CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

VESPER

A sterin and I went over to the refreshments tables, and she handed me a mug filled with a dark brown liquid topped with a thick white layer. The beverage started out as a cold cream coating my tongue, but then it rapidly heated up and morphed into a delectable hot chocolate that warmed me from the inside out.

I hummed with pleasure. "This is amazing!"

Asterin clinked her mug against mine. "Frozon hot chocolate has always been my favorite." A shadow passed over her face. "It was my father's favorite too."

Before I could offer my sympathies, a woman came up and engaged Asterin in conversation. Neither one of them was paying attention to me, so I drifted away. Asterin had other duties besides chaperoning me, and I didn't want to ruin her chances of landing a husband . . . or whatever the Colliers were hoping to accomplish with the marriage mart.

I finished my hot chocolate, then wound my way through the crowd, smiling and nodding at everyone I passed. At first, people frowned, wondering where they had seen me before. Then they did double takes, and then their mouths gaped in surprise as they finally realized who I was—Lady Vesper Quill, Imperium fugitive.

Whispers sprang up in my wake, and I did my best to listen to them all.

"She's not nearly as pretty in person . . ."

"Wonder how long it will be before the Colliers ship her back to the Imperium . . ."

"Well, the Colliers could certainly use the bounty credits, along with Callus Holloway's support, especially given how tenuous their own position and House are right now . . ."

Similar murmurs sounded, and I ground my teeth in frustration. I wanted— needed —information about Esmina and Pollux, not my own notoriety.

I kept strolling through the crowd, but I didn't see Esmina and Pollux. Even if the mercenaries had been lurking around, I doubted I would have spotted them through the throngs of people clustered around the glass shelves. Folks were standing three and four deep in places, waiting to sign their names to court whichever lord or lady had a dowry that caught their eye—or appealed to their financial bottom lines.

I couldn't decide if the Erztonians' practice of showing their assets in such a public manner was a disgusting display of wealth—or the severe lack of it, in some cases—or an admirable example of efficiency. At least this way, everyone was putting their proverbial cards on the table, even if such a thing reduced relationships to business transactions.

Leland stopped beside me. "Are you having a good time?" he inquired in a polite voice.

"Of course. Are you?"

"It's not my job to have a good time. Just to make sure the marriage mart runs smoothly."

"I'm sorry. That must be tiring."

The chief of staff shrugged. "It is what it is. I've learned to play my part." He nodded at a couple who were taking pictures of me with their tablets. "As have you, it seems."

"Something like that," I muttered.

Leland gave me an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. The gossips will move on to something else soon enough. They always do. Sometimes I think the scandals and Houses rise and fall faster than the ocean waves on a Tropics planet."

His gaze darted over to Verona, who was standing in the middle of a large crowd. Verona gestured with her hand, telling a story, and everyone laughed.

"Although some Houses fall farther and faster than others," Leland murmured. "Even as the people in them rise and rise again."

I eyed him. Was he talking about the fall of House Armas? Or something else?

Leland fiddled with a gold button on his emerald-green tailcoat, which was stamped with a plain bold L instead of the cursive C of House Collier.

The chief of staff's tablet dinged, and Leland looked at the message. His lips pinched together in annoyance, but he gave me an apologetic look. "Please excuse me."

"Of course," I replied.

Leland tipped his head to me, then disappeared into the crowd. The chief of staff had been nothing but polite, but something about his words bothered me. Then again, I supposed he was right, and we all had our parts to play tonight.

I once again wove through the crowd and searched for Esmina and Pollux, but I didn't spot them. The psions could be wearing disguises, modifications to change their hair and eye color like I had done on Tropics 44, but that didn't seem like Esmina's style. Earlier today, she had strolled right through the middle of House Collier territory and into the shipping yard with only a cloak to obscure her features. She probably thought her precognition magic made her invincible, even against all the guards here tonight.

I was worried she was right.

But the longer I moved through the crowd, the more certain I was that Esmina and Pollux weren't here. The mercenaries might want to topple House Collier, but they were too smart to waltz into a building crawling with guards. Once again, Esmina was three steps ahead, and she was probably relaxing and having a drink while she laughed at us.

