Tangled Web (24 page)

“Forgive me for startling you, Emperor Sergius,” Varro said as he entered the room carrying an armful of linens. “I had forgotten to make a bed for her.”

“There is no need to apologize, and there was no way you could have known we’d return here tonight.” Titus took a blanket and covered Azurha. “This will be adequate for now. I do not wish to wake her.”

Normally, Varro would take that as a dismissal, but the steward lingered at the door. “Are you familiar with the history of the Legion?”

He drew his brows together and was tempted to ask what that had to do with today’s events, but the steward wouldn’t dare broach a conversation without having a reason for doing so. “Enlighten me.”

“Today, the Legion is filled with the top soldiers from your army, but it wasn’t always the case. When Emperor Aurelius initially formed the Legion, he filled it with convicted criminals. In exchange for vowing to protect the emperor with their lives, they were pardoned of their crimes.” He nodded at Azurha. “Sometimes it’s good to revive traditions.”

“But wouldn’t it offend you to have a woman in your ranks?”

Varro smiled, his weathered face lined with wrinkles. “I think it would require an exceptional woman, one who’s proven her loyalty to the emperor by sacrificing her own life to save his.”

As Varro closed the door behind him, the first rays of dawn filtered into the courtyard, and Titus saw a glimmer of hope.

29

Clumsiness blanketed Azurha’s limbs as she woke, and she wondered if it was the weight of her burial shroud.

Don’t be ridiculous
.
They burn the bodies of criminals, they don’t bury them
.

But with each breath she drew in, she became aware that she still lived. She wiggled her fingers and toes. Dozens of tiny needles prickled her skin from the movement, growing fainter as her blood warmed the digits. Inch by inch, the fatigue retreated from her muscles until she finally had the strength to open her eyes.

Bright white light flooded her vision, making her wince. The sound of her pulse filled her ears as she remembered what happened before the blackness claimed her. She’d managed to save Titus before the poison killed her. But after that?

“Ah, I’m glad to see you finally stirring, Lady Azurha.”

The sound of Varro’s voice made her body stiffen, but when she heard the note of concern in it, some of the tension eased from her muscles. She licked her cracked lips. “Where am I?”

“Back in the harem.” Footsteps approached her, and a cool cloth bathed her face. “The emperor’s private chambers are still being repaired from last night’s incident.”

So less than a day had passed, but it didn’t explain why she still lived. She’d felt the poison draining her life away the night before. She’d remembered looking up at Titus and seeing the pain in his eyes as he held her. She’d been dying and had fully accepted that fate. Why the reprieve now?

Azurha pushed herself up on her elbows and blinked away the brightness that stung her eyes. She was back in her old room with the marble columns and the suggestive murals. Part of her wanted to laugh at her situation. She’d half expected to be in the prison again.

Varro stood near the edge of the bed, watching her with a slight frown on his wrinkled face. “Perhaps you should take your time rising, Lady Azurha. You suffered a significant injury last night.”

She drew in a deep breath, waiting for the burn along her side where Cassius’s sword had caught her, but felt nothing. No pain. No burning. And strangely enough, no weakness. When she ran her hand along where the wound had been, she felt nothing but warm flesh under the thin linen stola.

Varro cleared his throat and grabbed something from a table. He held out her golden bracelets. “I suggest you place these back on before someone mistakes you for a slave.”

She ran her finger over the cold metal cuffs. “I thought I left these behind in the cell.”

“You did.” He straightened and began to fuss over something on a tray.

No traces of blood or grime clung to the surface of the bracelets. The gold had been polished to where she could see her reflection staring back at her on the surface. She opened one of them up and started to place it on her left wrist when she drew in a sharp breath. The raw, scraped flesh from her escape had vanished, leaving smooth skin in its place. But above it, the scars from her days as a slave quickly reminded her that this wasn’t some kind of dream. Someone may have healed her, may have even saved her life, but it didn’t change her predicament.

She latched the bracelets on her wrists and jumped from the bed. The room wavered for a few seconds, and blackness bloomed on the edge of her vision. She grabbed the mattress to steady herself until it passed. Once it did, she moved to the door.

Varro blocked her escape. “Going somewhere?”

A flicker of the previous night’s confrontation passed through her mind. “I need to leave.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that. The emperor gave me strict orders that you were to remain here.”

