He’d be better than his parents, she was certain, but how much better? Would he still be as rigid and cold and lifeless as a marble statue even with a son that had his eyes? Would he just hand him off to a nursemaid every time his son reached for him until one day the child stopped?
Or was Queen Clelia right?
Would having a child bring back a Nikias that had been buried along with Faustina?
But on the other hand… how could any woman bear to be a tool used to achieve that end?
Nikias’ conversation with the boy wasn’t long. Commander Livus hadn’t even finished with the Runai at the front of the line by the time Nikias was rising and turning to join her. The students finally remembered their manners and bowed when Nikias passed by. The novices who had at least half-heartedly attempted to continue their sparring so as not to look like they were watching also stopped and bowed.
This time she was close enough she could hear Nikias when he said to them, “If you’re going to use a shield, you need to have the physical stance down. The more grounded you are, the more grounded your vitae shield is.”
The two novices gaped at him for a moment before the taller stuttered out, “O—Oh! Thank you, Your Highness!”
Aimilia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as he finally reached her, refusing to give away exactly what she’d been thinking about.
Had it been exactly what he’d wanted her to be thinking about?
“What’s that look for?” Nikias asked as he took his place beside her, clasping his hands behind his back.
He wasn’t half as clever as he thought he was.
“Don’t give me that,” Aimilia said, keeping her voice low. “What was that all about?”
“The novices? You saw on the first day how many of them had poor stance when casting their shields. It was sad, and I’ll be sure to be letting the Academy know such subpar teaching will not be tolerated.”
“Not that—I mean, yesthat, but not like that!”
“You’ve lost me, Commander—Aimilia,” Nikias said, lips shifting into a grin on her name. He knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Playing dumb doesn’t suit you.”
“I’d hope not. Especially since I’m not playing at anything.”
“This—” She gestured to all of him. “This act, I’m not buying it. So don’t bother wasting your time.”
“Act?” Nikias raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know what I was doing.” He reached over into the bag, pulling out her notes and flipping through the pages until he reached the one covering the novice he had spoken to. He held it up and said, “I was asking him why he wanted to be an academic and not a healer. He told me his mother is an academic, and all he wants to do is be able to work under her and create objects imbued with vitae to serve Imperia. Also, he’s rather squeamish about dissection.”
Oh.
Nikias handed the pages back to her. “He will go on the academic track. There are other mages we can look at if we need more healers.”
“Fine, if you insist, I’ll support that decision,” Aimilia said, snatching the pages back and stuffing them into her bag while Nikias chuckled softly to himself.
As they waited in silence, she turned it over in her head. Was he being genuine or putting on a show? But what did asking a novice a couple questions and throwing out a piece of advice really prove?
If he thought she would change her mind about him just because he’d mustered up a sliver of cold compassion and showed he could on occasion be nice to a child, he was sorely mistaken.
The real question was, did she let him know she’d figured him out and try to get it through his thick skull she was the last woman in the world who would agree to be his second wife? Ordid she let him keep on trying to convince her he wasn’t exactly who she knew he was?
He wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever.
Chapter 16
AIMILIA
Finally, they reached Commander Livus and gave their report on their assigned novices. Aimilia let Nikias insist on committing the novice in question to the academic track, not once bringing up the alternative of placing him on the healing track.
Her head was too full and the day too long despite the fact that the sun wasn’t due to set for hours. She needed to clear it. So the second they were finished, she took off, not giving Nikias a chance to stop her.
