He couldn’t force her to marry Nikias if she was.
When Aimilia hit the ground, the crowd erupted into cheers. She spotted Turpis on his feet, hollering louder than most everyone else. It wasn’t long after her descent that the other commanders finished. Aimilia only walked a few feet beforethey were cheering for them and not her anymore. She took a few staggered steps, heading for the side building so she could sit down and catch her breath. Before she reached it, she was enveloped in a pair of arms, being crushed against an increasingly familiar chest.
Aimilia instinctually sank into him as Nikias’ hand clutched the back of her head and his arm tightened around her waist. The crowd was still buzzing behind them as Cyrpian finished. Nikias squeezed her tightly and said, “I hate this. I can’t stand watching you do this.”
As much as Aimilia wanted to stay in his arms and admit just how tired she was, she didn’t. She got her hands between them and pushed back. “You’re making a scene.”
His eyes burned as he stared down at her. “Who cares? You almost died.”
Aimilia scoffed. “I wouldn’t be that dramatic. I caught myself. No skilled Runai would let themselves fall like that.”
And hopefully that fall had been the one from Hypatia’s premonition. Their conversation was interrupted by Cyprian hitting the ground and the crowd erupting again. Aimilia politely clapped even though her blood boiled at seeing him.
Just because he’d helped her a little didn’t change the fact that he tried to sedate her.
She was going to have to be careful around him. Commander Prisca stepped back out and began addressing competitors and the crowd. She made no mention of Aimilia’s tower collapsing. It was evident that no one had expected it, but Commander Prisca wasn’t just going to admit it. They had an image to maintain.
Nikias’ hand grabbed hold of hers, keeping her from going anywhere unless she wanted to make an even bigger scene, leaving him while Prisca talked. As soon as Prisca had dismissed them, Cyprian started to make a beeline for the two of them.He arrived just seconds before Clelia appeared behind Nikias shoulder.
Aimilia spotted her mother in the crowd, slumped in her seat and fanning herself, looking like she might faint still. Aimilia felt a little bad for her mother, having to watch all of this as well, but she felt less bad than if her mother had actually attended her graduation tournament. Then she would have seen just what Aimilia was capable of and just how little she ought to worry.
This was nothing. She didn’t know why everyone was making a big deal about it. What they should be more concerned about was the fact that her tower had been tampered with and rigged so she would fail. Aimilia watched as Queen Clelia approached, unperturbed by it all.
Cyprian narrowed his eyes at the queen as Nikias moved to step in front of Aimilia. Cyprian kept his voice low as he said, “I think all four of us know that wasn’t supposed to happen. And the Runai out there aren’t stupid. They’ll figure it out too.”
Aimilia said, “Someone deliberately tampered with my tower. It was set to collapse when I reached the top. Someone tried to kill me.” She glanced at Queen Clelia, holding her dark gaze. “Or at least eliminate me from the tournament.”
Nikias’ grip on her hand tightened, and she heard him take in a sharp breath, but Clelia wasn’t fazed at Aimilia’s veiled accusation. She glanced at the rubble on the stage. “This was clearly the work of those Stonai that attacked you on the road and attacked our king in Areator.” Aimilia opened her mouth but Nikias pushed her behind him before she could speak and accuse the queen directly.
Nikias said, “That is a likely possibility. I will have our best begin to look into it, and in the meantime, increase security for the last event.”
Aimilia tried to step around Nikias. “The Stonai aren’t capable of rigging something like that. They would have to be in the vicinity to pull that off.”
Clelia smiled. “Then if that’s the case, we ought to have them found before they disappear again.”
Aimilia opened her mouth again, ready to insist that it made no sense for the Stonai to target her or even just one random column, instead of setting them all up to collapse, especially when they could have attacked the crowd if they were nearby, but before she could Cyprian stepped forward. “Forgive her, Your Majesty. She’s just a little rattled from the whole thing. I’m certain she’s grateful that Prince Nikias will look into who targeted her and ensure they’re brought to justice.”
Clelia gave him a nod and then turned to Nikias. “I trust you will handle this matter.” Nikias bowed his head and said, “Yes, Mother.”
And then Clelia was gone. Aimilia just glared at Cyprian. He wasn’t off the hook either, but she’d rather keep him guessing about how much she knew than reveal all that she had. He said, “I’m glad nothing happened to you, Aimilia. You did well.”
Aimilia said, “There’s only so much you can do in a no-win scenario.”
Cyprian said, “And it’s a good skill for a commander to have. It’s important to know when you’re beaten.”
And then he was gone too.
Aimilia turned to Nikias, but he was still just staring at the ground. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the crowd, half dispersing, half watching them.
She tried to pull her hand away, but Nikias seemed to wake up when she tried. He looked up and tightened his grip. He then glanced at the ground and started pulling her away.
Aimilia followed him, glaring at his back. They found an isolated spot in the trees nearby, where no one from the crowdwould be coming. When they stopped, she ripped her hand out of his grip and said, “You and I both know that wasn’t the Stonai.”
Nikias pulled his hands back and huffed. “Obviously. She must have realized I started swapping our scores.”
Aimilia shook her head. “No, she’s she set out to do this from the start. We both know it was her. She rigged that tower so that I would get a no-win scenario and lose points, and that wasn’t enough. She had to rig it to collapse too. Your mother just tried to kill me.”
Nikias reached out for her. “Aimilia?—”