“For how long? Until he decides to execute me? Or maybe banish me beyond the barrier?” She tried to push past the steward, but his reflexes were quicker than her sleep-dulled ones.

“I have no idea what the emperor intends to do with you, but I feel confident it will be neither of those things.” He grabbed her wrists and pushed her back until she sat on the edge of the bed. “We had to force him to leave your side for his own coronation.”

The air whooshed from her lungs. She would have preferred his hatred over this. Tears stung her eyes. “Please, Varro, let me leave before he comes back. It will be better for everyone involved.”

“Why do you say that?” He presented her with a plate of fruit, playing the role of the dutiful servant and ignoring her distress. “On the contrary, I have a feeling he’d be quite distraught if he returned to find you missing. I might even lose my head if I allowed it.”

Some of the hardness returned to her soul, reminding her that she was still the Rabbit. She narrowed her eyes. “You know who I am and what I’m capable of doing, Varro. Who’s to say I won’t kill you in order to escape?”

He withdrew the plate, his face expressionless. “Perhaps, but I have faith that you won’t. Unlike your normal targets, I’d like to think I’m more than just a name to you, Lady Azurha, and I doubt anyone has paid your usual fee for my demise.”

The memory of how he’d defended her from Galerius replayed in her mind, lancing the bubble of cruelty that had been forming inside her. That was why Cassius had always warned her never to get to close to her targets. Moments like this tugged on her emotions and made her question her actions.

Varro watched her with a satisfied curl to the edges of his mouth. “I thought as much.”

When her threat failed, she tried pleading with him. If she had to refuse Titus one more time, it would be akin to ripping the heart from her chest. “You know as well as I do that I don’t belong here.”

She waited for any hint of disdain in his voice, any sign that he agreed with her, but found none. Instead, she saw admiration glowing in his dark eyes. “That is not for me to say.” He offered her the plate again. “Eat so you can restore your strength.”

The first ripe berry had barely touched her lips when the click of the locks echoed through the harem. Footsteps followed, and a few moments later, Titus stood in the doorway.

Azurha’s jaw dropped when she saw him. His full coronation apparel proclaimed him to be every inch an emperor, from the golden crown of leaves circling his head to the shimmer of the toga woven from metallic threads hanging from his shoulders.

But it was more than the clothing that awed her. It was the change in his countenance. Every part of his body, from the set of his shoulders to the angle of his jaw, emanated power and dared anyone to challenge him.

And for the first time since she’d gained her freedom, she fell to her knees and bowed forward with her arms stretched out in front of her until her nose touched the ground. It was the posture of abject subservience, a pose reserved for slaves pleading before their master. Before now, the thought of finding herself in that position again would have sickened her, but she could think of no other way to address him after everything that had happened.

At first, all she heard was the hollow thump of her heart.

Then Titus spoke. “Leave us, Varro.”

She didn’t lift her face to watch Varro scurry out of the harem. The rapid patter of his feet and click of locks told her he’d followed the emperor’s command.

“Get up.” The way he growled those two words made her breath hitch, and her body refused to move. She glimpsed a flicker of movement in front of her. A pair of strong fingers hooked under her chin, forcing her face up. “I said, get up. There’s no need for you to humiliate yourself like that.”

She kept her eyes fixed on his feet, scared she would see disgust tugging his mouth into a sneer if she looked upon it. A mouth she still craved pressed against her own, against her skin from the hollows of neck to the place between her legs where he could pleasure her for hours. Her skin grew warm, and she cursed her insatiable desire for him. “It is the proper way for a slave to greet her master.”

“You are not a slave anymore.” He guided her arm in front of her so her face reflected in her bracelets.

But still she refused to look at him. Silence stretched on for another minute before she found the courage to ask, “What do you plan to do to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know who I am, what I’ve done.” Anger boiled inside her stomach, creeping up into her voice. “Why did you save me? Do you intend to make a public spectacle of my execution?”

“You saved my life last night, so no, I won’t be executing you.”

Laughter seeped into his voice as though he was mocking her. She bit her bottom lip to keep from yelling at him. All she needed was a few seconds to overpower him and sneak out. Then she would be gone from his life and allow him to be the ruler she knew he could be. “Then what do you plan on doing to me?”

He knelt beside her and cupped her face in his hands. His lips pressed against hers as light as butterfly wings. The tenderness of his actions made her pulse quicken and desire swirl in her stomach. How could he still want her when he knew the ugly truth?

