Hypatia gripped it tightly. She cast again and again, resuming her chanting.
Aimilia could do nothing but choke and cough from the smoke. Nothing appeared in the water. Her movements grew more and more frantic each time she cast. Aimilia batted at the smoke around her.
Surely Hypatia had to be running out of strength soon. How many runes had she cast? These certainly couldn’t beinsignificant in terms of the vitae they took. Hypatia was a powerful mage, but just how powerful?
Hypatia’s knees hit the stone again with a sharp crack. She clutched the silver armband tightly. As she pitched forward, her voice was rough, scraping over the air from so much use.
Hypatia cast again and again, her chants never letting up. There was one phrase Aimilia kept hearing again and again. “Show me.”
When the first rune flickered right as Hypatia cast it, not coming to full fruition, she closed her eyes tightly as she cursed and said in her language, “What is the point?—Answer me, Asentai! What was the—gift? If—show me his—please, let me—wrong. Show me—let me see—tell me—do not leave me?—”
There was one word she kept saying…
Hypatia flung out her hand out, casting again. But this rune failed. Hypatia stared at the empty air, as the last of the incense burnt out. The smoke began to fade. She stared at the empty air where her rune had been.
And then she collapsed to the ground, completely limp, save for the deranged, hysterical laughs coming from her lips. Her body convulsed and she knocked the bowl over. Aimilia scooted back, avoiding the water, but most of it had spilled toward Hypatia anyway when she’d sent the bowl flying.
Aimilia was frozen as she stared at Hypatia. She had no idea what to do.
But she could see through the wild mess of Hypatia’s curls hiding her face even as the peals of laughter coming from her lips filled the air. Were the drops of water on her face from the bowl or from something else?
Aimilia couldn’t just leave her like this, but she was far out of her depth. She had to go get one of Hypatia’s people; surely they would know what to do.
But as soon as she rose to her feet, ready to take off, a figure appeared in the haze. Aimilia’s breath caught in her throat.
What would Nikias do if he saw Hypatia like this?
But as he got closer, Aimilia could see his silhouette wasn’t her prince’s. He was shorter and leaner. Not to mention she could see the shape of his hair, the curls in it.
Konstantin.
He cut through the sanctuary with a swift and purposeful stride as Hypatia fell silent. Aimilia looked over her shoulder, and Hypatia was completely still in the pool of water. The slight rise and fall of her chest showed she wasn’t dead.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem Nikias was with him. It was going to be hard enough to explain the situation to Konstantin. The last thing she needed right now was to try and explain herself to Nikias.
As Konstantin reached Aimilia, he gave her a nod and said, “I take it she approached you?”
Aimilia nodded. She gestured to the haze around them. “If I’d known…”
Konstantin shook his head, but didn’t stop. He cut around Aimilia and knelt beside Hypatia. Her eyes fluttered open, and they locked on him.
She whispered, “Konsta…”
Then they shut again. Aimilia studied Konstantin’s expression, his eyes quickly scanning over Hypatia. When he was satisfied, he pulled her up, bracing her against him to hold her in a seated position.
He said in their language, “Hypatia, come on…”
Despite the gentleness in his tone, it was heavy, laced with the glass shards of a broken expectation. Hypatia’s eyes fluttered open again as she leaned against him. “I thought… I thought maybe this time…”
Konstantin narrowed his eyes. Aimilia watched as Hypatia’s grip tightened around the silver band as she looked up at him. He said, “You thought what?—while he was—helping—get to him through her? What is wrong with you?”
It was much easier to translate their words now rather than when Hypatia’s had been chanting and screaming.
Hypatia set up a little straighter, her hand curling into Konstantin. She said, “My world doesn’t revolve around Nikias.”
Aimilia recognized the silver band in Hypatia’s hand.
“I know his future—hers intrigued me. I didn’t force her.”
