Page 53 of A Reign of Embers

Great God help me, has some other disaster occurred?

I stop to give him my full attention. “What’s the matter, captain?”

“I’m not sure anythingisexactly the matter…” He pauses as if to think through his words. “I’m concerned about Prince Neven. I understand you’re relying on him to report on how Sabrelle has been reaching out to her dedicats, and clearly he’s provided valuable insights. But I’ve noticed—he’s seemed more withdrawn than usual—if Sabrelle realizes he’s been helping you against her wishes, he might be experiencing some ill effects…”

I study Evando as he trails off. I don’t see anything but genuine worry in his expression. “I hadn’t realized you and Prince Neven had gotten close.”

“I wouldn’t say exactly close. He was coming for the regular training, and I see him around the palace, and—well—I suppose I’ve been thinking about the entire situation rather a lot given recent events.”

A hint of a flush creeps up his neck with his stumbling words. It occurs to me that the captain isn’t that much older than I am, perhaps in his mid-twenties—he must have risen quickly in the ranks. Which speaks well of his abilities, but also means he’s not completely beyond youthful awkwardness.

For all their apparently clashing, perhaps Neven has caught his attention in matters beyond the military.

In any case, he isn’t wrong to be concerned.

“I appreciate you looking out for a colleague,” I say. “I’ve tried to make sure Prince Neven isn’t pushing himself too hard, but I’ll have a more thorough discussion with him the next time we speak. I’d never want him to neglect his own needs.”

Evando bobs his head. “Exactly, Your Imperial Highness. Thank you for listening. I’m sorry if I overstepped.”

He hurries off down the hall as if he’s afraid of what else he might end up blurting out if he lingers.

I end up reaching the library later than I’d planned. Cleric Pierus is just bustling out, a couple of aged volumes clutched in his arms.

He pauses to give me a quick bow. “I continue my studies on your behalf, Empress. So many fascinating developments in these past weeks.”

The eager gleam in his eyes has taken on a bit of a manic quality. With Evando’s remarks about Neven lingering in my mind, I study the cleric carefully.

There’s a sauce stain on his robe as if he dropped food on it and never bothered to change. As bright as his eyes are, dark smudges have started to form in the sallow skin beneath them.

My stomach tightens. “As important as your help has been, Cleric, I’d never ask you to set aside all other concerns. Make sure you’re getting enough rest and looking after yourself, won’t you?”

Pierus’s posture sags slightly. His mouth twists. “My wife has been complaining I’ve barely been home these past several days—but there are so many more records to search through?—”

I hold up my hand to stop him, the tension inside me thickening with the knowledge that I didn’t even realize hehasa wife. “The records will still be here after you take sometime with your family. I’m not leading an empire by running all my supporters into the ground. You deserve a life outside your work. Go home for the rest of the day, enjoy it, and come back fresh tomorrow.”

The cleric blinks at me as if I’ve spoken a language he doesn’t understand. Then he bows lower, his expression softening. “Thank you, Your Imperial Highness. I’ll do that.” He chuckles. “And my wife will thank you for it too.”

As I head into the vast room with its looming bookcases, most of my guards take up their usual position by the door. Marc trails behind me through the rows of shelves.

Bastien is already paging through a book in the section of Cotean language volumes. He glances up with a smile and a slight narrowing of his eyes when they slide to the former emperor.

He shifts his attention back to me as if Marc isn’t there. “I think this text could be helpful. It details various experiments in combining gifts that were conducted at the School of Entwined Magics. Do you think your grasp of Cotean is solid enough that you’ll be able to read it yourself?”

I take the book from him and contemplate the page it’s open to. My Lavirian and Rionian may be a little shaky, but my tutors ensured I was decently fluent in the languages of Accasy’s most frequent trading partners. And I’ve always been better at deciphering text than spoken words.

I nod. “There are a couple of terms here I’m not totally familiar with, but I think I can piece together the meaning from the context. These are relatively recent experiments?”

“Yes, I think that book is part of the small collection my parents sent along with me when I first arrived.”

Bastien turns back to the shelves of books. “I hadn’t really bothered with this section before since I assumed I’d already be familiar with the information from my home country. I didn’t realize…” He touches a gold-gilded spine of aged leather. “There are texts here that I’ve only heard spoken about back in Cotea. I think these are the only copies left.” His tone darkens. “The empire wanted all the best for their personal library.”

Marc folds his arms over his chest. “The empire rules all. Why should any of the outer territories hoard their most precious knowledge for themselves?”

Bastien cuts a glance toward him. “Whichever emperor or empress stole these books could have simply asked for a copy if they only wanted the knowledge. From the amount of dust on them, no one here has read them in decades if not centuries. This was about taking what we considered valuable from us, not spreading information.”

“Perhaps there’s nothing in them of any importance at this point anyway.”

“This one is a record of the reigns of our most prominent rulers from before the Great Retribution. I think many in Cotea would like to be able to reflect back on that time.”

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