Page 98 of A Reign of Embers

“What is it?” he calls through, swiping his fingers through his mussed curls to set them in better order and tugging his uniform straight.

Axius’s voice travels through. “Is the empress awake? There’s a… development I think she’d like to know about.”

My pulse thuds harder. I ease to the edge of the bed,girding myself against the aches that cling to my bones, and comb my fingers through my own hair. Sprite prowls over beside me and leans against my waist as if to help support me.

Marc glances over, taking in the gown I’m still wearing, and turns back to the door. “She is, but she needs more rest. Better you come in to talk to her than her getting up.”

I can’t argue with that approach for now.

The high commander enters with an air of caution, but his expression softens when he sees me. “You look much better today, Your Imperial Highness.”

I manage a smile. “I won’t worry about how badly I must have looked yesterday for that to be true. What’s the matter? Have more people taken ill?”

Bianca must be recovering by now, mustn’t she? It didn’t sound as if she had a particularly bad case.

Axius’s jaw twitches. I think he’d rather not tell me, but he isn’t one to lie to his empress. “The pox has started to spread in the city. But the medics are prepared to brew more of your cure as soon as all the ingredients are ready. They have the matter in hand—and that isn’t what I came to talk to you about. Your sister has arrived.”

The last sentence is so unexpected that it takes several thumps of my heart before I can quite understand it. “Crown Princess Soreena? Here at the imperial palace?”

A slight smile curves Axius’s lips at my bewilderment. “It seems she felt it important to see you as soon as she could. She arrived just a couple of hours ago—I’ve kept her to an isolated room away from any possibility of illness. But she’d very much like to speak to you.”

My older sister has come all the way from Accasy—it never occurred to me that might happen. I open my mouth and close it again, grappling with my conflicting impulses.

“Have her come to my chambers,” I say finally. “Butwarn her that she’ll need to keep her distance as I could still be contagious. We can have a private meeting in here.”

I stress the word ‘private’ with a flick of my gaze toward Marc. As much as I’ve come to trust him, Soreena will think it incredibly odd for me to let a guard overhear our conversation. Whatever she’s traveled all this way to speak to me about, I doubt it’s casual chitchat.

Marc inclines his head slightly and steps out when Axius does.

While my mind whirls about why Soreena might have come, I pad carefully to the bathing room to quickly freshen up and wind my hair in a simple bun. I don’t think my sister will care how I look, but anyone who catches sight of me before or after our meeting will expect me to meet certain standards of propriety.

I’m weak enough from my bout of camp pox that my legs start wobbling halfway through my trek back through my bedroom. I decide sitting at my vanity will be a little more dignified than perching on my bed, with the benefit of requiring fewer steps to reach.

I’ve only just settled onto my stool when another knock sounds. I keep my voice as steady as I can manage. “Come in.”

“Her Highness Princess Soreena,” one of my guards intones, and my sister slips into the room.

She stops just inside the doorway, turning toward me. It’s clearshehasn’t had much time to freshen up after her journey. Her pale hair is rumpled, her pretty face drawn with hints of her own fatigue. She’s wearing a riding dress, plain by royal standards and smudged with dirt on the sleeves.

Every instinct in my body clamors to throw myself at her and grab her in a hug. I hold back only with the thought of how awful it’d be if she made this journey only to fall ill.

“It’s good to see you,” I say, hoping she can tell how much I mean that. “I wasn’t expecting a visit.”

Soreena’s lips curve in a slanted smile, but her eyes stay shadowed with worry. “It didn’t seem wise to wait on official messages back and forth. I heard when I arrived that you’ve been ill. They said the worst is over—are you truly all right?”

I find a smile of my own in me. “Not perfectly, but I’m on the mend. It’s safest to keep some distance. And I’ll feel even better no longer having to speculate about what might have troubled you enough for you to come all this way.”

My sister lets out a very unladylike snort that puts me more at ease. “What do you think? Word trickled out from the Darium forces stationed near Costel that your rule has been threatened. This tribune is still gathering her army intending to unseat you, isn’t she? As soon as the snow cleared from one of the passes, I rode.”

I blink at her. “Father approved?”

She shrugs. “I told Father I was going whether he approved or not. We needed to find out what we can do for you, and I can travel nearly as fast as any messenger if I take a mind to. I wasn’t sure how much you’d trust a regular messenger to convey a request for help.”

No wonder she looks weary. She’ll have been on the road on horseback for more than a week with barely a rest.

The urge to embrace her grips me again, alongside an ache that steals my breath for a moment. “I don’t know how much help you can give. We don’t know what moves Tribune Valerisse will make next, and with Accasy so distant—I didn’t want to put our people in danger for no real gain.”

Soreena’s smile grows. “We’re not so distant at the moment. Several of our military squadrons followed me through the pass and should be assembling right by the border with Goric. The hardest part of the march will bebehind them by the time I return with your orders, Empress.”

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