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“These court affairs aren’t such a hardship.” Lyros’s green gaze drifted over Mak. They both wore the formal regalia of all Stewards in Orthros’s small army, Hippolyta’s Stand: short black battle robes with the constellation Aegis embroidered in silver on the chest.
Mak brushed his fingers across Lyros’s temple. His brown Grace braid could be seen against Lyros’s darker brown hair, tied back with his speires, the ceremonial hair ties of Hesperine warriors. “I’ll put up with any stuffy negotiations for that look. Not to mention getting to admire you while we spar with the Ashes.”
The famous mercenaries known as the Ashes were gathered at the forefront of the crowd. The five of them had important political ties to their respective homelands within the Empire, but also personal ties to Solia. They had been her and Tendo’s family for eight years, before she had given up her freedom to serve the Empress in secret.
A dozen of the Golden Shield flanked the Empress as she entered, while one of her woman advisers recited her praises. Her Imperial Majesty, now in her full finery, was a moving masterpiece with heavy gold jewelry and an ornate headdress. Lio, Cassia, and their Trial brothers bowed, while the Empress’s subjects knelt, only rising when she had settled on her solid gold throne.
Lio’s gaze went to the Golden Shield behind the Empress’s right shoulder. That was where Solia had stood the night he had, unknowingly, first met his Grace-sister and announced his and Cassia’s bond to her before the entire Imperial court. Not how he had planned to tell Solia that he was a potential cause of death for her sister.
The Empress spoke. “For centuries, justice has flowed down from the Supreme Goddess Zalele to our people through the hands of our foremothers. Tonight, we shall deliver another judgment which upholds rightness and law in our Empire.”
The Empress gestured to her left. There was Ukocha, the now-retired leader of the Ashes. The small, muscular woman looked dignified and deadly, even with her arm in a sling. She stood with her old friend, the notorious Captain Ziara of the Empress’s privateers, whose beaded locks swayed in the invisible breeze of her wind magic. Behind them were a number of graying Imperials who all wore the same sign somewhere on their embroidered wraps or jeweled brooches: an acacia branch.
“Every surviving Victor of Souls honors us with their presence tonight.” The Empress paused as cheers for the famous winners of the Battle of Souls went up throughout the hall.
“Sisters and brothers,” she said, invoking the symbolic clan bond between her and the rulers of the sister states that comprised her Empire. “Recall the momentous Battle of Souls that took place five years ago. Perhaps my trusted adviser can remind us of those events.” Her gaze slid to the Diviner of the High Court.
She must choose her words with care, for she had once been a member of the Rezayal. She had chosen the Empress’s side in the end, but only remained at court on her sufferance, and everyone knew it. “Alas, the winner that year was not deemed qualified to be declared the Victor of Souls.”
“And why was that?” the Empress inquired.
The Diviner cleared her throat. “She was not a citizen of the Empire, and therefore could not receive the acacia.”
It was possibly the most polite way the Diviner could state that the Rezayal had been out for Solia’s blood because she was a foreigner.
“And what did we do?” the Empress pressed.
The Diviner paused. “Under the policy of isolation, she was not permitted to reside in your Empire. Your Imperial Majesty, always upholding the rule of law and the safety of your people, had her arrested.”
“So we allowed everyone to believe,” the Empress replied.
“Your Imperial Majesty?” the Diviner queried uncertainly. Her courtier’s mask slipped, betraying her surprise.
The Empress smiled like a cat who had caught her prey. “We placed this honorable warrior under our protection, where the Rezayal could not persecute a most noble defender of our Empire. Although she was born in faraway lands, she has proved her unwavering loyalty to us for many years. Let it be known she is a welcome guest in our lands.”
The Empress lifted a hand. Solia, who usually leapt at the command, now paused. Her fleeting hesitation was the only sign that she’d had no idea this would happen tonight.
When she left her place at the Empress’s side to kneel before the throne, stifled gasps and murmurs went up around the room.
“Sunburn of the Gold Roster,” the Empress declared, “Victor of Souls, Sister Commander in the Golden Shield, we thank you for your deeds on behalf of our people and your decorated service at our right hand. We hereby decommission you from the Golden Shield. Disarm, rise, and once again wear your own name: Princess Solia of Tenebra.”
Emotion swelled in the Blood Union, and the overflow of human hearts was enough to make Lio rock on his feet. There was the glee of those who lived for court drama; the outrage of the Diviner’s sympathizers; and the worry of the Empress’s advisers, who must now recalculate.
But the Ashes were a nova. Among them, only Tendo’s conflicting emotions betrayed no shock. Only Solia was opaque, her mind concealed from Lio’s magic by her enchanted armor.
She unbuckled her sword. She laid the blade of the Golden Shield at the Empress’s feet, but her hand lingered on the hilt for a long moment. At last, she released it and rose.
Piece by piece, she removed her armor and her many hidden weapons. Finally she stood before them in nothing but fabric and the golden defensive spells that clung to her skin like molten metal, her face still hidden by her helmet.
Now she removed her mask to reveal her guarded blue gaze and golden hair. Her spell-armor receded over her sun-tanned skin. The magic guarding her thoughts and emotions deserted her, and Lio could sense her clearly in the Blood Union for the first time.
Hello, Grace-sister, he thought. There you are.
She appeared as composed as if a sudden beheading wouldn’t cause her to twitch. But underneath, she was so vulnerable that Lio thought she might shatter before their eyes.
After five years of absolute discipline, everything certain in her world had just been stripped away from her. It was difficult to be angry about her disapproval when she was reeling.
But the family of her heart was here to catch her, as Lio and his Hesperine family had always tried to do for Cassia.
