He was followed in by a very different Terietta. She seemed closed in on herself. The only recognisable thing about her was she seemed worried as always.
Opetreia’s face said he had bad news.
‘Spit it out,’ said Aurelia. ‘You couldn’t make my day any worse.’
He coughed, and had the decency to look ashamed. ‘I am here to inform you, in the company of a witness,’ he indicated Terietta, ‘that you have been found guilty of the poisoning of Duke Lepitern of House Argentor, while a guest of the palace. You have been sentenced to death by execution.’
Aurelia felt herself grow weak and sank into the nearest chair before her legs failed her. Execution? And sentenced by the father of the culprit? No, Nepheli isn’t necessarily the culprit, is she? It is just as likely to be Faibryn. And yet Aurelia was going to be the one to face the punishment for their crime.
‘The sentence is to be carried out three days hence,’ the general finished. ‘That is all.’
‘That is all?’ said Chrysaora, coming right up to him, menacing him with the furious presence of a well-trained warrior.
Woman or not, he was shaken. ‘Stand down, thrall. Or I will cut you down where you stand.’
‘I’d love to see you try,’ she threatened back. Her stare bored into him, daring him to draw his sword.
‘Execution?’ said Aurelia, still unable to really process it. ‘But how?’
‘By beheading.’
Ouch. ‘No, I mean, how? Who decided?’
‘A jury of your peers,’ he said. Such a nice formal name for a committee of faceless backstabbing nobles who knew nothing about her and made a very final decision in her absence. Maybe that was why Terietta seemed so contrite, she felt guilty; her spur of the moment accusation in the Duke’s bedchamber had carried the day, convinced a jury of nobles and was now leading to the execution of her charge.
Not for the first time in the last few days, Aurelia cursed Terietta under her breath, and wished Chrysaora hadn’t voiced her verdict on Lepitern’s death. This whole mess could have been avoided, or at least handled quietly.
Maybe this was how Faibryn had wanted it? Was she entertaining Chrysaora’s suspicions? Faibryn had insisted on her and Chrysaora joining him when he went into the chamber. He knew of Chrysaora’s abilities, or at least I think he did, she thought. Did he know she couldn’t resist knowing the cause of death?
And then he’d just stayed so quiet, so convincingly quiet. As she was accused. Just like a man stunned by his father’s death. But also like a man who could easily be considered a suspect, letting the blame fall elsewhere.
When you started entertaining a crazy theory, you could start making anything fit.
‘What about Faibryn? Was he present?’ she asked.
It was Terietta who spoke, shaking her head. ‘The Marquis was not present.’ Marquis. So no coronation yet either? Where is he?
‘Does he know what you have done? I’m his betrothed!’
‘In his absence,’ said Opetreia, ‘others are forced to make decisions. The judgement of the council is still binding.’
‘He is missing,’ said Terietta. ‘We had hoped to find him here.’ she looked up expectantly. ‘Is he here?’
‘I wish he were,’ said Aurelia, regaining her feet. Her flush with surprise had passed. She felt strong again. This was a joke she had no intention of playing along with. ‘One word and this could be sorted out. You had better find him before you all do something you will regret.’
‘He is not here,’ said Chrysaora, almost growling. She pointed to the door. ‘Now get out.’
Terietta glanced down and meekly complied. But Opetreia turned back at the door. ‘Three days, my lady. And you will no longer be the thorn in this city.’ His eyes caught Chrysaora’s and she feinted at him, making him jump and stumble back. He righted himself and left, trying to cover his embarrassment.
When they were alone again, Aurelia spoke into the silence. ‘You wanted me to think like an Empress. I am thinking like an Empress now. Every part of being here was to secure a way to help my people. To defeat an enemy that threatens far more. Every bit of cosying up to Faibryn has been to get my hands on Argentor’s army.’ She paused and then tried again. ‘Nothing I have tried has worked. Not the Premiers, not the ladies of the court, not the Duke himself, although he was coming around. Nepheli is better not discussed, what a disaster.’ She flung up her hands. ‘Faibryn was my last hope to help my people, to get this army. And now I’m to be executed. Naus was right, I was clutching at air thinking I would succeed here in this viper’s nest of a city.’
