Page 7 of A Reign of Embers

Sprite scampers out from under the bed and leaps up to lean her sleek body against mine. As I give her the petting she’s demanding, I smile more fully at the medic. “I’m grateful to you and your colleagues for seeing to her healing as well.”

The medic tips into another bow. “Of course. She was eager to be back at your side.”

I’d sink back on the bed and go back to sleep with Sprite cuddled up against me, but the moment the medic has vanished into the hallway, the hidden panel in the wall whispers to the side. As I turn to face it, all four of the foster princes emerge into the room.

Bastien strides straight to me, cupping my face and drawing my mouth to his. Raul shoulders past him to sit with his arm around my shoulders. Lorenzo settles at my other side, twining his fingers with mine.

And Neven halts a few paces away, his posture rigid and his expression uncertain.

Bastien glances toward the door, the pallet next to it now vacant. “Marc’s gone off to sleep in the guards’ quarters?”

Raul makes a sound that’s half-grunt, half-growl. “That’s what he said and what it looked like when Aurelia headed to dinner. One place I couldn’t easily make an excuse to follow him.”

Neven’s hands tighten into fists. “If he encourages the soldiers at the palace to turn against Aurelia?—”

I hold up my hand to stop him. “I don’t think we need to worry about that. He just needed some rest.” The former emperor stayed on his feet the entire time I slept, even though he must have been equally exhausted. He couldn’t justify staying in my chambers when I’m not here to guard.

Neven grimaces. “You can’t trust him. We should have gotten rid of him when we had the chance, so they’d both be gone.”

None of his foster brothers add their agreement, but their silence says plenty.

I swallow thickly. It’s been difficult enough explaining my choice to myself. But I need all of these men completely on my side as much as I ever have.

I look down at Lorenzo’s hand tucked around mine. “I’ve made some brutal decisions since I came to Dariu, but my goal has always been peace. The fewer people I need to hurt, the better. And Elox has sent me visions from the start warning me that I was dealing with two men in my husband rather than one… and encouraging me to embrace the better of them.”

“You don’t have to follow everything a godlen suggests,” Raul mutters.

“I know. I thought I wasn’t going to.” I lift my head. “But you saw how Marc responded after I laid out all the ways I’vebetrayed him. Even in that first moment, he didn’t lash out at me. And when he found Linus attacking me, he ran straight at his brother to protect me. He could have ensured that both Linus and I died in the fire and walked out as sole emperor without a treasonous wife, but instead he sacrificed his chance at the throne to save me.”

“He couldn’t have realized he was sacrificing that much,” Bastien points out. “He didn’t know he’d end up so scarred no one would recognize him as emperor. Once he’s had more time to stew on his new situation…”

“We can’t know for sure how he’ll react. I realize that too. Idon’ttrust him.” I look around at all of my lovers before shifting my gaze to Neven. “But I believe he’s earned a chance to show whether he means what he’s said. His knowledge of the empire could be an incredible resource for everything I still want to accomplish—and in fending off whatever opposition Valerisse is planning. If he takes one step out of line, rain down all the vengeance you want on him. But I’ve seen moments of goodness in him. Any seed can grow.”

Neven snorts, but then he hangs his head as if ashamed of the open display of ridicule. “I guess I can’t even know… how much of Marclinus’s awfulness was him and not the other one.”

I pick the incident I assume will matter most to him. “It was Linus who gave your people that awful challenge with the cemetery—Linus who ordered the guards to beat you. And it was Marc who agreed to follow up that beating with a less-than-fatal punishment when I appealed to the compassion he does have, however little it’s been cultivated before now.”

The youngest prince shifts his weight and lets out a sigh. “All right. We’ll see.” His expression turns briefly fierce before he meets my eyes again. “You think Sabrelle has something todo with… everything that’s gone wrong. That she’s egging on Valerisse against you.”

“Yes. From what Valerisse said, Sabrelle has been encouraging her to push back against any influence I have. Enough so that she felt justified attempting my assassination, both this morning and through soldiers who were following her orders while we were on our tour.”

Neven’s jaw works. “I think Valerisse is telling the truth. I—I’ve had dreams, visions… Maybe some of them reallywerejust dreams, but the more that came, the harder it was to ignore them.”

Lorenzo studies him solemnly.“You mentioned the dreams before.”

“Yes. It might not sound like much of an excuse, but I really didn’t know what to believe. At first there was only this sense of urgency, like everything I cared about was slipping through my fingers, like I needed to fight.”

“Like you weren’t doing enough,” I say, remembering what he said when he shared his fears with me many months ago.

“Yes.” He swipes his hand across his mouth. “But then, even when I started trying to help you with your goals … The dreams turned bloodier. More violence, more death. Most of the time, they showed you turning your back on the pain or accepting the chaos. And when I kept seeing you go along with Marclinus’s challenges, barely standing up to him at all?—”

When Raul makes a sound of protest, Neven cuts him off with a brusque wave.

“I realize how difficult a position you were in,” he says to me. “And I had no idea how much more complicated your situation had gotten. She just seemed soinsistent… It’s difficult to ignore what feels like a divine presence in your head for weeks on end.”

My voice softens. “I can understand that.” Elox has never been anywhere near so forceful in his messages to me, and I still struggle with refusing to heed him.

Bastien cocks his head. “What do you think Sabrelle wanted? Did she really think Marclinus was doing a great job as emperor—did she want him terrorizing the rest of the continent? Who was going to stand up to him ifnotAurelia?”

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