“Very well.” He takes a deep breath, then blows it out. “I would ask Brevan to teach you, but he’s away. I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.”
“I’m sure one of my ladies can help,” I say.
“No, it won’t do for them to know you have weaknesses.”
I lift a skeptical brow. “Not being able to dance is a weakness?”
“It will make it appear that you were not trained well enough to be my bride. There are many unhappy families in my court. They’ve been sending their daughters to seduce me for years. Until the treaty, it was assumed I’d marry one of them.”
“Like your father did,” I say.
He nods. “Yes. My mother was a courtier who caught his eye.”
“Is it me you worry for or yourself, Your Highness? I imagine a group of former lovers who were hoping to be your empress are far more of a threat to you than they are to me.”
“Not if they think they can bolster their chances by killing you,” he says with a shrug.
“And risk losing the treaty? I would think they’d be ostracized from court if they did such a thing.”
“If they were caught.” There’s a hint of a smirk on his lips. Is he actually being playful or did I imagine it?
“I suppose I better learn to dance.”
“If not out of concern for yourself, you’ll learn to dance so you make me look good,” he says. “I can’t have a future empress who doesn’t improve my status.”
I must have been mistaken when I though he was being playful. “So the other women might not be my only threat?”
“This treaty is important, but there are other ways to make it happen.”
“I suppose you’re lucky my father had a daughter. Where would your treaty be now if I’d been a man?”
“If you’d been a man, I’d be working on a plan to overthrow your kingdom.” He grins.
“Why not just do that, then? Why this route? Why now? We’ve never been allies before. Your people have been at my borders my whole life. If you were going to overthrow us, you’d have done it already.”
“You forget, my father has been the one giving the orders. He’s cautious, but also shortsighted. We’re outnumbered, that’s true. I believe that with time and planning, we could defeat Iskvaland. But he doesn’t want to wait. He wants the Shatterlands now.”
“He’s not well, is he?” I ask quietly. “You’re already running most of the empire, aren’t you?”
He clenches his jaw, and a vein in his temple bulges. I see the wariness on his face now. It is almost hidden by the bruises, but it’s there. Dark circles under eyes that have seen too much. I almost didn’t see them with the other injuries on his face.
“This treaty is yours. You want Iskvaland’s armies,” I say. “Your father would never share magic with anyone outside hisinner circle, but you found a way. You don’t need him, do you? Is it the relics that Brevan’s hunting?”
We’ve been wondering about that for years. Some rebels theorized that the ancient relics of the gods could channel magic or even imbue magic. Nobody ever got to test it out, though. The Night Legion was very good at tracking the relics down. They must do something. Otherwise, why would they destroy whole villages just to claim the forgotten or hidden relics?
“That’s enough, Sabina.” He rises. “When you finish your meal, the legionnaires waiting at the door will escort you to your room. Marian will stay with you every night. You are not to leave your chambers unescorted, is that understood?”
I pushed too far. I am supposed to be a princess. His future wife. I’m supposed to submit, but I can’t. I glare at him. “Nothing good has ever come from rulers who put ambition before their people.”
“Tell your father that. He’s the one who came to me on his knees, willing to trade his kingdom for immortality.”
I blink, then close my mouth. I should have known. All rulers want nothing more than power, and they don’t care who they sacrifice to gain it.
“I will see you tomorrow. Do try to learn your place before then.” He walks out of the room without a glance back at me.
I grip my fork so tight my knuckles turn white. I’m furious at the games these monarchs play with the lives of everyone around them. Magic in the Iskvalandian armies will mean more oppression for their people. The right people never seem to gain power.
But at least now I know that the emperor isn’t well. If he’s not dying, something else is very, very wrong with him. If he’s not well, he can’t be far from the castle. There’s no way they’d want that information out there.
