Sterling (33 page)

He inclined his head, but said nothing as he left.

He had given me no opportunity to tell him the darkest of the secrets I had learned in Vorisipor. Did it matter? Was I bound to tell him of Papa’s sins?

I
bit
my lip and turned to Erich, who stood scowling at the door. “If he insults you one more time, Sterling, I’m challenging him to a duel.”

A nervous giggle escaped my lips. “But they say he’s the best, Erich. No one beats him. He invented the Thirteen Forms!”

Erich slid both arms around my waist. “I’ll fight him anyway. He cannot be allowed to say such things—”

“Oh, hush. It’s only what everyone thinks. In a way it’s a relief when people are honest about my mark.”

His embrace tightened, and his eyes darkened. I ran soft fingers over the terrible bruise on his face. “Oh, Erich, your poor face, and your back! Tell me what happened to you in Vorisipor.”

He moved to the window. “Nothing unusual for a prisoner.”

“They tortured you.” I tried to rid my voice of its quaver, but the thought of his pain upset me beyond concealment.

“They wanted to know about magic—the Fall, particularly. I think they sought confirmation that our magic was indeed dead. I told them nothing.”

“They truly didn’t know who you were, then?”

Erich shook his head. “We’d never have escaped that place if they did, Sterling. They thought me your bodyguard. They left me under the watch of only one man. Had they known I was Erich Talata, I would have been shackled in a dungeon a league below ground, I do not doubt it.”

“How did you escape?”

“They kept me in a cell, tied up, but the guard had to untie me when I ate. They were still feeding me because they thought I might break. After the whipping, the guard expected me to be too injured to fight. He was careless, and I took my opening. I killed him with his own blade, stole his money, dressed in his gear, and went seeking you. I found a room full of linen shrouds and stuffed one into my vest for you, in case you needed a disguise or veil.”

“But how did you find me? The Governor’s compound was huge. I could have been anywhere.” I wanted to touch him, but his stiff posture kept me at a distance.

Finally he turned from the window. The look on his face was so raw, so open. I caught my breath. “Can you not feel it?” he said. He fisted one hand over his heart. “Here? Sterling, you and I are bound. I do not know how or why or what it means, but I know this. If a mage could stand in this room and look into the Aethers, he would see a braid of aetherlight—yours and mine, yellow and blue, twisted together forever—connecting us, heart to heart. I found you because I felt you. The sense of you never leaves me. I know you, and you are mine.”

My hand spasmed over my heart, and there—I
did
feel something, something warm and potent, just beyond my senses, an awareness that stretched through my own flesh and reached for Erich. “I do feel it. And I saw it, Erich, that night when we were first together. I saw the braid! Yellow and peacock blue and green, braiding together.”

“Your aetherlight and mine,” he murmured.

“But it’s broken! Magic’s broken, everyone agrees. How can we feel this? Erich, what does it mean?”

“I don’t know. I only know that in Vorisipor, all I had to do was reach into my deepest senses. I could follow the braid between us, and it led me straight to you.”

I blinked back tears. “I thought you were one of the seven angels of Amassis when you arrived. They gave me a potion that left me disoriented.” We stood but an arm’s reach apart, but still we did not touch. If I hadn’t known magic was dead, I would have sworn the braid of aetherlight glowed between us. “Oh, Erich, you saw those awful papers. You saw what my father—”

“That land grant?” Erich finally caught my wrist. His touch was a balm to my rising anxiety. “Sterling, love, I’m sure they manufactured the document in preparation for your arrival. The entire episode, from start to finish, was a vile deceit. They’d do anything to get Lethemian lands. I would put nothing past those eastern snakes.”

I met his gaze. I was grateful to him for trying to ease my shame, but I couldn’t entirely agree with him—I’d seen my father’s signature on the original agreement; he had not. “Do you think I must tell Costas about it? I feared it would ruin everything—our new alliance, this good future. I want to move forward, Erich. I know it’s the best thing for the country. But if Costas finds out about the land deeds, he would never forgive my family. If you say anything about those land deeds to Costas, you could destroy me.”

“Sterling.” He lifted my filthy hand and brushed his lips over it. “You know I would do anything for you. Let me take care of this. I will make him understand. Costas and I know each other better than you think. We spent summers together once I was out of my isolation.”

“But Erich,” I said in a tiny voice. “I saw the signature on the original agreement—it truly was my father’s. And his seal, too. He wanted troops from them for his war, and—”

“Don’t you trust me? Sweetheart, I would protect you to the ends of the known world and beyond.” He guided me to the divan, where we both sat. He did not let go my hand. “Trust me. I can explain this to Costas, and it’s best that
I
do it. I won’t jeopardize your peace and your alliance. You’ll be able to move forward, as you wish.”

I nodded. “I do trust you, Erich.”

His arms worked around my waist. His mouth found mine, and he took a long, deep kiss that emptied my mind.

“I should let you go,” he murmured, pulling away. “You’re exhausted. And we both could use a bath. If only we could take one together.” He sighed. “We’ll have to wait for that that until
after
I talk with Costas.

“What does talking with Costas have to do with bathing?”

“I mean to tell him about our nuptials.”

I froze. “Erich, he already said no in Galantia. He’ll be angry if we ask again.”

“We don’t have to ask. We’ve already married. You deserved a grander occasion, but really, love, how did you forget our wedding? It was only a day ago!”

“But that was—”

“A true marriage, and we have the paper to prove it. And who is he to refuse what magic has already joined?” He clenched his fist over his chest again.

Costas’s reason for refusing Erich’s request last time still held true: Talata and Ricknagel were two powerful houses. Erich would inherit all the duties and responsibilities of House Talata, and then we’d both be Heads of House. Rarely did two Heads marry. It gave too much power to one single family.

