The Princess, page 4
His gaze darted between her and the empty chair, a brief silence stretching between them before a hint of a smile tugged at his lips. “Your secret is safe with me, Your Highness.”
Lucanus settled in his chair and began to read. It seemed an odd pastime for a soldier, but he looked perfectly content. Despite trying to keep her focus solely on her book, Aurelia couldn’t stop herself from stealing a few glances at him every now and then. He wore a simple cream-colored shirt, and his dark grey pants were tucked into his army-issue tall leather boots. It was far plainer attire than what the members of the Imperial Court wore, but it suited him. His blond hair had been pulled into a tail at the nape of his neck, though a few strands of it had come loose, falling over his brow and giving him an almost rakish look.
Before long, Aurelia reached the end of her book. She closed it with a satisfied smile. She returned it to the stack and went to pick up the next leather-bound volume but frowned when she opened it. It began almost two hundred years after the last book she’d finished. She checked the spine, sighing when she realized she was missing a volume from the collection. She’d have to move onto something else.
“Is something wrong?” Luca asked.
Aurelia glanced over at him. He’d looked up from his own book and was studying her with a slight furrow in his brow.
“Missing a volume, that’s all,” she replied, lightly shrugging one shoulder. “I’ll just have to wait until Drusus can fetch it for me.”
The furrow in his brow deepened. “Is this… not something you cam get for yourself?”
A sour taste filled her mouth as a hint of annoyance took root. “Must I remind you that I’m a woman? According to the law, I shouldn’t even be in this place. Much less with a book in my hands.” The words slipped out before she could stop them and she felt her cheeks begin to flush as her heart pounded all over again. By the seas, would she never learn to control her tongue? How many more messes would Alekos and her brothers have to get her out of for not thinking before she spoke?
“Forgive me,” she said, clearing her throat. “That was spoken out of turn.”
She pulled another book out from the stack, taking a few deep breaths as she began to read again. A few moments later, Luca got to his feet.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, picking up one of the books he’d brought in and leaving the rest.
She nodded, trying to ignore the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach as he walked to the door. Dimitri’s friend or not, she hardly knew him. Had she been a fool to trust him with her secret? As he grasped the door handle, she turned in her chair, her palms sweaty.
“You won’t tell anyone?” she said. “That you saw me in here?”
“I meant it when I said your secret is safe with me,” he replied, his expression softening. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before continuing. “I do not mean to speak out of turn myself, but in the north, there are those who do not hold to such strict rules regarding women and learning.”
“And are you one of them?” she asked, her breath catching.
“I am,” he answered, holding her gaze before giving a polite incline of his head and stepping through the door.
Her heart raced again as he shut it behind him. Alekos’ lecture about Luca being an unsuitable and dangerous man was still fresh in her thoughts, but truly, what was so unsuitable and dangerous about him? Other than perhaps he didn’t agree with all of the empire’s laws. When the door opened again, some of the tension in her shoulders eased as Luca stepped back into the room. He carried two books in his arms, including one very large one that looked suspiciously like one of the volumes of history she had been reading.
“Here,” he said, handing her the larger of the books. “I hope it’s the right one.”
“Thank you,” she softly said, running her thumb over the words that had been stamped into the cover. “It is.”
“If you want anything else,” he said, resuming his seat, “I’m happy to walk out and get it for you while I’m here.”
“Thank you,” she told him, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest.
They resumed reading in companionable silence, but despite the book in front of her, her gaze and thoughts kept drifting to Luca. The last thing she needed to do was to be entertaining thoughts of him. One day, she would need to marry into a powerful alliance that would secure the future of the empire, and she could not do that if she was considered tarnished in the eyes of the nobility. And yet, she couldn’t deny the growing draw she felt toward the handsome stranger from the north on the other side of the table. You will have this moment, she told herself, firmly fixing her gaze back on her book. And nothing more. Her future had already been decided, and a man like Luca was not part of it.
