Better to get this over with so Nikias didn’t hear any gossip about her being spotted with Turpis. She didn’t need that fight again.
A whistle caught her attention, and she turned on her heels to see Turpis hurrying toward her. She crossed her arms as a breeze cut through her.
He jogged toward her, and she said, “What do you have for me?”
“Not even a hello? You really are just using me,” Turpis said as he came to a stop.
She rolled her eyes. “You offered.”
But the mirth in his eyes faded. “I’ve got bad news.”
“Out with it then.”
“Commander Eleni died in the night.”
Aimilia closed her eyes.
In less than two hours, she would be back in the amphitheater fighting for her position. She couldn’t let this get the best of her. Besides, Commander Eleni might havetechnically been family, but that didn’t mean Aimilia had any relationship with her. She had a vague memory of her giving her tips once when she was back from the Academy on a break leading up to her tournament, but other than that she was just another redhead with a great, great something or another to connect them.
But telling herself that didn’t remove the pit in her stomach.
“Did they say what the cause was?”
“They’re not announcing it until after the second trial, but it sounds like they’re going to blame it on the wounds she sustained.”
“Nothing about any poison?”
“Not anything official, despite her husband’s insistence she should have been recovering from those wounds.”
Was she wrong? Was it really just bad luck and a vicious dog?
“But that’s not all,” Turpis said, he leaned in ever closer and lowered his voice. “All the dogs had been assigned to the commanders before the event. It wasn’t a random selection.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, I spoke to the handlers about the assignments to see who made them. They received a letter shortly before with specific assignments for the cerberuses, and it was signed with my commander’s seal, but the signature is a clear forgery. Prisca has no idea about any of this. The cerberus that Commander Eleni fought? It was supposed to be yours.”
Aimilia reached up and brushed her fingertips against her throat.
She’d made the right decision not to involve Nikias in this.
She took a deep breath, focusing on the feel of the smooth skin of her throat. She was fine.
For now.
“And what happened to change that?”
“According to the handlers, the day of the tournament that cerberus, already the strongest and most aggressive of the group, was rabid. When they saw you were on the far side, they switched them at the last minute since they weren’t positive they could control him long enough to reach you, and went with Commander Eleni who was closer.” Turpis exhaled. “You got lucky.”
“But who made the original arrangement?”
“Someone who could easily forge my commander’s signature and seal, and someone who had access to the information of what the first trial would be.”
That ruled out Cyprian. Unless he’d managed to find that out another way, the commanders were kept in the dark about the trials. So was the entire house. Only the judges knew.
And there was one judge Aimilia knew would have been happy to see her throat torn out.
“Thank you, Turpis, that helps immensely.”
