Page 68 of Stranger's Choice
“The city of Dopsein is the only one not in contention. They also want Kalitalo, but it is the only place anyone can think of to give the oracles a district.”
“So they are willing to give up the capital, but not if they also lose Reslin?”
“Exactly.”
“Why would the oracles get Kalitalo? They don’t have a large presence here, do they?”
Dax shook his head. “No. They are spread out all over the territory that is more or less controlled by the shapeshifters.”
Sebin glanced down at the map again. “It looks like the shapeshifters have plenty of districts in their territories. Why not give one of those up to the oracles?”
Dax wrinkled his nose. “The oracles aren’t . . . as helpful as the shifters. The humans in those areas don’t want the oracles to represent them. Even with human representatives, too, they are only willing to deal with the shifters or wood sprites.”
“I don’t blame them,” Dyna said, pivoting to face the men. “The oracles only care about themselves. They claim they have sacrificed for the good of all the magical races, but I don’t buy it. Most of them have sacrificed nothing.”
Larena nodded.
Sebin looked from the women back to Dax. “But the humans of Kalitalo are willing to have oracles represent their district?”
“In Kalitalo, we have less of a relationship with any of the magical races. It doesn’t matter so much to us what they do, so long as we get our own representative.”
Sebin frowned at the map. “And finding a district for both the water sprites and the oracles without taking away all the districts from the succubi is the only issue still to work out?”
Larena nodded again. “That and how to make the Emperor agree. I understand you are working on that part of the plan?”
“Yes. I still need to verify the allegiances of a few more people, but that part of the plan is in good shape. The Emperor won’t have a choice but to agree.”
“And Auraelie?” Larena leaned forward. “Heolin said you planned to end the treaty. How does that work? Do we have to wait for the Assembly to meet and agree?”
“Yes and no.” Sebin frowned. This was the part of his plan that worried him the most. “Part of my deal with the courtiers to corner the Emperor requires the end of the Emperor’s Will. The Emperor must disband the Will at the same time he agrees to the Assembly. The treaty with the oracles might need to be addressed separately, but at that point Auraelie will be free, even if she is still an advisor to the Emperor.”
He planned to see her completely free of the Emperor, but Larena was right. That might take an act of the Assembly. He didn’t know how long that might take.
Blood was oftena seen as a sign that things had gone wrong. Injury, attack, illness—all could lead to blood. Auraelie had seen it in countless visions: blood meant pain and loss. For herself, a little blood every month had been bittersweet. It meant she had denied the Emperor more power. It was a reminder that she was destined to never have a child of her own.
Auraelie stared at the blood and felt all the pain and loss from hundreds of visions at once. She hadn’t truly lost anything; she knew that. It had only been a few days. No doubt the tea had done its job and her own body had been the one to betray her, to suggest a condition that didn’t exist.
A child that didn’t exist.
A child she had never dared to dream of, never hoped to hold, and now missed fervently.
She located a rag and wondered if the news would be a relief to Sebin.
He hadn’t reacted the way she expected when she had told him about the possibility that she was with child. No, she hadn’t known what to expect. She knew he would protect his child, and she had been prepared to accept the need to give up her baby so that he could accomplish that. The thought of Sebin sailing away with their child had hit her harder than she had expected.
After he made it clear that he would do whatever it took to let her keep the child and have them both be free, Auraelie had pictured that future. Even when Sebin returned to his own home, she would have the baby. His baby. But there was no baby.
Sebin would finish organizing the rebellion soon. He had dived into getting every piece in place with fervor over the past few days. He hadn’t wanted the Emperor to discover she was pregnant until after she was free. Once he finished his task, would he leave? Would he ever think about the child they might have had together?
Auraelie finished dressing and went to Sebin’s room. She should have returned to the Will’s common room. She hadn’t even finished her supper. But she needed to tell him as soon as possible. She didn’t even know when he would get back from his visit in the city.
Once in his room, she couldn’t sit. She stood there, not pacing, but too stiff to sink to the floor. She stared at the wall, and lost track of time as dreams she never should have had, but which had filled her mind for the past few days, played through her mind.
A baby in her arms as she stood outside in the forest, far from Kalitalo. An arm around her shoulders and another face pressed close to hers as they both smiled down at their child. It was the dream Auraelie hadn’t let herself picture even when she thought the contraceptive tea had failed. A future where Sebin didn’t sail away, but stayed with her. A future where they were a family.
The door opened. Auraelie spun around. Her hand pressed against her stomach, and she swallowed.
“Auraelie?” Sebin closed the door behind him. “Are you all right?”
