The Unbound Queen Read online

  Amongst those standing to one side of Aristides's sunburst throne stood Imogene du Laq, the Duquesse of San Pierre. She didn't look in the slightest bit tense, though her expression was solemn. Then again, she was a soldier, of a kind. An Imperial mage. Perhaps she would welcome the opportunity for a war. Perhaps they all would. Or perhaps they thought that they could take a country as small as Anglion easily enough. Though not without some degree of death and destruction. Which would mostly rain down on Anglion heads.

  Aristides cleared his throat, breaking the chill-inducing path of Sophie's thoughts and returning her attention to him.

  "I grant, Lady Scardale, that it has been a trying day. And yes, the need is not yet at the point where action is unavoidable."

  She tightened her grip on Cameron's arm as the sudden relief sweeping through her threatened, for a moment, to buckle her knees.

  A reprieve. Though there was no way to tell how long it might last. Sevan was currently being interrogated by whomever it was that Aristides used to drag information out of his prisoners.

  Whatever Sevan had to reveal would have an impact on the emperor's plans. Was it wrong to hope he would say nothing?

  Or at least stay silent long enough to let her decide how best to approach resisting the emperor's plans should he decide to pursue them.

  She tilted her head forward and let those treacherous knees carry her down into a curtsy. Cameron waited until she was safely upright again before he offered a bow.

  "Your Imperial Majesty," he said. "As you say, this day has been both trying and long. I would like to take my wife back to the Academe. After all, we both have classes to attend in the morning."

  The quirk to Aristides's mouth made it clear that he was well aware that this was Cameron making a strategic withdrawal from the field of battle. But, for once, it seemed that the emperor was willing to leave the discussion unresolved. He inclined his head. "Of course, Lord Scardale. There will be many opportunities to continue this conversation in the coming days and weeks."

  Sophie managed not to wince at this pronouncement. Leave now, worry about the future later. She'd reached her limit for dealing with politics for one night. The thought of returning to the relative safety of the Academe, crawling into bed, and pulling the covers firmly over her head was more appealing than almost anything else she could imagine right now.

  So she added a second curtsy to Cameron's murmured, "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty," and tried to keep her pace to sedate rather than frantic as they left the throne room.

  "He cannot be serious!" Cameron slapped the wall near the door of their apartment, sending a surge of power into the wards. The impact that echoed back up his arm and sent a twinge across his forehead did nothing to reduce his fervent desire to hit something. Possibly someone. Aristides came to mind. Sadly, the emperor was off limits. He scowled at the wall, flexing his stinging hand, and turned from the door as the wards flared into place, ensuring no one would be able to hear them. He'd held his tongue during the carriage ride back from the palace—treasonous plots not being something it was safe to discuss in public—but they were going to talk about it now.

  "The man is insane."

  Sophie stood near the end of the bed, untying her cloak. The shadows under her eyes spoke of creeping exhaustion. He should let her sleep. He should sleep himself. But not until they dealt with what had just happened at the palace.

  "Not insane. Merely used to getting his own way," Sophie said.

  Did she think that made Aristides’s suggestion any less ridiculous? "You are not going to agree to this. It would be madness." There was no escaping the fact that Sophie stood high in the line of succession, but to actively try and take the throne from Eloisa? That went against every oath he had ever made. He—or they—might be exiles, but that didn't make them traitors.

  "Did I do anything back there to make you think I disagree with you?"

  "You didn't say 'no'," he said, the words sharper than he'd intended.

  Her lips pressed tight for a moment as though she was biting back a response, but then she lifted a brow. "Can you tell me how I was supposed to do that without angering Aristides?"

  He threw up his hands. "Not offhand, no." Which was part of the reason he was so furious. The emperor had very neatly sprung a trap around them.

  Sophie tilted her head. "All right. Then we're agreed. There was no way to refuse back there. So how about you stop looming and scowling, and we talk about what we are going to do?" She sank onto the end of the bed and patted the quilt beside her. "Come and sit down. I don't want to have to explain to the healers if you collapse."

