The Princess, page 13
“They should have accepted their place, and their defeat.”
“Would you?” Rhiannon asked. “If Kelnore were invaded, whether by the supposed will of the gods or not, would you just accept the rule of your oppressors? Is that the response that has come from the empire with these raiders attacking Kelnore’s shores?”
Dimitri worked his jaw, averting his gaze as he curled one of his hands into a fist. Damn it all if her argument wasn’t entirely without merit.
“It is not bad to look at things from a different perspective,” Rhiannon said, softening her tone. “At times, you might be surprised what you can learn about yourself and others. There is magic in Pern Coen, old magic that goes back to when the island was formed out of the sea, and I have seen it used for great ill, but I have also seen it used for great good. I would be dead were it not for that magic, and so would many others.”
Dimitri pressed his lips tightly together, something that felt oddly like shame trying to curl its way inside of him. Magic was unnatural. It was corrupt. That was the belief that had been drilled into him since he was a boy, both by his father and by the priests. Noctus’ teeth, he had spent the last few months defending himself, his men, and the Kelnorian people from it. And yet something niggled at him, something that made him deeply uncomfortable. There was no room for a different perspective in the Imperial Army or in the Imperial Court, so why did Rhiannon’s argument feel as if it were chipping away at some of his long-held beliefs?
Aurelia lightly cleared her throat. “Father strongly wishes for me to attend the welcome banquet tonight and I do believe I’ll feel up to it.”
“That’s excellent, Lia,” Dimitri said, mustering up a smile and silently thanking her for steering the topic of conversation away from magic. “Tell me more about your swimming. You’ve said it has been helping your symptoms?”
Brynn and Aurelia began to explain the logic behind the idea, with Aurelia expressing how much better she felt in the water, and to Dimitri’s relief, the conversation didn’t return to the threat along Kelnore’s shores. He was at the palace to celebrate. After the last long, harrowing few months, he would not dwell on thoughts of magic. There would be plenty of it awaiting him back on the battlefield.
Chapter 20
Just one day after their company reached the province of Ignis, Luca rode for Talekos. Dimitri had wished for Luca and some of his other officers to join him at the palace for the celebration of Dimitri and Aurelia’s birth. At first, Luca had been inclined to decline, not wanting to leave his men so soon after their relocation, but Remus had pushed for Luca to take the leave and join him at the Imperial Palace.
To Remus, the celebration at the palace was yet another opportunity for Luca to climb the proverbial social ladder of the nobility, and Remus had also been quick to remind Luca of what staying in Dimitri’s good graces had already done for him. A little over a month prior, Luca and Adrian had been promoted to captain. It was a rarity for a man not of pure noble blood to be awarded such a high rank, and Luca was determined to disprove those who believed it had been given to him in error.
As he rode along the great city’s famed docks, making his way to the palace, Rubrum gave a toss of his head and let out a sharp snort. Luca rubbed the warhorse’s neck, talking quietly to him. The docks were crowded with merchants, fisherman, and other commoners. Luca stood out in his red and silver uniform, though at least when those around him caught sight of him, they skittered out of his way. Even commoners knew better than to interfere with one of the emperor’s soldiers.
Rubrum snorted again, his steps quickening as he began to dance under Luca. The behavior was uncharacteristic for Luca’s usually unflappable warhorse. A slew of shouts and curses rose above the din of the crowd and Luca followed the noise, his gaze falling on three sailors a few feet to his right. One of the men was holding up some sort of small object, shaking it furiously as the trio bickered amongst themselves.
It took Luca a moment to realize that the man was holding a wildcat cub. Noctus’ teeth, no wonder Rubrum was so on edge. The small creature was mewling fiercely, trying to wriggle away from its captors, but it was far too young and far too weak to succeed. The glint of a knife caused Luca to bring Rubrum to a halt and his chest tightened as one of the men angled the blade toward the cub’s heart. Luca reacted on instinct, swinging down out of the saddle and calling for the men to cease what they were doing. All three of them looked over at him, scowls marring their faces as he marched over. Upon closer inspection, the cub was tinier than Luca had first caught, leaving him to suspect that it was likely far too young to be away from its mother.
