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And now... now it was her turn to do the same. To forge her own path and commit to it. No matter how much it terrified her.
She laid a kiss on her fingers and placed it against the heirloom, saying a prayer for the man who was better than she had ever deserved, and to every member of House Cosmin who had worn it before her.
When she returned it to her neck, it suddenly felt a great deal lighter.
Breathing deeply, Teigra approached the trio.
She saluted Zosime. “What are my orders, Captain?”
92
AURELIUS
Aurelius chased after Calix, who had half staggered, half run back to his villa. He reached the open door, struggling for breath, just in time to have Calix steam back out, thrusting something heavy against his chest. He’d arrived several minutes before Aurelius, and had wrapped a rag around his head, staunching the worst of the bleeding.
Aurelius opened the sack of supplies—cooking equipment, old clothing and a goat-skin tent. “What is this?”
Calix strapped his own bag to his steed, a few lines of now-tacky red streaked across its white coat. “We’ll ride fast to the border with Ondocis. Then you have to disappear. Vanish into one of the low polities. Head for the islands—that’s where I’d go. Change your name. Cut your hair.”
“What? Shouldn’t I go back to Mestibes? The archon could find a way to fix this! Securia was one of our people after all!”
“And you think your senate will believe your word over her reputation?” Calix shook his head. “I’ve only been to your city once, but even I know they’ll have you tried and hemlocked before you get halfway through your first sentence.”
“They... they wouldn’t do that,” he said. “Killing an innocent man? Just to try and preserve the alliance?”
“Alliance?” said Calix. “What alliance? Mestibes will execute you in the name of its own justice.”
“But... the war... ?”
“Don’t you understand, Aurelius? The pact is dead. Ardora is not coming to your aid. Mestibes is going to be invaded and it will get no quarter from us. After what happened tonight, it’ll be a miracle if Ardora doesn’t switch sides and fight alongside Rinath!”
“But you are the king! You could order the Brothers to fight against whoever—”
“Aurelius!” Calix snapped. “We don’t have time for this. I have only two options right now! And neither of them involves sending my men to save the city that just killed my father!”
The silence which followed stung.
But he was right. Of course he was right.
It had all happened so fast. Moments ago, they were planning their future together. Working alongside each other, hand in hand, to repel an invasion?
And now he was to disappear? As a criminal? As a murderer?
“But I didn’t do anything,” he whispered, hugging the bag of supplies.
“I know,” said Calix, more softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But Securia played this perfectly. My father is dead. The military pact is gone. Your family’s name will struggle to survive. And she’s put me in an impossible situation.”
“Your two options?”
He nodded. “I was an architect of this deal, and everyone knows it. I’ll be deeply damaged in the eyes of my people. More than I already am. If I stay and take the throne, the only way I could ensure my legacy—my family’s legacy—would be to go to war against Mestibes.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I wouldn’t want to, Aurelius. But my family is more important than what I want. And my people have been promised a battle. You saw them. They weren’t scared of the coming war. They want their blades to taste blood. They hunger for a fight. And I would have no choice but to give them one.”
There was something else in his eyes. Something which hit Aurelius with freezing realization. “And you would have to turn me in, wouldn’t you? Just like Securia said she would. So you could prove that there was no collusion.”
Calix looked wretched.
