AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But on the other hand, it meant being trapped inside with this awful guilt! With the gnawing worry about what she had done and what she had ruined!
“I’m sorry,” he said, eyeing her expression. “It’s stupid. The prince is probably just a dozen streets that way at the soldier’s wrestling school, so the whole thing could get done in a few minutes. Still, it’s good practice for moving to Ardora! Just because something is logical, doesn’t mean it will happen!”
“You don’t sound upset about that?”
“It keeps things interesting!” he said, leading her back through the embassy and up to the second floor. Her bedroom was directly over her office and just as small—barely big enough to fit the single bed pressed against the wall. “Why don’t you settle in. I should crack on with those letters. The nobles might not like us, but we’ve clearly managed to win a lot of the small traders back! I’ll come to see you in a bit, and maybe we can write a few together!”
He gave her another disarming smile.
And then she was left alone.
She unpacked what little she had brought into a cramped set of shelves, cursing her stupidity all the while. For making a fool of herself in front of Jaspar. For making poor Mr. Placi think that she was prejudiced against centaurs. But most of all, she cursed herself for the same thing that’d been gnawing at her all morning.
How could I have been so stupid? Aurelius trusted me, and I screwed him. Now he’s in danger. And all Mestibes is doomed. Doomed! It is all my stupid fault. I am such a useless, pathetic—
“Mesti, save us. And I thought my room was bad,” said a voice from behind her.
She turned with a jump. Aurelius was eyeing the room with disgust. “Oh, hello,” she said, shaking the awful thoughts from her head. “I... thought you were with Ms. Securia?”
“I was. But she went off to meet someone in town,” he said, flopping down onto her bed. “Which is lucky for some.”
“She told you about the lockdown?”
“Four days?” moaned Aurelius. “Can you believe that? Xiber could cross the border at any minute. I am in a race to seduce Crown Prince Grumpy Face. And we are stuck here for four days doing nothing. Doesn’t she know we are on a time limit?”
“Literally, no? I’m not even supposed to know.”
As she said it, she almost bit her tongue to stop the dark thoughts.
He trusted me. And I betrayed him! I brought the folio! And I lost it!
“If only we knew where the prince was,” he said, oblivious to her nerves. “Then we could bust out and just get on with it!”
Teigra’s skin prickled, and a little hope bubbled up. The woman who had stolen the folio was far down south, near Prasni. And the prince was just a few streets away. Jaspar had said so.
If they moved quickly enough... maybe they could fix her screwup? Maybe there was a chance they could make it right? It wouldn’t work forever. The woman was bound to return to the city at some point. But maybe Aurelius could start his mission. Maybe moving now could buy them some time—any time!
But, no. They’d been told they couldn’t leave the embassy. And she’d promised Mother that she wouldn’t embarrass House Cosmin in any way. She couldn’t just break that promise. Not within half an hour of arriving! The destiny of her family was in Teigra’s hands. If she followed the rules, then promotion to patrician status was all but guaranteed.
And yet, the alternative was surely worse? All of Mestibes’s safety was at risk because of her stupidity. And who knew how long Ms. Securia might be gone? This might be their one opportunity in the next four days. If she did nothing, she was basically sabotaging Aurelius’s chances. He could end up in grave danger!
Or perhaps... just a grave.
She shuddered.
The weight of the decision was awful. But that sealed it. She couldn’t put him in danger like that.
“Actually,” she said. “I think I know where the prince is.”
26
AURELIUS
Palaestra Xiphos, the wrestling school of the sword, was aptly named.
Dirty sand filled the square, surrounded by roofed viewing stands—presently packed with a few hundred Ardorans of all ages, lazing and conversing and yelling encouragement. The half-dozen sparring pairs in the center were scattered around fifty or so other soldiers, training and flexing and eyeing each other off. And lining the edge of their earthen stage, separating the combatants from the crowd, was a fence of swords, stabbed into the earth in such a haphazard fashion, with different heights and spacing, they must surely have been staked by individual owners.
“Now these are some real men,” said Aurelius, as they found an empty spot on the stone-slab benches, far less lovely than those of the Alogo.
