But… Aimilia blinked and Faustina was gone. Nikias hadn’t once brought her up of his own volition.
What did it mean?
Aimilia didn’t know. All she knew was the fact that despite years of hating him and loving his brother, despite the things she’d seen him do with her own eyes, despite the fact that she had refused his proposal, Aimilia was falling in love with Nikias.
It didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t anything like Gavril, whom she had spent years loving before. But Nikias didn’t seem like the man he had used to be. Had he truly changed?
Aimilia pressed her hand over her heart. If that’s what this was… If this wasn’t simply physical attraction, and she was actually falling in love with him, where did that leave her?
It couldn’t be possible. It shouldn’t be possible.
Aimilia didn’t know how she had let this happen. She’d sworn to him that she would never marry him. She’d promised that she wouldn’t let anything change that. But there she was.
And she could no longer answer herself. She was terrified, nonetheless. If she was right, and what she was experiencing was falling in love again, would that really be so bad?
Aimilia couldn’t find an answer, not before it was time to leave. She would have to figure this all out later. They had already been delayed too long.
Aimilia joined the rest of the entourage in the town square, their horses loaded up and ready to go when Aimilia joined them. Nikias was already there, going over everything. His eyes lit up when they landed on her and he smiled.
He was very handsome when he smiled, even more so because he did it so rarely, and it made Aimilia a little weak in the knees, having it so blatantly directed at her. She couldn’t help her smile in return, even as her stomach spun in knots.
Was she really nervous just to see Nikias? Was she really fretting about whether she’d chosen the right braid to catch his attention?
Aimilia didn’t like this. It had been so long since she’d felt anything like this.
But, was it really so bad? Nikias really wasn’t that bad.
Aimilia quickly helped finish getting everything ready for their departure, and Konstantin and Hypatia appeared, stridingout of the home that had been hosting them. Aimilia froze by her horse, holding the reins in one hand.
Hypatia looked much better this morning than she had last night. She seemed to be sufficiently recovered. Although, the deep bags under her eyes betrayed the fact that she wasn’t as well as she might want everyone to believe. She pulled away from Konstantin as Konstantin headed straight for Nikias.
Aimilia held her breath when Hypatia’s gaze landed on her. Hypatia’s premonition crept up on her. A dog barking. Falling. An explosion. What did it mean? A no-win scenario.
Hypatia came to a stop in front of her. While Hypatia was taller than Marcella, she wasn’t quite as tall as Aimilia. The curly-haired woman, who wore the face of Aimilia’s dear friend, looked up at her and said, “I’m here because my husband insisted.”
“I told him that you didn’t make me come. I went of my own volition.” Aimilia kept her voice low so Nikias wouldn’t hear.
Hypatia nodded. “Good. Then if he should ask, I apologized for dragging you into something I had no right to. But I think we both know you’d rather know something about your future than nothing.”
“I just wish I knew what to do with that information,” Aimilia admitted.
Hypatia stepped closer, looking over her shoulder at Nikias and Konstantin, who were in their own hushed conversation. Then she looked back at Aimilia’s hand, eyes landing on the ring Nikias had given her. “Then you have good fortune. I had another premonition about you. Or rather, when I held that ring.”
Aimilia released the reins, curling her fingers into a fist and pressing the ring into her other hand, hiding it from view. Aimilia whispered, “What? What did you See?”
“It was just a premonition, so I can’t give you anything specific. It was this… overwhelming sense of an illusion. I know your people are skilled with magic, but what I felt didn’t feel like an illusion of a magical sort. The person who gave you that ring is hiding behind a façade. Well, it may not be the person who gave it to you, but someone connected to that ring, something is not what it appears to be. There was an intentionality behind it. Almost a sense of manipulation…” Hypatia blinked, pulling her gaze away from the ring and back to Aimilia’s face. The haze in her eyes faded. “I hope that helps you figure out what trap someone has in store for you.”
Aimilia’s heart dropped. All the warmth left her body. Hypatia couldn’t be?—
Aimilia took a deep breath. “Thank you, I appreciate that. I will be wary.”
Hypatia smiled and said, “Good. Then my duty as a seer is fulfilled. Best of luck to you in your pursuits. I will give Gavril and Marcella your best.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you. Be careful with that Stonai.”
Hypatia lifted her chin. “We will. I’m not going to let them get the best of us. No one attacks my people and gets away with it.”
Then Hypatia swept away, but even as she walked away from them entirely, her eyes landed on her husband and Nikias. Aimilia pressed the ring into her stomach.
