Page 25 of Trial of Bronze and Blood
Cato returns the greeting. “Ettore, good to see you.”
He bows slightly before the king. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to let you know the Phaedran ambassadors will be here in less than two days. You’ll have to be ready to work with the Imperium’s venatus magister a day earlier than planned.”
Fear shines behind the man’s eyes and he wrings his hands. “I thought I had more time to prepare.”
“One more day won’t make much of a difference,” Marcus argues. “We’ve done all we can to prepare for their arrival, but most of your work will be during the trials themselves.”
“How much do you think they’ll try to alter?” Ettore asks, voice trembling slightly.
Cato taps his fingers on his marble arm rest. “For much of it, we can claim tradition. But they’ll want to make their mark on the trials, and there’s not much we can do to stop them. I’m told they’re bringing soldiers with them—as a precaution.”
Fuck.Marcus grips the back of his neck. “Most people would call that an act of war.”
“Yes, well, most people aren’t the king of Anziano,” Cato reasons, “whose father invited their enemy in without provisions.”
Cato steps down from his throne and places a hand on Ettore’s shoulder. “It won’t be easy, but you’ll have to do everything you can to keep the trials on our terms rather than acquiesce to theirs. I have faith in you.”
He swallows. “As you wish, Sovrano.”
The gamemaster bows his head again and scurries out of the palace.
“So, now the bard’s gone, tell me what actually happened with Dru,” Cato commands once they’re alone.
Marcus shakes his head and grips his jaw. “She’s different from the last time I saw her.”
Cato chuckles. “I should hope so.”
“I didn’t expect her to be so…”
“What? Beautiful? Deadly? Loyal to her friends that she’d kill in their name? Because I’m struggling to see a downside here.”
Marcus runs a hand through his hair. “It’s not that. I’m finding it difficult to relate this woman to the girl I trained in the ways of the Faithless for so many years.”
“That’s because she’s not that girl.” Cato clicks his tongue good-naturedly. “Sometimes I wonder if you’ve seen as much of the Imperium as you claim, because you seem to know very little about women.”
Marcus laughs. “Just because I haven’t been with many women, doesn’t mean I don’t know them as well as you.”
“I think it does, in this case.” Cato places a hand on Marcus’sshoulder now, smiling. “But, despite your gross lack of understanding of the womenfolk, I’m glad you’re back.”
Marcus mirrors the gesture, grinning in return. “As am I.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
DRUSILLA
Sabina unlocks the heavy wooden door to Dru’s chamber with a worn bronze key plucked from a hook on her belt and pushes inside.
Dru follows her, stepping across the veined marble floors following through from the courtyard, unsurprised by the opulence of the accommodations.
The king of Anziano treats his guests well.
The open doors at the back of the room facing the Multum Sea draw her attention first. Cream silk drapes slink down from the rod bolted across the top, framing a wide, shallow balcony. She has no idea why he’s given her a room overlooking the water, but she’s not going to complain. Even if it’s only so that she can keep a watchful eye on any ships coming in from the Imperium. She’ll be more than happy to wake up in a feather bed—whose silk, aquamarine sheets call to her even now—to that view each morning.
Though she can’t help wondering what the cost of this lavishness will be.
Ovi would love this, she thinks, her stomach clenching. In fact, Oviwould probably never leave the room, except to go down to the water’s edge and squish her toes in the sand.
