How Shadows Turn to Ash

Chapter 10: Octavia

Out of all her siblings, Octavia looked the most like her mother. They had the same dark ringlets, warm skin, and dark eyes. Her mother only stood an inch or two taller, a few fine lines etched into her face.

There was something satisfying about seeing Friedrich cower away from a face so much like Octavia's.

"You know," her mother said pleasantly as she watched Friedrich disappear further into the castle. "I was against his marriage to my sister. Only my betrothal was necessary to ensure peace with Dualis... but Jivanta insisted she loved him." Octavia glanced at her mother, a silent question hanging in the air. Her mother didn't much talk about her sister. Nobody did. "It was too grand of a wedding for a marriage so short," her mother decided. "We'll be sure not to make the same mistake when your uncle's funeral comes around."

Octavia might have been more startled by the hostility, but the image of Savoy's beheading replayed in her mind, and she dismissed it. Instead, she moved closer to her mother, interlocking their arms as she pushed her toward her father's room.

"I found more paper in the drawing room," she said, reaching into the front of her dress to pull out a piece of parchment and hand it to her mother. It wasn't the map she had shown Antonia yesterday, but instead, her escape route listed out, still written in the invisible ink she had made. Her mother glanced over it, giving a quiet thank you as her eyes flicked towards the burning torches to show she understood how to read the message.

Octavia relaxed as they entered her parents' room and closed the door. Her mother let go of her, immediately going to the candle in the corner to read Octavia's letter. Her father glanced up, eyes brightening at Octavia's appearance, only to frown when he caught sight of her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, standing behind a desk. Trajan was asleep in their bed on the other side of the room, smacking his lips as he shifted. "Where's Antonia?"

"Antonia is fine," Octavia dismissed. "Lord Savoy isn't."

She kept her voice low, but newfound paranoia rose in her chest. The Revolutionaries had given them these rooms, but maybe it was just the illusion of privacy. Maybe Friedrich had seen everything Antonia had done last night. The thought almost sent Octavia sprinting to her sister.

Be calm, she reminded herself. Quietly, she explained all she had seen. Her father's lips pursed as Octavia took the parchment from her mother and laid it out for them all to read. Even whispering the words out loud seemed too precarious, so she let them take in Octavia's escape plans in silence.

"This won't work for all of us," her father finally said. Octavia swallowed. Here came the hard part.

"No," she agreed. "But it will work for two."

Her father opened his mouth before pausing, suspicion rising in his gaze. Octavia fixed him with a stern look.

"Friedrich wants to stop the Royalists. That means he's going to kill you and your heir first." She gestured to where Trajan was sleeping. "If he kills me, Mom, or Antonia while you're still alive, he's just given the Royalists a martyr."

"Octavia-"

"He won't hurt us," Octavia told him firmly.

Her father shook his head. "And why is that?" His voice was already growing taut. He was humoring her, but that was it.

"I have a plan for us," she said, unwilling to admit what that plan was in these moments. Her father would never agree, and if Antonia found out what Octavia intended for them... well. Her sister could wait. "Take Trajan and go. Nobody is going to want Mom dead. She's Dualian."

Her father hesitated at that, exchanging a wary look with her mother.

"The Dualians are a large part of this revolution," Octavia pressed. "I've seen the rosters. There are plenty of Romanovian commoners, but Dualians are the ones who are fighting."