I study him as Helen approaches, curious since his family intended him for me. Despite being the most influential and ancient dynasty in Sinta, Andromeda saw them as pretentious pond scum, and no amount of gold could tempt her to send me to them. What must have been a number of years later, they settled for Helen, but as Oreste seems to have guessed, he lucked out. I’m no prize.
He’s older, with a head of thick, graying hair, wide shoulders, and an athletic frame, despite being nearly fifty by now. He was in his mid-thirties when his family tried to buy me thirteen years ago. I was ten, and I was more petrified of staying in my own home than of being sent off to marry an adult Magoi in a far-off realm. They would have held off on the actual wedding for a few years. Despite what Mother likes to think, Sintans aren’t child-marrying barbarians. And I’d wanted to go. Oreste would have been my escape.
From a distance, I watch grandparents I have no doubt are ruthless and ambitious coo over Helen’s baby through the open door of the carriage. I don’t need Oreste or his family, but a familiar tightness grips my chest nevertheless. If I’d been allowed to go to them, I’d have less blood on my hands, and Eleni might still be alive.
Helen stops in front of me and offers a small curtsy. “Talia.”
I don’t curtsy back, even though in Sinta and without my publicly claiming my title, she technically outranks me. Neither of us thinks like that. Once a Fisan, always a Fisan. I wonder if her new Sintan kin offered for my younger sister Ianthe before moving on to Helen. If they did, it happened after I ran away, or else Andromeda never told me. Mother doesn’t exactly share.
“You didn’t bring the baby.” I glance over her shoulder toward the courtyard. “I wanted to see him. He’s family, after all.”
Helen pales, and I want to kick myself.Familyis a curse word where we come from.
She steps to the left, blocking my view of the carriage. “My power has grown. I have Elemental Magic you would envy.”
Clearly she’s not afraid of a confrontation. It must be hormones. And Idoenvy Elemental Magic. I can absorb those powers and then use them until they run out, but permanently possessing a magical form of even one of the four elements would be a huge advantage—one I’m often without.
“I killed Sybaris and stole her Dragon’s Breath. Don’t threaten me.”
Helen’s face goes from white to ghastly white. “My baby is innocent.”
“Good Gods, Helen, I’m not going to hurt your son. You had nothing to do with my getting stabbed. Believe me, that was entirely my own fault. I should have taken care of a threat weeks ago, and I didn’t.”Because I’m in love, and happy, and going incredibly soft.“And your husband inadvertently telling Beta Sinta who I am wasn’t your fault, either. If I understand correctly, you were busy giving birth at the time.”
If I didn’t know her, I probably wouldn’t see the new influx of anxiety sharpening her already angular features. “Oreste has no idea who you really are. I kept your secret.”
I like Helen. I always have. She’s protective and paranoid, like me. “I know. I believe you. We were friends before.” Sort of. We never tried to kill each other. “I’d like to be friends again. I’d like our families to be friends.”
Helen stares at me, her expression not giving much away. “Families?”
The word just slipped out. No taking it back now. Rather than backpedal like a fool, I hold out my hand and show her the large, square emerald flashing on my finger. “I’m betrothed to Beta Sinta.”Not that I’m telling Griffin that.
Helen’s jaw slackens, her reaction more marked this time. “He’s a southern Sintan Hoi Polloi. You have ichor in your veins. Olympian blood. Titan blood. He’s so far beneath you, you’ll have to squint to see him.”
I shake my head. “He’s so far above me, I’ll get a neck ache looking up to him.”
Helen looks at me oddly, like I just stripped down to muscle and bone and donned a new skin—one she likes much better. She glances toward the carriage. Her baby started crying, and Oreste takes the boy from his mother, Urania, and rocks him. There’s something innately shielding and tender in the curve of his body as he tucks the infant against his chest.
“He adores you, doesn’t he?” I ask. “You’re safe.”
Helen turns back to me, and I see her swallow. “I always wanted you to be happy. You and Eleni.”
“Eleni never got the chance.” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice. And, apparently, the guilt.
My cousin reaches out and grips my wrist. Despite growing up in the same household, I think it’s the first time we’ve touched. “It wasn’t your fault.”
I shrug. My next breath leaves me empty. “Maybe not, but there are infinite things a person can do differently in the space of just a few seconds.”
Helen nods. She knows that, too.
“Go,” I urge when the baby’s cries turn into wails. “He’s probably hungry.”
Helen looks over again but doesn’t move. “What are you doing, Talia? You’re a queen, not a Beta’s wife. Is this really where you belong?”
I laugh softly. “You should have seen what I was doing before.” Soothsaying at a circus, dressed like a brigand, living in a tent. It was fabulous. Free. “Also, I’m only a queen when Mother dies, and Andromeda isn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately.”
We both grimace. It’s involuntary. Simultaneous. Then Helen’s eyes stray toward the courtyard again, small grooves forming beside her mouth.
“What is it?” I ask.