A headache throbbed to life in my temples. I should find Kyrion and Asterin and tell them I wanted to leave. My time would be much better spent trying to figure out why Esmina had stolen jewels from the mineral exchange than aimlessly wandering around letting snooty strangers stare at and gossip about me.

I had turned around to find my friends when I spotted Aldrich leaving the dome and slipping into the garden. Curious, I followed him.

This side of the dome was open, although an energy shield like the one at the Collier estate separated the guests from the night air and kept the cold at bay. Smooth paths made of round green tiles spiraled out into the garden in intricate patterns, while strings of gold lights gleamed in the topiary trees and hedges.

Aldrich ambled along the main center path. He stopped in front of a large bush, plucked off a blue-moon peony, and twirled it back and forth in his fingers. Then he turned and held the flower out to me.

I hadn't meant to be quite so obvious in my spying, but I lifted my chin, walked over, and took the blossom from him. The peony's spearmint scent tickled my nose, and a smile lifted my lips. The aroma always reminded me of Kyrion.

Aldrich tucked his hands into his pants pockets. "Verona had this garden built onto the antiques emporium just for me, so I can have a little escape whenever I need a break from all the events we host here. From all of that ." He jerked his chin at the people inside the dome.

"That was very kind of her."

Aldrich's face softened, and his hazel eyes crinkled with warmth. He obviously adored his wife, and my heart gave a painful wrench. The Colliers made having a relationship and a truebond look so blasted easy . I envied them.

"You don't say much, do you, Lady Vesper? By this point, most people would have tripped over themselves to flatter me in hopes of winning some favor from House Collier."

"I've never seen the point in flattering people I don't know."

"And people you don't trust?" Aldrich asked in a chiding voice. "Like me and Verona?"

I shrugged, not even bothering to deny his accusation. "I don't trust many people—although your stepdaughter is one of them."

Aldrich smiled again. "Asterin speaks just as highly of you, Vesper. She doesn't trust people lightly either. I put a great deal of stock in my stepdaughter's opinion. Verona and I wouldn't have offered you and Kyrion our protection if Asterin hadn't vouched for you."

"I appreciate that more than you know." I sighed. "I'm just sorry Kyrion and I have added to your troubles. If we had known Esmina and Pollux were targeting House Collier, we would have gone elsewhere. Maybe the mercenaries wouldn't have attacked the mineral exchange if Kyrion and I hadn't come to Sygnustern."

Aldrich waved his hand, dismissing my concerns. "Someone is always after something that doesn't belong to them. The Erzton has its share of greedy villains, just as the Imperium does."

The two of us rounded a row of blue-moon peonies and moved deeper into the garden. Several guards patrolled the paths in the distance, keeping an eye on Aldrich, but they didn't approach him.

"But talking about societal vipers isn't the reason you followed me out here," Aldrich continued.

"No. I wanted to ask you about truebonds—and how Kyrion and I can stabilize and solidify ours."

He nodded. "Yes, Verona told me she had a similar conversation with Kyrion this morning. I will tell you the same thing she told him. A truebond is about trust and balance, and right now, you and Kyrion are both out of balance with each other—and especially with yourselves."

"Out of balance? What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?"

I huffed in annoyance. "I really hate it when people answer a question with another question."

He laughed. "We must be building some trust for you to say something so blunt."

I pinched my fingers close together, not quite touching them. "Just a bit."

Aldrich laughed again, and I found myself smiling back at him. "How am I out of balance?"

"I think you already know," he replied.

I hesitated, wondering if I should tell him what was bothering me. But I'd come out here in search of answers, and I wasn't going to get them by keeping secrets. "When I first met her, Esmina said I was the weak link in the truebond between me and Kyrion." I sighed again. "And I'm worried she's right."

"Why is that?"

I made a face at his question, then blew out a breath. "Because no matter what I do or how hard I try, I can't get a grip on my new abilities. Ever since I met Kyrion, my seer magic has been growing, expanding. Sometimes it works when and how I need it to."

"And other times?" Aldrich asked.

"And other times, my magic has a mind of its own. I also can't use Kyrion's telepathy or telekinesis with any consistency." I blew out another breath. "It's like my magic is a galactic lottery, and I never know which ability will pop up next—or if my magic will pop up at all."

"And you think it's because you're weak, like Esmina said?" Aldrich challenged.

