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There was movement from the top of the street, which sent the gaggle into raptures. A figure rode a white steed at midpace toward them. Morning sun caressed his bare shoulder.
Aurelius grinned. Not even a day had passed and the prince was already coming to see him. Just stopping by for some light refreshments and polite conversation?
Yes, that is where it will start.
He squeezed past the throng, skipping to his building and striking a nonchalant pose in the doorway.
But when the prince also pushed through the adoring group, he didn’t even pass a look in Aurelius’s direction. Instead, he continued straight on to the front door of the embassy proper.
Aurelius glanced around before trotting up and hiding behind the pomegranate tree in the middle of the courtyard.
The centaur servant whose name he couldn’t quite remember opened the door and bowed deeply. “Your Royal Highness. To what do we owe the honor?”
Calix spoke loud and clear. “I have come to see Ms. Teigra Cosmin.”
53
TEIGRA
As she blinked herself awake, a silhouette formed against the burning blur. It was Jaspar, peering through the curtains of her bedroom. There seemed to be some commotion in the courtyard.
“What... what happened?” she rasped.
Her mouth felt like she’d swallowed a handful of dirt. And not the rich, black soil of Ardora either, but the white, gravel-clumped dust of back home. Her head pounded in a way she’d never felt before. Every movement, every breath made the blood thump against her temple like hooves on cobble.
Jaspar dropped the curtain. “Oh, hello sleepyhead! I was worried for a moment.”
“Worried?” she said, moving her sweaty limbs beneath the sheets. “Why?”
Recollection smacked her in the face.
The Wax Crack. Aurelius pushing her into Zosime. The cup after cup of sickly wine. Almost drowning. Kissing the prince!
And then, worst of it all, the snippets of being back at the embassy. Of Ms. Securia’s disgusted expression as Jaspar carried her up the stairs to bed.
The high envoy had been leaving for the Temple of Mesti and her monthly Sable Moon Sanctum—communing with the goddess of reason while Teigra spent the night sleeping off her shameful debauchery.
“Oh...” she said.
It was all she could say. Even among the hurt of the hangover, another pain came sharper and more abrasive in her chest.
It was over.
She’d ruined her family.
It didn’t matter that she’d done everything she could to follow Ms. Securia’s instructions. It didn’t matter that Aurelius had forced her into the situation. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t knowingly helped him!
It’d still happened.
And now?
Now...
“Yes, that!” said Jaspar with a laugh. “I heard all about it at the market this morning. Don’t worry. The embarrassment will wear off. The Ardorans like a bit of spunk. Truth be told, I was only two weeks into the job when I had my own...” His voice trailed away at the sounds of her crying—at first a muffled squeak, which morphed into sobs of desolation. “Teigra, what’s the matter?”
She covered her face. “I’m ruined, Jaspar. Ms. Securia... Didn’t she tell you?”
“No. What?”
