“We’re out of towels. Give me a moment while I get more.”

  Em barely registered the doctor’s words as the man distractedly left the room.

  She was too busy staring at the sweat-soaked face.

  Slowly, she reached toward it. Pushing soggy silver hair out of his eyes. Eyes she knew would be a beautiful ruby red if he opened them.

  “Asher,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  Her stomach clenched.

  Who brought you here, Asher?

  ***

  Empress Madeline Cyrin entered her room, the weight of the day pressing down on her.

  It had been a long one. She had argued with her ladies-in-waiting over the upcoming Imperial Memorial, dealt with a tea party at some Marchioness’ town house (whose name escaped her), and snuck off to the Temple.

  Now, all she wanted was a bath and a bed.

  “Where have you been?”

  Her lady’s maid stood in the middle of the room. Arms crossed. This year’s model was Lauren Chester, a daughter of a viscount.

  She was low enough on the food chain to be desperate for any chance to raise her status. And high enough she should have known when she overstepped.

  Madeline’s mouth pinched.

  Ah. One more annoyance for the night. Can I just play the villain for once and kill her?

  The thought was entertaining and her mouth quirked in a quick grin. Then, cheerfully, she stepped around the other woman while barely looking at her.

  “Is my bath ready?”

  Lauren sputtered. “Your Majesty! It’s my job to look after you throughout the day-!”

  Madeline opened the bathroom door. “From the look of it, you’re looking after me well. Provided it’s still warm.”

  The maid stomped around the Empress, eyes flashing. Hands on hips as she faced her mistress.

  “His Majesty himself tasked me with your care! How can I do my job if you don’t take me with you?”

  And that is why I don’t take you with me.

  Madeline once again stepped around the maid. Undoing the buttons on her bodice as she went.

  “Your Mag-”

  Abruptly losing patience, Madeline swung around. Mana crackled from her fingers and formed a lightning shaped hand. Which she wrapped around the woman’s neck and pushed the hand upward, forcing Lauren onto her toes.

  Madeline stepped closer, eyes slitted dangerously as she leaned into the woman’s face.

  “Last I checked, an Empress is not beholden to a mere maid.”

  She dropped the woman. Who, looking petrified, scrambled out of the bathroom as quickly as she could.

  I really am the villain here. Cheers, Mad.

  With a sigh, Madeline finished undressing and stepped into the bathtub.

  For an instant, she just stood there with water up to her thighs. To give credit to the maid, it was still warm. Madeline closed her eyes, savoring the sensation on her sore feet.

  The door opened behind her and she grimaced.

  “You are persistent.”

  “And you are too thin. You should eat more, Madeline. It’s affecting your beauty.”

  She didn’t mean to react. In most cases, she wouldn’t have. But as soon as she heard his voice, her knees automatically buckled. She recovered quickly enough to not fall forward, but it was a close save.

  Heart pounding, aware of the man watching her naked back and butt, she slowly reached for her robe. Hand shaking.

  The robe was a gauzy, useless thing. It would do very little to hide her nakedness. But… it was better, much better, than being totally naked.

  She pulled it on, the hem submerging into water.

  “Did your little spy go tattling? Is that why you’re here?”

  “I was on my way and came across her, yes.”

  Somewhat covered, Madeline turned around. Face composed.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “What do you want?”

  “Do I have to have a reason to see my Empress? You should come give me a kiss.”

  Madeline flinched.

  “No? Really, Madeline, if you want my attention, you should learn how to please me.”

  He smiled with pretended warmth. Delusional bastard. She honestly couldn’t tell if he thought she was pining for him… or if he knew full well her hatred and was enjoying his game of ‘torment Maddie’.

  He held out a hand.

  “Come.”

  Reluctantly, she stepped out of the sunken bathtub and he grabbed her wrist.

  Hard.

  Painfully he twisted it as he pulled her closer and she felt her breath catch. Once again, she was that helpless young teen in the hands of this monster. Where no one could hear her scream…

  And no one would have helped her if they had heard.

  She was glad no one came back then.

  It would have meant living with their death as well as living with her tormentor.

  “Now, tell me where you went.”

  “The Temple.”

  With a snort of laughter, he pushed her. She angled her body so she would land to the floor instead of in the tub. Pain momentarily took her breath away when she landed and she gasped.

  “The Temple! How cute.”

  Carefully, she rolled onto her knees, kowtowing to Thiago as he smirked down at her. He leaned forward, putting a hand on her head and lacing his fingers in her hair. Pulling just hard enough to hurt.

  “Tell me, which god did you pray to?”

  “The god of peace and mercy,” she whispered.

  It was true. That was the temple she’d gone to. She had to make sure it was true, otherwise Thiago would ferret out every little lie to her words.

  He let go of her hair and gave her only a second to see his knee coming for her face. Instinctively, she jerked out of the way and put up a barrier spell.

  If she’d been thinking, she would have just taken the beating.

  It was faster that way.

  Thiago’s leg went through the barrier as though it weren’t there, but her face was no longer in range.

  He swore at her in a stream of degrading names then changed his tactic. This time she didn’t move when he slapped her. Falling again on her butt, she held her cheek and cowered.

