She clung to the thought, finally finding something she could turn to use. Alie brightened her smile, leaned forward with her elbows on the table and her hands clasped beneath her chin, thepicture of rapt interest. “Are there other dishes from your home you’d like the kitchens to try? I’m sure we could source the ingredients locally—”
“Alie.” He said her name so softly. She didn’t like it, didn’t like the familiarity it implied, though his voice was low and even in a way that hummed down her spine. “You didn’t call me here to talk about food.”
Shit. All her energy had been focused on distracting Apollius; she hadn’t spared much thought to distracting Jax.
The Kirythean Emperor set down his knife, candlelight gleaming along the sharp edge. “You’ve made a valiant effort,” he said, almost ruefully. “But I know you don’t want this. And contrary to your obvious belief, I’m not such a monster as to force it on you.”
She relaxed at the realization he was talking about their relationship, not the god puppeteering the King. Certainly the safer subject to argue over. Still, this wasn’t necessarily a conversation she was prepared for, and that made her blunt. “So you’re going to call off our engagement?”
He rubbed at his temple. Some of his pale hair had escaped its queue, catching the light like a halo. “I would if I could,” he said. “Now that it’s become clear you won’t come around to the idea.”
Was that hurt in his voice? She didn’t care. She desperately wanted not to care. Alie wasn’t very good at hurting people, even people who deserved it.
“But I’m afraid it’s bigger than us,” Jax continued. “Our marriage will begin Apollius’s Holy Empire. It will be the culmination of everything we’ve worked for. EverythingHe’sworked for. And I don’t think He’ll allow us to potentially ruin that.”
A spark of irritation was hidden in his voice, in the way his eyes cut across the room when he said the god’s name. So subtle Alie doubted Jax even knew it was there, but she filed it away, a string she could tune to her own melody.
She thought of that conversation she’d overheard when shereturned from Dellaire, Apollius taunting him for killing his father. Would something like that change Jax’s convictions, or was he too far gone?
“And,” Jax added quietly, “it’s keeping you safe.”
Cold nerves wound up her spine. “Keeping me safe from what?”
He didn’t say. He just looked at her. He knew.
She’d tried to be so careful, so meticulous. But she’d known that Apollius wasn’t in the dark about her power; she should have anticipated that Jax would know, too.
Alie curled her hand around her fork, like she’d use it as a weapon if needed. “And you still want to marry me?”
Jax eyed her grip but didn’t move. “How can I blame you for something you can’t control?”
“So you’re going to let Him kill me for it after the wedding, is that it?”
“Would I have brought it up, if that were so?”
Point.
The Emperor sighed. “He has… gentler plans for you than He did for Amelia. He didn’t kill her; Bastian did, to protect Lore. He won’t harm you.” His gaze sharpened, brighter than before. “But marrying me offers yet another layer of safety.”
She didn’t expect this. Didn’t expect his insistence on their marriage to have anything to do with her own well-being.
Alie loosened her grip on the fork, just a bit. “He doesn’t need me,” she said quietly. “I’m just the means to a throne, but He’s a god. He could give it to you with no one batting an eye.”
“Keeping a mortal claim is still a good idea,” Jax said. “Having a clear line of succession.”
Succession, implying children. Alie drained the rest of her wine.
Jax noticed her discomfiture. He shifted in his seat, mouth opening and then closing again. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. “This isn’t going how I thought it would.”
“Our engagement?” She bit off the end of the word. “Or your general takeover of the continent?”
He barked a harsh laugh. “Neither.”
Alie kept her silence. It was the surest way to make someone else talk.
Maybe that awful conversation she’d heard had changed him, after all.
Jax followed her lead at first. But his silence was weaker than hers. “I was raised to believe that Apollius was perfect,” Jax said. Quietly, like he was afraid of being overheard. Ironic, considering her recent activities. “To believe that He had transcended His humanity. But over the last few weeks, He…” His finger tapped nervously on the table, making his knife ring faintly against Alie’s mother’s fine china. “He is capricious. Quick to anger. He is more focused on vengeance, on taking back power from the other avatars, than He is on creating His kingdom.” His lip lifted, half sneer and half grimace. “He’s leaving that part to me, apparently. And I’m weary of it.”
