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“I’d prefer that you didn’t.” Magnus swept another glance through the large room, but no one seemed to have recognized him yet.
“Come.” Nic shoved the heavy wooden chair across from him with his foot. “Join me. I hate to drink alone.”
Magnus gave this a moment’s thought, before he did as Nic suggested. He kept his back to the rest of the room to further conceal his identity.
“Thirsty?” Nic asked, but without waiting for a reply, he gestured for the barkeep to come to their table.
The heavyset bald man with a thick, dark beard, approached confidently, but the moment Magnus glanced at him from the cowl of his cloak, his steps faltered.
“Your highness,” the barkeep gasped.
“Quiet,” Magnus replied. “No need to inform anyone of my presence here.”
The man trembled as he bowed deeply and lowered his voice to a raspy whisper. “I beg of you, don’t judge me too harshly. I don’t usually serve such evil, sinful beverages here. The night is so cold and . . . well, these loyal citizens were just looking for something that might warm their bellies.”
Magnus regarded the man patiently. “Is that so? In a dedicated room that requires a secret knock?”
The barkeep grimaced, his shoulders slumping. “Spare my family. Take me. Execute me. But leave them. They had nothing to do with my dark decisions.”
He had no patience for sniveling martyrs tonight. “Bring me a bottle of your best Paelsian wine. No need for a goblet.”
“But . . .” The barkeep blinked rapidly. “Well, your highness, Paelsian wine is only sold in Auranos. It’s part of their treaty—as I’m sure you know. Even if I were allowed to serve it by law, it could not be imported here.”
o;I represent the goddess here, lest you forget,” he continued, his voice edged in fiery defiance. He sniffed as Magnus gave him a sharp glare, then lowered his gaze to the table top, his jaw clenched.
Magnus stood up and walked around the long table, considering the problem at hand. “I’ll send a message to my father, presenting this proposal to him. As he has made no attempts to cease the sale and consumption of wine or ale in Auranos, I believe he may see the potential here to solve a great many problems with one bold decision.” The high priest again opened his mouth, and Magnus raised his hand to stop him. “Can you swear to the goddess right now that you have never tasted a drop of wine in your entire life, High Priest Danus? I certainly can’t.”
“Nor I,” Kurtis conceded with a nod. “The princess is as smart and innovative as she is beautiful.”
“Indeed she is,” Magnus agreed without thinking.
Cleo glanced at him, clearly surprised by this admission. Their gazes locked and held. He was the first to look away.
“This meeting is at an end,” Magnus said, managing to find his voice again.
The council members moved to leave, but Lord Loggis raised a finger, stopping them. “There is one last matter to discuss, your highness,” he said. “The large search party of guards that has been sent out to find Princess Lucia has found nothing at all. Apologies, but to continue to have so many men focused this task seems to me a misuse of both manpower and resources.”
His sister’s name drew Magnus’s full attention. “I disagree.”
“But, your highness,” Lord Loggis went on, “nothing about the current situation suggests that your sister is in any danger. Perhaps . . .” He cleared his throat. “Perhaps once the princess has had enough time to think through her recent actions, and how they might have caused some alarm, she will simply return to the palace and all will be well and forgiven.”
When Magnus had tripled the number of guards assigned to scour the land for Lucia, he hadn’t given them or their commanders any additional details about her disappearance. He didn’t reveal that her tutor was an exiled Watcher. That Lucia was a sorceress. That the last place he knew for certain that she’d been was left with a floor splattered with blood, dead bodies outside, and an ice storm summoned by pure, unleashed elemental magic.
“Another week,” Magnus said. “If the guards don’t find her by then, I’ll call half of them back.” Lord Loggis opened his mouth to protest further, but Magnus raised his hand. “That’s my final decision.”
The lord nodded, his dark eyes empty of anything friendly. “Yes. Of course, your highness.”
Magnus gestured to the door and the council members filed out of the room.
“Princess, wait,” he said, stopping Cleo short on the threshold.
She turned to him, her face once again full of surprise, as he pushed the doors closed behind the others, leaving them alone in the cavernous throne room.
“Yes?” she said.
“Strangely, I find it necessary to thank you for your input today.”
She raised her brow. “Thank me? Am I dreaming?”