"Isn't that the reason?" I said, a peevish note creeping into my voice.

"Needing some time to figure things out isn't being weak, Vesper. It's natural. It takes time to adjust to a truebond, especially one as strong as what you and Kyrion share." Aldrich paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was pitched much lower than before. "It also takes time to adjust to the other person, no matter how much you care about them. I imagine that is especially true in your case."

"My case?"

"Asterin told me about your childhood. About how your mother . . . treated you."

He was trying to be kind, but his gentle words sliced into my heart like a dagger. My fingers curled around the peony still in my hand, crushing the stem and making the sticky sap spurt onto my skin. The blossom's spearmint scent intensified, reminding me of the similar peonies in my mindscape. The familiar aroma comforted me, although several more seconds ticked by before I was able to swallow my simmering emotions.

"Nerezza Blackwell is one of the main reasons I don't trust people. Hard to trust anyone when your own mother abandons you because you don't have enough psion power for her liking." Bitterness flooded my voice. I could never be completely calm when talking about Nerezza.

Aldrich gave my arm a reassuring pat. "I'm truly sorry. No child should have to go through that."

"But?" I asked in a guarded tone, wary of his sympathy.

"But don't let Nerezza's cruel actions or Esmina's harsh words affect your bond with Kyrion—or especially your belief in your own abilities," Aldrich replied. "Your seer magic is yours alone, Vesper. As is your bond with Kyrion. No one else gets to judge it or use it or decide how right or wrong it is."

This time, his voice was the one with the bitter note.

"Did people think your truebond with Verona was wrong?"

Aldrich stuck his hands in his pockets again and rocked back and forth on his heels. "My wife, Opal, had died the year before. Some people thought it was too soon for me to care about someone else, to fall in love with someone else. Especially the widow of the man responsible for my brother Irzin's death."

I wondered if Siya and Asterin were two of those people, but I didn't ask.

"Verona and I were both grieving the spouses we had lost," Aldrich continued. "We were kindred spirits, and eventually, that understanding led to other things."

Kindred spirits. I'd said similar things to Kyrion in the past, how the pain, anger, and darkness inside him perfectly matched those same emotions inside me. Maybe our truebond troubles had less to do with learning to use our respective magics and more to do with our feelings, not just about each other but all the hurt we'd endured over the years and all the wounds—small and shallow, large and gaping—we still carried in the cold depths of our hearts.

Aldrich's tablet pinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket and read the message. "I must return. Leland says it's time for Verona's and my speech thanking everyone for attending."

"Of course. Thank you for talking to me."

"Anytime," he replied. "Don't stay out here too long. Even with the energy shield, a chill can sometimes creep into the warmest places."

Aldrich bowed to me, then strode away. As if summoned by his words, a bit of a chill breezed through the air, but I stayed where I was, idly twirling the blue-moon peony between my fingers.

Aldrich was right. I shouldn't let Nerezza have any more power over me. I thought I had finally sloughed off my mother's hurtful actions during the Regal midnight ball, but Esmina snidely calling me a weak link had brought all my old fears rushing back to the surface. That I wasn't smart enough to figure out my new seer abilities or strong enough to use my magic to protect Kyrion.

I didn't know how to get rid of those fears or banish the memories bouncing around inside my mind and heart. Ignoring Nerezza's scorn and Esmina's mockery was easier said than done.

Soft footsteps sounded behind me. Aldrich must have doubled back to check on me.

I plastered a smile on my face and turned around. "Really, my lord, please return to the marriage mart. I'm fine—"

The rest of my words died on my lips, replaced by a surge of stomach-churning dread.

A man stood before me. He was a little more than a year older than me, and his mane of longish blond hair glinted like spun gold underneath the soft lights. Just like every other man here, he was wearing a tailcoat and a ruffled shirt, both a pale blue that matched his eyes. A stormsword dangled from his belt, and all the tiny Z s carved into the silver hilt gleamed at me like silent, mocking eyes. The sigils were a perfect match to the Z on the pommel of my own stormsword, which I'd left in my suite at the Collier estate.

Zane Zimmer smirked at me, his teeth a blinding white against his tan skin. "Hey there, little sister."

My big brother had finally caught up to me.