After a long moment, Chrysaora said, ‘You said “was”. He was your last hope…’
Aurelia sighed through her nose. ‘I’ll grant you, what you said about Faibryn, it sounds suspicious. You make a convincing case. But I need to see proof for myself and we need proof in order to overturn my,’ she almost couldn’t say it, ‘sentence.’ She swallowed.
‘I would advise against that whole heartedly,’ said Chrysaora. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
‘Oh, really? And what should I do instead, wait here for them to come take my head off my shoulders? It’s the only way.’
I have nothing left to lose, she thought.
‘We don’t know what proof looks like in this case, Aurelia. What do you want, a signed confession letter?’
‘That would work.’
‘No, it wouldn’t. You still aren’t thinking deviously enough. If I’ve learnt anything from nobles and politicians in this world, it’s that you should be thinking three steps ahead. Faibryn is missing. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it now.’
Chrysaora’s right, damn her again. Aurelia hated it when she was right. But she reflected, when she’d eventually started winning in the siege it was when she had been more than a few steps ahead; planning the tunnel against one side and then immediately crippling the other with false information, that had led to her successful air-raid and simultaneous bombing and ended the fighting for one of the two armies. She needed something like that now.
They lapsed into silence.
Aurelia heard more rotten fruit squelch against the wall of the terrace. She’d had enough of that as well and went to see if she could catch the perpetrators in the act. There was a gap behind the wardrobe barrier and she was able to sneak out onto the balcony without being seen. A tomato hit the bench beside her and splattered across the floor. She heard yells from below.
‘Murderer!’
‘You killed the Duke!’
‘Go back to Theris!’
She was sure she recognised one of those voices. A dangerous thought occurred to her, and before she’d fully thought it through she popped her head over the balcony balustrade. ‘Nepheli?’
Two of the rotten fruit throwers ducked and ran off down the cobbled street, laughing and shouting as they went. The third stayed stock still, like they’d been caught in a compromising position, which they had.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Nepheli was dressed in black, her hair and face covered by a deep hood, but it was clearly her. If she ever looked like the criminal capable of what Aurelia had thought she was, it was now. Aurelia met her eye; she would recognise those glinting blues anywhere.
If Aurelia believed Chrysaora even a little, then Nepheli wasn’t the culprit here, Faibryn was. Which meant she could still use Nepheli. This was the idea that had landed in her mind when she’d heard that distinctive voice. All she had to do was commit to a course of action.
And Overlords, would it feel good to do that again. She was beyond frustrated dancing to the tune set by Argentor; the Premiers, the army, the nobles, Faibryn, they would march to a new beat. And she would be the one three steps ahead.
‘Would you come up here, please?’ she said gently. She didn’t want it to sound like an order. But she did want to entice. ‘I need to talk to you.’
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ Nepheli called, remarkably restrained.
�
��I think I know who killed the Duke,’ said Aurelia.
She watched Nepheli for another heavy moment, before the young woman shook her head and walked away beneath the balcony. Aurelia smiled. Her bait had snagged the prize, she was sure of it.
‘What are you doing?’ hissed Chrysaora.
‘Making a play.’
Chrysaora raised an eyebrow.
‘You wanted me to think more deviously. We take Nepheli with us, to wherever Faibryn went,’ said Aurelia. ‘You will guide us back there. I need proof, she will need proof. And she is well loved in this city; whatever Nepheli sees is as good as proof for others. We only have to convince one person and she’s about to knock on that door. This is how I will save our necks.’
Chrysaora’s expression said it all, but she felt the need to verbalise. ‘That is a terrible plan. She’ll never agree.’
