To Bind in Blood

Chapter 41

Aelider met the Reman entourage in the central clearing outside the meeting tent, General Pan by his side.

"What is your plan?" Pan murmured, leaning in so only Aelider heard. "Surely you do not intend to surrender?"

"Of course not." Aelider shot Pan a glare before focusing on the new arrivals. He had never met Marc, much less seen many Remans aside from the ones playing spy in Nadeina's court. He had heard stories, though-stories that could rival the ones about Nadeina. Marc was a hard man, a harsh man. But he ran his empire well.

Dressed in black, save the gray cloak, with a series of medals decorating the breast of his coat, the Reman emperor's visage was decidedly austere. Though he couldn't be more than thirty-five, the lines in his face and the gray at his temples made him appear a decade older. Grief could do strange things to a person, Aelider knew. And Marc was full of it.

"Emperor Marc of Remas. I did not entirely believe you would come."

"Yet here I am," the man replied in Reman, somehow knowing Aelider could understand.

They stood on Viannic soil, on the plains of the outer reaches of the eastern territories. Aelider refused to meet in the frozen wastelands that were the Viannic-Reman border, and Marc had surprisingly agreed to come. Perhaps the death of his daughter had softened him. Weakened him.

Aelider knew the feeling.

"I've traveled all this way," Marc said, tone impatient. "Let's talk."

Apparently, like Nadeina, the Reman emperor had no time for friviolities. Aelider swung back a step toward the tent. "Guards stay outside. No weapons. Just us."

Marc stared, his soldiers shifting behind him. They were silent in their matching black uniforms, their eyes fixed on him. Without breaking eye contact, the Reman emperor began removing his weapons and letting them fall to the ground.

Aelider held open the tent flap and waited for the man to pass through. Once they were inside, Marc rounded on Aelider, a threatening figure despite his lack of weapons. "What is this about?"

"The assassination of the Empress Vian," Aelider said, watching the shadows dance across Marc's irritated face. The Reman emperor stood framed by the candlelight, the tasseled, gold-trimmed, embroidered rugs and cushions on the ground behind him garish compared to his plain dress.

"What has this to do with me? Have you forced me here to express my condolences?"

"Perhaps you should," Aelider said cautiously. "There are many deaths to account for. Nadeina. The Quellen Great Family."

Marc stiffened. "I did not order the deaths of either Nadeina Vian or the Calustus family."

"Though you had plenty of motive to. Was it not you who sent a Reman into Quelle to turn the Great Lord against the Empress?"

Marc sneered. "I am not an impulsive man, General Aelider. I was not eager to declare war, but I draw the line when my family becomes involved."

"Then who was it? Cicerus's dog killed Nadeina, and he fled to you. I have reports of his crossing your border."

"I forced Cicerus into nothing. He came to me of his own accord."

"And you used him as a spy for your gain."

Marc pinned Aelider with a glare that could rival his own. "Nadeina Vian has schemed and manipulated and murdered. To say that she killed my daughter is no stretch."

Aelider fought a scoff. "We have all lost people dear to us, Emperor. And we intend to make the killers pay. But like you I am not eager for war, and neither is Quelle. So let us all call a meeting before someone does something we'll all regret."