Chapter 5
Luca had indulged himself in the archives and when he had awoken the following morning, he’d been filled with dread over the foolish decision he’d made. He could likely in part blame some of his poor judgment on the copious amounts of wine he’d enjoyed at the banquet, but the truth of the matter was that he’d been an absolute fool for spending hours alone in the archives with Aurelia.
His stomach had churned all through breakfast, leaving him with little appetite, and though he’d been seated as far away from the emperor as possible, he could have sworn he’d felt Emperor Alekos’ gaze on him more than once over the course of the meal. Aurelia was a princess, a daughter of the Imperial House, and he should have known better. But what the rest of the nobility found odd, he’d found tempting. She’d reminded him of his mother, with her love of learning and reading, and the few quiet hours he’d spent alone with her had been far more preferable to the hours he’d spent at the feast, dealing with the nobility’s insults and sneers. The revelry had grated on him and had caused him to eventually retreat to the archives instead of taking part in the continuing carousing. And that was where he had found himself unexpectedly captivated by a princess. But you won’t make such a mistake again, he reminded himself, his jaw tightening. He couldn’t afford to.
Careful to keep his head down, he crossed one of the palace’s many courtyards, trying to avoid drawing the attention of the guards and nobles milling about. To his relief, there weren’t many souls wandering the palace so early in the morning. Most of the nobles hadn’t even appeared at breakfast and were likely still in bed. Luca had sought Dimitri out after breakfast, as time alone with his thoughts in his luxurious rooms in the barracks had only left him more restless and uneasy. Dimitri had offered no shortage of activities to occupy Luca, and with the memories of the creatures that the emperor had shown off at the banquet the previous night, Luca had finally settled on visiting the emperor’s menagerie.
Despite Luca’s bastard blood, Remus had not completely denied him an education, and Luca knew that the Imperial House had been keeping all manner of animals on the palace grounds for centuries. The emperor kept such creatures as a display of power, and for the brutal blood sport that the nobles enjoyed as entertainment. Luca cared little for such acts of violence, but he was curious about the creatures themselves.
When he reached the other side of the courtyard, he took a moment to get his bearings before taking a right down a covered walkway. Luca hoped that Dimitri had given him the right directions, despite the prince’s hungover state. He soon reached the end of the walkway and was rewarded with a gilded sign that informed him he had indeed found his way to the Imperial menagerie. He could hear the crashing of waves close by and wondered how far he was from the Bay of Aegir. The palace complex was large, but parts of it ran along the bay’s shoreline. He’d heard Dimitri mention that Emperor Alekos kept some creatures of the sea, as well as creatures who lived on land, and the rumbling of the waves gave him hope that he might see some of them.
He ducked through an open doorway and stepped into a dimly lit room. Unlike the rest of the palace, there was little in the way of decoration or ornateness, and a persistent dampness filled the air. A guard appeared out of the shadows, widening his stance as he blocked Luca’s path.
“State your business,” the guard said.
“Lieutenant Lucanus of Darnic,” Luca replied. “I was given directions here from His Highness, Prince Dimitrios.”
The guard grunted before motioning for Luca to follow him. They left the small, dank room behind, passing into another covered walkway. There was a small inlet to their left, the narrow strip of beach blocked off by towering cages. The iron bars extended into the water itself, separating it into small sections as well as merging with a rocky outcropping to close the inlet off from the rest of the bay.
The guard came to a stop, gesturing to the strange cages. “Sea creatures are here,” he said. “The rest of the land creatures are through the door at the end of the walkway. Wildcats are at the far end, but unless you fancy dying today, don’t get too close to those monsters. And if you tamper with any of His Majesty’s creatures, you’ll be finding yourself in a cell.”
The guard stalked back into the room they’d come out of and Luca’s gaze shifted to another guard standing at attention at the edge of the walkway, the man focusing intently on him. You haven’t done anything wrong, Luca reminded himself. As Dimitri’s guest, you are allowed to be here. Ignoring the guard, at least as much as he could, Luca turned his attention to the deep blue waters of the inlet.
