Clearly, he was cursed to never get what he wanted.
He was about to get up and track her down himself when a knock sounded on his door and a voice called out, “Your Highness.”
“Come in,” Nikias said, setting aside the report he’d been trying and failing to read for the last several hours. He brushed his hands over his desk as the door was opened and Aimilia was escorted inside, hands pulled behind her back but not chained together or in limiter cuffs. She was still doing her best to look like a prisoner.
“Commander Aimilia was caught defying your orders, Your Highness. We brought her directly to you, as per our command.”
Nikias waved them away. “Return to your posts. I will handle this from here.”
Aimilia was glaring at him, nearly vibrating from the effort of holding back the deluge of vitriol she so clearly wanted to spewat him. Now that he was no longer blinded by his affection, he would be able to do this correctly.
As soon as the door shut, she held her wrists out to him. “Well? Aren’t you going to have me officially arrested and condemned for the… How many times are we up to now? I’ve lost count.”
“Don’t be dramatic.” Nikias stayed in his seat, folding his hands on the table. “I’ve only arrested you and had you stand for your case once.”
“Then we’ll add it to the innumerable counts of your abusing your power,” Aimilia sneered. “At least be honest about it.”
He took a deep breath.
“How did you make it out of the palace?” Nikias raised an eyebrow. “Their orders were to stop you should you try.”
“What can I say?” Aimilia shot him a beautiful and vicious smirk as she crossed her arms. “I’m an excellent illusionist and your guards are idiots. If you’re going to make me a prisoner here, you’re going to have to try harder.”
He laughed. “You think you’re a prisoner?”
“What else would you call it when a man in power has decreed I cannot move freely in my own city? That I am to be kept behind his walls so he can soothe his wretched, fragile ego?”
He wouldn’t let her words hurt. She’d made herself clear. He could hardly be worse in her eyes than he already was. The only place to go from here was up.
“If you had asked instead of assumed, you would have found out, it was only for today, and only to ensure you didn’t run away. It was important we have a little discussion.”
“You know what people who aren’t petty little tyrants do when they want to have a discussion?” Aimilia leaned forward, and dropping her voice. “They ask.”
Nikias leaned forward in his seat and matched her tone with a condescending grin. “Those people haven’t met you.”
She huffed, rocking back on her heels. “Just tell me what you had me dragged in here for. What will you do now to make an example of me?”
Nikias didn’t know how he was going to manage this, but he had to try. He wasn’t giving up just yet.
“Make an example of you? For what? I asked a question. You gave a reply. That’s all there is to it. I care nothing for the mindless, dull chatter of Runai who find entertainment in discussing the lives of their betters. They would be better off focusing on their own lives, but that would force them to confront the sad reality that they do not have any, otherwise they’d be too busy to be whispering behind their hands in the first place.”
He could read Aimilia’s struggle in deciding whether to respond acerbically as her wont was in these instances or to let it go given now the gossip involved her.
“I don’t think you’re nearly as unbothered by it as you pretend to be,” Aimilia settled on saying instead.
He gave her a cold smile. “How gracious of you to keep me in your thoughts and concerns today. It’s noted.”
She stepped forward again, glaring at him. “Will you stop toying with me and get on with it?”
He gestured toward the empty seat across from him. “Then I suggest you sit down.”
Aimilia did so, approaching the chair, gaze darting between it and him like they were both snakes lying in wait.
Once she took her seat, he pulled a few pages back, organizing them into a neat stack. She asked, “If you’re not making an example of me—not that I believe you—what are you going to do with me? I see now why you haven’t given me an assignment, but now that that’s all taken care of… Are you going to change the assignments?”
Nikias set the stack to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Change the assignments?”
“Will you just give me the post near House Mitis and be done with all of this?” Aimilia gripped the arms of her chair. “It’s the easiest and best solution for both of us. I’m out of sight and everyone will stop talking about me, forgetting about my existence until my grandfather passes and I become the next Head of House Mitis. And by that point, I’m sure you’ll already be engaged, if not married, and they’ll all be talking about that.”
