After being so still for so many minutes, Nikias nearly crashed into his desk rushing to the door as well. His mother was already in the hallway, heading toward her, Aimilia on the other end of the hallway, eyes wide and frozen in place as she looked over her shoulder at them.
Nikias was out the door, right on his mother’s heels. He quickly outpaced her, saying, “Actually, Mother, if you don’t mind, I believe I will take advantage of this good luck.”
He reached Aimilia first, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and with a slight tug, getting her feet to move with him as he ushered her toward his study.
Mother’s smile was cool and composed as she clasped her hands and stepped aside. “Go on. I’ll have plenty of other opportunities, I’m sure.”
Nikias didn’t look back as he swept Aimilia into his study, even though she was looking over her shoulder at his mother, failing to disguise the panic in her eyes. He let go of Aimilia as soon as they crossed the threshold, shutting the door behind him.
Aimilia pulled away and Nikias leaned against the door. Now out of his mother’s sight, he could take in his future fiancée fully. Her red commander’s cloak was wrapped around her shoulders and her hair was elegantly braided back only making him eager to finally be able to detangle them himself and sink his hands into her hair.
Although considering the wild look in her eyes, that possibility seemed a little less likely at the moment.
He cleared his throat. “Don’t tell me you wanted to be forced to entertain my mother for the next hour?”
She blinked at him. “What?”
Nikias pushed off the door and when Aimilia shifted out of his way, he went for his desk. When his back was turned to Aimilia he reached up, brushing his fingers over his chiton and commander’s cloak. Once he was reassured they were in place despite his frantic movements, he brushed his fingertips over his jaw. Nothing was showing.
Then he looked back at her. “You were quite unlucky to pass by as soon as my mother left. Well, you would be if I hadn’t managed to get to you first.”
Aimilia’s eyes widened and then she nodded. “Right. Yes. That is… I was going—I suppose it doesn’t really matter now.”
Nikias paused by his desk, brushing his fingertips over the wood. “I’m sure it can wait.”
Aimilia looked at the door, then the window; she shifted her weight, and Nikias could do nothing but stare at her. He desperately wracked his mind for something to say, but his tongue might as well have been made of marble for all that it would move.
His heart started to pick up speed. What was a man supposed to say to a woman hours before he asked her to be his wife?
Nikias hadn’t had to worry about that last time. With the last trial of the graduation tournament taking all their focus, Nikias hadn’t said a word to Faustina that day until he held out his name for her to wear once it was over.
Nikias quickly stamped out the thought. Faustina needed to stay in her grave.
He opened his mouth, ready to ask a pathetic question about the weather when Aimilia blurted out, “You sent out the assignments yesterday.”
Well, that was a much better topic than the weather. Nikias nodded. “That is a rather important part of my job.”
When he said nothing else, Aimilia crossed her arms. “What are you playing at here?”
Had the rumors reached her? Nikias had been hoping for at least a little bit of surprise from her. But if she already knew his plans… “You’ll have to elaborate.”
“You gave Commander Prisca and Lieutenant Turpis the rotation that’s open on the border of my house’s land.”
That was a problem because…
“I thought it a far enough away position and Commander Prisca strict enough that after their rotation is up Lieutenant Turpis might actually be less trouble than he’s worth. If you’re concerned about his reputation, I’ll make sure Commander Prisca keeps him on a short leash. He won’t be left alone with any of your relatives long enough for any trouble. He hasn’t said or done anything specific, has he?”
Nikias didn’t really need the excuse of Turpis’ overall reputation. The report that he’d whistled provocatively at Aimilia’s appearance when she’d ridden out to meet Gavril last year was more than enough. Prisca was well equipped to teach him manners.
“What? No—” Aimilia shook her head. “This isn’t about Turpis. Or his reputation. He’s mostly talk anyway. At the Academy, he spent more time running his mouth than making good on anything he said with the girls he was flirting with. Even so, he’s calmed down over the last year; I haven’t heard anyone say anything about him recently.”
Nikias would not suffer anyone who disrespected Aimilia, but he really didn’t want an argument about a mage as inconsequential as Turpis to overshadow their impending engagement.
“So then what are you upset about?”
Aimilia took a few steps toward him, voice lowering. “I was perfect for that position and you know it.”
And?
