Page 41 of What Fury Brings
Sanos nearly jolted. He’d almost forgotten the crowd while observing the exchange between the two royal cousins.
But the masses had taken notice of his state of undress immediately, even though he wasn’t on the stage yet. They applauded. They screamed. They shouted praises at him.
He was the heir of Brutus, and he stood in an amphitheater bursting at the seams with women—without a stitch of clothing on.
It should have been mortifying, but Sanos couldn’t manage the proper emotion with the way everyone was cheering for him. Rooting for him.He was the obvious favorite of the crowd, who hadn’t applauded for Glen’s man.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Glen. She took in the crowd with distaste before stalking off.
Olerra was grinning at Sanos when he turned back to her.
“Can you blame them?” she asked. “You’re magnificent.”
He didn’t know what to feel in that moment. Pride tried to claim every corner of his brain, but he felt as though he ought to press harder for outrage. However, his sense of modesty was nowhere to be found. The whistles and screams felt good. They made him feel wanted. Chosen. Accepted.
He couldn’t accept the attention of women back home, lest his father hurt them. But here—here he could embrace it.
After sweeping the crowd, his eyes landed on Olerra.
He could embracethiswoman without fear of harm to her. In fact, he mightwelcomeharm to her as he remembered his sore nether region.
He was ashamed the thought even entered his mind, but it did enter. How could it not with all the looks she’d been shooting his way? Her suggestive comments? That searing kiss they’d shared at the brothel?
His body wanted her even if his mind didn’t. In fact, his mind still wanted to murder her.
It was a heady combination.
Sanos stood there, basking in the attention of the crowd, wrestling with his thoughts, as Olerra poured a decent amount of oil into her hands before rubbing her fingers up and down his chest.
Sanos meant to step away from that touch, but when she uttered, “I’m sorry,” he found himself rooted to the spot. “I expected you to be fighting a soft bedroom boy.” Olerra was looking at Athon on the stage.“I didn’t even consider that she would—but of course she would. That is her way. Cheat when she can. Sabotage when she can’t.”
He tried to ignore the feel of her fingers on his skin, which was far more pleasant than it should have been.
“Why does her courting that man upset you?” he asked. Was he a former paramour of Olerra’s? Was there any man in this country who didn’t fancy her?
“He is—was—one of my soldiers.”
“I’m not following.”
“He was the first man we allowed to join our ranks. He worked so hard to be competitive with the women. Put on an enormous amount of muscle so he’d stand a chance. And now he’s given it all up for some affection and her money.”
“Why do you care?”
“First, because you’re going to take harder hits than I anticipated. And second, when you beat him, Andrastus—and youaregoing to beat him—Glenaerys will punish him in ways I cannot save him from.”
He knew that feeling all too well. How many times had the king hurt his mother or siblings with Sanos helpless but to watch?
He mentally shook himself. He wasn’t going to find kinship with this woman. They were not the same.
“I still don’t understand why you’re worried for a man.”
Amarran women treated men as their playthings. Why should she be so concerned?
“Because I’m responsible for my soldiers. And just because some in my kingdom are demeaning and degrading toward men, do not think for a moment I am one of them.”
Sanos looked pointedly at his swollen wrists.
“You are the exception, as you continue to be difficult.” She bent tooil up his legs next. “I thought Athon a friend, but Glen has turned him against me, just as she’s done with everything else. I suspect it won’t be long before she tries to come for you, too. But she can’t have you. You’re mine.”