Titus pressed his forehead against hers. “I have one question I want you to answer truthfully.”

Her mouth went dry. So, it was all a ploy to throw her off guard, a means to lower her defenses so he could wrench her secrets from her. She tried to pry his hands off her cheeks, but he held firm.

“Did you really mean what you said last night?”

Her gut tightened. She’d expected Titus to question her about Pontus and her involvement in his plot. Life would be much simpler if she took back those words, but her heart balked at the idea. She stared into his eyes, willing the word no to form on her lips.

“Answer me.”

She closed her eyes and nodded.

This time, his lips crushed against hers like a man set on conquering a territory, and her body betrayed her. She kissed him back with equal passion, tugging at his clothes like a starving woman eager to taste his flesh while he pulled them to their feet. Her mind fought back and tempered her actions, though. She pushed him away. “No, Titus, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is madness. I was sent here to kill you, and you act like nothing has happened.”

His lips pressed together, and he took a step away from her. “Fine. Yes, I acknowledge that you were sent here to kill me, but you didn’t. You ended up saving my life. That makes you a hero.”

“That still doesn’t wash away all the blood I’ve spilt in the past.”

A heavy sigh billowed from his chest. “So you are the Rabbit.”

She nodded. “And once your nobles know that, they would condemn our affair even more loudly than before. It’s bad enough that I’m not a Deizian.”

His laughter cut her off before she finished listing all her shortcomings. “On the contrary, I think they would be more fearful knowing the Rabbit was my wife. One false move, and they would be constantly living in fear of being found dead with a rabbit’s foot on their body.”

“This is not a laughing matter. This is real. You can’t keep ignoring the fact that you and I come from two separate stations of life. You are the emperor, and I’m a former slave who’s slit more throats than I care to admit.”

Her statement sobered him. “And when are you going to
believe me when I tell you that none of that matters? There is a precedent to pardoning criminals who pledge to protect the empire, you know.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not.” He closed the space between them and took her hands in his. “I love you. You and no one else. And you love me. Why do you insist on destroying what we have together?”

“Because you have the chance to do so much good for the empire, Titus. I know it. I see it on your face and feel it deep in my heart. Don’t throw it all away for me.”

“Is that what this is all about? I’ve married for the good of the empire before, and it ended up killing her. My hands are just as bloodstained as yours. I will not force that miserable existence on another ‘proper’ wife again, even if you think it means securing my throne.” He reached up and pulled the crown from his head, tossing it to the side. It clattered across the floor before skidding to a stop against the wall. “Without you, this means nothing. If I have to give it up to have you, then so be it.”

“Don’t be a fool.”

“Then don’t argue with me. You say you see potential in me, but before I met you, I didn’t know what to do with it. I was an empty shell until you filled me with your trust, with your encouragement.” He tilted her face up until she met his gaze. “With your love. You believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. And if you leave me, I’ll go back to that emptiness.”

“But what will people say? What will they think?”

“I’m don’t give a damn what they think. The only thing I care about is you.” He kissed her again, this time slowly, easing his tongue into her mouth and coaxing all her conflicting emotions to the surface. All the pain, the longing, the self-loathing faded as she melted into his embrace. His hands caressed her curves.

They tumbled back onto the unmade bed. The weight of his body felt so comforting, so familiar, that she could only call it home. This was where she belonged.

They paused their kisses long enough to shed their clothes. The warmth of his bare skin against hers heightened her arousal. She inhaled the scent of sandalwood that mingled with his unique male scent, tasted the desire on his lips. Her sex grew wet in anticipation of his hard cock, craving it with a hunger that almost frightened her with its intensity.

“Wait.” Titus uttered one word that ripped the veil of desire from her and left her cold and naked to reality. His breath came short and sharp, but she glimpsed the hunger in his eyes. He wasn’t asking her to wait because he was having second thoughts about wanting her. “I told you once before that I would never force you to do something you didn’t want to do, and so I’m going to ask you one more time and I’ll respect your answer. Will you marry me? Will you be my Empress, rule by my side and help me shape the empire into something greater?”

She traced the planes of her face with her hands, searching for the truth behind his question. It still astounded her that he cared for her, that he loved her. And by the gods, she loved him, too. He’d shown her that she was someone to be cherished through his words and his actions. Even now, he refused to exert his Imperial Will on her, even though she knew he could order her to marry him.