Page 60 of Poisoned Empire

“Mina, don’t,” Opal pleaded.

“She’s right. My family will never forgive me if they knew,” Topaz replied.

As she stretched out her hand to give Emerald the orb, Selene caught her wrist and held it tight. She couldn’t let this go south for her. Emerald’s threat to the other women was more potent than any poison Selene could temporarily dose them with. She would need to rely on bravado and half-truths to see her through this challenge.

“Before you do something foolish, hear me out.”

“I hardly think I need the advice of a madwoman,” Topaz retorted.

“Then how about the promise of a future empress?”

“What could you possibly promise me? In spite of the attention the prince pays you, no one seriously thinks you could ever be empress,” Topaz scoffed.

“Really? And how many other dominae has the prince begged to visit him in his chambers? How many other candidates are already seen favourably by the emperor himself?”

Shocked silence reigned. Emerald recovered first.

“You lie! The prince has never taken a noblewoman to his bed!”

“Well, I don’t know about his bed, but the hot spring was a more than adequate place for fucking. If you don’t believe me, ask your cousin. Or ask the librarians about the book His Majesty gifted me with,” Selene replied, haughty. She could see the tide turning. Opal and Topaz were beginning to see her in a new light.

“You can’t possibly believe these delusions of hers.” Emerald slapped her palms on the table.

“Maybe she’s lying, maybe not. Either way, I’ll hear what she has to say. Speak your piece, Milena.” Topaz clutched her orb close.

“I’ve already had discussions with Belisarius about reforms I want enacted. The most important is for women to be able to acquire and inherit property and titles. With your support,” Selene nodded to both Topaz and Opal, “I may be able to convince enough of the noble families to pass it. And if women can own their own property…”

“A woman need not marry a man if she so chooses,” Topaz interjected, her amber eyes bright.

“I could inherit the Opal Province,” Opal mused, a covetous expression on her face.

For a moment, silence, as each woman contemplated what their lives might look like. Topaz pursed her lips, her eyes closing and her shoulders slumping.

“That’s impossible. None of the magistri would agree, your father included,” Topaz sighed.

“You’re right, which is why the first man to publicly object in court will die by my hand,” Selene smiled.

“You wouldn’t!” Emerald objected.

“I would,” Selene retorted, resting her hand on Emerald’s. Emerald glared, tearing her hand away. “Zoe—may I call you Zoe? I wasn’t being modest when I said before that my power is as real as it gets. I’m the most powerful poison mage in Lethe. When I’m empress, I’ll be above the law, and my reforms will pass. It will go more smoothly with the support of the provinces, but either way, it’ll get done. People who get in the way of what I want tend to perish. I expect there to be objections, but I have no doubt there will be far fewer once the first dissenters die, vomiting up their liquefied innards.”

“These are just grotesque fantasies! What you envision is simply untenable! What if your father is the first to object? Or Magister Topaz? What will you do then?” Emerald asked, gesticulating in her fury.

“Zoe, if you knew my father, you’d understand the bastard has it coming,” Selene replied.

“What you’re saying is madness. You would become a social exile,” Emerald huffed.

“They don’t seem to think so.” Selene nodded to Opal and Topaz. Emerald obviously feared she might walk out of the room without the votes she wanted. “Do youactuallyhate my reforms? With your ambition, you could rule the Emerald Province outright. I would even voice my support if you wanted to stake your claim.”

“Why are you even doing this, Amethyst? You don’t need the throne like I do! I’ll never rule in my own right, reforms or no! My brother would die before giving up his rights, you insufferable fool!” Emerald looked about ready to slap Selene, desperate horror and fury in her gaze.

“Guess you’d better get serious about cultivating your gift then, eh?” Selene winked at Emerald before turning her attention to Topaz and Opal. “When I am empress, I will raze Lethe down to the bedrock. What sprouts from the ashes will be a new empire that doesn’t just tell women to look pretty and breed when we’re told to, with whomever we’ve been sold to. In my Lethe, you’ll have the power to choose your own fate. So, given your options, who will you vote for?”

Belisarius paced, every grain that fell into the bottom of the hourglass ratcheting up his unease. He only hoped Selene was up to the task. Nicephorus had insisted on the final test to find a proper prospective bride for when all the madness finally subsided. Feeling much too dutiful, he’d agreed.

The thought of Selene loosing made him ill. Belisarius wanted her. He wanted all her brazen, wicked recklessness, all her smug grins, her every cry of pleasure, every insult, every fight and every moment of peace she allowed him. But he dared not admit it, lest he speak into being something that could never be. Or lest he receive another lecture from his praetor.

The thought of wedding someone else filled him with existential dread as it never had before. It was folly to think he might have Selene. Besides his own minister’s objections, he didn’t even know if the poison mage would stay once the magistri were caught. For all he knew, she considered him no different than any other she’d lain with. As he paced with increasingly undignified and obvious anxiety, the last grain of sand fell from the top of the hourglass. The antechamber doors opened and his heart stopped. Belisarius schooled his face and posture into a calm poise that bore no trace of his inner turmoil.

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