Fallen Page 15

  She was right, of course, and he fucking hated her for it. He hated that he was so frequently compared to her. Hated that he made so many of the comparisons himself. And resented that he almost always came up short.

  When he said nothing, she turned to the king. “How do you want to be remembered, Father? If you act out of foolish pride, and Galilae pays the price for it, your legacy will be as The King Who Destroyed His Kingdom. There is no honor in allowing your people to be slaughtered when you had opportunity to prevent it. Besides, you can always stop cooperating if it is no longer beneficial.” When their mother moved to the king’s side and clasped his arm with her hands, Antaios knew that Persephone had won. Again. She knew it too. “Sometimes it is better to live in order to fight another day.”

  Antaios vowed that his day would come.

  Chapter 3:

  All Deception Requires Secrecy

  The trouble with lying – and the place where most people hang themselves – is not in uttering the untruth, but in forgetting it after the initial telling.

  – Augustine Sempronius, “the Reaper,” General of the Nex Division

  Augustine stepped into the slave chambers in front of Cato. The Galanis family was ready for them and stood united in the middle of the room.

  “You have made a decision.”

  “Yes.” The king stepped forward. “We will do as you say. I will present your man…” He faltered for the name.

  “Decimus,” Augustine supplied helpfully, but not without a sardonic smile.

  “Yes, Decimus –” the king started.

  “Hadrianus,” Augustine interjected, finding himself far more amused than the situation really warranted.

  “Pardon?” The king’s face reddened. The man had no skill at tempering his responses.

  “His name is Decimus Hadrianus. He is your Arms Commander, Highness. It would not do for you to forget it or fuck it up when you present him, would it?” The king was silent in the face of Augustine’s condescension. “You will present him as Decimus of House Hadrianus, as that is how you address surnames in Galilae. Now, who is he?”

  “Decimus of House Hadrianus,” the king parroted, wearing something akin to a snarl.

  “Well done. What is your decision, Highness?”

  “We will do as you say, for now.”

  Was the king trying to intimidate him? The notion was laughable. There was nothing about this man that frightened Augustine in the slightest. Even should he decide to become noncompliant, the King of Galilae would lose far more than Augustine. Of that there was no doubt.

  “Wonderful!” Augustine clapped his hands together. “I am relieved that you saw sense. You will find me quite amiable so long as you continue to do so.” He spoke slowly and precisely to ensure the king recognized his threat for what it was.

  While Acheron did not intimidate Augustine, it was quite clear that Augustine did intimidate Acheron. The king shrank in on himself and clenched his teeth.

  “Highness, you and your son will go with Cato in order to discuss your instructions for tomorrow,” Augustine continued. “You” – he pointed at Persephone before turning his hand to crook his finger – “come with me.”

  When she made to move towards him, Kolimpri grabbed onto her skirts. “Me too!”

  “No, Little Bird, you must stay.” Persephone ran a hand over her sister’s head.

  “But I want to go on a quest,” Kolimpri pouted. If her expression was any indication, she was approaching a tantrum.

  “This is not one of your tasks, Little Bird,” Persephone said patiently.

  It had been clear enough at the demonstration that Persephone had twisted the reality of the invasion into a game for Kolimpri. He suspected her reason was to keep from frightening the younger girl, which was another clever ploy on her part, and on the whole, it seemed to be effective. It might also be something they could use when the women of the family had to begin playing public parts once more. Augustine was determined to postpone that moment for as long as possible.

  “Because it is an adult task?” the younger princess asked.

  “Yes,” Persephone stated with finality.

  Persephone had begun a second attempt toward the door when Kolimpri spoke again. “What is your task? Are you going to play the whore?”

  Persephone froze as soon as the words hit her. Even for Augustine, it was shocking to hear such a crude question in Koli’s child voice. Who had put those words into her mouth? Augustine watched Persephone take a deep breath before she spun on her heel to look at her sister.

  “Antaios should not have said that, Little Bird, and you should not repeat it.”

  The prince was a shit. Inwardly Augustine bristled on Persephone’s behalf despite the fact that, ultimately, it was true.

  “Why?”

  “Because it is impolite.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you do not understand what those words mean.”

  “What do they mean?”

  “Kolimpri,” the queen scolded. “That is enough.”

  Kolimpri turned big doe eyes onto her sister. “Will you tell me?”

  “When you are older,” Persephone said with infinite patience. “Stay here, Little Bird. That is your task. But I must go so I may answer some of the general’s questions.”

  “Do try to keep his cock out of your mouth long enough to do so.” Antaios muttered the words, but still spoke them loudly enough that they were easily heard.

  Augustine took a step toward the prince, but Persephone hooked her arm in his and started walking toward the door. “Do try to pull yours out of your own ass, lest you develop a limp. You need no further handicaps.” Persephone tossed the words over her shoulder as she made her way to the door.

  Augustine laughed outright and, feeling satisfied with how she had handled the situation on her own, allowed her to escort him from the room.

