Page 74 of Stranger's Choice
He scowled, but nodded.
“How long do you both need? As I said, I don’t have much time, and I need to warn our allies among the courtiers.”
Heolin and Tjalik looked at each other. Then Heolin nodded and looked back at Sebin. “Assuming everyone agrees, then we can move in three days. The Emperor is hosting one of his Star Room parties that evening. I think that might make an excellent time to act, don’t you?”
Three days. So much could happen in three days, and yet it was such a short time to prepare. But Sebin had been preparing for months. They had to act now. Before he went home.
Before the Emperor demanded Auraelie scan his heir’s future again. In the rush of finding a solution, Sebin had forgotten the importance of leaving Prince Peroen out of his plans. Auraelie had warned him about the Emperor’s paranoia. But Auraelie wouldn’t tell the Emperor, even if she scanned Peroen and saw him taking his father’s place. Not now. With revolution and freedom on the horizon, she would lie if necessary.
The odds of the Emperor even sending her to scan Peroen within the next three days were low, but Sebin and Auraelie needed to make sure she had a fake vision ready to share, just in case. Another opportunity to mislead the Emperor might even prove beneficial. And the next Star Room party was the perfect opportunity to stage a revolution.
“I do believe you are correct, Heolin.”
Auraelie tried tokeep her breathing even, her face blank. It was hard. She knew what was happening in the Star Room. What was supposed to be happening. But she wasn’t there. Sebin had asked her to make sure none of the Emperor’s Will—apart from the members already in the Star Room—interrupted that evening.
She had allies among the Will, but none would take part in the confrontation with the Emperor except Qilar. She had spent her evenings preparing the Will to accept a change in status and to be ready for the transition. When news came that they were free, her allies would ensure that those loyal to the Emperor didn’t fight the changes. They would prevent the Will from being used to reverse the agreements made.
She waited, all the while knowing that Sebin was in the thick of things at the Star Room party.
With Pianti’s help, he had received an invitation to the exclusive event. Qilar was the only other person in the room who was a known ally. Logically, Auraelie knew Sebin was safe. He wouldn’t visibly play any role in cornering the Emperor. He wouldn’t be with the rebels who planned to storm the party to confront the Emperor. He wouldn’t be alongside Pianti and Qilar when they made sure the Emperor didn’t escape at the first sign of trouble.
Sebin would do nothing but observe unless the rebels and the Emperor reached an impasse. Only then would he step in as a neutral party.
It didn’t matter that she knew he was safe; she wasn’t there.
She wasn’t there, and she needed to remember that. She needed to focus on her task for the night. There was no reason anyone in the Will’s common room would find out about the confrontation between rebels and the Emperor until it was all over. If something went wrong, she didn’t know how she could stop anyone from rushing to the Star Room. Sebin wouldn’t have asked her to stay with the Will if he actually thought they might be alerted and run to the Emperor’s aid.
He wanted her safe until everything was over.
That didn’t mean Auraelie would sit idly while she waited.
When she felt that she had her expression and breathing under control, she moved farther into the room. Star Room party nights had traditionally been a night of celebration among the Will. If they were not in the Star Room, then they knew they had the whole night free, and that the Emperor would not call for anyone before noon at the earliest the next morning. These nights were a time of indulgence and forgetting duty for a few hours.
A few of the Will trained to play instruments took turns sharing their music with the room, but none of the dancers performed. If Auraelie had joined the others on these nights, she might have realized far sooner that even the members of the Will were dissatisfied with the roles the Emperor pushed them into. But she had always made herself scarce on Star Room nights in the past.
Mitana was the first person to notice Auraelie. She came over to where Auraelie stood, still on the outskirts of the group, and offered a tentative smile. “I hear your prince received an invitation to the Star Room.”
Auraelie nodded. She had the thought that they could have been friends, if they had ever dared. Now, when Mitana no longer feared what Auraelie might see in her future, and Auraelie no longer assumed the other woman was blindly loyal to the Emperor, they had no more time.
Auraelie considered the distance between them and the rest of the Will and what she could safely say at this point. Most likely, it was too late for her words to cause any change in the night’s outcome, but she still erred on the side of caution. “Sebin must depart for home soon. He thought tonight’s party might be his final chance to experience the Emperor’s generosity.”
Mitana’s hand twitched and her breathing caught for the slightest second, but her voice was smooth and collected when she spoke. “The prince is leaving soon?”
“Yes. He feels he’s accomplished his goals in Pynth, and his father needs him back in Moial.”
“Are you—” Mitana cut herself off and glanced around the room. She gestured for Auraelie to follow her to a collection of cushions in a relatively isolated part of the room. Only when they were both sitting, watching the rest of the Will enjoy themselves, did she speak. “Will you go with him?”
A longing Auraelie had refused to acknowledge over the past few days rose up. Sebin had never asked her if she wanted to join him. He had only spoken of her going home and being with her family after she was free of the Emperor. She had not brought it up herself because she hadn’t seen herself in his future. He had been willing to stay with her in Pynth, but perhaps she could not fit into his life in Moial. He would be a king in all but name. Perhaps he would have to marry someone like the woman he had fled when he traveled across the Storm Barrier.
Perhaps she would be an embarrassment to him in his own kingdom.
Mitana reached out a hand, remembering not to touch when it was only inches from Auraelie’s shoulder. “I take it by your expression that you are not. I’m sorry, Auraelie.”
“I will go home,” Auraelie said in an attempt to focus on the positive. She tried to muster up an expression that didn’t look despondent, but it was beyond her ability.
Mitana didn’t notice, though. Her eyes lit up. “So soon?”
Auraelie appreciated that the other woman had cared more about her emotional state than the hint that something was happening in the Star Room. She didn’t blame her for giving in to her anticipation now. This should be a night for joy, not sorrow. Auraelie leaned forward and spoke as quietly as possible. “If all goes according to plan, I can leave in the morning.”
Mitana closed her eyes, and her breath shuddered out of her. When she opened her eyes again, Auraelie saw not just hope but determination in their depths.
Mitana held out one hand. “Will you?”
Auraelie reached out and rested her fingers on Mitana’s palm. She nudged her power toward the near future for one heartbeat and the distant for another, then lifted her fingers.
“There is a village near the mountains,” Auraelie shared after considering all she had seen. “The herb woman there needs an apprentice. It is a place where you can learn and grow and become yourself, but you will not stay forever. Once you have found yourself, you will not be content in isolation. You will become an advocate for others. Your voice will represent thousands and help women gain safety and earn the respect they deserve throughout the empire.”
Moisture gathered in Mitana’s eyes, but she did not cry. She stood up, her stance for once not delicate and graceful, but strong and proud. “Let us go see what has become of your prince.”
