be some references to older practices from the Inganalias of centuries past that we could incorporate. There’s a whole section of books in Rionian I could check.”

Aurelia smiles at me. “Go ahead, if you think that’s where you’re most likely to find more inspiration.”

She takes a quick glance around to make sure no one but Marc is in view and then steps closer to give me a quick kiss. The brush of her lips leaves heat coursing through my veins.

I squeeze her hand before weaving back through the stacks of equipment toward the doorway.

The posted guards don’t spare me a second glance. I hurry past them into the halls, not slowing until I’ve reached the vast imperial library.

The foreign volumes are kept in an out-of-the-way nook in a far corner. As I walk over to that section, the familiar stillness settles over me like a balm on my nerves.

Out of all the godlen, Aurelia shouldn’t have any trouble winning Inganne to her side. There’s no denying how muchshe loves her daughter, and she’s sacrificed so much in the hopes of making a better life for all the empire’s children.

Inganne should want the suffering of the conquered countries to be replaced with joy just as much as Aurelia does.

But we can’t take anything for granted. The court will need to be convinced this new festival is worthwhile if she wants them to support any other schemes later on.

What will she have to do to impress Kosmel with his love of trickery? Or Creaden, for that matter, after all the efforts past emperors have dedicated to him?

When I reach the shelves of Rionian texts, I scan the spines for anything from times long past that might mention more playful activities. I’ve pulled out a couple of volumes to peruse when my gaze snags on a slim book squeezed so tightly between two thick ones it’s barely visible.

I ease it out, my fingers smearing the dust that’s gathered on it. No one’s looked at most of these texts in quite a while.

The faded title on the front cover doesn’t speak of festivals or the arts, but I can tell from the style of the script that it’s from at least a few centuries past.The Principles of Rionian Statecraft.

It’s possible it says something about the running of celebrations. And it might be the oldest book in this bunch. Anything that could have since fallen out of common knowledge will be useful.

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