Gentle waves lapped at the shore, and soon he spied a grey fin slicing through the water. A dolphin surfaced, blowing out a puff of air from the hole near its head before diving back under the water. In his travels with the army, Luca had seen such creatures along the shore and in the open waters of the Salis Sea, but there was something listless about the way the captive dolphin moved that left an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
With a slight shake of his head, he continued down the walkway, the guard still watching his every move. There were more creatures of the sea, including an unusual-looking seal with a cream-colored underbelly, and one of the largest turtles he’d ever seen. When he reached the guard, the other man opened the next door and ushered Luca through it. Luca was again plunged into darkness, with only the light of the occasional oil lantern to act as his guide.
The narrow hallway was lined with more cages, the stone cells bare save for the creatures locked inside them. As Luca walked farther, peering in at each creature, he couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling in his middle. There was a wrongness to the menagerie. The tall, elegant heron, the massive brown bear, the distinctly reddish-colored Fuil deer from his homeland in Darnic, and even the various uniquely colored snakes—none of them belonged caged in a tiny hovel, only to be gawked at by humans.
A distinctive hiss caused Luca to skid to a stop. The wildcats. Ten of them loomed in front of him, locked behind iron bars, their eyes taking on an eerie glow in the low lantern light. He had only seen such creatures in the wild once in his lifetime, though that particular creature had seemed more skittish of their company than they’d been of it, and it had gone on its way back into the wilderness of Calidi. But what he’d seen of the wildcats during the banquet the previous night had been enough to make him realize what powerful creatures they were.
Each of the wildcats had distinctive coats, some a tawny brown while others were speckled with black or brown spots. One was even solid black, the darkness of its coat making its green eyes stand out. They all flattened their ears, hissing at Luca as they stalked back and forth in their cages, displeased by his intrusion.
A shudder ran through him as he thought back to the creatures that had been paraded about at the banquet. It had been an unnerving sort of entertainment, one that reminded those in attendance that the emperor controlled all, even wild beasts. Over the years, Dimitri had told Luca stories of one of the nobles’ favorite forms of entertainment involving the wildcats, where men were mauled to death by sharp claws and deadly fangs. Wildcats were pitted against prisoners, or against other creatures, like the bear he’d passed earlier, with the noblemen betting on who would come out the victor and who would come out dead. As Luca observed the sleek, rippling muscles of the wildcats, he could see why so many in Kelnore were frightened of them. And yet, despite their fierce appearance, surely even they did not deserve to be locked up in cages and sentenced to such brutal blood sport.
“Beautiful, aren’t they? Despite how deadly they are.”
The emperor’s voice made Luca start and his shoulders tensed as Emperor Alekos stepped out of the shadows behind him.
“Your Majesty,” Luca said, dropping into a low bow, careful to keep his gaze slightly averted when he straightened.
He might have been raised far away from the glittering halls of the Imperial Palace, but Remus had made certain that Luca knew how to conduct himself in the presence of his emperor. The House of Vepi had been chosen by the gods to lead and rule the people of Kelnore, and the blood that ran through Emperor Alekos’ veins made him second only to the gods, and the gods alone.
Emperor Alekos brushed past Luca, his gaze on the wildcats as he walked up to the cage of the black one. It flattened his ears at the emperor, showing him its large fangs as it let out a low, rumbling growl and swatted at the bars, giving Luca a glimpse of its razor-sharp claws.
“They’re still such violent creatures,” Emperor Alekos said as he backed away from the cage, not even flinching at the creature’s aggressive behavior, “despite being controlled by humans. It’s in their blood, you see. The wildness that’s been bred into them for centuries. It doesn’t matter where you put them. Their blood always shows.”
The emperor turned his full gaze on Luca with his last words and Luca’s chest tightened as his heart rate doubled.
