Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1)(91)

“Which is why Feliks’s idea isn’t a bad one,” I said, circling back to the version of the revolution where Anton took the throne first before carefully giving the people their rights.

The prince frowned as he studied me. Dark rings had surfaced beneath his eyes. “You know why I won’t rule over my brother. Because he is my brother. And by order of birth, the throne is his.”

“Yet you seek to take it away from him, regardless. By direct manipulation. Through me. Which is worse?” The challenge between us coiled hot in our auras. It broke apart at Tosya’s exclamation.

“You wish Sonya to force Valko to abdicate?” His brows lifted with incredulity. “How?”

We hadn’t gotten to this part—Anton’s pivotal, impossible plan. “Sonya can do more than sense emotion,” the prince replied. “She can alter it in someone else.”

“Once!” I said in exasperation. “I was only able to do it one time!”

Tosya stared at me like a stranger. “Truly? And when did you acquire that gift?”

“When Valko tried to kill her,” Anton replied flatly.

Tosya’s brows raised another notch. “Ah,” he said, his gaze drifting between us, all too keen on everything left unspoken. “I see.”

I felt blood rush up my neck into my cheeks. Here, in this run-down boardinghouse, I felt far away from the palace, far away from Valko and the spell of charisma and attraction he’d cast over me, the link of mutual understanding he’d claimed we shared. It was hard to believe how conflicted I had been, how torn I’d felt between my desire for him and his brother.

“You’ve had an interesting few months at the palace, haven’t you, Sonya?” Tosya asked. Despite himself, he grinned. His perplexed and light emotion sent a tickle under my arms.

“Don’t tease her,” Anton said. “It isn’t funny.”

That only gave his friend permission to laugh. “You’re right. It isn’t.” Tosya tried to compose his features, but his humor only rose and flitted across my skin. “It kind of is.” He snorted, his eyes watering. “Just a little.”

I sucked in my cheeks and struggled not to laugh with him and let his aura overtake me. Anton’s frown deepened “What’s the matter with the two of you?”

“It’s him.” I pointed at Tosya, lips quivering.

“Stop it,” Anton commanded his friend.

Tosya chortled harder. I smacked his shoulder, and he buried his face in his hands. His palms pressed against his eyes and his entire body trembled with laughter. “I’m sorry! Truly, I am. It’s late and I can only handle so much surprise in one evening.” He pulled his hands away, his face red with merriment. “Thus far I’ve learned the two of you are not only acquainted”—his emphasis on that word designated it as a euphemism for something far more complicated—“but also that the young girl I once knew, who once rolled in the mud with the pigs when she had a sudden urge to cool off, is now the sovereign Auraseer, and that her entanglement in our revolution means she must ‘alter the emperor’s emotions’ to the extent that he willfully and joyfully hands over the throne.”

“You see?” I said to Anton. “Even he thinks it’s ridiculous!”

The prince’s jaw twitched. He leveled a firm stare on his friend. “You haven’t seen her do it.”

Tosya shrugged. “Granted.” He tossed back the dregs of his kvass and strangely gained sobriety in doing so. “So let’s see her do it now.”

I blinked at him. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Maybe that’s why you were such a charmer with the wild horses in your youth. Could you bend their emotions, too?”

My mouth opened and shut a few times while I considered him. “If I did, I had no idea what I was doing,” I finally answered.

Tosya cocked a half smile. “Come on, then. Show me something. Make me get up and do a jig.”

“This is absurd!” Anton snapped. “She doesn’t do parlor tricks.”

“But we’re in a parlor.”

“Tosya.”

“Couldn’t resist.”

“I’ve had enough! This isn’t a joke!” Anton’s voice was severe. “Sonya has this gift. She’s suffered enough to discover it; she doesn’t have to suffer more to prove herself to you.”

“Very well, Anton.” Tosya held up his hands. “If you say Sonya has this power, I’ll believe you because I trust you, and I trust her. But please tell me you’re aware of all the danger you’re putting her in.” He turned to me, all of his humor gone. “And please tell me you were aware of the danger before you committed yourself, because when I penned all those lofty words, I never dreamed they would put anyone in peril.”

“I haven’t committed yet.” My hands slid under my thighs.

“And she isn’t cornered,” Anton added defensively. “I’ve given her the choice.” His nostrils flared as he lowered his gaze. “Though the life she is forced to live is already stripped of any freedom.”

Swirling the ghost of kvass in his tumbler, Tosya eyed Anton. “This is why you brought her here tonight: you want me to persuade her.”

Anton didn’t deny it. He exhaled and met Tosya’s accusatory stare. Their auras fought inside me and caused my stomach to cramp. I felt like I was back in the council chamber, sitting between the prince and his brother, not the prince and his closest friend.