Aeliana licks her lips, her gaze flicking to mine, holding my own with hers as she tilts her head to the side. Her blue eyes find mine, they hold my gaze and I hold my breath as I wait for her to speak, to tell me what she can do, or at least what she’s willing to do.
I don’t think that I will ever know the depth of her powers, she doesn’t seem like someone who would just let that be known freely.
She clears her throat, then I watch as she pours herself a hearty goblet of wine. “You’ll bring me Decima?” she asks.
“On my honor, she is yours to do with as you please. I have no affection toward her, nor hold her in any type of regard. She is manipulative and nobody that I wish to consort with, ever.”
Aeliana’s lips curve up into a grin, her eyes twinkle, and if I were not mistaken, I would think that she is aroused by the idea of having this venefica all to herself. I don’t ask her about it or what she wants to do with Decima, but Brutus does, he is and always has been curious and bold.
Far too fucking curious for his own good.
“What will you do with her?” he bursts out.
Her eyes brighten even more, to the point where they actually glow for a moment. She clears her throat, then flicks her gaze around.
“She killed my husband. I am going to have fun.”
“Your husband?” I ask.
She looks young, far too young to have been married and already widowed. She clears her throat, her glowing eyes shifting from Brutus to mine.
“I’m thousands of years old, Emperor. My husband was the love of my life, I only found him one hundred years ago and she stole him from me. She lured him, I assume much like she did you, and she killed him.”
“How?” one of the men asks, completely enthralled by her story.
She doesn’t speak right away, instead her gaze flicks to each of us, then lands on me. “Your father had just sent all of the venefica to Curia. I was smart enough never to reveal my secrets, at least not publicly the way they had. I’ve seen persecution of my kind before, I know not to be too brazen and bold with my powers. My husband went to Curia, at my behest. I wanted to make sure that my sisters in magi were okay.”
There is a long moment where she gathers herself, inhales a shaky breath, then continues, but her voice is shakier, it isn’t confident and strong any longer, it’s sad.
“Decima seduced him with magi. My husband was a mere mortal, only alive for one hundred years because every year I gave him strength, youth, and a small part of me. But it wasn’t something that I could give him in abundance. My powers are strong, but keeping a mortal alive for hundreds of years, it is a burden too great to bear, so we are only allowed to aid in extending life one year at a time.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I watch her for a moment. “What did Decima do to him, other than lie with him?” I ask.
Fire burns bright in her gaze at the mention of her beloved lying with Decima, but Decima would have it no other way, so I know without a doubt that she did magically seduce him in some capacity.
“She seduced him, then she brought him back to her mountain and after all of the venefica took turns with him, sending me mental images of their encounters, she tortured him.”
“Why?” Brutus asks, saying the word before I can.
“Decima wants ultimate power. She wants my power. She will only live until she’s one hundred, no older. Her magic fades each year, she will turn to dust and disappear if she does not figure out a way to gain more power, more control, and more magic.”
“She thought she could get to you through him?” I ask.
Aeliana smirks. “She thought,” she snaps. “She thought wrong. When I did not go after her, when I did nothing, she had to come up with another plan. You are but a mere opportunity that she has seized. Your father was wrong to send them to Curia, but he was also not wrong. He just went about it for the wrong reasons.”
I think about Decima, how she froze my body, did what she wanted. Then again, how she came to me, appearing as Drucilla and yet again, took me all in hopes that I would fill her with my child. Not to mention the deal she made, one that would allow her to be in charge of all of Savona.
“She thought that she could insert herself into the prophecy, didn’t she?” I ask.
Aeliana’s lips twitch into a smile. “You are smart, Emperor. Stronger and smarter than anyone I have seen in my lifetime. There is a reason that the gods chose you.”
“What do you know?” I demand.
She laughs softly. “I know much, Tiberius. I cannot tell you everything, some things are hidden even from me.”
“What can you tell me, about Drucilla, about the prophecy?” I bark.
She pushes off of the wall that she has been leaning against and makes the short distance to me. Standing in front of me, she tilts her head back, her pretty face focused on my own. Slowly, she lifts her hand and uses her fingertips to lightly brush my cheek.
“I can tell you that you must not fight the love you feel for your empress. It is true, it is not fabricated by the gods, it is something that you built with her. Though you did not even speak the same language, you fed it, and it grows between you both.”
I grunt, not wishing to talk of love and feelings in front of my men. Thankfully, she understands my grunt