“Dimitrios will not be talked out of his friendship with you,” Emperor Alekos continued, “and he insists that you are a vital part of his company. Remus claims that you have inherited his skills on the battlefield, despite the other less savory parts of your lineage, and General Hesoid has vouched for you, as well; at least, as much as can be expected. There is still the matter of your blood, after all.”
A bitter taste filled Luca’s mouth and he gritted his teeth. It always came back to his blood. For as long as he lived, he would never escape it.
“But I want one thing very clear: I will be watching you.” The emperor’s voice hardened, as did his gaze, and he drew himself up to his full height, towering over Luca. “If I get even a hint that you have caused trouble for Dimitrios or for the Imperial House, I will act swiftly and mercilessly. And while you are within these walls, you will not be spending any time in the company of my daughters. They are not made for consorting with rabble. Is that clear?”
Opes’ bones, had the emperor somehow discovered the truth of what had happened in the archives? A bead of sweat trickled down Luca’s back, and not just from the lack of airflow in the room.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied.
Emperor Alekos brushed past him without another word. Luca barely managed to deliver him a bow before the emperor was striding off down the shadowy hallway once again, his fine leather boots clacking on the cobblestone floor.
Luca waited long enough for the emperor to be well ahead of him before leaving, himself. There was a slight shake in his hands as he hurried down the long hallway, Emperor Alekos’ threats still lodged in his thoughts. He could not afford another mistake. There was too much at stake: his career, his magic, and his very life. It didn’t matter how intriguing he found Aurelia or how much Dimitri insisted that he considered Luca a friend. None of that changed the blood that ran through Luca’s veins. It was a treacherous game he had wandered into, and he could not afford to forget it.
Chapter 6
It had been raining for four days straight in Aestus and Luca couldn’t help but glower at the dark clouds that were beginning to obscure the moon. He’d hoped for one damned night of standing guard on the city’s wall where he didn’t return to the barracks drenched to the bone, but that was looking less and less likely. It could be worse, he reminded himself, rolling his shoulders as he strode behind a line of soldiers standing at attention, their gazes on the distant horizon. You could be in Lapis instead of in Primun.
There’d been numerous rumors circulating about Primun’s southern neighbor in recent weeks. The storms that had been lashing Lapis’ coastline had only grown worse and more frequent, while the deadly sickness that had begun in Vindemia had continued to spread across the province. To add to the empire’s troubles, multiple merchant vessels had reported being attacked by raiders in the open waters of the Salis Sea. The raiders were what had brought Luca and Dimitri to the port city of Aestus, near Lapis’ border. Because of the reports of the raiders, Emperor Alekos had offered more protection to all of the port cities along Kelnore’s western coast, and unlike Duke Lycaon, the Duke of Primun had welcomed the Imperial Army and expressed his gratitude to his emperor.
Luca grumbled under his breath when the first drops of rain began to fall, though his irritation was briefly tempered when he finally spied Dimitri’s scarlet cloak among the long line of soldiers along the top of the wall. As Luca came to stand beside Dimitri, the prince kept his gaze firmly fixed on the churning sea, his jaw tight.
“All is quiet on the western wall,” Luca said. “Save for the damned weather turning foul.”
“Noctus’ teeth, I’m so damned tired of storms,” Dimitri said with a shake of his head. “And I don’t like these rumors of sudden storms arriving before the raiders each time the merchant ships have been attacked out in the open water.” He rubbed his chin. “The sea has been calm, there’s hardly been any waves all day, and now tonight, it is anything but.”
Luca cast Dimitri a sidelong glance. “You think there is truth to the sailors’ stories?”
“Well, they are sailors. It isn’t as if they’re not known for exaggerating. Some of it is preposterous; there’s no arguing that. The talk of sirens in particular is ridiculous. There hasn’t been a siren seen in these waters for centuries. And the talk of the raiders could be exaggerated as well. They might be formidable fighters, but I highly doubt they’re some mystical monsters that can set a ship on fire with a flick of their wrist.”
