She took another sip of wine. “He died of a heart attack when my twin brother and I were twelve. Well…that’s what the healers said, anyway. My brother believes it was his own fault. He thinks it was the consequence of dark Alchemist magic he used as a boy. I don’t know if we’ll ever know the truth, but it doesn’t change what happened.”
I’d never get used to the way she spoke of magic so casually, as if it were something they all possessed and could turn on and off at will. Normal and expected. Not this poisonous, evil magic that only Galen and his ancestors had, that slowly ate away at their family and our entire kingdom. I briefly wondered what it would be like to see a magic that didn’t always bring hardships.
But then I realized…Ihadseen it. Watching Clarissa transform into her fox half after touching the blight was remarkable. Natural and powerful, like that was how it should be.
Everything about her was remarkable.
“Was that when the next emperor took his place? Emperor Gayl?” I recalled the name from a letter with her council. I knew Clarissa’s father was Emperor of the Veridian Empire at some point, but something had happened to make the new man, Theodore Gayl, take over.
She shook her head and downed more of her drink. “No, my father hadn’t been emperor for years. He abdicated his throne when I was practically a baby and moved our family to a cottage in the woods.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “What could possibly make an emperor give up that life?”
“You didn’t think your kingdom was the only one burdened with a terrible curse, did you?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow. Her cheeks were flushed from the bonfire and the cup ofwine she’d almost finished.
“There were…complications when my brother and I were born. Leo and my mother almost didn’t survive.” She shifted on her feet. “Emperor Gayl was a powerful Alchemist, and he saved their lives—but it was all just a ruse. What he actually did was use that moment of such dark, powerful magic to cast a sleeping curse over the entire empire,” she explained, her words tripping over themselves as she spoke.
“Nobody knew the truth and instead blamed our father for casting it. He eventually crumbled under the pressure and thought the only way to keep all of us safe was to abandon the throne. Our people…Fates, theyhatedus. We were outcasts from a young age, pariahs in our own home. It took nearly thirty years for the truth to come out and for us to learn that Gayl was behind it all along. He’d practically pushed my father out of the palace.”
The look I gave her must have shown my shock, for she smiled darkly into her drink. “Not all of us grew up in fancy palaces and mansions with everything we could want placed at our feet.”
I scratched my beard, thinking of my own upbringing. The servants and splendor and riches. “That’s quite a story, Empress.”
“Well, we all have them.”
“I have to admit, it does explain some things.”
That earned me a confused glance. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“You’re unlike any monarch I’ve ever met. Or anyone of nobility, for that matter. You’re so…” I trailed off, twisting my lips and considering her.
“Confident? Witty? Capable?” She winked and brandished her cup in the air. “Take your pick. I’ve been told I have a way with words.”
“I was going to say earnest.” Her head tilted to the side, that playful smile sliding from her face. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now who’s surprised?”
“I’m…not sure how to take that.”
I shrugged. “Most people in my world are nobles, lords, and aristocrats, all catering to the crown. They’re insincere and shallow,driven by their own agenda or by some sense of duty passed down from the generations that doesn’t even mean anything to them anymore. It’s just what we’resupposedto do. What we were born into and can never leave. We’re taught what to say and how to say it and to never deviate from the path. But you…you’re refreshinglyreal, Empress.” Every word drew me closer to her. I barely felt my feet as they took a step toward her.
“You care not only for your own people, but also the ones you’ve known for all of five days. You want to take action and get things done. And you’re not afraid to say what’s on your mind.” I took a breath, once again all too aware of the effect she was having on me. The fire sparking in her eyes as her features softened, those dark pools swallowing up everything I said.
I needed to rein this in and clear the heavy air forming between us. I needed to put the barrier back up. The one that kept me from drowning.
Because that look…that look could pull me under. I hadn’t even known I was close to the edge until now.
I threw my normal smirk onto my lips. “I knew you were different from the moment I saw you walking off that ship looking like a wet, feral cat.”
She gasped and faked an angry scoff. “I resent that statement, Lord Reaux,” she said, taking a step closer and pressing a finger into my chest. The contact sent lightning through my veins, and I couldn’t stop my hand from wrapping around her wrist.
She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry, I forgot about your injury. Did I hurt you?”
I slowly shook my head. “No, Empress. It doesn’t hurt.”
Her eyes traveled from the finger that rested against the top of my chest to the locket that dangled from my neck. “I’ve been wanting to ask…what’s this for?”
“It’s a marigold,” I said, voice rough. “I had it made when she was born.”
She brushed her thumb along the chain, a soft hum leaving her lips. Her fingertips lingeredagainst my skin.
