Soul of Ice

Chapter Thirty

"Dance with me?" he asked.

Astra forced away the grimace that was about to emerge and settled for a small smile. "Of course." Her voice didn't shake. There was that at least.

"You look absolutely resplendent," Xernes said as he twirled her around.

She tried not to grimace. "Thank you, sir. You look wonderful, as usual." It wasn't a complete lie. With his dark, ashy blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and navy suit, he looked sharp and dignified, hardly a day past thirty though Astra knew had just passed forty years of age.

"What have you learned?" he asked. His voice was loud and clear, though not so loud that anyone else could hear what he was asking.

"Not that much," she admitted, "but Auxerre does indeed have an underground army of wraiths, as you suspected, sir."

"How many?"

"A few hundred, but I don't think this is the only base. Based on what I've heard and seen, there should be more bases, perhaps smaller in population, near the borders."

"Hm." Xernes studied her as they swayed around the ballroom. "What else have you learned?"

Astra hesitated, and the Commander of Varaly's Special Forces noticed. Slowly, like he had all the time in the world, Xernes looked past her shoulder, and, against her better judgement, she turned her head, following his gaze. A short distance away, the prince of Solasia was dancing with Jemma.

"There's the little runt from Solasia." Astra turned around to find Xernes smiling. "Quite foolish of the queen to send someone so young."

She swallowed. "Indeed, sir." Next to them, one of the six Varalian agents swept by, a lady in a voluptuous orange dress on his arm. Unnerved by the Commander's unspoken threat, Astra said, "There was another spy in the army. She knows I am a spy; she found out somehow, but to the best of my knowledge, she doesn't know my name or my allegiance. However, I'm unsure of who has her loyalty."

The orchestral number changed to a faster, more lively tune, but neither of them changed their dance pace, sticking instead to the slow and steady sway. The movement made Astra feel like they were both prowling around each other, and she had no idea who would pounce first.

Xernes frowned down at her. Astra tensed, waiting for him to to be the one to pounce, to make his move. "Astra," he said, saying her name for the first time in months, "I expected better from you."

"Y-yes," she said, stumbling over the word. If it were anyone else, she would have been embarrassed by the lapse in confidence. "I'm sorry, sir, but I've been led to believe she received the information from an outside source."

"Has it ever occurred to you that you were purposefully led to believe that?" he questioned, an eyebrow raised at her.

She wasn't stupid; she'd been in the business for years, but Astra nodded and tried to slow her racing heart. Suddenly, dancing wasn't very enjoyable—not when her legs were uncomfortably numb. She repeated, "I'm sorry, sir."

Xernes pulled her to the side, stopping at a table laden with drinks. He ignored the champagnes and handed a chilled glass of water to her, grabbing one for himself as well. Astra sucked it down gratefully. She'd started warming up sometime during the dance, and her nerves were too shaken. After the zynthe... she was too rattled and afraid to try and control her magic to cool herself down.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" he asked.

Astra carefully placed her empty glass back on the table, trying to formulate an appropriate response. "I—"