“What seems to be the problem here?” Luca asked, letting his hand travel to the hilt of his sword, which was strapped to his waist.
“None of your business,” the man holding the cub said with a sneer. “The beast is ours; we captured it fair and square. Since when do His Majesty’s soldiers give a damn about vermin?”
Luca gazed at the scrawny cub, silently questioning who exactly the vermin were in such a scenario.
“What is your business with the animal? Considering that they are not seen, save for in the wild, outside of the Imperial Palace.” He had a hunch, though even his hunch didn’t entirely explain why the men would want to kill the creature. The emperor would pay large sums of coin for wildcats to use for entertainment. Luca had not forgotten his fateful trip down to the menagerie, or the wild creatures that had been kept locked away in cages. He had found himself deeply abhorring the practice, but it had been tradition for the House of Vepi for centuries and Emperor Alekos clearly intended to continue it.
The man with the knife let out a dark laugh. “Looking out for the emperor’s menagerie, soldier? We’ve no business with this little monster.” The man paused, spitting on the ground. “Damn wildcat we captured died on the journey south. So did the rest of her cubs. His Majesty won’t take this pathetic beast. The Imperial Hospitis says it’s too sickly.”
“So you intend to kill it then?” The creature struggled again, hissing and weakly clawing at the men restraining it.
“What’s it to you?” The man’s nostrils flared as his grip on his knife tightened. “I captured the damn beast. It’s mine to do with as I please.”
Luca hesitated, his stomach hardening. Opes’ bones, had he lost all damned sense with the urge that had suddenly filled him? But surely, not even a wildcat cub deserved to be killed at the hands of men who had stolen it away from the only life it had ever known.
“I’ll take it,” Luca said, holding out his hand.
“You’ll what?” the man with the knife scoffed.
“I said I’ll take the creature,” Luca replied, digging a handful of coin out of his pocket and tossing it on the ground. “I doubt you’re going to get a better offer, considering its current state.”
The man with the knife stared down at the coin for a brief moment, his eyes wide, before he bent down and snatched it up. Luca tried to ignore the churning in his belly. He hadn’t given up all of his coin, but thank the gods his accommodations were already seen to.
“You want the little bastard, you can have it,” the man said, half throwing it at Luca.
Luca scrambled and by some small miracle managed to catch the poor creature before it hit the mucky ground. It dug its claws into him and Luca let out a grunt of pain, trying to get the cub to loosen its grip. He couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose at its rank odor. The gods only knew where it had been living.
The men began squabbling amongst themselves over the coin Luca had tossed, so he was quick to turn his attention back to Rubrum. He tucked the cub in one arm, trying to hold onto the squirming creature. It was trembling, letting out pitiful-sounding mewls. Rubrum let out another sharp snort, his nostrils flaring as he danced away from the cub.
“I know in the wild it would be your mortal enemy, but it won’t eat you. I swear,” Luca said to the horse. “Besides, you’re ten times its size.”
After getting Rubrum to stand still, Luca ended up putting the cub into one of his saddlebags, making sure to leave it half unbuckled so that the creature could get some air, but not so far open that it could escape. It protested as he placed it in the bag, flattening its ears and letting out a fierce little hiss.
“You’re all right,” Luca said. “I’m not going to harm you.”
He didn’t think for a moment that the cub actually understood him, but it sank down into the bag and stopped struggling. He remounted Rubrum and urged his horse into a canter. The more distance he put between himself and the docks, the better. Rubrum was ill at ease with the cub in his saddlebag, but Luca managed to keep control of his mount and the rest of the ride to the palace passed without incident.
