Page 109 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“We managed to find the hair and the pocket realm Inkaef is carrying around. But something happened.”

“What?” Taisiya asked, fear creeping up her spine. Vasilisa had not entered with Bas.

“Nefertnesu has been murdered.”

Chapter 42

Ittookaneffortof will to calm the twin cyclones of wrath and anger whipping through him. His perfect moment with Taisiya had barely lasted more than an afternoon. A scented bath, a sumptuous dinner, fine wine, presents and then another bout of leisurely lovemaking had been in the offing. Mereruka had been planning for this moment for weeks, labouring over every detail so that his shy, reticent wife would know how good it could be between them—so that she would crave his touch again and again.

Couldn’t that heartless husk have waited one more day to get herself murdered?

Mereruka took a slow, deep breath, willing himself to set aside that bit of misplaced fury. He wasn’t even angry at Nefertnesu, but it was easier to be angry over her death—the second one, so far as he was concerned—than to admit he’d held out the slimmest of hopes that her heart might one day be restored to her. But now she was gone for good, and the gods only knew what became of dead fae whose souls were split in life. He’d failed her for the very last time. There was nothing left of his sister to mourn or miss, and his tears had long run dry.

“We’ll be out shortly,” Mereruka replied to Bas’ shocking pronouncement.

“But-”

“She’s not going to be more or less dead if we take time to get dressed, Bas,” Mereruka reminded him.

“Right. Sorry,” Bas replied, and pulled himself out of the pocket realm.

If Mereruka used a tendril of magic to speed him on his way, Bas was at least wise enough not to complain.

Taisiya peeled herself away from him, robbing him of the feel of her breasts against his skin. Already hurrying to pull her clothes back on, he caught her wrist and held her still.

“Meri?”

“Take a moment. Step into the bath with me. We’ll likely be called to court. We can’t go there in our current state.”

“Ah,” she said, taking inventory of her mussed hair, sweat-slicked skin and rumpled clothes.

She allowed herself to be led into the scented bath and sat between his legs on the submerged bench. He summoned a brush and began running it through her hair, willing himself to be lost in the soft copper waves. In truth, he needed a moment to bask in her, to take comfort in her nearness and the knowledge that the woman he loved was alive and well and hadn’t gone somewhere he couldn’t follow.

“Meri?” she asked.

He sighed, pulling her close.

“I’m a fool.”

“You’re allowed to mourn her death.”

Of course she knew exactly what plagued him.

“I mourned her death two centuries ago when the woman who raised me was forced to cut out her feeling heart.”

“And yet a part of you still loved her, no matter how monstrous she’d become.”

He rested his head on her shoulder.

“Yes.”

She touched his arm, stroking it beneath the bathwater.

“I had a younger brother very much like her. He was a wicked, pitiless boy, but we loved him, even if he was never capable of truly loving us in return. We mourned his death all the same. Love doesn’t have to be rational to be real.”

Mereruka kissed her shoulder.

“I was convinced that if only I could convince her to repair her soul, hells, even if I could trap or trick her into doing it, I could make up for my failure. I thought I’d given up the boyish fantasy that one day, I would be able to save her. Apparently not. ”

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