  She didn’t even need to act.

  “How dare you!” he seethed. “Don’t you remember? I’m blessed by a god!”

  As though to prove it, the bathroom was growing dark. Little shadowy orbs wriggled through the cracks in the floor. They swirled around the couple, dimming the mana lamps just with their presence.

  But apparently the little orbs had a vendetta against the lamps because they went directly to the lights. Surrounding the lights until the room was so dim Madeline could barely see Thiago’s shape.

  I didn’t even attack him.

  She shuddered and got back to her knees. This time pressing her face into the bathroom floor.

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, Light of the Empire. I should not have dodged your punishment.”

  There was a long pause. Then, slowly, the death orbs sank back into the floor and out of sight. Madeline’s insides quaked.

  How many deaths happened below her feet for him to command such a host of entities?

  She didn’t want to think about it.

  There was a rustling sound and she looked up.

  Thiago was taking off his belt.

  “Do you know, I’ve thought of the perfect punishment.”

  She eyed the belt. Terrified about what it might mean. It could go more than one way, and none of the options boded well for her.

  “What’s that, your Majesty?”

  She didn’t know how she kept her tongue from quaking.

  “I should call a surgeon.”

  Surgeon? She stared at him blankly. He smiled and leaned close to her face. Stroking her chin with his thumb.

  “I’ve ignored it all these years, but I think the best punishment would be to force you to bare my child. How many surgeries do you think it would take to make you fertile again?”

  Her face paled.

  How did he find out? How?! She was careful to have the surgery while he was away. And she endured healing magic to avoid scarring. As far as she knew, there were no witnesses…

  It made her wonder what else he knew.

  The thought sent terror into her toes and she had to consciously force herself to think rationally.

  No, if he knew anything else, she’d be dead. No matter how much he enjoyed playing with her, he wouldn’t tolerate her other activities.

  She closed her eyes, enduring his stroking thumb.

  When she didn’t react anymore, he lost interest in this line of torture.

  It only took ten minutes to use the belt. Beating her until she was curled up on the bathroom floor and half conscious. When he left, he didn’t look back. His thoughts already only on the pretty maid, who had agreed to return with him to his Palace.

  Madeline didn’t know how long she lay there before her eyelids fluttered open.

  Everything hurt.

  Slowly, she pushed herself to her knees and looked at her previously inviting tub. The water had turned brackish due to death orb contamination, so she tiredly emptied it and wiped it out. Then began the long process of waiting for it to refill.

  Tears burned her eyes.

  She didn’t know if she was crying out of rage or despair.

  Maybe both.

  What she did know was it was pure stubbornness that kept her moving.

  With the tub filling behind her, she limped to the cupboard. Where one shelf was entirely filled with tins of an unpopular cream.

  She was trying to open one of the round tins when an insistent buzzing filled the room.

  “Damn it!” she swore.

  Of course a call would come now. At least it couldn’t come when anyone else was around. Small mercies.

  Tin in hand, she stumbled to the edge of the tub and sat there, feet in the rising water. Then she tapped a tile before pushing off the destroyed robe.

  “Speak,” she rasped.

  There was a pause.

  “Your Majesty, are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” she growled. The tin finally came open in her shaking hands. “Speak.”

  “The package is stable.”

  She slumped as rebellious tears broke through her stoicism and almost made her laugh. A laugh she held in.

  She scooped out a blob of white cream.

  “Good. Anything-? Damn-!”

  Unintentionally, she gasped. She didn’t realize she had a knick on her finger until the stab of healing magic shot through her nerves like a razor.

  “Your Majesty?!”

  “I’m fine!” she snapped again. “Is there anything else?”

  Pause. “Nothing new, your Majesty. All the stockpiles are secure, production is still moving strong, and no new disasters.”

  “Thank Helios,” she muttered. She reached over her shoulder and dabbed at one of the growing bruises. She couldn’t hold back another gasp, though she contained her whimper by pressing her lips together.

  There was a long, long pause.

  “Your Majesty?”

  “How many times do I have to say I’m fine?”

  “Things are running well enough, your Majesty, that it might be safe for you to leave.”

  She paused in her efforts to reach her back again. The sensations of her body seemed to overwhelm her, pushing forward the suffocating temptation. Leave, Madeline…

  He was right. They had everything they needed to survive if she wanted to walk away.

  And oh, how much she wanted to walk away.

  The awareness that Thiago was just a breath away from discovering her…

  She took a deep breath.

  “Not yet,” she whispered. Frustration pressed into her mind and onto her soul. But she knew she was making the right decision.

  “But, your Majesty-”

  “Not. Yet.”

  “And if you’re caught, your Majesty? What will we do then?”

  She scooped out another blob of creamy torture and looked down at her fingers. “You know the plan. Just proceed without me.”

  Another pause.

  “Yes, your Majesty.”

  She put down the tin long enough to tap a tile. Then reached over her shoulder again. Agony tore through her as the cream did its job. Thank the gods she couldn’t reach everything!

  By the time she was done, she was very glad to slip into the tub and its gloriously too-hot water.