Page 26 of Stranger's Choice
Chapter 8
Sebin was beyondangry. He’d been angry when he learned the position Auraelie was in. Learning that oracles—girls and young women just like Auraelie—had been forced into that position for generations pushed him past anger to fury. He didn’t care if the oracles could see the future and had determined that the pieces weren’t in place to end their treaty. Sebin would put those pieces in place and end it for them.
He hadn’t spoken to Tjalik since he had revealed his ability to understand Imperial. The rebel would be a good source of information and ally, but without his post as Sebin’s interpreter, he didn’t move in the same circles. Sebin needed to make sure he aroused no suspicion as he stoked the fires of revolution in the empire. He visited a few taverns in the city and asked a few questions, trying to track down his erstwhile interpreter, but until one of his inquiries bore fruit, he needed to focus his attention elsewhere.
He began at the court. He had spent nearly a month among the imperial courtiers already. Some of that time he had simply observed while he pretended not to speak the language. Since revealing his understanding, he made it a point to be charming and friendly to everyone, even those like Marsone whom he disliked. Now it was time to push a little and see where allegiances lay. And maybe set up a false trail or two.
He started with Pianti. The woman was his age; a brown-eyed, brown-haired beauty who always wore a sheer veil and short bodice. Dealing with her was dangerous, for she saw all attention as an invitation. So long as Sebin could successfully navigate flirting with her, however, she ought to be a veritable trove of gossip. She had influence in the court, though Sebin had yet to figure out what she did to maintain her power besides flirt and gossip. Perhaps her wealth came from blackmail—though people seemed to like her too much for that to be true.
Sebin wandered the palace until he found the room where Pianti was spending her afternoon. Everyone came together in the banquet hall in the evening, but during the day, people drifted through the palace and city. In the palace, they roamed through the many rooms with their varying entertainments if they didn’t want to be directly under the Emperor’s eye in the great hall. Or they left the Emperor in search of amusements more to their taste. Today, Pianti was in a small room with only a handful of other people, listening to a man play some sort of stringed instrument.
Auraelie moved past him when he made it clear he would stay in this room longer than he had the others. She would fetch a cushion for him before finding a place to stand where she could watch him, but still be out of the way.
“Next to Pianti, please,” Sebin whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
Her head jerked up, and she looked at him with wide eyes before she resumed her subservient demeanor. She went off to grab the cushion.
He probably should have warned her of his plans before they found Pianti. He wasn’t sure if his request for a seat next to Pianti or the fact that he had given Auraelie some sort of direction for the first time had caused her surprise, but he should probably prepare her better if he wanted her help in his plans in the future.
Auraelie placed a cushion for him close to Pianti. Very close.
Yes, Sebin decided, he would have to warn her next time. He didn’t want to tell her too much, though, and put her in a difficult position. Though she pushed at the restrictions controlling her, Auraelie still feared lying to the Emperor outright. She did not want to be caught in breach of the treaty. Sebin would have to be careful about what he told her.
He settled on the cushion, trying to get as much distance from the woman at his side as he could without obviously repositioning it.
“Prince from Across the Sparkling Sea,” Pianti greeted him, “you have come to enjoy the music of thegohtadar?”
“I have never heard such before.” Sebin accepted the goblet Auraelie handed him. He hoped she had gotten him something other than wine. He missed the teas from back home. In Pynth, at least in the imperial court, everyone seemed to drink wine all day long.
“Does our music bring pleasure to your ears?”
Sebin took a sip. Cool and refreshing, the drink tasted like melon and honey. No alcohol. Sebin looked over at Pianti. “Pynth has brought pleasure to all my senses.”
“And what has brought you the most pleasure, Prince of Distant Lands?”
Sebin glanced over at where Auraelie now stood against one wall, then back at Pianti. He shrugged. “It is hard to pick among all the pleasures the Emperor offers his guests.”
Pianti looked over at Auraelie herself. “His Imperial Majesty, Most Noble of Hosts, is generous to a fault.”
Sebin wondered what to say next, for he had not expected that hint of disgust in Pianti’s voice. He decided in less than a heartbeat and chuckled. “I don’t feel so special, then. I admit, I haven’t worked out what privileges are honors, and which are simply the way of life here in Pynth.”
“Anything from His Imperial Majesty, Sharer of Joy and Plenty, is an honor, Prince of Foreign Shores.” Pianti took a sip of her own drink and shrugged a single shoulder. “Visit the Moon Room tomorrow night if you wish to see the difference between what he offers you and what he makes available to all.”
Sebin had heard about the weekly Moon Room parties. He had no intention of ever attending one. Knowing who attended, on the other hand, might prove useful. He shifted his weight, settling into the cushion. “Is everyone truly welcome in the Moon Room? I’ve heard stories, but I’m not sure what is truth and what is exaggeration. I’d hate to embarrass myself by expecting more out of the parties than truly occurs.”
Pianti laughed, a husky sound that she wielded as a weapon. Sebin knew she watched him closely and gauged his reaction down to his every micro-expression. He walked a fine line, his smile friendly enough to be considered flirting, but his attention darting to Auraelie to show his interest was already engaged. He had to sound open to the customs of Pynth, without committing himself to participating in them.
Sebin took another sip of the delicious melon drink and set to learning everything Pianti knew.
Auraelie stood withher back to the wall and fought off a yawn. She watched Sebin take another sip and decided it was time for her to refill his goblet. He seemed to be actually drinking the juice she had poured for him this afternoon, instead of sipping at it the way he always did with the wine.
She grabbed the correct pitcher from the table in one corner and wandered over to where Sebin sat with Pianti. She hadn’t understood his desire to sit next to her at first, but when they both looked over at her early in the conversation, she had realized Sebin must have identified the woman as the premier gossip in the imperial court. With a single conversation, Sebin would no doubt have the entire court convinced he was now bedding Auraelie.
She wondered if that was his only reason to focus his attention on Pianti. After all, he wasn’t sleeping with Auraelie, and if he wanted a lover, Pianti was also the premier flirt at court. Auraelie, though, had looked into the woman’s future before—the Emperor routinely had her use her powers on those closest to him—and she had not seen nearly as much bedding as the woman’s flirting implied. She seemed to restrict her pleasures mostly to the more exclusive parties the Emperor hosted on occasion.
The parties Pianti enjoyed were more intimate than the Moon Room celebrations she was discussing with Sebin when Auraelie approached. Why was Sebin asking about the Moon Room? Auraelie forced herself to remain impassive as she poured juice in Sebin’s goblet. She listened to his words and wished she had selected a wine instead.
“Marsone, too?” Sebin laughed. “Does he bring his pretty little wife with him?”
