Page 56 of Stranger's Choice
Sebin led the younger man away from Auraelie and Heolin, nodding along as Flenden lauded the tavern.
“See?” Auraelie whispered as soon as it was safe.
“What I saw was the prince showing interest in a man whom I know to be the worst sort. Do you know what that tavern they were discussing is, Auraelie?”
“No.”
“It is a place that puts the Moon Room to shame on a nightly basis. And Prince Sebin is the one who brought it up.”
“Because he knew it would distract Flenden. He came over to help us continue our conversation, and in order to engage Flenden, he had to bring up an unsavory topic. That doesn’t make him unsavory.”
“The fact he even knows about the Moon’s Shadow—”
“You know about it, too, Heolin.” Auraelie was done discussing things with the sprite. But Sebin needed him. Which meant she needed him to understand. She took a deep breath. “You know what makes Sebin different from everyone else in my life? What makes me trust him?”
Something of her mood must have come through, for Heolin sounded wary when he answered. “What?”
“Sebin respects my decisions. He has always given me a choice. Even when I tried to trick him into revealing his secrets to the Emperor, and he proposed a truce, he accepted that I had the right not to trust him. I can’t even make decisions about my own body most days, but Sebin not only lets me make my own decisions, he gives me the information I need to make them.”
Auraelie couldn’t stop. She needed to make it clear how different Sebin was. She needed Heolin to see what she saw in the foreign prince.
“He is the first person since I was a young girl to grant me control of my own body. The oracles took away my chance to become a mother by condemning me to live among humans. The Emperor attempted to do the opposite the moment he saw the opportunity. Sebin gave me the means to make that decision on my own.”
He hadn’t just given her the ability to prevent pregnancy; he had tried to give her his charms—which she wouldn’t mention to Heolin. Sebin would have let Auraelie take both his gifts and go off and use them however she wanted. With whomever she wanted.
It meant more to her than she could express that he wanted her to have that freedom, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was less drawn to her than she was to him. Just imagining him going off with another woman hurt.
“He gave you something you should have already had access to in order to influence your opinion and increase his chances of talking you into bed.”
“After everything I’ve said, how can you still believe that? He is not manipulating me.”
“Just everyone else.”
“Sebin is not content to wait. If no one acts, change will never come. So yes, he manipulates people. And maybe he has manipulated me, but not into his bed. He’s forced me to see a different future, to not just hope but to plan for one. I want that future, Heolin, and I need you to trust him so we can all attain it.”
Auraelie turned and looked at the sprite directly and waited for him to mirror her. “If you are too scared to change things, then admit it, Heolin. Stop making up excuses and blaming Sebin.”
She didn’t wait for a response this time. She made her way to the entrance to the fountain path. Sebin ended his conversation with Flenden and paced her, making it seem somehow like he had signaled his intention to leave to her and she had met him at the entrance intentionally. He had fallen into step with her, but to the watching world, she would still appear to be the perfect servant.
Sebin waited untilhe and Auraelie were back in his suite to talk. He didn’t know what had happened between her and the earth sprite, but he doubted it had been a pleasant conversation.
“You know, I think Flenden ought to take up poetry.”
Auraelie blinked.
Sebin rubbed his chin. “Yes, when that man talks about his pleasures, he has quite the turn of phrase.”
Until Auraelie was ready to share her conversation, Sebin would do his best to improve her mood. He’d have a word with Heolin about upsetting her later. “Did you know that the wine served at the Moon’s Shadow is ‘luscious, a complex symphony of velvety earth and unctuous dark fruits’?”
“What does that even mean?” Auraelie lowered her veil, and Sebin was pleased to see the corner of her lips twitch.
“I’m not sure. Honestly, I’m not sure I have any idea what the tavern is like after Flenden’s descriptions. I get the impression they do not approve of plain speaking there. Innuendo, however, they encourage.” Sebin would not repeat the verses the other man had used to describe the servers at the tavern. That had been far worse than innuendo.
“According to Heolin, the Moon’s Shadow does not stop at innuendo.”
And that quickly her smile disappeared, before it had fully formed.
Sebin held out his arms and Auraelie walked into his embrace.
