Page 60 of Stranger's Choice
She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “Of course.”
“Auraelie—”
“It’s not my business.” She spun back so her back was to his chest. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”
“It is and I do.” Sebin twisted around to look her in the eyes. “I want you to care, Auraelie. I want it to matter to you if I flirt with another woman. Even if you understand that I don’t mean it, that I need to do it so as not to raise suspicions, I want you to not like it and demand that I make it up to you. I want you to tell me what you are thinking and feeling so that I never inadvertently hurt you.”
“I am thinking that you are a prince, and I am the Emperor’s Oracle. What I want doesn’t matter.”
Sebin opened his mouth, but Auraelie pressed her hand over it and shook her head. Her voice went soft. “What I want doesn’t matter to anyone but you.”
She moved so that she straddled his lap, her face inches from his. She replaced her hand with her lips and kissed him. Then she pulled back and hid her face in the curve where his neck met his shoulder. “I’ve been taught that my needs and desires come last, if at all, for most of my life. I’m not sure how to act around you.”
Sebin lifted a hand and cradled her head against his neck. “Be yourself. You don’t have to be anyone else’s vision of you when you are with me.”
The next day, Sebin waited until evening fell to approach Pianti. Auraelie had told him she didn’t mind that he had to flirt with the other woman; she understood, but she did not want to watch. So he dismissed her as they had agreed after supper so that she could dine and talk to some of the other members of the Will while he pressed Pianti.
The woman smiled at him when he approached, her expression easy to see through the pale pink veil she wore. “Your Highness, have you ever walked the fountain path in the evening?”
“Yes, it is exquisite in the twilight hours. Shall we visit now?” Sebin offered her his arm, a custom foreign to this court, but which he had found amused many of the women.
Pianti laughed and wrapped her hand around his upper arm, giving it a slight squeeze.
They walked in silence until they reached the path dotted with water features. Most of the fountains were made of decorative tiles inlaid around a waterstone. Without the elemental artifacts’ magic, the fountains would be impossible to maintain in the Kalitalan heat.
A few other people, couples mostly, wandered the path, but there was enough privacy to suit Sebin’s purposes. He was confident Pianti flirted with him so heavily because she trusted him not to follow through on her invitations. Her flirtations with other men were carefully orchestrated so that the men competed against each other instead of pursuing her in privacy. He’d push her on that front before mentioning Qilar.
Sebin slowed his steps and put his hand over Pianti’s where she held his arm. “The walk is lovely under the light of the moon, but perhaps we should retire to my room instead.”
Pianti looked at him from the corner of her eye. “Your little shadow would be upset. She doesn’t like it when you smile at me,dyela. Imagine how much angrier she would be to find me in your bed.”
Sebin hadn’t expected her to admit that her flirting was an act, but he also hadn’t expected her to deflect in that manner. Had Pianti noticed something in Auraelie’s reactions, or was it just an excuse? It didn’t change Sebin’s response either way. He had a role to maintain. “Why should I care if she gets a little jealous?”
Pianti laughed, a rich sound that had the nearest couple glancing over at them. She looked up at Sebin and pressed a little closer to his side. “You may have the others convinced, but you aren’t fooling me,dyela. You care for the oracle. You didn’t even start sleeping with her until a few weeks ago. She’s not a toy or possession in your mind.”
Sebin managed to smile at her, but he suspected his act was not as convincing as hers. Luckily, their audience was few, and not focused on them. It wasn’t worth protesting Pianti’s interpretation of his feelings for Auraelie. He had to trust he had read her correctly and that approaching her this evening wouldn’t turn out to be a mistake. “Tell me about Qilar.”
This time Pianti almost forgot her act, but only Sebin could feel the fear causing her to clench her fingers around his arm. “What would I know about him that your oracle hasn’t already told you?”
“You know his name, a rare thing at court, I’ve found.”
“As you know the oracle’s.”
“Tell me, does he enjoy the Star Room parties?”
A tremor went through Pianti, but her voice was smooth when she answered. “He is one of the main attractions of the parties. Women—and men—long for the opportunity to get close to him.”
No one had come any closer, but Sebin dropped his voice to a whisper. “How often have you failed to get to him first?”
Pianti stopped and ripped her hand from Sebin’s arm. “The Emperor is no doubt searching for more men with immunity to the oracle’s power. Don’t think he won’t share her as soon as he finds them. How will you feel, then, when I ask you how often you have failed?”
Sebin conceded the point with a nod of his head. “Forgive me. I did not mean to bring you pain. But you are right, I do not want to fail. No one should be in that position, so I’ll ask you again, what does Qilar think of the Star Room parties?”
Pianti’s eyes went wide as she understood the true question, the one Sebin would not voice aloud on the fountain path. “His feelings about them match mine.”
Sebin nodded. “Thank you for enjoying the fountain path with me in twilight, Pianti. I’ll be in touch.”
He turned to go, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. Her voice was so low, even he barely made out the words. “You have a plan?”
