18
Titus ducked as Azurha threw the wooden box away from her. A blur of white streaked across the room and rolled to a stop against the wall. Varro picked it up by a pair of long ears and held it up with a frown on his face. A decapitated rabbit’s head.
All the color drained from Azurha’s face. She backed away from him. “I have to leave, don’t you see? He’s coming to get me, and he’ll hurt you in the process.”
Titus drew his brows together and steadied her trembling hands. “Who sent this?”
She acted like she didn’t hear his question. Her eyes remained wide as she continued, “I can’t leave you, though. I have to protect you. But I can’t stay.” She released him and chewed on her bottom lip as she paced beside the bed.
He turned to Varro to see if he could sort out her cryptic prattle, but his steward simply shrugged. She grew more agitated with each turn until he finally grabbed her arms and halted her. “Answer me, Azurha. What does the rabbit’s head mean?”
“I can’t tell you.” The corners of her eyes glistened. “I’m sorry.”
He shoved her back against the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. Varro’s knowing glance only added to his frustration. “Wait outside with that thing. I’ll deal with it in a minute.”
Varro nodded and slipped out with the box and its contents.
Azurha stared at the floor and wiped her hand across her eyes. “Don’t order me to tell you.”
“Why are you defying me?” He lifted her chin, but her eyes rolled to the side and focused on the wall. “What secrets are you keeping?”
“I need to keep you safe, Titus. If anything happened to you, I don’t know how I could live with my conscience.” Her gaze slid back to him, and he witnessed the fear, determination, and guilt that all warred inside her play out on her face.
“Then explain to me why someone would send you that?”
“It’s a warning.” She pulled his hand away and rose from the bed. “I knew my days were numbered, and this only confirms it.”
The deadly calm with which she spoke sent a shiver racing down his spine. Someone wanted her dead, and if what little information he gleaned from her was correct, an assassin had already been hired to kill her.
One who was fond of leaving rabbit body parts next to his victims.
He wrapped his arms around her. “No one is going to hurt you as long as you’re in the palace, Azurha. I swear to you.”
She pushed him away, her bottom lip quivering. “You’re too arrogant to see what’s right in front of you. Assassins can easily gain access to the palace, to your chambers, and kill you in your sleep.” Her voice cracked. “Please listen to me. I have to go. I have to stop him before he tries again.”
“Who?”
A single tear streaked down her cheek.
He cupped her face in his hands. “Tell me who it is, Azurha, and I’ll employ every soldier in the empire to find him. You don’t have to live in fear of the Rabbit.”
“You think I fear the Rabbit?”
An odd mixture of laughter and sobs rose from her throat, making him wonder if she’d gone completely mad. When it didn’t cease, he focused a thin thread of magic into her mind, trying to calm her. She resisted, continuing to babble about how she needed to leave to keep him safe in one sentence, followed by how she couldn’t leave because she needed to protect him in the next. It reminded him of waves crashing against a shore and then retreating. The argument spun around and around until he released more of his magic. A maelstrom of wild magic engulfed him, challenging him until he unleashed the full force of his power and she collapsed in his arms.
He cursed and caught her before she hit the floor. He hadn’t wanted to knock her unconscious. Ever since he noticed the new surge of wild magic the other morning, he’d noticed a growing difficulty in restraining it. This was the result. At least she seemed to be resting peacefully now. He laid her on the bed and wiped his brow before returning to the main chamber.
Marcus had joined Varro, and both men were so engrossed in their examination of the box that they failed to notice his entrance.
“What do you make of it?”
Their heads snapped up. “It’s a box with a rabbit’s head in it, Titus,” Marcus replied dryly. “Did she tell you anything?”
“Only that it’s a warning.” He sank onto the sofa and leaned against the cushions. Life had been much simpler before she entered it. Boring and empty, but simpler. “I’ll give you three guesses who I think sent it.”
Marcus shook his head. “The Rabbit’s supposed to be contracted
to kill you. She seems like she’d hardly be worth his time.”
“Excuse me, but what’s this about the Rabbit?” Varro stiffened, and a glimmer of the soldier he once was appeared. “Is there something I should be aware of?”