‘She will. She won’t be able to help herself. Nepheli loves a scandal, she wanted to be part of the next big thing? Well, we are going to serve it up on a silver platter.’
Chrysaora’s response would have to wait. There was a knock on the door. Even though Opetreia had locked it when he left, their new visitor had a key. As Aurelia had predicted, it was Nepheli.
‘This had better be good, darling’ she whispered, closing the door gently. ‘I’m not supposed to be here.’
Chrysaora folded her arms and leaned against the wall; she was just going to watch. Aurelia smiled and turned to Nepheli.
‘I need your help.’
‘After what you’ve done? You have some nerve.’ She may have said it, but she didn’t leave. Nepheli’s curiosity and need to be involved was going to get the better of her.
‘You know me, Nepheli. We spoke honestly to each other once. You know I was working diligently to convince the Duke to use his army to help me. You know I wanted the help of the Premiers as well. And you know why. You once thought you could help me through your vast influential network.’ A little ego stroking wasn’t wrong. ‘I say this only to point out, you know I was never here to kill the Duke.’
The question was a trap. ‘No,’ she agreed. ‘You wanted to marry him. But you have got what you deserve, stealing my betrothed.’
‘That was never part of the plan. The Duke sprung that on me, just as much as anyone else.’
‘It helped you though, didn’t it?’
‘If that was my plan, then why kill the Duke?’
‘So that Faibryn took his father’s place and you had the army you wanted,’ said Nepheli.
‘Then why have Chrysaora announce the cause of death? Why implicate myself? Surely my bodyguard would have been in on it, or at least under orders.’
‘You’re right. That part makes no sense.’
‘I take full responsibility,’ said Chrysaora.
‘You were just doing what you thought everyone wanted,’ said Aurelia. She turned back to Nepheli. ‘Your father just arrived to tell me I am to be executed for the death of the Duke.’
Nepheli gasped. ‘Executed?’ She seemed excited and shocked and outraged somehow all at once. ‘Wait a minute, there’s been no trial.’
‘They decided they didn’t need one. A jury of my peers decided.’
‘Without me?’
Aurelia resisted the urge to hit her. ‘You may not have been there, culpable for a miscarriage of justice,’ she tried to keep her voice level, ‘but you are here now with the possibility to overturn it. If I get executed, I don’t get the army I worked so hard for. I don’t save the city, I don’t avenge my own. You think I am this master schemer, but this part does not work. I wouldn’t arrange it like this so it couldn’t have been me.’
Nepheli frowned, watching Aurelia intently. ‘I just don’t trust you any longer, Aurelia, my darling. You’re going to have to do better than trying to trick me with all your questions. What do you want?’
‘Like I said before. I know who killed the Duke.’
When Aurelia didn’t elaborate, Nepheli tilted her head like the fragile bird she resembled. ‘Well, who then?’
We all need proof, she thought. Nepheli, me, everyone on that wonderful execution committee. Chrysaora had said, if Faibryn was missing then he was doing whatever it was tonight. They had to act and they had to act now. ‘You want me to do better than just words and questions? You are going to need to see this for yourself.’
*
Aurelia mirrored Nepheli’s dress for their jaunt out of the palace, dark and nondescript. Chrysaora’s clothes were already appropriate. They had deep hoods to cover their recognisable faces, and the Medusi was hidden away inside a sealable section of Chrysaora’s. It made her look a little hunch-backed, like the tale of Velella, but there was nothing for it.
As their escort, Nepheli was perfect; still above reproach in the matter of the Duke’s death, she easily led them through the palace and past two guard stations without any trouble.
Despite the danger, Aurelia couldn’t stop thinking of this as her first real adventure; Cassandra had had many, but as the sister in line for the throne, Aurelia always had to stay at court and act formally. Now was her opportunity to experience a little for herself.
Outside of the palace, the city was still writhing with bodies in the warm balmy night air, too stifling for sleep. Chrysaora took the lead from Nepheli and began to lead them east from the civic buildings and out into the lively markets. These were still bright with oil lamps burning all down the streets. The stalls were mostly packed away; the night was not for trade in goods, but services.
