He took a deep breath and said, “I will see you tonight.”
She took a short breath, knuckles turning white against the door. “I… I will see you tonight.”
Then she was gone.
Nikias held the door open, watching her hurry down the hall, red cloak fluttering around her. His lips twitched up as he couldn’t quite restrain his smile.
He supposed it didn’t ruin his plans too much now that she knew he was proposing tonight. She probably would have figured it out as soon as she saw her mother at the banquet. What else would he have summoned her for?
Nikias tried to go back and continue his work for the day, but he couldn’t quite get the thought out of his head. This time tomorrow, they would be engaged.
His mother wanted Hypatia to pay? Nikias could think of nothing better than this.
When his name was on Aimilia’s neck, he would finally have won.
Even just a few months before he wouldn’t have believed it possible, he still would have been doubting it. It was almost enough to make a Runai like him believe in miracles.
Chapter 4
AIMILIA
This time tomorrow, Aimilia was going to be dead.
Unless, of course, Gavril and Marcella pulled off a miracle again. Then in that case, she might be lucky enough to be banished and sent into exile for her treason.
Which in that case, Gavril and Marcella might just join her and they could all go live with the clan mages. They would at least have Marcella’s adopted brother to take them in. Even if that also meant having to deal with his insane wife, Aimilia could live with that over being dead.
It meant not becoming the Head of House Mitis, which had been the only thing she’d wanted since finally accepting she would never be a princess by marriage.
Which, while unfortunate, again, life even in exile was preferrable.
The only reason she was walking free was the incredible stroke of luck she’d had in neither Nikias nor Queen Clelia realizing she’d overheard their conversation. Even afterwards Nikias had pulled her into his study and given her a veiled warning.
She wasn’t getting a post. She wasn’t on the patrol schedule. They needed to start getting used to not having her around. Nikias, at least, wasn’t going to drag this out any longer.
So if he was going to arrest her at his mother’s banquet, she was going to go with grace and style at least.
She’d considered running. She’d made it back to her room and started packing until she stopped herself. There would be no use. She’d never make it out of the city.
If they’d already figured her out, then all she really had was the illusion of freedom. They’d stop her at the gates just as easily as they would arrest her in the courtyard at the banquet.
If Queen Clelia wanted Aimilia to be made an example of, she would be.
Gavril would be furious. It was the only comfort Aimilia had as she braided her hair, preparing for her last night alive and free. Nikias would lose what little ground he’d gained in repairing his relationship with Gavril.
Good.
Aimilia finished pinning her last braid up and moved to her cosmetics. Although, she knew Nikias’ hands were tied if he wasn’t the one to have figured her out. Or even if he wasn’t the only one who had known.
It was entirely possible the king, in one of his more lucid moments, gave enough information to expose her, or the queen had connected the dots.
“What other woman had the means and motive?”
Nikias would have no choice but to arrest her, no matter the fact that it would mean he would lose Gavril again.
She hadn’t quite made sense of all of it. There were a few pieces that still didn’t fit.
But she accepted her fate. It was honestly a bit of a relief that she would no longer have to live with the guilt suffocating her and her secret hounding her every step.