  He caught a glimpse of the looks of equal shock and dismay on her father’s and brother’s faces when he turned to close the door. “Quite the talented mouth on that one,” he told them with a mocking wink – unable to resist – before following Persephone into the hallway.

  “Interesting family you have, Highness.” Cato’s voice followed them into the hallway. Cato was to meet Augustine in the Grand Council Chamber when he had finished briefing the king and the prince.

  It provided Augustine with an opportunity to speak alone with Persephone. He hoped she might be more forthcoming if she did not feel like she had an audience. It was a long shot, but as Cato had told him, hope springs eternal.

  “This way.” Their elbows still linked, Augustine redirected Persephone when she had automatically started toward the king’s chambers. Tempting as it was to head there directly, Augustine had more pressing matters to attend to with her.

  If the change of course surprised her, she didn’t show it and fell seamlessly into step with him. She slid her hand free of his arm and, though he’d been content to leave it there, he let her withdraw.

  “Does your brother always speak to you with such disrespect?” Their relationship confused him. Clearly, there existed a great deal of contention between them, and yet she’d intervened when Augustine would have interceded on her behalf. Why, after how he’d treated her?

  “He is able to say whatever he likes,” she responded indifferently.

  It was the truth, and relevant, but it didn’t answer his question. He was seeking to uncover patterns of behavior and she’d responded with a generalization of his rights.

  “You should not have defended him.” Rather than fight uselessly, he attempted to provoke some of the animosity that existed between them.

  “I fight my own battles.”

  “And you do so very well,” he acknowledged while wondering how she could still sound so unaffected. “Still, your brother is a shit and deserved far worse.”

  “He was not always so.”

  Did she feel glad – Nostalgic? Angry? – about the fact? It was impossible
to tell; Augustine did not yet know her well enough to detect the nuances hidden behind her blank mask, though undoubtedly they existed. He wondered if anyone could see the truth on her face.

  “What changed?” he asked.

  “Everything.”

  “Do you always answer questions so vaguely?” Augustine finally confronted her avoidance openly.

  “Do you always pry into personal matters that do not concern you?”

  “When it pleases me to do so,” he admitted unapologetically.

  “Forgive me, General” – Augustine suspected that only Persephone could make forgive me sound so much like fuck you – “but at no point did I agree to answer questions merely to satisfy your curiosity.”

  “You agreed to satisfy my whims, and I find myself very curious about you.”

  “Those are not the same thing,” she said with an accusing glare. What was the difference, he wondered, but she spoke before he could ask. “I’ve done as you asked. They have agreed to follow your instructions and pretend all is well. What happens next, General?”

  She was changing the subject and he knew it, but for the moment he decided he would allow her to do so. He wanted her in an agreeable mood for what was coming. “I’ve no further instructions for you just yet, but I will be sure to tell you when that changes. You did well today. Your father is a difficult man. I must say I am impressed; you must have mastered the ability to manipulate those around you, indeed, to have so easily swayed him to your way of thinking.”

  “As you said, my father is a difficult man. You had good reason to doubt.”

  More wordplay. She’d managed to agree with him while still completely ignoring his double-edged accusation that she excelled at manipulation. Was it going to be necessary to interpret everything she said? Possibly, and already he found the notion exhausting. He preferred a more direct approach, whereas Persephone, it seemed, favored word games and double entendres.

  Augustine was still deciding how to get a straightforward answer from her when they reached the entrance to the Grand Council Chamber.

  “After you, Princess.” He opened the door, gesturing for her to enter with a sweep of his hand.

  She met his eyes as she entered the room. Not for the first time, he fleetingly acknowledged that hers were captivating. Shrewder than her mother’s, but the same bright green. They stood out in sharp contrast to her olive complexion and dark hair. He held her gaze as he followed her into the room.

  “Are you going to make eyes at me all day?” Only a moment ago, she’d been closed and prickly, so the teasing lilt to her voice caught him off guard. The only person he’d seen her show any softness toward was Kolimpri, though those interactions had by no means been light-hearted. “You need not woo me, General –”

  “Augustine,” he corrected mechanically.

  She smiled coyly. “You need not woo me, we are already fucking. Or had you forgotten?”

  “Such language today, Princess,” he reproached her, but with no heat. “What would your father say?”

  “That I am a terrible disappointment.” Her tone remained playful, but something dark stirred behind her eyes. So elusive he doubted most people would have noticed.

  “Only because he is a fool.” Augustine found nothing about her to be disappointing. Intriguing and infuriating in equal measure to be sure, but disappointing? Hardly.

  “I was the one with the gall to be born female – a terrible crime as his firstborn,” she tisked. “It would seem I have not stopped vexing him since.”

  “Surely you do not believe such tripe.”

  “Who am I to contradict Galilae’s wizened king?”

  His much smarter daughter, Augustine thought when he suddenly realized that in their bantering, she had kept his eyes chasing her until the false stone hiding the castle’s caverns was behind him. Had she really thought it possible to distract him long enough to keep him from asking about the tunnel? Perhaps. In the same thought, he acknowledged that she might have managed it. He’d enjoyed her lighter mood, her wit. It was the self-deprecating bent to her humor that he hadn’t appreciated. He liked her exactly how she was, even if he knew he probably shouldn’t. Cato was correct; she was bound to make the task ahead of him extremely difficult.