Titus nodded, and Marcus filled the steward in on everything from the rumors of the price on his head to the suspicion of the assassin being the Rabbit. His jaw tightened as he listened. “And now it seems Azurha’s involved in it somehow,” he added when his friend finished.
“I warned you that she knew more than she let on.” Marcus shoved the lid of the box closed. “The next question is, what are you going to do about her?”
“Might I get a word in?” Varro took the box and set it on the table. “Lady Azurha may know more than she’s telling us, but I think you’re overlooking a few important details.”
“Such as?”
“Perhaps you didn’t hear her correctly, but she mentioned several times that she needed to protect you. From what I’ve witnessed, she’s more than just a pretty face. Her attack on Lady Claudia yesterday rivaled any member of the Legion that I served with.”
“You think Pontus sent her to protect Titus?” Marcus snorted a single dry laugh. “Knowing him, you’d think she was the assassin.” His eyes widened as soon as he said it. “Titus, you don’t think—”
“Think about it, Marcus. If Azurha had been hired to kill me, she’s had ample opportunity.” He replayed the scene in the bedroom moments ago. She seemed so frantic to reach a decision, even if it involved leaving him. “No, I don’t think she’s an assassin.”
“Would you stake your life on it?”
He gave Marcus a wry smile. “With so many snakes in the grass these days, I can count the people I trust completely on one hand.”
“I hope I’m one of them.”
His smile widened. “Of course, Marcus. You shouldn’t even have to ask that.”
“Back to Lady Azurha’s gift.” Varro ran his hand over the top of the box. “What should we do about it?”
“That’s what I’m trying to decide.” Titus leaned forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands. “Do you two agree that someone is trying to threaten her?”
“No, I think they’re trying to give her an idea what to serve for supper tomorrow night.” Marcus sat in a chair across from him. “You definitely pissed off some people by elevating her to your consort.”
“Enough for them to want to kill her?”
“They want to kill
you
, Titus, and you’re the emperor. She’s just a bug for them to squash.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the bedroom. The fear in her eyes had startled him more than he cared to admit. Even when speaking about the torture she endured as a slave, she never trembled like that, never lost her composure. “Perhaps I should send her some place safe.”
“I think you’re reading Lady Azurha wrong, Emperor Sergius.” Varro straightened his injured leg, adding another inch to his height. “She has a warrior’s heart, and she wouldn’t like being forced into hiding. It reeks of cowardice.”
“She’ll go into hiding if I order it.” He pounded his fist on the table. “I will not allow anyone to harm her, not while I can do something about it.”
Varro took a step back and lowered his gaze, but Marcus cocked his head to the side. “By gods, she has you by the nuts, doesn’t she?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the emperor. No one controls me.”
“You’ve fallen in love with her.”
He jumped to his feet and stopped just inches from his friend’s face. “What I feel for her is none of your concern.”
The teasing grin faded, and a sober expression replaced it. “No need to get upset. I’m your best friend, remember? If you can’t admit your feelings about her to me, then maybe they aren’t as real as you think they are.”
His core trembled, both from rage and fear. His feelings for Azurha were more real and frightening than he ever imagined. Just the thought of someone marring her delicate skin made him want to reach for his sword and show that person the meaning of pain. The lifeless eyes of the dead rabbit haunted him. If he ever discovered her still body staring up at him with those eyes…
Titus turned away before Marcus could read his face. “Is there a safe place you would recommend?”
“My son is the steward at your palace in Madrena,” Varro answered. “She would be well taken care of there, and I trust him to be discreet about her presence.”
Marcus nodded. “It’s remote enough that they wouldn’t think of looking for her there. The problem would be getting her to Madrena.”
“I don’t think she’ll resist.” Guilt laced his words as he wondered how much damage his spell had done to her. “I lost control of my magic while trying to calm her, and she’s out cold.”
Thankfully, he saw no censure on his friend’s face. “Out long enough to get her there?”
“At least until dawn, maybe longer.”
Marcus rubbed his beard. “If we take your airship, we can make it there in less than eight hours.”
