Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1)(64)
His grin broadened. “I’m afraid you’ve found me out.” Stepping closer, he added, “Though if Anton might bend the rules, I’d be happy to help you win your wager.”
I put my hands in the air, palms up. “I’m afraid he won’t. If you know the prince, you’ll understand what a purist he is to his principles. I shall have to find some other, unassuming man.”
The nobles behind Count Rostav looked hopeful. I gave them a demure smile and glided away, returning to the dais.
I wouldn’t ask anyone else to dance. I’d shocked the ladies of the court enough for one night. Besides, at just the drop of his name, Nicolai had given me another piece to the puzzle of Anton. The more evidence I gained, the sooner the prince would relent to sharing his plans, the sooner he’d permit me into his ring of trust. That was better than turning circles with him to the sweetest melody. Or so I kept telling myself.
When I reached my stool and whirled around to face the room, there at the far end of the dance floor was what I’d been longing to catch all evening—Anton’s attention, planted firmly on me.
He was not pleased.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
GOOD, I THOUGHT, AND MET THE PRINCE’S GAZE HEAD-ON. Let him wriggle in his discomfort. I hoped he had seen me speak with Nicolai, that he knew I was up to something and hadn’t forgotten the snatch of the letter I’d read so many months ago.
I lifted my chin and looked away from him first, finding some measure of power in that. Petty or not, it felt wonderful.
I sat on my stool with my back straight, my Auraseer’s robes spread at my feet like a fan. A dark sensation twisted inside me, like a serpent writhed in my gut. I exhaled and struggled to release it, but it only coiled tighter. My gaze flickered to Anton. Was this him? I’d been so fixated on his aura. But I’d never sensed something this disturbing within it before.
The music fell silent. The nobles faced the doors of the ballroom in expectation. Valko and Floquart reentered. They’d been gone such a long time, it led me to wonder how vast Riaznin’s treasury was, how much wealth we hoarded in the palace while so many went without.
As the guards filed in behind them, I saw Yuri a pace back from the rest. A few moments after him came Pia, her head lowered as she hurried to the nearest banquet table. She peeked up at me, her cheeks dimpling as she suppressed a smile. With the healthy flush of color on her skin, she was practically glowing. It appeared she’d stolen a dance, after all. At least one of us had.
I scanned the procession for the Esten Auraseer, but the girl with sunken eyes and auburn hair was nowhere to be seen.
The bitter feeling in me grew stronger, thicker like black tar. As the emperor drew nearer, it oozed into my mind, across my heart. The self-loathing I’d felt before Valko had left to the treasury came back with full vengeance. My thoughts reverted to Yuliya’s blood, Nadia’s death, the peasant man’s burning. The darkness spread inside me.
There were more ways a person could die. Suffocation. Smothering.
What would it feel like to hold a pillow over someone’s mouth? Who would let me close enough so I could try?
Would the emperor?
I slowly twirled a lock of hair as I watched him through murky vision, as if the blackness had bled across my eyes. I could knock on Valko’s door tonight, let him kiss me, let him do more, and while he slept in my arms, I could snuff the last breath from his lungs.
He smiled warmly at me from across the ballroom. His gaze held triumph. No doubt, the private meeting with Floquart had been successful—so successful the emperor had forgiven my indiscretions. I could already imagine his hot fingers on my skin. What would it feel like to break them?
The nobles fell into bows as the emperor’s procession carved across the dance floor. I restrained my curtsy until he was so near I could no longer afford to be indifferent. Now wasn’t the time to betray my dark intentions. He’d know them soon enough.
I rose from my curtsy and grinned up at him through my lashes, the taste of his promised death like sugar on my tongue.
Some niggling speck of reason flitted through my mind. When had the emperor wronged me to such a degree that I should feel so violent?
With a nod to the conductor and a slight motion to a servant, Valko recommenced the music and summoned a goblet of aqua vitae for the emissary. Floquart’s large hand encircled the cup. His cunning mouth took delicate sips.
The serpent in me slithered as I considered the emissary. Riaznin would benefit from a union to Estengarde. The wars at our borders would cease—at least to the west. The Esten army would fortify ours. Valko could invade Shengli with such strength, whether or not that was wise.
But what did Estengarde stand to gain by allying with us? Where we were surrounded by three countries, they had the sea on all sides except one—their northeastern front with the Bayac Mountains, a natural fortress. The border wars that devastated us did little damage to them or their numbers.
The serpent inside me slid under my ribs and squeezed my lungs.
While it was true Riaznin was less fortified, we were, however, wealthy—even if that wealth did little to assist our people or give us the united culture of which the Estens were so proud. They were rich enough without us, but if I knew one thing about greed, it was that its appetite was endless.
Floquart’s eyes peered over his goblet as he drank again, this time to take in the expanse of the room. His gaze held more admiration than the first glimpse of his arrival. Whatever he saw in our treasury had tipped the scales. He may think us unrefined, but we were still gold in his pockets.