When he reached the imposing gate of the palace, he was granted entry by the guards. After passing through the glimmering gilded wrought iron gate, he guided Rubrum down the long, wide, crushed shell paths. The cypress trees on either side offered some shade from the hot summer sun, but the sweat trickling down his back reminded him that he was once again in one of the warmest parts of the empire. Upon reaching the palace’s front entrance, he brought Rubrum to a halt before dismounting.
A guard strode over to take his horse and he was quick to grab the cub from his saddlebag, tucking it under his arm. The guard raised his brows at the sight of the creature and Luca grimaced, his pulse beginning to race. He hadn’t a clue if the cub would even be allowed inside the palace. The last thing he needed to be doing was drawing undue attention to himself, especially with the hatred toward magic high after months of dealing with the damned raiders from the west.
“Maybe I can find you a place in the stable for now,” Luca murmured to the cub as it began to purr. It had apparently decided he was no longer the enemy—for the time being, at least.
Wildcat cub in tow, he climbed the marble steps, stepping between two of the large white columns that were spread across the landing. The doors were flung open by more palace guards and Luca stepped into the opulent entryway, trying not to feel too self-conscious about his travel-stained clothing or the dirty little creature he was carrying amid the gilded walls, intricate mosaics, and sparkling marble floor.
He soon spotted Remus standing a few feet away. He’d sent word of his impending arrival to his father at the palace the previous night, when he’d stopped for a few hours of sleep in the city of Praeda. As Luca crossed the entryway, Remus smiled. His father was dressed in a fine shirt of deep green, and his dark brown pants had been embroidered with brightly contrasting yellow thread. His greying black hair was pulled back and he wore multiple gold rings as well as a gold pendant which bore the seal of Darnic: a half man–half stag wielding a spear.
“Thank the gods you made it safely,” Remus said when Luca reached him. “Your travels were uneventful?”
“Uneventful enough,” Luca replied. “There was some foul weather when I first left Ignis, but I was through it in less than a day.”
Remus’ gaze suddenly dropped to the cub and he pressed a hand to his chest as he took a step back. “Opes’ bones and Noctus’ teeth, what is that?”
“A stray,” Luca replied with a slight grimace. “I picked it up at the docks.”
“You picked up a wild beast?” Remus shook his head, his mouth turning down. “Lucanus, this is outlandish behavior, even for you.”
Luca stiffened. “The men who had it were going to kill it. They’d already killed its mother and its siblings.”
Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sharp breath. “And what exactly are you planning to do with this… thing?”
“I… don’t know yet,” Luca answered, shifting where he stood.
“Take it to the Imperial Hospitis. The menagerie is the only place for a murderous beast like that.”
Luca’s stomach clenched. By the gods, had he saved the creature from one ill fate just to bring it to another?
“I’ll see about doing that once I’m settled in the barracks,” he said.
Remus pressed his lips together. “See that you do. Come, I will walk to the barracks with you. Cato has gone into the city with Baron Manius’ sons and I have a little time before I must meet with Viscount Herbertus.”
Luca fell in step beside him and the two of them strode deeper into the palace.
“How is Mother?” Luca asked as they walked. “And Oriana?”
“Fiona is well enough. She worried herself sick about the commoners with that damned plague, but she has seemed to find more of her strength as we have moved into summer. It is a weakness of hers, as you know, caring too much about others,” Remus said with a flippant wave of his hand. “Oriana has joined me on this trip. I hope that we can find her some sort of acceptable marriage match. Duke Lycaon had dropped hints that he might be interested in her wedding Cassian once he leaves the Imperial Army, but of course, he also must get Silvanus settled first.”
Luca bit the inside of his cheek, fighting to school his expression. He hated the thought of his half-sister wed to either of Lycaon’s sons, who were no more trustworthy than their father and known for their entitled, unruly ways. Oriana is a noblewoman, he reminded himself. She will wed to form an alliance and improve Darnic’s wealth. That was the way of things.
“From the bits and pieces I have gleaned, I have not heard much of the raiders straying as far north as Darnic and Dineum,” Luca said.
