Arcanius by Toby Neighbors Page A

care of me and my sisters. When I turned six, Robere was assigned as my personal servant. He did everything I needed. Brought water to my room. Saw to my clothes. Took care of me when I got sick.”
    “Sounds like a difficult task,” she teased, trying to lessen the tension she could see on Tiberius’ face.
    “I’m sure it was, but Robere never complained. Taking care of me wasn’t a prestigious job. In the palace the servants who see to the earl have the most power. Robere was an older man, assigned to the earl’s third son probably just to keep him out of the way. Yet he didn’t resent it. He was the only person in the palace who didn’t look at me as if I were a disappointment.”
    “What did people expect from you?” Lexi asked.
    “Nothing,” Tiberius said. “They weren’t disappointed by what I did. It was the fact that I was a third son. A daughter can always be married off to create a strategic alliance or placate a disgruntled official, but a third son just gets in the way. Leonosis would take my father’s place, and Brutas was there in case anything happened to Leo. But me—I wasn’t good for anything politically, so…”
    He didn’t finish what was obvious. Lexi knew how it felt to not be wanted. Her own parents had simply disappeared one day, leaving her alone with nothing to help her survive. She suddenly felt an empathy for Tiberius. He had grown up privileged but scorned just the same.
    “Robere,” Tiberius went on, “treated me as if I was my father’s heir. He was demanding, always wanting me to look my best and act like an important part of the noble family. At first I tried so hard, but my father never noticed me, and Leonosis just tormented me for trying. But Robere kept insisting that I do my best no matter what I was forced to do. And he was kind. He would talk to me, sometimes late into the night. He would tell me stories and tell me how important I was. He deserves much better than to be thrown into the dungeon and tortured because of me.”
    “Do you really think Leonosis would torture him?” Lexi asked.
    “Yes,” Tiberius said. “I know he would. He wouldn’t let anything stand in his way if he felt I was a threat.”
    “But why would he have thought you were a threat? He banished you.”
    “I don’t know—maybe Princess Ariel said something. They obviously bonded since we left the city.”
    “You think she told him you were a wizard?”
    “Perhaps, but I think whatever she told him made him feel uncomfortable. Not just angry that I would work magic, but that I was somehow a threat to him.”
    “So why would he torture Robere?”
    “Just to find out more about me. Robere must have told him about the book of magic.”
    “Robere knew about that?” Lexi asked in surprise.
    “Not exactly,” Tiberius explained. “But he saw it on my desk. I thought I convinced him it was just an old religious text from the temple. But why else would my brother drag Ennis into the dungeons and question him? Robere had to talk, and if he was telling my brother about me, it was because he had no choice.”
    “How can you know that?” Lexi asked. “He was just a servant. He might have told your brother everything just because Leonosis ordered him to.”
    “I don’t think so,” Tiberius said. “Robere knew the kind of person Leonosis was. Everyone in the palace knew—only some people saw his ambition and cruelty as strength. Not Robere, though. He would use Leonosis as an example of how not to act. He cared for me and risked his own safety for me. I don’t think he would have told Leonosis anything without being forced to.”
    They were almost back to the palace when Tiberius pulled Lexi aside. His face was flushed, and he seemed almost excited.
    “Stay close to me,” he said. Then without explaining further, “ Abdidi Incantatio .”
    Lexi didn’t feel any different, and as they walked out into the busy street, no one paid them any more attention than they had before.