In the Veins of the Drowning(44)

“She has a dress. You have wine.” The empress shrugged. “You have a bed for consummating. You’re eager for this marriage, are you not?”

He was a marvel, his perfect austerity. The regal, unflinching command he had over himself. He offered up one quick nod. “Of course.”

Gods. The bond—my asinine jealousy—ignited something primal in me. The urge to drag Theodore away with me, to shred the contracts, to make it known he was mine, raced through my body like hot, pulsing blood.

“However,” Theodore said, with no timidity, “there are traditions—”

“You mistake my gentle tone, Theodore,” the empress said in a new, rougher voice. “I was not making a suggestion.”

Theodore froze. Lachlan straightened, as if on high alert, and I remembered Theodore’s mention of the might of her fleet and troops. The empress was an excellent ally and a nightmare of an enemy.

“Your Majesty.” Eftan spoke with diplomatic grace, and gave Theodore a nod that said you must.

Theodore cleared his throat. “I’ll be scarce before the wedding,” he said, “but I agree to a fortnight.”

Suddenly, I wasn’t certain that bleeding through my eyes and nose and mouth in a severing ritual was less preferable to this. The bond made the thought of Theodore marrying the princess feel more gruesome than having my guts pulled out through my navel. I needed to get to the Mage Seer immediately.

I poured more wine into my cup and the meeting droned on and on with clauses about legitimate and illegitimate children, trade tariffs, and haggling over what Halla’s queenly expenses would be. And all the while the bond screamed a relentless no, no, no. Finally, when I was certain the fizzing wine would do nothing to dull my misery, I reached across the table and swiped Eftan’s quill from where it lay, which earned me his menacing, silent glare. I dipped the nib, scratched a note onto a piece of discarded paper, and slid it in front of Lachlan.

He scanned it, then whispered, “Don’t you dare.”

“I can’t do this,” I whispered back. “It won’t kill us. He’ll be fine.”

“You can last a few more hours. You must.”

“No, I mustn’t. I agreed to three of the asshole’s conditions. This was not one of them.”

But going to the Mage Seer, learning of my mother, and having our bond severed was. I rose abruptly, and the entire table’s attention snapped to me.

I curtsied. “I beg your forgiveness, but I am too ill to stay any longer.”

“Oh,” said Princess Halla, with a dainty hand at her throat. “I do hope you feel better.”

“Thank—” I paused. I stared at her pale fingers, or rather, at the large, brilliant gray stone that hung around her neck, just above them. It was identical to the stone on my finger. “Your necklace,” I said, turning my ring so the gem was hidden on the inside of my palm. “It’s unusual. But lovely.”

That spring smile of hers reared again. “Oh yes. A spinel. They are only mined in Obelia. Very rare.”

“Very rare, indeed.” I curtsied once more and glanced to Theodore. “Please, excuse me, Your Majesty.”

“Imogen, you cannot leave.” His gaze burned. “Stay.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” I set a hand to my stomach, right over where our bond sat in screaming revolt. “It hurts too much. I have to go—”

“For a stroll through the garden.” Lachlan shot up and grabbed my arm. “Fresh air will do you good.”

I tried, unsuccessfully, to remove his hand from me. “I’m not strolling through the garden, Commander.”

“Yes,” Lachlan said, tugging me around my chair. “You are.” He gave Theodore, who had gone still with blank-faced anger, a meaningful look. “In fact, I suggest we all take a stroll. Give your fiancée a tour of your favorite garden, Your Majesty. We’ve been at it for hours. A break would be wise.”

The sun was high and blinding. It made the flowers, pink and red and yellow, glow like flames.

Lachlan held my arm firmly to his side as we strolled down the gravel path behind Theodore and the princess.

“You can loosen your grip, Commander.” I watched as Halla glided through the garden with a hand extended, her elegant fingers brushing the flowers’ soft petals as she passed. “I’m not going to run away.”

“I’ve never met a less convincing liar.”

“I was in a state. The thought of them…” I gestured frustratedly at their backs. “This Godsdamned bond needs to be severed.”

Lachlan gave me a suspicious stare but said not a word.

Theodore and Halla slowed to take in a wide, gurgling fountain at the center of the garden, and we had no choice but to follow suit. The water danced and sluiced over the sculpted muscles and splayed wings of three stoic Sirens. Light glittered through its spray, through the drips that fell from the tips of their elbows and feathers.

Halla looked on it in wonder and, slowly, she made her way toward me. “Lady Nel, did you grow up here? What a childhood it must have been. This place is like something from a storybook.”

Theodore and Lachlan stood by, tense and silent, waiting for my answer.

“Oh no, Your Highness.” My mouth opened and shut as I searched for a suitable answer. “I… I grew up in the north.”