“They haven’t, thank the gods,” Remus said as they stepped out into a large courtyard. “There have been a number of noblemen who had tried to twist such things into an insult, implying that the raiders have not traveled to the northern provinces because we have no wealth, but I have been quick to remind them that it is our wood mills and our mines that supply the empire with the raw materials they so desire and covet.”
They crossed the courtyard, stopping in front of the wrought iron gate that separated the long limestone buildings of the barracks from the rest of the palace complex. A quiver settled in Luca’s stomach as all four of the guards standing in front of the gate narrowed their eyes at the wildcat cub, gripping the hilts of their blades.
“We cannot allow such a dangerous beast inside the barracks,” the guard said, jutting his chin at the cub. “You should know that, Captain.”
“It will not be inside the barracks for long,” Remus said, raising a hand. Luca had heard his father use his calm, placating tone on more than one occasion when dealing with difficult noblemen and commoners, and he sent up a silent prayer to the gods that it would work on palace guards as well. “My son merely wished to bring the creature to His Majesty’s menagerie after he found it on the docks. He wishes to deliver such a rare and valuable gift to the Imperial Hospitis himself, once he gets settled in his quarters.”
The guards cast one another sidelong glances and Luca’s heart beat rapidly in his chest, but a few moments later, one of them gave a slow nod.
“Of course, Your Grace,” the guard said. “But if the beast is not safely locked away in the menagerie by nightfall, we will act swiftly to make certain that Captain Lucanus does not compromise the safety of the barracks.”
“I understand,” Luca replied, the quiver in his middle growing. What in the seas was he going to do with the cub?
“I will see you at dinner tonight,” Remus said as the guards pulled the gate open. He paused, frowning at the cub once again. “Do be certain to dispose of that beast.”
“I will,” Luca said with a stiff nod.
He stepped through the gate, crossing another, smaller courtyard to the long, narrow building that housed the officers’ quarters. To his relief, the quarters were mostly empty and he only ran into two other fellow soldiers, both of whom gave him a wide berth, their gazes riveted on the cub as they passed him. By the time he’d reached his room, the muscles between his shoulder blades were beginning to ache from holding them so tightly.
His room was simple compared to much of the rest of the palace, but he was looking forward to sleeping on the feather-filled mattress and pillows. Two small windows looked out onto the vine-covered iron fence that surrounded the barracks, separating it from the rest of the palace. His saddlebags would be brought to the barracks by a servant once Rubrum was tended to, and there were two items in particular that he wanted to make certain had made the journey without incident. Gifts were expected for both Dimitri and Aurelia and while Luca’s funds were limited, he had made certain he had not come to Talekos empty-handed, picking up a dagger for Dimitri and a hair comb for Aurelia.
The cub gave a sudden mewl, distracting Luca from his worries as it wiggled in his arms.
“You’re a fierce little one, aren’t you?” he said, laughing softly. “Though the gods only know what I’m going to do with you.”
The thought of taking the cub to the menagerie made him sick to his stomach, and yet he clearly could not allow it to remain in the barracks, much less take it back to Ignis with him. Nor could he simply release it back into the wild. The cub was too young to survive without its mother.
An idea suddenly came to him. He’d sworn to himself that he would avoid Aurelia at all costs during his time at the palace, but he had learned through Dimitri that their Pernish kin were staying with Aurelia and helping her with her condition. Through his mother, Luca had heard of the Pernish people’s long-held tradition of keeping tamed wolves in their castles. It was even said that many centuries ago, one of Darnic’s kings had tried to barter for the coveted creatures, though all his attempts had failed.
If he took the cub to the menagerie, he would condemn it to a lifetime of being exploited for the nobility’s entertainment, and quite possibly to death. But there was a chance that Duchess Rhiannon might be able to come up with some alternative. She was accustomed to such wild creatures. He glanced out the window, checking how high the sun hung in the sky. He still had plenty of time before he would be expected at dinner in the main banquet hall. That should let him try to solve his predicament.