  "I'm not going to collapse," he muttered.

  "It's been a busy day," she said. "Explosions, assassination attempts, sanctii, emperors. If you don't need to sit down, how about you come over here and let me lean on you? I, for one, am exhausted."

  Guilt flashed through him. She looked exhausted. But she clearly wasn't going to rest until he did. And she wasn't the one he was angry at. He pulled hard on the reins of his temper. It didn't help much. But the worry in Sophie's eyes pulled his focus. He lowered himself onto the bed beside her and pulled her close. She laid her head against his shoulder with a sigh, but the tautness in her body told him she wasn't relaxed. He doubted either of them would be able to rest until they finished this conversation, and he needed rest as much as she did. His recently healed head was throbbing with each beat of his heart.

  "We can't let Aristides do this. It's madness," he said.

  "I agree. The question is, what do we do to stop him?" Her fingers tightened around his. "Perhaps we should have returned to Anglion." Doubt quivered through her voice.

  "That is no more a choice than agreeing to what the emperor wants," Cameron said sharply. In fact, it was a worse choice. He pressed a knuckle to the side of his head where the throbbing was worst. The two of them going back to face Eloisa's wrath without the protection of the emperor and the might of his army was tantamount to suicide.

  Sophie straightened, sliding away from him on the bed. "What then? Do we stay? Try to change the emperor's mind?"

  If only he knew the answer to that question. In truth, he couldn't see many good options. "That seems best, for now."

  "For now?" Sophie's brown eyes widened. "For how long? And if that doesn't work, then what?" Her brows drew in. "People who want to put themselves totally beyond the emperor's reach usually try for Anglion. We can't do that."

  "It's a big empire," he said. "There have to be places we could hide. Go unnoticed. Your Illvyan is good now and only getting better. It's a possibility."

  She didn't look as though she agreed with him. He wasn't sure he agreed with himself, which made it hard to fault her doubt.

  "Wouldn't they come after us? Track us? They have sanctii. Sanctii can find people."

  The pain in his head bit deeper. "Do you know that for sure? They can find their own mages. That doesn't mean they can find anyone else." He still knew next to nothing of water magic. But Sophie had bonded with a sanctii and that sanctii had apparently provided her with the knowledge she needed to be a water mage the fast way. The dangerous way. His stomach clenched at the thought. Henri Martin, the Maistre of the Academe di Sages had been horrified at the risk Sophie had taken, letting a sanctii dump magic into her mind with no idea what she was doing. "Does it?"

  Sophie's frown deepened. "I'm not sure." She grimaced, digging her fingers into the back of her neck. Maybe her head hurt as much as his. "We could ask Elarus."

  She said it easily, as though it was perfectly normal that she now had a sanctii to call on. He'd started to grow accustomed to being around sanctii during their time in Illvya, but apparently he was still Anglion enough to feel a flash of fear at the thought of his wife summoning one to their rooms as matter-of-factly as calling for one of the Academe maids.

  "Now?"

  Concern flashed through her eyes. Then changed to resolution. "We need to know."

  "All right." He took
her hand again. Watched as she closed her eyes and felt a tiny spark of power through their bond. Then the sanctii—Elarus, he had to get used to using her name—appeared in front of him. He managed not to flinch.

  "Thank you," Sophie said, looking at Elarus.

  "You need help?" The sanctii's head turned from Sophie to him, her large black eyes somehow assessing. He stared back, trying to commit her features to memory. Elarus was taller than the male sanctii and her skin darker, shaded in charcoal and black rather than the stonier grays of the male sanctii he knew. She allowed his inspection for a few moments, then turned back to Sophie.

  "Help?" Elarus repeated.

  Sophie cleared her throat. Glanced at him briefly, then continued. "We have a question."

  "Ask."

  "Can sanctii track people? Find someone across a distance?"

  "Find you," Elarus said. "Always."

  "But what about others?"

  The sanctii lifted a hand. "Some. If know their magic."

  "You can follow someone's magic?" Cameron asked.

