She stands, closing the distance between us, and I feel her palm press against my chest. Tilting her head back, her gaze finds mine.
“I will refrain from changing forms, if you give me the respect I deserve as the woman carrying your child.”
I think about all of the women who carried my father’s children. I think about them and how he put them up in the back of the domum. They were not allowed to dine at his table or be seen in his presence, not unless he sent for them or went to them himself.
“You wish to be treated the way that a concubina is to be treated?” I ask.
She shrugs a shoulder, looking up at me through her lashes. “I wish to be treated as the empress,” she says.
Shaking my head, I hold her gaze. “You cannot. It would be a grave insult to the empress herself. It is unacceptable. I have insulted her enough in our short marriage.”
“Once this child is born and she has not returned, you will declare her a traitor and a deserter to the people. I will be your empress and if this is not done, then you will not have to fear the gods and unfulfilled prophecy, I will ensure that your people suffer, gravely.”
I think about denying her request, but I decide against it. If she will cooperate, then I would rather have her compliance than anything else right now. My Drucilla will be back before her child is born, if there is even a child to be born.
“I will agree to those terms, but no more coming to me. As a true concubina, you will wait until you are required and called on by your emperor.”
She narrows her eyes, then jerks her chin in the air and looks down her nose at me. “I agree,” she grinds out.
Stepping to the side, I look at the door, then back to her. “You may leave,” I state.
She doesn’t respond, instead she stands and walks past me, stopping at the door before she turns her head to look back at me, her lips curling up into a snarl.
“You will be mine soon, Emperor. You will be under my spell and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.”
Without giving her a reaction, I stare straight ahead at her. Seeing her for the first time since I initially laid eyes on her. She is ugly. Her face is beautiful, but she is an ugly person. She is nothing like my Drucilla. I should have seen Drucilla for what she was immediately, not just mine, but also goodness.
I see it now and I would give anything to have her back where she belongs, where the gods wish her to be.
“I will never be yours as I already belong to another. This situation was created by you and the only reason I facilitate it is because of my people.”
She doesn’t respond to my words, instead she stomps away and I listen for her to walk to her room, knowing how many steps it takes to get there, then I hear her door close and only then do I shut my own. I had the lock switched back over from the outside of the door to the inside when we left for Curia.
Putting my lock in place, I wonder how all of this happened. Then I wonder why I am not strong enough to stop it, why I did not stop it. Walking over to the window, I look up at the sky, knowing that the gods’ gazes are pointed down at me, at the world.
“What do you wish of me?” I ask them. “How do I get my Drucilla back?”
They do not answer. Amare and Odium do not magically appear before me, nothing happens. Making my way back to bed, I sit down on the edge and decide that I cannot have Decima’s scent on me.
Leaving the room, I head toward the baths, wishing to have her smell washed from my skin. My next step will be to attempt to find my empress. I may have to find a different type of magi, maybe something that isn’t as conventional as a pontifex maximus or venefica. Perhaps I need someone a bit different.
DRUCILLA
I open my eyes and again am assaulted with a bright light. There is a beeping in the distance and I let out a groan, inhaling a deep breath and knowing exactly where I am.
A hospital.
Letting out a sigh, I stare at the ceiling and wonder what will happen next? How much more can I endure or what other freaky shit is going to happen to me?
“Miss Collins?” someone asks.
Turning my head, I look to the side and see a doctor that I recognize really well—too well. Sitting up, I frown at the sight of him.
“Miss Collins? Really?” I ask.
Chad arches a brow, his eyes warming as he looks over me. I know that look. That’s the look that means he’s ready to sweet talk me. Chad’s gorgeous and a doctor. Like he is super, superhot, and I fell immediately. He was the only man I’d ever had any feelings for. He was also very married.
Something he neglected to inform me of.
“You had a fall and the way your neighbors described it, a seizure. However, nothing in the tests we did can confirm that. In fact, you look very healthy. All of your levels are the best I’ve ever seen, blood and otherwise.”
“So, what happened to me?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I would like to keep you overnight, do some more tests. See if I can figure it out.”
“Can I have another doctor,” I whisper.
I don’t feel anything for
