Page 9 of Conspirators' Kingdom

No one insulted her darling Theodore.

“Empress, may I have a word?”

“Eh? Yes, fine-”

Taisiya pulled the empress from her spot to somewhere without prying eyes and ears, while the poison mage spluttered her shock at the rough handling. Taisiya’s glare at the strategos and his wife convinced them to back off. She dragged Selene behind a colonnade and rounded on her.

“Say whatever you like about me and my sisters, butdo not dareto insult my brother,” Taisiya warned.

“Oh? Is that a sore spot,Copper?” the empress taunted her with a grin.

“Do you really not know?”

“Know what? Theodore is a coward, plain and simple. He was too afraid to lift a finger to help the lot of you when you were lifeless nothings under the ritual,” she huffed.

“Then you really don’t know…” Taisiya’s laugh was bitter and hollow.

The empress’ expression made her confusion plain. Taisiya snarled and cornered her.

“Theodore is the kindest, best man in the whole of Lethe, and the one you owe your life to. Your whore mother spelled and deceived my father, and returned to the estate with you, believing that presenting proof of her crime would win her the position of mistress, never mind that father never took a mistress in his whole life!” The empress raised her finger to make a point, but Taisiya slapped her hand down and continued. “Theodore was a child and excited by the prospect of another sister, but when he heard that your mother would be put to death, he grabbed all the gold and valuables he could carry and warned that filthy bitch to run for her life. He gave you your mother’s life and enough coin to see you both well for a few decades at least. So the bravery and goodness ofmybrother is the only reasonyou’restanding in front of me. Don’t youeverspeak ill of him again. If you do, I won’t hesitate to cut that ungrateful tongue from your mouth!”

Taisiya got her pounding heart and ragged breath under control as the empress looked at her with an inscrutable expression. Horror washed over her. Gods below, she’d done it now. All the admonishments she’d given Milena, only to erupt in spectacular fashion herself. She’d ruined everything. After a moment, the empress spoke.

“It’s been a long time since someone dared speak to me that way.”

“Then you’ve surrounded yourself with sycophants, Your Majesty,” Taisiya replied.

If she were going to lose everything else, she might as well keep her sharp tongue. She regretted the threat of violence only a little. No one had the right to speak of Theodore that way. No one.

To her surprise, the empress didn’t seem at all put off by her angry outburst. Quite the opposite.

“Gods below, I know! Horrid, smiling liars, the lot of them!” She chewed on her lip for a moment, sizing Taisiya up. Then she grabbed Taisiya’s hand and pulled her back into the hall, towards the tense illustra and strategos. “Come. You say you’re not hunting for a husband just yet? Then I have a job for you. How would you feel about being my newest ambassador?”

Chapter 6

Mererukafeltthespelllying in wait, readying itself to sink its claws deep into his soul. Though he detested swearing word-as-bond spells, this one could have been worse. His jailors, the king’s wretched pawns, were crueller than they were cunning. He repeated the distasteful words with a sneer on his face while he kept his mind on the thought of bathing for the first time in a week.

“I, Prince Mereruka of the Land of Maat, swear to uphold the king’s orders and take as my bride a woman born on the Cursed Continent. I will not return to my homeland until this task is done.”

The spell struck, piercing him through and settling into his very bones. The trade minister smirked and unlocked the cell door, a thick leather glove shielding his skin from the poisonous iron. Mereruka stepped from the cramped cell as the door swung open, careful not to brush up against the bars. He couldn’t afford to let it destroy the glamour he habitually cloaked himself in. Stretching, his back ached in protest as he revelled in the new freedom.

He supposed he should be grateful at least that the royal bloodline was prohibited from swearing oaths of loyalty to one another, else Mereruka’s schemes would have been stymied before they began.

Mereruka followed the minister to the top deck of the ship and shielded his eyes against the harsh light of day. Though his eyes watered, in the distance, he could make out the land and buildings of the Cursed Continent, all outlined in a hazy blue. He breathed deeply. The fresh air was a blessing to his abused senses.

“Am I to play a part in this farce?” Mereruka asked.

Was he to be the sacrificial victim, or was he meant to smile and make nice with the people of the continent?

“You’re to be the king’s representative, the lead ambassador.”

The one who was ostensibly in charge, and therefore responsible for all the diplomatic obstacles they’d plotted to place in his path. Mereruka closed his eyes, luxuriating in the sea air. Like this, he could almost imagine that he was near his home in the main trading port of Maat. Rhacotis. Gods, he hoped he’d see it again.

“Good,” Mereruka said.

Time to ensure that future.

He seized the trade minister’s head between his hands and snapped his neck. The other representatives gasped in shock. He released the body from his grip, and it flopped to the deck with a satisfying thud. Mereruka fished the prison key from the pocket of the corpse’s kilt, tore the official ring from its hand and tossed the body overboard. Turning to the stunned faces of the men and women aboard the ship, Mereruka smiled. Ministers of the king’s court, especially the bevvy of scribes before him, rarely had experience with such violence. Luckily, the soldiers were below deck.

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