  "If it is known," Elarus said slowly. "Some easier than others." She pointed between Sophie and Cameron. "You two would be easy. Because of that."

  That? Did she mean their bond?

  Sophie's face fell. "Our bond? That makes us easier to find?"

  "Not common," Elarus said. "So, yes."

  "I see," Sophie said slowly. "So, someone who knew us could find us by looking for the bond? You or Ikarus or one of the other Academe sanctii?"

  "Not needed for me," Elarus said. "The others, likely."

  "What about people who aren't mages?" Cameron asked.

  Elarus shrugged slowly. "Soldiers. Trackers. Empire has many." Her tone suggested such things were unimportant.

  "But sanctii can't track someone without magic?" He pressed.

  "No," Elarus said. She tilted her head. "No...song. No joining to the power."

  The power? Did she mean the ley line connection?

  "What if someone you knew changed their magic somehow," Sophie said before he could ask another question? "Could you find them?"

  "Change how?"

  "I don't know," Sophie said. Her gaze was fixed on Elarus "What if they added a bond? Or broke—"

  "No!" Cameron interrupted her.

  She still didn't look at him. "Elarus? Would that work?"

  "It doesn't matter if it would work because we're not doing that," he said. He reached for Sophie's hand. Elarus's hand shot out and caught his wrist before he could touch her. There was a flash of near chill when her fingers closed around him, and then it faded to just rough skin gripping tightly. He froze.

  "Elarus, let him go," Sophie said. "Please."

  The sanctii's eyes were deepest black this close. And they looked angry. Her grip didn't loosen.

  "Elarus, it's all right. He wasn't going to hurt me. It was a disagreement, nothing more."

  Elarus made a disbelieving noise, but then she released him. He pulled his arm back but schooled himself to make no other move, keeping watch on the sanctii.

  "Sophie?" he said, slanting a quick glance sideways. "Is everything all right?"

  Sophie nodded. "Elarus. Thank you, that's all we needed to know. And you never need to worry about Cameron. He'd never hurt me."

  "Safe?" Elarus said.

  "Safe," Sophie agreed. "Always." She moved closer to Cameron. "Thank you."

  Elarus gave Cameron another look, the moment stretching uncomfortably. But apparently, she was satisfied because the next moment she vanished.

  Sophie shivered and sagged back down onto the bed.

  Cameron joined her. "That was...interesting."

  "It's new," Sophie said. "And I think she was upset earlier, when we were at the palace."

  "Was she there?" Cameron asked.

  "She spoke to me," Sophie said. "I don't know how close she was."

  That was hardly comforting. But getting used to Elarus would take time. Right now, making sure they would have that time was more pressing. "So, no running, then," he said.

  Sophie straightened. "That's not what she said. We could—"

  "We're not breaking our bond," Cameron said. "It's not an option."

  Sophie gripped his hand. "I'm not saying I want to. I'm saying we need to consider it. If it would give us a chance to get away. To be free."

  "No." How she could even think such a thing?

  "Listen to me. It wouldn't mean we're not married. It wasn't part of our wedding." She squeezed his hand together. "It doesn't change how we feel about each other. And if we had to—"

  "We don't even know if we could break it," Cameron interrupted. "We don't even know how we formed it in the first place."

  "Elarus said she could," Sophie said quietly. "When I bonded with her, she asked if I wanted it still."

  "You didn't mention that."

  "I kept it. There was nothing to tell." She lifted one hand and gently pushed his face around to face her. "I know you don't like this idea, but we need options. This is an option. A chance. One we might need. If it let us get away, to stay hidden, then it would be worth it. It wouldn't have to be forever. So, be angry with me, but I'm going to talk to Elarus about this some more. See what she knows. So, if it comes to the worst, we can get away. Body and blood. Whatever it takes, yes? To stay safe. To stay together?" Her eyes searched his face.

  She was right. He hated it, but she was. But that didn't mean he was ready to accept it. Not just yet. He leaned down, pressed his forehead to hers. "Body and blood. But we can discuss this further tomorrow. I need to sleep. So do you. Or there won't be enough of either of us left functioning to do anything at all."

