“What are you saying?” Vi whispered back. Her mind had already connected the dots, but she didn’t want to see the words the lines spelled out. She’d do anything to ignore them.
“I’m saying that some say the crown may no longer be needed. That the Senate can represent the people alone.”
“What?” Vi hissed. “They have no right.”
“They don’t. They don’t,alone. But if they make the people believe the future of the crown is unstable—ifyouare unstable—then…” Jayme paused, letting the rest go unsaid. “The people are a powerful force if they unite behind a banner, and getting Andru on your side may be the only thing that could prevent such a tide from rising.”
“I don’t…” She didn’t understand? No, that wasn’t it. Vi understood perfectly, so perfectly that it was agonizing. She didn’twantto understand.
“Read your letters, and look for any advice on the political climate. There won’t be mention of Andru in there; the Senate practically ambushed me with him at the last minute after the letters were written. I’m going off the rumors of the people, which are always to be taken with a grain of salt. You may be able to derive better insights than I. But I do know that nothing good will come if you lead Andru to believe you’re anything other than the perfect princess the Senate wants.”
Perfect princesses didn’t speak back to their tutors, or fantasize about running off at the first possible opportunity. Nor did they debate strong opinions about the senate as Vi so often had. Every one of her teachers had been hand-appointed by the Senate. How could she have been so reckless as to feel comfortable?
A cold chill tingled down Vi’s spine. She felt as though she was about to be sick.
Unfortunately for Vi, she’d have to shove aside the queasy feeling, as a knock on the door brought their conversation to a close.
“Princess?” Martis asked through the door.
“Enter.” Vi stood, in the same motion opening her box and selecting a letter at random. The seal was broken and parchment unfurled by the moment the door was opened in full, revealing her tutors—Martis, Callope, Fredrik—along with Jax and Andru. Jayme was off the bed, standing two steps away, rigid. Ellene leaned against the wall by the bathroom door.
“I do believe it’s time for your lesson. We have much to go over,” Martis said.
“Yes, of course.” Vi made a show of rolling up the parchment as though she’d been engrossed in its contents. “I was trying to get a head start on reading through my correspondence.”
“There will be plenty of time for that.” Andru’s eyes met hers. Ice blue, Vi decided, his eyes were ice blue and void of all warmth. “You shall have all winter, before the Imperial Parade arrives, and there will be no more letters in or out until then.”
No more letters meant that whatever information her box, and Jayme, contained was all Vi had to work with. She would get no advice from her brother, and no insights from her parents. Vi pressed her lips into a thin smile, trying to use the expression to conceal the pain that heavy stone was still inflicting in her stomach.
“You are very right.” Vi closed her box, standing as straight as possible. Panicking didn’t change her situation. She would keep herself together, and learn all she could. Vi had been groomed from birth to play the games of nobility. She smiled at each of them, the expression of a perfect princess, even when worry threatened to burn her alive. “Well then, shall we begin?”
Chapter Five
Vi easedherself down into the chair behind her desk as though it were a throne. As though she wasn’t completely surrounded by the men and woman who sought to pass judgment on her. Her eyes fluttered closed and she took a small, stabilizing breath.
She needed to keep her head about her. Her magic seemed erratic—more so than normal today—and the last thing she wanted was it running away on a rogue emotion and causing a mishap in front of Andru. She needed to be a perfect princess, just as Jayme had said.
Vi opened her eyes once more. They had all been waiting for her to speak as the highest rank among them.Silence can be control, her father had told her once. This was the first time she felt she truly exercised it.
“Let us start from the beginning. I would rather not have the details, and thus my understanding, be in pieces.” Vi looked to Andru, folding her hands on the desk.
“Yes, your highness.” Andru gave a small bow of his head and took the floor. He produced a small folded envelope, a broken seal bearing the blue signet of the Senate. Handing it to Vi, he paraphrased: “Your upbringing has been unconventional. As a result, many are concerned if you will truly rule with the Empire’s best interests in mind.
“Since the Senate helps bridge the people and the crown, I have been sent to compose an assessment of what you have learned and your overall demeanor. This will help the Senate give you their vote of confidence immediately on returning home.”
Vi had a few things she could think of that the Senate should be doing rather than assessing her—chief among them was not meddling with her family. Her rule did not have to be complicated and she had no idea why the Senate was making it out to be.
“Why the urgency?” Vi asked, already suspecting the answer based on her discussion with Jayme. “The Senate can assess me in full when I return home in the spring. I will not sit the throne for many years, so even the people will have a chance to come to know me when I am no longer bound to Shaldan.”
“As you may have read in your letters, your father has left the capital, and soon the continent. We wish to account for contingencies.”
A nice way of saying, “in case he dies,” and they all knew it. It was the way of royalty; Romulin was the contingency plan for her, she was the contingency plan for her father, alongside her mother.
“Or perhaps you could consider me collateral.” Andru shifted his weight from side to side, glancing askance. “To ensure that Chieftain Sehra will not do anything to try to keep you. The Imperial parade will come to collect me as the son of Head of Senate, ensuring your return as well.”
Her own lips turned into a bitter smile. He wasn’t nearly as valuable as she was. If the Senate changed their mind on making the trip for her, then the trip wouldn’t be made, regardless of who else was stuck with her.
“Yes, well, it is not as if I can send you away, even if I wanted to.” Jayme said the passages were too perilous now for safe travel. They were trapped together, for better or worse, for a winter. “So how will your assessment work?”
