He was there and gone, walking ahead of me toward a seat beside Halla, but my focus had been on the empress. She had watched the whole thing.
As I hurried toward an open seat, the empress’s voice boomed once more.
“Not there,” she called to me, her blue gaze boring into mine.
My heart flew up into my throat, beating angrily.
Everyone quieted and watched as she pointed to the chair to her right and gave me a smile as sharp as a pen knife. “When I heard you arrived with the company, I was most excited. It would be my honor to have you sit besideme,Queen Imogen.”
I stalled for a moment, trying to master a rough swell of foreboding. For a fleeting moment, I thought how nice it would be to rip the diamonds from her neck and lash her with them, but I made my way toward the seat beside her instead. It placed me directly across from Halla, with Theodore at her side.
“Very good,” the empress said as she took her spot at the head of the table. She gave me a weighty, knowing look and leaned in to pat my hand. “I look forward to our… conversation.”
I gave her a full smile and spoke as softly as she had. “And I look forward to watching you lose the thing you treasure most in the world.”
Her laugh was deep and unfeigned. She patted my hand again, dismissively, before starting a conversation with the guest beside me. The empress glittered. Diamonds haloed her white hair. They hung heavy around her neck, and thick bracelets of gold and silver adorned her wrists. Even her dark gown was studded in gems, and the effect gave her an air of immovability. I doubted even theGreat Goddess Diantan herself could have moved so much metal and stone.
Finally, the she lifted her goblet. “I bid you all welcome.”
Though she smiled, there was nothing in her tone that made me believe it.
She didn’t sip her wine. “I must say, though…” She looked at her daughter with unfriendly blue eyes. “When I heard there was a Varian ship on the horizon, flying an Obelian flag with its own, I was rather surprised.”
Halla dipped her head and whispered. “Yes, Mother. The visit was not long planned.”
Even over the conversation and clatter of the meal, I could hear the familiar note of fearful reverence in Halla’s voice. It was precisely how I had sounded in Nemea’s presence, after a lifetime of subjugation had taught me my place.
I studied Halla anew. Searching for a trace of my father in her features and feeling relieved to find none.
“And what is thetruereason for this visit?” The empress’s voice had dropped so low I had to strain to hear her. “You did not endure the sea for a paltry wedding feast.”
There was a long pause before Halla spoke. “I have plans. Hopes,” she said, diffident yet clear. “I have always wanted a wedding at home, Mother. You denied my first request. And my second. So I have come to beg.”
The empress’s eyes shone with such violence that I flinched. The look fled as quickly as it came.
Halla sat taller. “And my husband and I have come to a new agreement.” Her voice shook, but to her credit, she did not cower. “In it, he promised me this visit home.”
The empress tapped the handle of her knife, lips pursed ever so slightly. “It seems you should thank me for securing you such agood husband. They are so very hard to find.” Her cool gaze slid to Theodore, and in a voice as threatening as it was soft, she said, “I am so eager to hear of thisnew agreement.”
Servants filled my wine and set a plate of fragrant vegetables and herbed lamb before me. But I found my appetite gone.
Theodore was austerity itself. “There is much to discuss. But we’ll do so in private. With my marshal and steward present.”
“Nonsense. You’ve come all this way.” The empress waved a heavily ringed hand toward the far end of the table, where Markis and Aleka sat amid the group of nobles. “They’re here. Tell me.”
Theodore went still, but he spoke with such smooth gentility, such placid confidence, that I couldn’t help but awe. “We have changed the wedding contracts that we originally agreed upon.”
The empress made a strange sound in her throat. Took a hearty drink of her wine. “The contracts that I, foolishly, did not ask you to sign in my presence.” She gave a dark chuckle. “And whatchangesproved more important than our newfound allyship, Theodore?”
“Mother,” Halla said in a meek voice. “I agreed to his changes of my own accord. I was not threatened or coerced.”
The empress scoffed. “That was not my concern.”
I bristled as the conversation down the table died to a hush.
Theodore cleared his throat. “I asked Halla for a half marriage,” he said, regal and calm. “A ceremony, but no binding. In the eyes of my kingdom, and the Great Gods, she is not my true partner or queen, but recognized as more of a mistress.” He pulled in a shallow breath and pushed it back out. “In exchange,” he said, but this time there was a tightness in his voice, “I agreed to bring her home for a wedding feast.” He swallowed. “And to give her a child.”
My heart raced, but I sat there quietly, clinging to my goblet likeit was an anchor. I reminded myself that it was a farce, a ploy, and still my insides churned.
