Page 48 of A Reign of Embers
As she leans back in her chair, Marc takes a few steps toward Lorenzo and me. “You know what I’ll be attempting to do.”
“Discerning my greatest physical weakness. I don’t think I have any of those anyway.”
If the former emperor is bothered that Aurelia shared the details of his gift with me, he doesn’t show it. He studies us with an expression I can only call bored—his retaliation for my heckling. “Let me know when you’re ready, and we’ll find out.”
I reach toward the shadows cast at my side, explaining for Aurelia’s benefit. “When Bastien and I blasted this fool, we didn’t consciously combine our powers. We were simply focused on the same goal, and I’m assuming they mergedinto something more based on that. So Lore and I will use the same tactic—concentrating our own gifts in tandem to deflect any magic that’s aimed at us—and let the magic work as it will.”
Marc narrows his eyes at me. “You still haven’t mentioned what exactly your full gift is.”
“She knows. Why should I mention it to you and give you that advantage?” I shoot him another grin and motion to Lorenzo.
He squares his shoulders, his face setting with concentration. I grasp hold of the nearby shadows. With all the mental effort I can summon, I disperse them into a filmy barrier between Marc and us.
Let it obscure any sense of our bodies and minds. Let any opposing gift get lost in the haze. Let us trick him even more thoroughly than either of us could alone, Kosmel.
I press my other hand to my sternum over the brand that connects me to my patron godlen. A tingle ripples through the air.
Somethingis happening, even if I can’t say quite what.
“Go ahead,” I tell Marc.
His jaw works. He fixes a piercing stare at me—rather than Lorenzo, naturally.
I focus on the shadows flowing between us, the faintest haze in the air, disguised by Lorenzo’s powers winding through them. Marc’s brow furrows.
He takes a small step closer, his expression tightening. “I can’t quite— It’s as if you’re not exactly there. But I canseeyou still, right?—”
His head twitches, and a smile flits across his face. “Ah. I’m sure all your training and your practice in the arena has benefitted you, but you still have a bit of a defensive gap when it comes to the left side of your neck. Best make sureno one rams a blade there, because you might not react quickly enough.”
A chill washes over me, and I lose my grip on the shadows. Not that they were contributing enough anyway.
“It took you longer than usual to get a sense of it,” I say, biting back the words I actually want to spit at him. I don’t think telling him to fuck off would endearmemore to Aurelia.
To my surprise, Marc inclines his head in acknowledgment. “It did. I needed a fair bit more concentration and finessing of my gift. You might be on to something.”
My instinctive urge to argue with him collides with his obvious compliment and leaves me momentarily speechless. “Yes. Well. We will have to practice more.”
Lorenzo makes a triumphant gesture, and Aurelia beams at us. “And no ill effects that I can see. We’ll have to try more experiments—without straining your gifts, of course.”
I allow myself to bask in the pride of her approval for a moment, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.
With a hitch of my pulse, I hustle to the hidden passage, Lorenzo right behind me. As we shut the panel behind us, Aurelia’s voice carries through. “What is it?”
Axius’s voice replies from the other side of her door. “We’ve just gotten two letters by messenger, one from Rione and one from Cotea. I think you’d better have a look at them, Your Imperial Highness.”
Chapter Eighteen
Aurelia
After I’ve finished sharing the contents of the royal letters with all four of the princes in the privacy of my chambers, a gloom settles over the entire room. Lorenzo’s head droops.
He hoped so much that his overture would benefit me—that he could persuade real allegiance from his parents.
“It’d be a little much to expect them to declare themselves ready to send their people to war on my behalf when they barely know me,” I say. “Cotea would have a hard enough time joining forces with us without getting cut down by Valerisse’s army on the way.”
Lorenzo grimaces.“They could have offeredsomewillingness to help. Or even real sympathy. But I suppose that isn’t Mother’s style.”
The brief letter from Queen Anahi is indeed light on sentiment. She barely even gives away that she knows aboutthe brewing civil war I’m facing—which might be true in Rione’s somewhat detached position from the rest of the continent, except I know Lorenzo informed her.
