Page 64 of Stranger's Choice
“That describes half the taverns in Cooper’s District, I think.”
“Really? Then we must visit them and find the seediest of the bunch. You’ll see, Marsone. Getting away from the fuss of high-end establishments is a pleasure all its own.”
“Shall we seek one out tonight?”
Sebin let a wide smile cross his face. “Perfect. I knew you were the man for the job. Let me dismiss my attendant and we can go hunting.”
“How are you enjoying the Emperor’s favor? I can hardly believe he has granted you the use of his oracle for so long.”
“The Emperor is too generous.” Sebin leaned in a little closer to Marsone and lowered his voice. “Though between you and me, I think His Imperial Majesty keeps the oracle with me so that he need not share one of his better trained servants.”
Marsone looked around and whispered, “She isn’t skilled?”
Sebin laughed again. “She hardly needs to be when she looks like that. And she is a quick study, so I have no complaints. Perhaps I’m doing the Emperor a favor.”
Marsone laughed. “That is a favor I wouldn’t hesitate to undertake.”
Sebin continued to laugh, but it was difficult. Pretending to tastes he didn’t have usually came easily to him. But each comment reinforcing Auraelie’s role as nothing but a possession of the Emperor’s, diminishing her to nothing more than magic housed in an attractive body, was harder than the last to say. It was bad enough knowing the thoughts Marsone and his ilk entertained about her when Sebin made such comments. He feared someone deciding that her sheer veil meant that they could touch her, even if the Emperor hadn’t sent her to their side.
He had to deflect suspicion if he wanted to free her. Sebin reminded himself that the distasteful things he said now might very well save her in the future.
Auraelie brushed pastHeolin, crossing from Sebin’s side to the periphery of the room. She did not need to scan the sprite, but she needed to transfer thephanstone from her hand to his without anyone noticing.
She had scratched a warning for him onto the surface of the rock. If anyone but an earth sprite were to see it, they would only notice that the stone was no longer smooth as glass. She hoped Heolin’s senses could decipher the markings. Even if he couldn’t, though, he’d know something was going on and to be wary.
And Sebin was right. If Heolin wanted to contact them in the palace, he could surely use his magic to do so.
Heolin caught the rock smoothly, not even looking at her. But Auraelie had misjudged the distance and her pinky finger brushed his sleeve. The contact was so indirect and fleeting that she saw only two prominent images, with no gray between them.
She saw a brief flash of him staring at the stone she had given him in the safety of his own room. Then she saw herself, staring at thephanboard in Sebin’s room, the stones rearranging themselves. Good, he would understand her warning and use his affinity with earth to communicate with her if needed. Some of the tension knotting her muscles eased.
But the hardest part of the evening had not yet come. Auraelie waited for Sebin to dismiss her and fought down her nerves. She could do this.
Sebin accomplished his task with Marsone in short order. At his signal she went to the Will’s common room for supper, but she doubted she could eat anything. Not until she finished the conversation she was bound to have with Lhashiki.
“Auraelie, come sit by me,” Mitana called out the moment she entered the room. “I need your insight.”
Mitana had proven an invaluable ally as Auraelie sought to discover the allegiances of the other members of the Will. The young woman was friendly with everyone, and her welcome had eased Auraelie’s acceptance among the rest of the Will. Nearly ten years in Kalitalo, and it was the first time Auraelie had felt a kinship with the other black-clad servants.
Auraelie went to the cushion across from Mitana. “What insight can I possibly offer you?”
“I need to know about the lands beyond the Storm Barrier, and you are intimately acquainted with the only man in Kalitalo from there.”
“Which hardly makes me an expert on such distant lands. What do you want to know?”
“I heard there are multiple kingdoms on the continent across the Mladin Ocean, not just one empire.”
“Yes. Prince Sebin is from Moial. The merchant ships come from a different kingdom. And there are a few others, I believe, as well.”
Mitana pushed a platter of flatbreads over to Auraelie. “Daever is wondering if traveling across the ocean would be a worthwhile venture. What do you think?”
The Emperor often sent Mitana to attend his friend, but Auraelie knew she did not like Daever. She wouldn’t go out of her way to help the man.
Auraelie chewed slowly, thinking. She glanced around the room, noting which members of the Will were close enough to listen to her conversation with Mitana. She spotted two of the women who were reluctant to go against the Emperor, but not because they were loyal or even because they feared being caught. They believed nothing would change. They felt no need to support a revolution that wouldn’t alter their lives. Even if the only support asked for was acceptance of change when it came, they were too jaded to even entertain the thought that it could.
So Auraelie must answer Mitana in a way that gave those women hope.
“I think Daever would be disappointed in the lands beyond the Storm Barrier.” Auraelie looked around the room, careful to keep her gaze from resting on any one person for too long. “There is nothing like the Will or the Star Room, from what I understand. And dancing is very different. Can you believe that the courtiers there participate in the dances themselves, rather than watching? Prince Sebin says their dances are very sedate and simple.”