  It seemed the only true information Prodotin had provided about her was that she was much loved by the people of Galilae. In the months he’d moved through the provinces, waiting for his full guard to convene in secret, he had heard the people speak of her. Stories abounded of her unparalleled beauty. Of the charity work she did around the kingdom. The kindnesses offered to the outcasts of society – orphans and widows predominantly – individuals that would likely be cast into some form of servitude without aid or intercession. He had never seen her during that time, but it seemed all of Galilae was obsessed with her. Despite their preoccupation, and his own growing fascination, he was rapidly realizing how little those people actually knew. How little he actually knew. The insight sobered him.

  “You know why I brought you here.” Not a question.

  “Midday fun?” She put her hands on his stomach, a sultry smile turning the corners of her mouth. Pressing herself to him, she rose onto her toes, tilting her chin for a kiss.

  Gods, she was hard to resist when she was carefree like this. He had to remind himself that it was just an act. One that she was very good at.

  “Sadly, no.” Augustine quickly turned so they were side to side. “Later,” he promised. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he led her towards the far wall where the trick stone was still standing open. “This is how you made it from the top floor to the ground level during your escape attempt, yes?”

  She was looking at him and not at the opening in front of them. “Why ask questions you already know the answer to? What do you really want to know, General?”

  “Augustine.”

  All earlier revelry – real or feigned – was gone. Her blank guise was firmly back in place. “What do you really want to know?”

  That was the second time he’d prompted her to call him by name, and still she refused to do so. Interesting, but not his priority at the moment. “I want to know all about the tunnels, of course,” he said.

  “And what are you going to give me if I tell you all I know?”

  Bold of her, considering the circumstances. “Still think yourself in a position to negotiate, Princess?” They continued to stare at one another and though he suspected she wanted to, she made no effort to move away from him. This time he had no intention of allowing her to retreat, and his arm remained securely around her shoulders should she try. “If you tell me, I will not start executing everyone in the palace one by one while you watch.”

  “Death threats?” She feigned a yawn. “How trite. I expected more from the famed Reaper.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her derision. “I should hate to disappoint you. I shall be sure to think up some grotesque method of torture before I kill them. Is that more to your liking?”

  “More to my expectation, at least.”

  “Need I remind you that you’ve agreed to cooperate in exchange for certain protections of those important to you?”

  “I agreed to cooperate in coercing my family specifically. The tunnels, and my knowledge of them, have nothing to do with my family. Not to worry, I have a solution that benefits us both.”

  “Is that so?” he grit out.

  “It is. I know a great deal about these tunnels. I also know how valuable you consider that information. Comparatively, what I want is a small thing indeed.”

  “Pray tell. What is it that you want?”

  “You want us to go about our day in as much the same way as we normally would. I know that this is only true to a degree. Keeping us locked away and isolated is actually much easier on you and your soldiers.” He offered a blasé shrug in confirmation of her assessment. “For years, every morning before I bathe, Seraphime and I have spent two hours practicing stochasmos. I would like for us to continue to be able
to do so. Under guard, of course.”

  “Of course,” Augustine mimicked. “And what is stochasmos?”

  “A meditation practice from the Far East that focuses on centering the mind through control of the body.”

  Augustine suspected that it was actually more than just a meditation practice, but she was right. It did seem a small thing to allow in exchange for the wealth of knowledge she could provide regarding the tunnels. Also, if he continued to compromise with her now rather than using force at every turn, it would be easier to glean her cooperation later. Or so he hoped.

  “You tell me all I want to know about the tunnels, and I will allow you and Seraphime one hour every morning for your meditation practice.”

  “And we will be allowed to bathe daily as well. All of us if we so desire.” He opened his mouth to object, but she beat him to it. “It is in your best interest. If we were to see anyone, it would be suspicious if we were not clean.”

  Fuck. He hated that she was right.

  “And one more thing.” She smiled with triumphant amusement in spite of his venomous glare. “My mother, Kolimpri, and I should be allowed a daily tour of the palace to see to the running of things. Think of it as mutually beneficial. I shall have opportunity to make sure none of our people are being overly maltreated, and we shall be seen around the palace doing what is expected of us. The Council does meet here in the Grand Council Chamber, after all. Or did you not know?”

  Augustine had observed how loyal those in the palace remained to Persephone. She could do little for them, and they both knew it, so more than likely her actual desire was to be seen by them rather than the other way around. It would keep hope alive. A dangerous thing. At the same time, she was correct. Council members would be in and out of the palace for the entire month, and if the rest of the royal family was never seen it would rouse suspicions. As it was, they would already be combatting the concern for Persephone that was sure to burgeon when she was not seen attending to her normal charity work around the capital district.

  “I knew,” he managed through his clenched teeth. “Funny how your one small request has morphed into three.”