“You don’t think he’d fight willingly for you?” Sebastian asked. “If he remembered.”
“No, he is a threat.” She rubbed her upper arm. “One we must learn to control.”
“Who?” Lottie asked. “What is going on?”
Again, she was ignored, and the frustration of it made her want to throw something.
Sebastian straightened. “Shall I send for the commander now?”
The aesran paused thoughtfully. “No, we have guests waiting. Come, Charlotte.”
“Hold on,” Lottie demanded. “I would like some answers.”
Her mother offered the guard a brief glance before turning to Lottie. “As would I, actually. Honest ones, this time. Where did Augustus find the ring? Does he remember what happened?”
Before Lottie could answer, Sebastian reached out his hand and placed it gently on her shoulder. She recoiled from the touch with a scowl.
“Don’t you touch me.”
“His wardrobe,” Sebastian answered plainly. “In his chambers.”
Lottie’s expression dropped, her stomach twisting in a knot. How did he know that?
“It seems,” the guard continued, “he doesn’t remember where it’s from. His surprise was genuine. I believe it was placed there before.”
The realization sent her heart into her throat. “You’re a listener.”
That wasn’t possible. It was a prohibited magic. Her mother would never hire a listener to work in the castle, let alone as her personal guard.
She looked to the aesran, waiting for a reaction, for that same moment of realization. For her to call for his arrest. But there was only cold indifference, a look that confirmed she already knew.
How long had she known? Was it the reason she’d chosen him? To use his magic? Butshewas the one enforcing the laws. The hypocrisy was glaring, and the unfairness of it burned in Lottie’s chest.
“So, it’s only illegal if it doesn’t benefityou?” she snapped, glare sharpened to a point. “Your laws send other listeners to their deaths. Why ishethe exception? Because he’s your puppet?”
Her mother brushed the harsh words away with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Wipe this, Sebastian. I need to return to my guests.”
The aesran turned and headed back to the dining hall, her gown whispering across the marble floor.
Wipe this.
What did that mean?
She didn’t realize Sebastian was moving until his fingertips were against her temple.
Lottie raised her arm to shove him away, and—
She blinked, suddenly overcome with a strange, disorienting dizziness. Her hand fell to her side, and she blinked again. Perhaps she’d had too much wine.
Slow footsteps retreated down the hall, and she glanced around the foyer as the muffled laughter and clinking silverware of the dinner guests continued deeper inside the castle.
She looked down at the circlet, tracing the smooth edges with her thumb, and smiled. She was glad August could get away from the party. Some fresh air would do him well.
As for her, she was looking forward to dancing. Why was she still lingering out here?
The low hum of conversation surrounded Felix as he lay sprawled across the bench in the bay window at the back of the pub, feet propped up, arm hanging off the edge.
Felix had spent his entire life forced to conceal his talents and feign mediocrity, pretending he was inferior when he knew very well he was one in a million. To make up for it, he made it a point to take up as much space in the world as he could.