“Take it with my blessing. Just get her there safely.”
“Woo-hoo!” Marcus jumped and pumped his fist in delight. “I’ve been dying to get behind the helm of that thing.”
“You’ll bring it back, right?”
“Maybe. Depends on how much I like it.”
“Go get it ready. I’ll stay here with her until you come back.”
Marcus ran out of the chambers like an eager child given a new toy, but Varro lingered with restrained dignity. “If it pleases your Imperial Majesty, I will send a message to my son to prepare the palace for Lady Azurha’s arrival.”
“Please be quiet about it. I don’t want anyone else to know where she is.”
“Of course, Emperor Sergius.” He reached the door and paused. “You shouldn’t worry too much about Lady Azurha. She seems to be a very resourceful woman.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did it ever occur to you that she has spent nearly a decade on her own? She’s an unmarried woman, a freed slave, and she’s managed to survive just fine without your protection.”
“She also came to me as a concubine.” The words stung as soon as he said them. Maybe he’d ask her why she agreed to join his harem when all this died down. Did she have any choice in the matter? Or was she just accepting any offer that came her way in order to keep food in her stomach and roof over her head?
“Perhaps, but she is every bit of a lady and deserves to be treated as such.” Varro bowed his head and slipped out of the room in his usual noiseless fashion.
Titus ran his fingers through his hair. He’d just arranged to send the one person who grounded him away. How would he deal with the stress of being emperor when he didn’t have her arms to retreat into at the end of the day? Memories of his first frustrating two weeks pulled at him. When she had arrived, she gave him the confidence he’d been lacking. What would happen when she was gone?
He returned to the bedroom and stood next to the bed, drinking in her features and committing them to his memory. Had he ever noticed the dark shadows her lashes cast on her cheeks before? Or the way the hollows just above her collarbone practically begged him to kiss her there? He grew hard just thinking about it and cursed the fact he’d somehow managed to knock her unconscious with his spell. Coming once more deep inside of her would help ease some of the impending loneliness.
She sighed in her sleep, and a new sensation twisted in his chest. Marcus was right. He’d fallen in love with her, as much as it frightened him to admit it. He needed her like he needed air. For a second, he contemplated cancelling his plan just so he could keep her here next to him. Would the palace walls be enough to keep her safe? Would he be enough?
“I’m wasting precious time debating this,” he muttered and crawled into the bed, curling his body around her. The scent of her jasmine perfume filled his nostrils and soothed him. He lay there and watched the pulse gently throb along her neck, wondering if she felt a fraction of the love he had for her.
“Please don’t hate me for doing this, Azurha. It’s for your own good.”
Her hand gripped his arm, blanching the skin, but her eyelids remained firmly closed.
“What? You don’t want to go?”
A small moan rose from her throat, followed by a whimper. Her fingers dug deeper into his flesh before her entire body surrendered and relaxed. Her hand fell to the mattress, and her breathing became slow and even. Even while sleeping, she challenged him but ultimately bent to his will.
“It won’t be for long. As soon as I take care of the person who threatened you, I’ll bring you back here, and I promise we won’t leave the bed for three days.”
The corners of her mouth twitched, and some of the heaviness eased off of his chest. She’d forgive him for this.
The locks clicked, and he lifted his head. Was it time for her to leave already?
Marcus strode into the room and halted when he saw them. “Do you two need a moment together?”
He shook his head. “Is my ship ready?”
“Ready and waiting. We’re in luck. We should be able to make the entire journey under the cover of night.”
He pulled himself away from her body, already missing her warm curves. “If anything happens to her…”
“I know, I know—you’ll have my head for it.” Marcus scooped her up into his arms. “And I promise I won’t take a peek under her skirts, either.”
“Glad to hear that.” Titus held his gaze for a moment, trying to find a way to put his gratitude into words without appearing like a simpering woman. “Thank you for going along with this crazy plan.”
“I know a lovesick man when I see him, and I know there’ll be no reasoning with you until it wears off.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then the empire’s doomed.” A grin tempered his dry words, and he carried Azurha out of the room.