Page 6 of Stranger's Choice
Chapter 3
When Auraelie approachedthe prince within seconds of him entering the breakfast room the morning after his arrival, he stared at her for a few seconds, then said something in his own language to his interpreter. The other man shook his head and replied in the same language, increasing the distance between himself and Auraelie at the same time.
She ignored their conversation and bowed. “The Emperor has sent me to attend you,dyela.”
The prince and his translator spoke for several minutes after this announcement. Auraelie took the opportunity to study Prince Sebin, though she kept her eyes lowered enough not to draw attention to her scrutiny.
He was tall, with hair a paler shade than was common in the humans of the region. Even among the magical races, she had never seen someone with hair that shade of rose-gold. When he tilted his head, the light streaming through the high windows of the breakfast room alternately made it seem the color of raw silk or hinted at sunrise in the distance.
Auraelie wondered if it was better or worse that the foreigner threatening to ruin the careful balance of her existence as the Emperor’s Oracle was young and handsome. No, she wouldn’t think that way. It didn’t matter what he looked like, because she would not let the Emperor discover his immunity. She would protect herself.
Eventually, the interpreter addressed Auraelie in Imperial—or at least he addressed the air over her shoulder. “His Highness, Prince Sebin, is honored by the distinction the Emperor grants him.”
She bowed again. Then she fetched a few cushions from the stacks against the wall and placed them in front of one of the low tables. The prince glanced around the rest of the room and sat on one of the cushions, his motions awkward as he lowered himself to the floor.
Auraelie whisked the plate off the table and began filling it. She didn’t know the prince’s tastes, but she didn’t much care. She put a little of everything on the plate and slid it back in front of him. A true attendant would note his expressions, which foods he polished off and which he barely touched. Auraelie had never served anyone like this before, but she had seen how other members of the Will had tended to the Emperor’s needs.
She did not want to make a good impression on the foreign prince, but she could not blatantly shirk her duties either.
Not knowing how closely she might be observed, Auraelie tried her best to be a very dutiful attendant that first day. She fetched several cushions every time the prince entered a new room. She never let his glass be anything less than half-full of fine wines. She served him every delicacy served at the meals.
Knowing that the Emperor expected her to use the proximity to scan his future, Auraelie even smoothed the prince’s shirt when he stood, certain Lhashiki was watching in that moment.
The prince barely noticed her.
For three days, Auraelie attended him whenever he was in the public rooms of the palace, doing her best to remain beneath his notice. She tried to anticipate any needs and fulfill them before he ever had to ask.
For three nights, she reported to the Emperor, telling him that nothing had changed. The Emperor continued to believe that Prince Sebin had too many turning points in his future for her to unravel. After the third night, he told Auraelie to come and inform Lhashiki the moment something changed.
The fourth day, Auraelie knew she could start the next phase of the plan meant to protect herself. The Emperor would no longer summon her every night. No one would watch her as closely when she attended the prince. If the situation could continue indefinitely, she would be fine. But she knew she could not put off the Emperor forever. She suspected she had a week at most before he summoned her again, even if she never went to Lhashiki. When he did, he would demand to know everything she had seen in the foreign prince’s future, no matter how minor or jumbled. She might succeed in prevaricating once, or even twice, without being caught, but it wasn’t a permanent solution.
No, to make sure the Emperor had no reason to suspect Auraelie was hiding anything from him, she needed to find a way out of serving the prince.
She started small.
He hadn’t noticed when she saw to his every need before they could be voiced. How many things would she have to let slip before he demanded a better attendant?
That morning, she fetched only one cushion at breakfast and skipped several delicacies when preparing his plate.
He sat without hesitation and ate everything she gave him, not asking for more.
That afternoon she fetched him a goblet of wine, but did not refill it when the liquid ran low.
The prince sipped at his wine, and when he reached the bottom of the glass, he made no comment. He didn’t even hand it to her. He just set it down on the nearest table.
Not only was he not reacting, but he didn’t even seem to notice that Auraelie was no longer as attentive as she should be. He never gave her orders to do what she should have taken care of without instruction.
Auraelie contemplated larger rebellions. She needed the prince to ask for her to be replaced—without making it obvious she had not done her duties.
The next day she tried clumsiness. She jostled the plate she set in front of him. Sebin picked up the grape that had rolled onto the table and popped it in his mouth without looking at her. She didn’t dare risk a similar move with the wine, though. She didn’t want to catch the attention of others. Instead, she returned to filling the prince’s goblet often, and pouring too much. If he sloshed the liquid out over the brim himself, it wouldn’t bring attention to her—though he would hold her responsible, no doubt.
But he didn’t spill.
Auraelie wanted to scream. Then she noticed Tjalik.
The prince’s interpreter kept as far from Auraelie as possible with both of them serving the same person. And though the prince barely even glanced at her, Tjalik alternated between pretending she didn’t exist and glaring at her.
Perhaps she had approached the entire situation from the wrong angle. Tjalik was the prince’s guide to imperial customs as well as his translator. He would be the one to explain to Prince Sebin that he could ask the Emperor to replace her.