“Go get cleaned up.” Erich ignored my quelling expression. He stood, picked me up as if I weighed nothing, carried me to the door, and set me on my feet. “I’ll meet you back here in an hour and we can present ourselves as husband and wife for the King’s approval.”

“Erich, he isn’t going to—“

He cut me off with a short kiss. “Hush. I will convince him.”

* * *

A
t last
! I closed my bedchamber door and stared at the familiar room. I’d picked the colors when I was twelve, and my tastes had run to pink and flowery. Though the carpet and drapes now struck me as a bit florid, I nearly cried with joy to see them again.

I’d already asked Metty the chambermaid to draw a bath, so I peeled off the terrible ragged linen Erich had found in Vorisipor. It would have to be burned. I slipped into a silk dressing robe and flopped across my bed. Nothing had ever felt so soft and welcoming. I nearly drifted to sleep, folding my hands over my chest.

My eyes flew open. I could still feel that warm cord Erich had described in Papa’s salon, as though there were still some magic in the world. The Emerald Ophira! I had thought that it, too, had emanated magical power, even after the Fall. I leapt off the bed with renewed energy and flung open my wardrobe. I’d put my jewel box in the safe there on that desperate day when Erich and I had fled Shankar.

There it was, tucked away and secure. I rolled the Ophira into my palm. I carried it into the bathing chamber and did not put it down until I had washed, dressed, and could slip it into my pocket. But I detected no life, no light, and no warmth inside it.

* * *

E
rich awaited
me in Papa’s office. “I requested another audience with Costas. He invited us for drinks in the entertaining parlor.”

Seeing Erich cleaned up and wearing a tailed coat left me feeling tongue-tied and self-conscious. For so many days, we had been like two halves that made a whole. But Erich was a lord again, and I was no match for his beauty and composure.

He hurried to my side to clasp my hand. “I know that look.” He touched his forehead against mine. His breath smelled of akavit. “You’re worried about your mark. I told you, I’d challenge him if he mocked you again, and I meant it. You let me do the talking.” He pulled me to the stairs and we descended.

Erich’s touch gave me confidence. I lifted my chest and walked to the entertaining salon like the lady my mother had said I’d never be.

“Lord Erich. Lady Ricknagel.” Costas stood beside the fireplace. “Have a shot of akavit.” He handed each of us a tiny glass. Erich downed his in one go, but I did not sip. I couldn’t stand the stuff.

Erich set down his glass, making a full courtly bow. “I wish to formally request your permission to marry Lady Sterling Ricknagel.”

Costas leaned against the mantel. “I’ve already told you my decision on this matter. I do not change my mind. The answer is and always will be no.”

Both men tautened. I felt detached, outside their battle of wills.

“There is something you do not know, Your Majesty,” Erich said coolly.

Costas glared at Erich and dropped the guise of formality. “What, Erich?”

“I—ah—that is to say—Lady Ricknagel and I took vows in a basilica in Vhimsantyr.” He rifled in his pocket and withdrew the official paper.

“Took vows? In Vhimsantyr?”

Erich gave a short nod as Costas perused the paper with a deepening scowl. My fingers cramped around the akavit glass so hard I feared it might burst in my hand.

“I do not have to honor this.” Costas waved the marriage certificate dismissively. “It holds no weight in Lethemia. I cannot believe you did this, Erich, after I forbade you to marry her. This deception does not bode well for these new agreements among our families.”

“I had to do it!” Erich turned to the table and poured himself another shot of akavit.

“What do you mean, you had to?” Costas bit out. He threw the Vhimsantese marriage certificate on the mantel. I was thankful he did not throw it in the fire.

Two red flags marked Erich’s cheekbones. “I took her innocence. And Costas—”

“Hells of Amatos, man!” Costas exploded.

“I want to do right by her,” Erich said quietly. “And I believe we have no other choice. As you and your bride are connected by something higher than individual desires, Sterling and I share a Bind, too.” He lifted his right hand above his heart.

Costas stared at Erich. “The
aetherlumo di fieri
? Is that what you mean? How would you know?”

“I felt it. I even saw it, Costas, the first time—when Sterling and I—were—ah—together. I saw the Bind.” The red flags widened into splotches.

Costas shook his head. “And now? What do you feel now that magic is broken?”

Erich cleared his throat. “I feel the Bind even now.”

Costas’s gaze sharpened. “After everything they put you through, your magic never died, did it, Erich?”

I gasped. Costas had known Erich had magic? Neither man took any notice of me.

“It never died,” Erich confirmed. “But this—this Bind between Sterling and me is the only trace of magic I can sense after the Fall. I don’t know what it means.”

“Neither do I,” Costas said. “But I know I have the same kind of Bind connecting me to Leila. I have no trace of magical talent, but even I can feel it. It is a mystery. I will send for Laith Amar. He may have some explanation for these Binds of the
aetherlumo di fieri
.” Costas picked up the marriage certificate again. “At least one of us can benefit from the Fall of Magic, no, Erich? With magic broken, no one can contest your place as heir to your House, whether you have the talent or not.” Costas abruptly faced me. “Is there any possibility you are with child, Lady Ricknagel?”

Two pairs of gorgeous male eyes focused on me, amber and blue. I quivered. “No. I mean, I don’t—how—I haven’t—no.”
I traced my hands over my waist. The thought had occurred to me, back when I’d understood Costas meant to prevent me from having children, that it would be lovely if I carried Erich’s child. But I hadn’t thought about it since. No one had ever told me how one would know if one were pregnant. I peered down at my body. I’d certainly not gained much weight.