Page 54 of Stranger's Choice
Chapter 16
A few blocksfrom the Dusty Gohtadar, Sebin tripped. It was just a little stumble, his foot catching on a loose cobble, but it brought his attention to his surroundings. He shouldn’t walk around Kalitalo with his mind miles away. Well, maybe not miles, but certainly his attention was on the palace, not the surrounding streets.
He had done what he could to prepare Tjalik for accepting the magical races and courtiers into his revolutionary plans. The rebel was skeptical, but willing to broach the idea of an Assembly as an alternative to deposing the Emperor with his people. Until each group decided to cooperate—or not—Sebin couldn’t do much more. He had to give them time. If they didn’t agree, he would start a new campaign to engage them. Until then, Sebin wanted to get back to Auraelie.
He tripped again. This time, Sebin knew he had not stumbled over a loose cobble. He had been watching his feet, and that stone had surged up just in time to catch his toes. He looked around but saw no one. There were easier ways to get his attention, more expedient ways to hurt him. Somebody hadn’t decided which they wanted.
Sebin looked back at the ground, and a line of cobblestones rose slightly higher than their surroundings. He followed the path, the cobbles sinking behind him, with more leading him down the street and to an alley. He turned down the alley. The cobbles did not extend this far, and he now followed a furrow in the packed dirt, past the buildings and around another corner to the alley behind the shops.
Three steps after that corner, the dirt all went smooth. Sebin looked around. He should have worried about following the mysterious path into an isolated alley, but he was pretty sure he knew which earth sprite had led him here. What he didn’t know was why.
The earth beneath his feet tore open, and he sank to his shins, the dirt repacking around his feet before he could do more than curse.
Only then did Heolin open the back door of the nearest building and step out. “You tried to manipulate me, Prince Sebin.”
“I explained my actions the other night.”
“Your actions the other night are exactly what I’m talking about. You want my help; you want my people—all the magical races—to trust you and follow your lead. But why should we when you are no better than the Emperor?”
Sebin knew how to stand still, calm, unflappable. With his feet locked in place, it was surprisingly hard, however, to resist the urge to shift his weight and try to move. He crossed his arms and pretended he didn’t notice the dirt holding him prisoner. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything I said that night was the truth.”
“And the little show you put on with Auraelie? Setting everything up so that I could see you covering her up and apologizing. It was a good act. But that is all it was, wasn’t it?”
Ah. Heolin had realized Auraelie was sharing his bed. Sebin did not blame the man for assuming Sebin had taken advantage of her. He was rather glad that Auraelie had someone willing to corner him in a narrow alley and express his displeasure over her treatment. Still, he’d rather not be stuck digging himself out later.
“Tell me, Heolin, did Mewae tell you what I bought from her when I was in the sprites’ village?”
Heolin’s eyes narrowed. “Herbs for tea. You served me some of her tea when I went to your rooms.”
“You said you didn’t understand why she trusts me. Those herbs are the reason. Not the tea you drank. She gave me a few blends. One of them was a mixture used for contraceptive brews.”
“I’m supposed to believe she likes you because you don’t want to get Auraelie pregnant? I know my aunt better than that. She would just as soon poison you as give you anything that might make you feel better about abusing Auraelie.”
“The herbs had nothing to do with me,” Sebin growled. “I bought them to make sure Auraelie had options. If my plans don’t succeed, she may not gain her freedom. If my plans take too long, the Emperor might find another man immune to her power, now that he knows such a thing is possible. It is not enough, but at least I could give her that much control over her fate.”
“You think I’m going to believe you, when I know she’s been sharing your bed every night?”
“Who made the tea when you visited, Heolin?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Who made the tea?”
The sprite frowned. “Auraelie.”
“Exactly. Auraelie started making tea in the evenings before you ever came to my room. She chose the blends. She started drinking the contraceptive tea of her own volition. I didn’t even know she was drinking it until after you left. Don’t make the mistake of worrying so much about her choices being taken away from her that you ignore the choices she does make.” Sebin sighed. “I almost made that mistake.”
“Are you trying to tell me that she pursued you?”
“Is that so hard to believe? She is a woman who has essentially never been touched until this point in her life. Why shouldn’t she seek her own pleasure when the opportunity presents itself?” Sebin took a deep breath, pushing away how much it hurt him to think that he might be nothing more than an opportunity to Auraelie. He needed to focus on Heolin. “Listen, I understand why you doubt me and appreciate that you want to protect Auraelie. I do. But I am not the enemy here. I want to help, but you have to trust me.”
“Why should I trust you?”
Sebin heard the bluster in Heolin’s voice. The sprite was rethinking things, even if he refused to admit as much to Sebin. He considered what else he could say that wouldn’t put the sprite’s back up. He ran through a few arguments he could use to change his mind. Then he discarded them all. “You don’t have to trust me, but do you trust Auraelie?”
Heolin stepped closer, and the ground trembled beneath—and around—Sebin’s feet. “I want to talk to her alone.”
“Of course. I’ll go for a walk around the fountain path after supper this evening. We should be able to manage something without drawing too much attention there.”
