Page 99 of A Reign of Embers

As wonderful as it was just to see her, I’m not prepared for the rush of affection that sweeps through me with a sharper pang mixed in. “Soreena, that’s— You know I wouldn’t have asked you to attack Valerisse’s forces on your own.I’moutnumbered. It might be suicide.”

“You won’t be outnumbered if you have support from the rest of the empire. We’re just doing our part.”

At the thought of all the frustrated thoughts I had when I was last in Accasy, I could laugh and sob at the same time. I hated the way our family and our nobles kowtowed to Marclinus and shied away from any trace of defiance.

But we are a people who know how to survive, how to bide our time and strike when the moment is right. Kosmel must be as proud of my sister as he was of those first Accasians who won the freedom to form their own country.

“I’ve been trying to arrange such a strategy with the other royal families nearer at hand,” I admit. “It’ll benefit us all in the end, if we succeed. I can point to your loyal support as justification for handing rulership over the kingdom back to you and Father.”

I would have found some way to include my home country in that decree anyway, but having our soldiers fighting on their empress’s behalf will make it that much easier.

A hint of sorrow crosses Soreena’s face. “You’ve had to endure an awful lot on your own, Aurelia. I’ve hated every hour I had to spend up there not knowing what you were dealing with next, especially after we saw… Well, you’re free of that madman now. I had to offer whatever help we could.”

A lump fills my throat. “Still, to ride all the way here—you put yourself in so much danger?—”

“I have plenty of reasons to want to keep you on thethrone for my own sake.” She touches her belly. “We found out just a couple of months ago—you’re going to have a niece or a nephew by the end of the summer. And hopefully others to follow, none of whom will ever have to be sent off to this palace to give the imperial family new leverage.”

Which might very well happen if Valerisse or whoever she intends to set on the throne takes my place.

So many lives ride on my decisions in the coming days. There are so many more hopes I’m gambling with.

But it’s either gamble or give up. Valerisse and Sabrelle have left me no good choices.

I summon enough genuine joy to beam at Soreena. “Congratulations. I won’t let it come to that, no matter what I have to do.” I’m not sure how convincing either statement is, but it’s the best I can offer right now.

“I think you should stay here,” I go on. “Away from anyone sick, until we have a definite cure for this pox that’s afflicted the palace. It should only take a day or two, from what I’m told. We don’t want you riding off only to fall ill and have no way of taking care of yourself. That’ll give us time to work out a signal so you know when your soldiers need to press onward… Maybe I’ll have news from the other outer territories so we can devise a cohesive strategy?—”

“Your Imperial Highness?” Axius’s voice carries from beyond my door.

My stance goes rigid. What’s so urgent that he’s interrupting my meeting with my sister?

“Yes? Come in.”

He enters with a deferential bow and a cautious glance toward Soreena. I wave my hand to dismiss any concerns he might have. “Whatever you need to say, she can hear it too.”

His mouth tightens. “We’ve just gotten a new message from our people among Valerisse’s forces. A significant portion of them, including Valerisse herself, have remainednear Rodrige for the time being. The tribune appears intent on some goal our spies haven’t been able to decipher.”

A chill washes over my skin. “A significant portion of her forces have remained—what about the rest?”

Axius rests his hand on his sword hilt, his eyes flashing. “About half of her illegitimate army has set off in a march toward the Darium border.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Aurelia

When friction of the chisel’s handle against my palm breaks the skin, I suppress my wince. Gritting my teeth, I keep digging the tool into the surface of the stone block.

With each chip I dislodge, the shape of Creaden’s sigil unfurls.

Purple light spills down over me from the stained glass windows in the temple’s roof. Devouts in matching tunics and trousers watch me from a careful distance.

I doubt any of them expected to see their empress hunched over a row of five stones in the middle of their temple’s worship room. But this is what my gift showed me when I prodded it for an idea of how to heal any rift there might be between me and the godlen of leadership.

Ordering my staff to build traveling palaces for thecontinent’s other rulers isn’t enough. I have to show how committed I am personally to constructing a stronger foundation than the venomous ties of tyranny.

I finish the sigil in the first block without pausing. My palm has only reddened, no blood seeping through the raw spot.

Not enough. My vision was clear about that aspect of my act of dedication too.

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