Page 3 of A Dance of Shadows

“I’d imagine such a thing would be possible,” I say quietly, letting my horror continue to show. “But to use my gift for that purpose… I’m dedicated to healing, not doing harm. Surely there’s some way to reason and compromise with your brother, an approach that wouldn’t require ending his life.”

Fuck.Iwanted to end Marclinus’s life—and now that may mean I have to murder two men. Just the one seemed nearly impossible.

Marc makes a vague gesture of dismissal. “I’ve tried, believe me. He’s only gotten more wound up in his paranoid delusions. I have no idea what else he might do, how far he might go if he realizes I’m aiming to take over as sole emperor. It needs to be done as soon as possible.”

And how much more paranoia will I stir up if I show any willingness to orchestrate a murder?

I shrink against the sofa. “I can’t— You’re asking me to help kill the man I married.”

Marc frowns. “You stabbed a man to death in the arena this morning. You’ve spoken for the punishment of those who deserve it. Isn’t protecting the empire enough justification?”

I grapple with my answer. “The prisoner was a traitor. It’s hard to see what your brother has done in the same light. And it was difficult for me to carry out that act with my own hands as it was.”

I didn’t actually kill the man. I schemed to get him out of the arena alive, but my husband doesn’t know that. He’d probably murdermeif he did.

Marc gazes down at me, his jaw tight, his eyes gone cold. “I don’t think you understand how much danger you’re in. Most of Linus’s paranoia has been focused on you. He’s already lashed out in small ways… He may go even farther, regardless of your pregnancy. I can only do so much to moderate his decisions.”

Uneasiness prickles over my skin, but I can’t see how agreeing to his plot when I’m still so unsure of the situation could possibly work in my favor. If it’s a test, I’ll be proving Linus’s misgivings right. If the man in front of me is serious…

He’s quite possibly just as if not more dangerous than the twin he wants to murder.

Better that I continue to play the lamb so neither of them wonder if I’ve ever been more.

I spread my hands helplessly. “I’m sorry. I swore to support you—but those vows were to him too. I have to try for peace as long as there’s any chance of it.”

Marc opens his mouth and then closes it alongside a clench of his hands. “I’ve laid a lot on you tonight. You must be exhausted. When you’ve had time to think about it— I have to go back and assure him that the child is mine. Please consider what I said. And be careful. I’d prefer not to lose you.”

He leans in to touch my cheek in a fleeting caress and strides out of the room. I watch the door shut behind him in a daze, his last words echoing in my head alongside my disbelief.

How did my life come to this?

Chapter Two

Aurelia

My husband pops the last of the berries from the breakfast spread into his mouth and smacks his lips extravagantly. “So juicy and sweet! But not quite as fantastic a feast as my darling wife.”

He glances at me with lowered eyelids. The narrowing of his eyes feels more ominous than flirtatious to me, and I can’t say his squeeze of my thigh beneath the table tips the balance in the other direction.

“I’m not sure I’ve had my fill yet,” he adds, still loud enough for the entire main table to hear.

It takes every shred of my self-control not to stiffen at the implication of his words. Is he going to drag me off to my bedroom right now? Make a display of claiming me on the table like he nearly did a couple of weeks ago in the waystation?

The elderly viceroy at his other side lets out a bellow of a laugh. “Ah, young love—and lusts. It’s good to see you in suchhigh spirits, Your Imperial Majesty. You must be pleased with your confirmation.”

Marclinus’s gaze flicks to the other man. “Indeed. We have much more celebrating to look forward to today. I suppose I should practice alittlemoderation.”

His feral grin suggests the “little” will be miniscule.

I force a smile onto my own face through another pawing of my thigh. I hope my intense study of my husband’s expression and demeanor comes across as adoring rather than incisive.

If what the man I spoke to last night said is true, I have to think the one I’m dining with now is Linus, his twin whose inclinations tend toward “fraternizing and flirting.” It certainly isn’t hard to assume he’s a different person altogether from the coolly purposeful husband I spoke to late last night.

But is he really, or is it only a new game being played by one man in an attempt to provoke me? I can’t see any definitive difference in the set of their chiseled features or the shape of their well-built bodies.

Regardless of whether that husband is one man or two, I have to behave the same way. Pretend I’m unfazed and feeling as warmly as ever toward the man beside me. Show no sign that I’d very much like to see him murdered.

It’s really too early to have him offed anyway. I need several more months before the heir growing inside me is born, before I’ll be solid in the empire’s support.

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