“I am not,” Gavril huffed. “I know Nikias. He didn’t act like this last time. I know he promised he would, but Aimilia is the last person he would ever marry.”
Marcella believed the rumors? The little traitor.
Wait…
“Nikias promised he would get remarried? To whom? When?”
Gavril’s brow pinched. “Our father, it was in the chaos after Hypatia tortured him.” He shot his wife a look. “But that doesn’t mean Aimilia! I’m sure he’s doing something ridiculously practical, like making some kind of list of appropriate candidates and narrowing it down to whichever one would make the best queen. Plus, he’d put it off as long as possible. Aimilia wouldn’t even make the list.” Gavril turned back to Aimilia. “No offense.”
“I’d be offended to be on the list!” Aimilia shook her head, reaching up and bracing her hand against her forehead. “Hold on?—”
“Look, I will settle this, right now.” Gavril straightened up, looking over at Nikias who was pulling away from Queen Clelia. “If Nikias knows, or if he actually is about to propose—to—toAimiliaof all women—I will find out. Stay here and don’t panic.”
Aimilia grabbed at his arm. “Wait, just until he’s a little farther away from your mother.”
She wasn’t going to risk Gavril being hurt again, especially for her sake.
She let go when Nikias was halfway across the courtyard from Queen Clelia. His eyes were scanning over the crowd, and Aimilia shifted back, but it was too late.
His gaze landed on the three of them, and he nodded in their direction, changing course to approach them. Now Aimilia pushed Gavril into Nikias’ path. Gavril quickly intercepted him as Aimilia grabbed Marcella and started pulling her with her to escape Nikias’ gaze.
“What could ever make you think—evenifNikias is planning to remarry—he wouldeverpropose to me?” Aimilia hissed, pulling Marcella close. “You know better than to believe thoserumors, all of which spawned because we were working together with you and Gavril. He hates me. He always has!”
Marcella raised an eyebrow, her curls tickling Aimilia’s neck. “Does he?”
“Commander Aimilia!”
She dropped Marcella’s arm and turned to see Lieutenant Turpis approaching. Marcella fell silent, taking a step back. Aimilia said, “Lieutenant, good evening.”
“In order to ensure there are no hard feelings about the Mitis post, could I have this dance?” Turpis held his hand out.
Good. Someone other than Gavril who didn’t believe the ridiculous rumors.
It didn’t hurt that he wasn’t half-bad to look at. She’d flattened him in their graduation tournament, but if anything, it seemed like that might have been what caught his attention.
Aimilia took his hand and said, “I’d be delighted to.”
She ignored Marcella’s incredulous look and let Turpis lead her to where the other mages were spinning and moving to the rhythm of the music filling the courtyard. A few whispers went through the Runai around them as they started following the steps of the fast-paced song with the other dancers. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gavril and Nikias deep in their hushed conversation, not having noticed her and Turpis.
The dance was so quick, they only touched briefly as they moved around each other in a whirlwind. Turpis caught her hand and lifted it up for her to spin under. “You’re the subject of every conversation here tonight.”
“I’d rather not be,” Aimilia replied, letting go and lifting her skirts just enough to kick her leg in unison with the other girls before Turpis had her waist in his hands for the next step.
“You mean our esteemed prince doesn’t stand a chance?” Turpis let out a little laugh, hand lingering on her waist a second longer than the dance called for. “Good to know.”
“It’s not?—”
The music stopped and a shadow fell over them while the sound of someone clearing their throat cut her off. She whipped around right as Nikias came to a stop, nearly crashing into him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Marcella holding onto Gavril, who was shaking his head, face hidden by his palm. What did that mean? How had their conversation gone?
Was she getting arrested or?—
Nikias pulled out two necklaces, one with her name etched into the metal, another with his.
“Commander Aimilia, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
He wasproposing.