  She breathed out a sigh. "Sleep sounds good."

  More than good. The call to lie down and simply not be for a while was hard to resist. But he forced himself up, helped Sophie with her dress and managed to discard his own clothes before he crawled into bed and curled himself around her, breathing with her while he still could.

  Chapter 2

  Surely she hadn't been asleep long enough for it to be morning? But the morning sun slanting over Sophie's face as she squinted one eye open told a different story. Definitely morning.

  Cameron didn't stir beside her as she eased upright. She listened to his steady breaths, trying to shake the fog from her brain. A smart person would go back to sleep, but as her mind started to whirl through all the events of the previous night, she knew she wouldn't be able to.

  She slid free of the sheets and found a robe. Her stomach rumbled as she slipped it on carefully, still watching Cameron to make sure she didn't disturb him. He needed sleep to finish healing. She, if she wasn't going to sleep beside him, needed a bath. And then tea. Lots of tea. Perhaps some food, though she wasn't entirely sure her stomach wouldn't rebel if she ate. And then, she needed to talk to Elarus.

  Half an hour later, she'd not long settled herself at one of the smaller tables in the dining hall with a tray of tea and plain toast, when Willem, one of the younger students, darted into the room, his expression turning relieved when he spotted her. The boy's pale curls bounced as he half jogged toward her, his face flushed in a way that suggested he had been running before he'd reached the hall.

  Her stomach, which she'd only just managed to convince to contemplate the toast, tightened again as he reached her.

  "Good morning, my lady," Willem panted.

  She made herself smile. "Good morning, Willem. What brings you here at such a pace?"

  He glanced at her and for a moment, his eyes widened as his gaze flicked between her collar and her face.

  Her hand flew up to her neck self-consciously. She reached for her new student robes after her bath. The ones Madame Simsa had given her the night before, after she'd bonded with Elarus. The ones that carried both the blue of water magic and the brown of earth at the collar.

  The Academe was a difficult place to keep a secret, but apparently Willem hadn't yet heard the news of her change in status.

 
She braced herself for the seemingly inevitable question, but the boy, after a second quick glance, seemed to recollect that he was there for a reason.

  "A message from Madame Simsa, my lady," he said. "You are to see her at the training rooms immediately after breakfast."

  She'd been right, then. No rest for the wicked. Though she'd been expecting the summons to come from Henri, not Madame Simsa. She'd bonded a sanctii without training or permission. She'd managed not to kill herself or go crazy in the process, but based on the reactions from the Illvyans the previous evening, that had been pure dumb luck.

  The Academe wasn't going to risk her getting into still more trouble. She'd expected a lecture from Henri Matin, but apparently the Maistre had assigned the task to Madame Simsa.

  She poked at the cooling toast on her plate, pushing the pieces around, appetite completely vanished. Madame Simsa had already made it clear that she thought Sophie was foolhardy beyond belief for bonding with Elarus. It seemed unlikely that their coming encounter would be pleasant. She was starting to forget what pleasant encounters were like.

  "My lady, are you all right?" Willem asked, frowning down at her with worried blue eyes.

  No. But Willem couldn't know that. She couldn't tell him the truth about what had happened at the palace or how she felt. The only one she could share that with was Cameron. And even then, she wasn't sure she wanted to let even him know exactly how scared she was. She'd burdened him with enough. So she would keep going, keep pretending she was perfectly fine. Until she was.

  She lifted her tea. Sipped it. Found a smile. "Yes, Willem. I'm all right." The bell that signaled the end of breakfast began to chime above them. "You should get to your lessons."

  Tea sloshed uneasily in Sophie's stomach as she reached the training rooms at the far end of the Academe's grounds where she usually took her lessons with Madame Simsa. She'd stretched her breakfast out as long as she dared past the ringing of the bell, drinking nearly the whole pot, and walked as slowly as she could, but now there were no more ways to put this off.