An abandoned boy, a grieving prince, and a reclusive sorcerer find themselves caught in a web of peril and mystery...
Domi, a young thief abandoned on the street at birth, just wants to save his dying foster mother. But first, he must survive the m...
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Over the ever-present pulsing call of the Six Stars, raised voices drifted to Sidus as he stomped down the narrow side entrance of the domus his brother and sister shared. But as his footsteps echoed in the open-air peristylium courtyard, the voices grew hushed. By the time Sidus stepped into the tablinum office, Epileus and Gemma were silent as stone.
The pair had changed into casual evening wear. Sidus doubted they expected visitors, but they had clearly decided it was not a wise idea to saunter around even in private wearing the paenulas they'd donned for murder.
Both of them sat, tense and wary, on the chaise when he entered the tablinum, but their stiff expressions crumbled into shocked dismay when their eyes landed on him.
Did the idiots really believe he wouldn't recognize his own brother and sister in those stupid disguises? That he wouldn't confront them?
Gemma recovered first, pulling a blank mask over her face. A quick glare out of the corner of her eyes had Epileus doing the same. Sort of.
Sidus's older brother had never been good at lying. As Epileus summoned what he seemed to think was an "innocent face," he looked as though he was trying without success to take a dump.
Sidus gritted his teeth. So this was how they wanted to do this. Fine. Eyes narrowing, he pulled the white promenia blade that had been buried in Domi's shoulder out of his paenula pocket. Their eyes bugged out as he slammed the knife down on the desk.
"Let's get some things out in the open."
Gemma darted to her feet, crossing her arms tightly as she tried on a shaky smile. "Wow, is that a new knife, Sid? Looks like a nice one."
"No games, Gemma. I saw you limping from the injury in your leg." He fixed Epileus with a glare. "And you wear your red paenula whenever you're traveling so Pyrrhaei won't harass you. I know it was you two."
"It was we two who what, exactly?" Gemma asked, beginning to pace. "You're making no sense."
Sidus glanced from one to the other, hoping his unimpressed expression might persuade them to knock off the innocent act. But Gemma just pasted on a watery smile that fell far short of her eyes, and Epileus refused to meet his gaze. Fine. Time to escalate things. "In thirty minutes," he said, "my message to the Praetor detailing what I witnessed will transfer to him. The only way for that not to happen is for you to explain to my satisfaction why the hell you tried to kill Domi."
He couldn't imagine why anyone would want the adorably charming boy dead, let alone what might drive Epileus and Gemma to try to murder him, or anyone. But there must be an explanation. Epileus and Gemma had proven themselves to be the worst assassins in Aquarius's history, but they had still planned all this out. They had plotted Domi's murder long enough to select disguises and craft weapons. It made him sick to imagine why in the world they would go to such lengths to end someone's life, but he needed to understand.
