Page 65 of Stranger's Choice
One of the women Auraelie had crafted her words for scoffed. “You mean he said their dances are boring and tame. He probably plans to bring our dances back home with him. He’s asked you to dance the Seven Veils multiple times, has he not?”
Auraelie had to be careful now. Too much honesty was as dangerous as lying, considering the mix of men and women around her. She needed to win more allies while betraying nothing to those loyal to the Emperor.
Mitana jumped in before she thought of an answer. “The foreign prince has never asked anyone else to dance, nor attended the Moon or Star Room parties. Perhaps he enjoys Auraelie rather than the dance.”
Auraelie felt herself blushing. It wasn’t a planned response, but an instinctive reaction to thinking about the ways Sebin enjoyed her. Somehow, it was the best response possible. People looked at her and wondered what could make her blush. No one in the Will blushed.
A few of the youngest members might get carried away on their first assignments, but not those Auraelie’s age. Even though this was the first time she had been assigned to attend a man, and everyone knew it, no one would expect her to still be blushing so many weeks later if he was anything like their experiences.
Mitana grinned. “See?”
The other woman’s words helped plant seeds of doubt—wonderings about if life in other courts matched that in Kalitalo. But Auraelie couldn’t risk people believing Sebin was infatuated with her. It would give the Emperor too much leverage over him, should he find out.
Not that Sebin was infatuated with her. Auraelie wasn’t certain what he felt for her. He liked her. Cared about her. He was certainly attracted to her. But it didn’t matter if the Emperor overestimated Sebin’s feelings—the prince was a kind man, and he would sacrifice himself for Auraelie even if his feelings went no further than liking and attraction.
She looked over at Mitana and tried to sound bashful—or at least uncertain. “It’s not what you think. He is attentive to me in private, but he would be with any woman. It can’t be that different from how Daever treats you, surely.”
Several of the Will laughed at this bit of fake naivete. Auraelie had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. How soon they all forgot that she may not have the same experiences as them, but she had seen it all. She knew exactly how different Sebin’s treatment of her was from Daever’s treatment of anyone.
Luckily, Lhashiki entered the room before Auraelie was forced to pretend to any further innocence. She excused herself from the table and stood.
Auraelie waited until she caught Lhashiki’s eye, then nodded toward the far corner of the room.
As she made her own way over, Auraelie reflected that Sebin would have made a brilliant oracle. He excelled at double meanings and giving people the impression that he had said something that had never crossed his lips. In this case, he had devised a vision for Auraelie to pass on to the Emperor through Lhashiki that was both true and misleading. He hadn’t even had the benefit of knowing what Auraelie would see when she gave Heolin her warning that evening, and he had still found a true future for her to share.
Lhashiki glided across the room and met her in the corner. “What do you need, Auraelie?”
“It’s about Heolin. I passed close to him this evening.”
“And?”
“Before the year is out, Heolin will no longer be the magical races’ ambassador to the Emperor.” Auraelie tried to sound a little sad as she announced this. She was supposed to be loyal to the Emperor above all, and she rarely was allowed to so much as converse with the earth sprite, but Lhashiki knew that Auraelie considered him familiar and comforting, if not a friend. “I don’t know exactly when it will happen. There was still so much gray blocking the turning points, but it was true in too many futures for me to believe it isn’t a path he will take.”
“What do you think, though? Will it happen soon?”
“I really can’t say.” Now was the trickiest part. She had to mention Sebin without making Lhashiki think she could dig for more information while in the prince’s bed. Auraelie could handle one false report, but not if it became a regular activity. “Whatever the turning point is—or whatever all the possible causes are—Prince Sebin’s immunity blocks my vision. He must do something that impacts Heolin, but I can’t imagine what. I know the prince wants to bring magical artifacts home, but he still barely even interacts with Heolin.”
“Well, if you see anything else . . .”
“I’ll tell you immediately, Lhashiki.”
