“I hear you’re being courted. Has the wild princess finally found her match or…?” Duchess Hirsch asked.
Ah, and there was the third. Nothing was more fascinating than budding romance. Unfortunately, the ball had ended before she could meet with the masked stranger. Not that it mattered, she had more important things to worry about than those casual flirtations.
“Your sources are wrong; I have no intentions of marrying any time soon,” Liane said, trying to keep her tone neutral.
“Well, don’t wait too long. You’re not getting younger, and it will be harder to conceive if you’re too old. Then they’ll think both Starweber sisters are barren.” Duchess Hirsch tsked.
Liane clenched her napkin in her hand and exhaled through her nose. Ladies stared at her, their eyes burning against her skin like a brand. The empress’ curse, the unfortunate fate of the Starweber sisters. She’d heard variations of the same insults: broken, sad, hollow, blighted by their mother’s ambitions. Before Mother became empress, no woman had dared take the throne. Even more audacious, she had surpassed a living son and declared her oldest daughter her heir. The rumors had been created to discredit Aristea and Mother both, and Liane’s own illness and refusal to marry was another blotch on Mother’s otherwise idyllic rule.
Perhaps if she hadn’t just learned about Heinrich’s bastard, she might have held her tongue. Instead, the words spilled out.
“And how is your husband, Lady Keisel, still a drunk?” Liane asked, meeting Lady Keisel’s eyes.
Her face flushed, and she looked away without response.
“Indeed, he is,” Duchess Hirsch chuckled.
“And you, Duchess Hirsch, I’m surprised you can wear such fancy jewels. Just last week, your husband came to the emperor consort begging him for another loan. If you’re not careful, the debtors will come and rip those rubies from around your wrinkled neck.”
They both gasped, as several ladies around them looked at Liane in horror. It wasn’t princess behavior, but she wasn’t trapped the way Aristea was: unable to speak her mind, or bite back at their venomous slander. They already saw her as the lesser, broken sister. Why not use her position to defend Aristea? Slamming her hands onto the table, she drew attention from everyone in the garden, and they gawked at her as her scar throbbed.
“Would anyone else like to voice their opinions about my sister and my ability to breed?”
Silence stretched out as the women around the room avoided her gaze.
“Liane,” Aristea said in a warning tone.
“You all love to make your snide remarks, and we pretend not to hear them. But whether we can bear children or not, it doesn’t mean Aristea isn’t the rightful heir to the throne. Nor does it change the fact that she would be the best damn empress we’ve ever seen!” Liane shouted as a flush burned her cheeks.
Silence met her proclamation, and sheshoved away from the table, too disgusted with them to spend another moment in their presence. As she strode away, Aristea soothed their indignant chatter, making excuses for her outburst. She might have thought Aristea a fool for mollifying them, but they were the wives of the most powerful men in the kingdom. The Dukes of Parliament decided the fate of the kingdom as much as Mother. Someone had to appease them, but it didn’t make Liane any less angry at them.
As her anger pulsed, her back itched, and a rash spread out from her spine, but for once, she didn’t care. It was worth it to make her point. Absorbed in her own thoughts, she didn’t watch where she was going and collided with a wall of male flesh. Propelled backward, he saved her from landing on her rear by catching her in his powerful arms.As Liane glanced up to thank her rescuer, she met the grinning face of a stranger. Or was he? Why did that smile feel so familiar?
“It’s becoming a habit to run into you like this,” he said in a rich baritone. She knew that voice; it was the man from the masquerade.
“Forgive me. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she said, clearing her throat.Painfully aware of the stares of the court, she untangled from his grip and put adequate distance between them.
“It’s no trouble at all.” His words wrapped around her, brushing against her like a caress. Had they run into one another at any other time, she might have stopped to talk to him.
“If you’ll excuse me.” She bowed and strode away from him.
“It was you, that night at the tavern. Wasn’t it?”
Liane stopped in her tracks and turned to face him as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The stardust buyer, it had been him. A shiver of warning raced up her spine.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said before striding away without another word.
There wasn’t time for investigating mysterious lords, but they’d run into one another three times now. Was it fate or coincidence? She didn’t know, but she must admit she hoped to see him again.
10
Sunlight burned through Liane’s eyelids as Luzie unceremoniously yanked away her blanket. Groaning, Liane rolled over, pulling it back over her head.
“Luzie, let me sleep,” Liane grumbled.
“I cannot, your majesty. The empress has ordered you dressed and ready for the sunrise rites,” Luzie said as she yanked the blankets out of reach.
“Why does it have to be early?” Liane said, draping an arm over her face to block out the sun.
