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Ms. Securia looked at Teigra’s reflection, the swish of oiled metal the only sound. “Whether I believe you is not important. What matters now is your invitation. You might not be aware, Ms. Cosmin, but no member of our delegation has been invited to dine at the palace since before Sama.”
Teigra gulped and sat up straight. So that was why she hadn’t been sent home yet. It appeared she’d been given a final chance—if only by circumstance, rather than mercy.
Entirely unexpectedly, a dark thought crept forward, giving her the same feeling as she’d had this morning when she’d accepted Calix’s invitation in front of Aurelius.
She’s been waiting for over five years for this moment. Dorina couldn’t get her this invitation. Nor could Urosina. Nor Jaspar. And she couldn’t even get one herself!
But I have. She needs me. I can be... useful to her.
And I can turn this all to House Cosmin’s advantage!
Teigra steadied herself, shocked at her thoughts. This wasn’t like her. She didn’t think that way—using situations and people to further her own goals.
But... but why not?
Was it not what Aurelius had been doing this whole summer? Was it not what Ms. Securia had done on countless occasions, exploiting Teigra’s loyalties to increase her power? Was it not exactly what Mother would do, in this situation? What the head of her family would want her to do as well?
She placed her hands flat against her thighs, the sweat already starting to form. She did her best to speak calmly. “Then this is a great honor, Ms. Securia. For all of us. For even if we both consider the herald’s actions shameful, good relations with Ardora are still essential.”
“Indeed. It is the purpose of our mission here.”
“Then there would be nothing sinful in improving those relations? Not transactionally, like the herald, but for the benefit of civilization across Dynosia?”
Ms. Securia glanced up with the faintest hint of approval. “No, Ms. Cosmin. That would be most proper.”
She grinned internally. It’s working!
“Then I must beg your guidance, Ms. Securia. So I can best serve Mestibes this evening.”
Ms. Securia laid down the comb, her eyes twinkling. “My, my, Ms. Cosmin. What an agreeable idea.”
56
TEIGRA
Teigra wasn’t sure what she’d expected of a royal dinner, but this wasn’t it.
During those relatively few times that House Cosmin had been entertained by patricians, the meals were appropriately restrained—a little roast lamb and vegetables, with some goat’s milk yogurt and fresh fruit. Finest quality and perfectly prepared, but hardly decadent. A glass or two of watered-down wine would flow among the adults over discussions of the latest happenings in the senate. Then it would be handshakes and back home before midnight.
But this?
The word dinner didn’t cut it.
This was an orgy.
Around a hundred people—and they were all people, with not a single nonhuman present—lay on soft lounges all around the internal courtyard of the palace. The warm night was perfumed by the roses that grew all up the walls. In the center, a band played drums and bagpipes.
And surrounding them was the most mouthwatering feast that Teigra had ever seen!
A dozen roast lambs, two dozen pigs, and three whole oxen were being torn apart by the guests, their brassy skin smelling of garlic and lemon, or basil and rosemary. Great trays were mounded with steaming barley, the same height as herself, drizzled in sesame and mint, alongside fresh radishes and cooked beans, rich cheeses, and crisp lettuces.
All around, in more bowls than she could count, were fruits and nuts she’d never even heard of—dried jujube and elderberry, green pistachio and desert dates. And amongst all of this, placed under three dozen roaring sconces, were cauldrons of ruby wine, into which guests were greedily dunking their wide, clay kylix cups.
“A little different from the embassy?” said Calix, reclining around a small circle with the other royals—King Selkus III and Queen Dimitra; the dowager queen, Kallipole; and of course, the glaring face of Princess Zosime.
The princess’s two fellow Sisters, as the female fighters were known, Elexis and Pikra, were lurking around the feasting tables, watching her intensely.
“Yes, it is,” she said, “but it is always wonderful to see new things!”