As they walked, Aurelia kept her ears open to the mood of the city and found it tense and distressed. Most of the talk was about the Duke’s death, the same tired theories and exclamations. People were stunned, unable to process what had happened to their city. They felt the change in the air.
Every now and again these comments would veer towards recriminations, who could have done such a thing, but Aurelia was heartened to find her name was not mentioned often, and when it was only as rumour. It seemed the jury of her peers had been private and any accusation against her would wait until her execution. Crime and punishment enacted in front of the people, and the matter closed.
She didn’t intend to make it so easy.
If she did manage to survive the next few days, at least her name would not be synonymous with the murder of the Duke. If it had been she would never get done what she must.
Chrysaora led them past the market and into quieter residential roads that meandered in all directions, unplanned unlike the central district of the city. It was mostly taverns and alehouses here, their clientele flowing out into the streets, spilling their beer and wine as they attempted to drink away their fears. Here too, the talk was of the Duke and the future of the city, but now Aurelia began to hear a worse rumour.
Two men outside a bar were oblivious to how loud their drunken whispers actually were in the night.
‘We lost another scout team last night,’ said the first.
‘What? Where?’
‘I don’t know. They’re lost, you idiot.’
‘Where were they supposed to be?’
‘Out past the southern reaches, Trealla Valley, I think.’
Aurelia put a hand on Chrysaora’s shoulder to slow her down as they passed.
‘That valley is just forest for miles. You sure they haven’t just got lost?’ asked the second man.
‘That’s what I said. Lost.’
‘But you said lost, like dead.’
‘Exactly. Medusi have been sighted in the southern valleys, by other squads. You ask me, they’ve been taken. And the hunter’s daughter who stumbled into town near the lake. They’re keeping it quiet, but I heard she drunk gallons of water before collapsing.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘Locked in some boathouse cellar.’
The second man crossed his fingers over his lips; the ward of evil. ‘They’ll have a cellar full’a jellies if they’re not careful, keeping a touched girl.’
; The first man nodded gravely, mimicking his friend’s sign.
They trailed off as Chrysaora’s route took them out of earshot, but she gave Aurelia a knowing glance.
‘Did you hear that?’ whispered Nepheli behind her, much more competently than the drunk men. ‘Medusi in the southern forests?’
‘It’s the Order massing, Nepheli. The city is probably surrounded.’ It served her purposes to scare the noble girl; it might make her more likely to act. And she needed to act, she was Aurelia’s last hope. ‘They will attack soon. This is why I needed the army.’
It was another mile or so before Chrysaora stopped outside a derelict building only a stone’s throw from the wharves at the edge of the lake. It was way off the beaten track and there was no one around, no conversations to be heard. Cold air blew in off the lake despite the warm night.
‘This is it,’ Chrysaora said. In better days, the building had been something official, like a Watcher temple or observatory; it had a spire and broken stained glass windows on its scarred frontage. It hadn’t just been allowed to fall into disrepair, it had been attacked and smashed apart in places, and not just by bored teenagers. This was the work of an angry mob. In places the brick and stone were burnt and crumbling, black seared marks underscored where boards had been fixed and were now hollows open to the elements. Aurelia was put in mind of what Faibryn had told her weeks ago, back in the guise of Marcus; many decades ago Argentor had a vibrant thrall community. It probably really had been a Watcher temple, and the angry mob had been the citizens of the city turned against it.
‘What is this?’ said Nepheli.
‘Our culprit is inside,’ said Aurelia, with more confidence than she felt. She had to sell this.
‘Who’d want to go in there?’
‘Someone with secrets to hide.’
It was dark, but Aurelia could still see the derisive sneer on her face. She looked like her friend Meredith for a moment.
‘Well, I don’t like it. It’s creepy.’
Embrace of the Medusi (The Overlords Trilogy Book 2) Page 43
