How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 17 - The Serpent's Smile

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Steel rang through the training courtyard, sharp against the hush of late morning. 

I moved in a slow circle, sweat clinging to my brows as my muscles coiled beneath my tunic. Across from me, Tiberius adjusted his stance, blade angled lazily, but his eyes remained sharp.

"Imperator, you are favouring your left again." He said, parrying my strike with practiced ease. "Do not overthink, your mind is getting in your way." I returned his words with a wry smirk, my sword flashing in the light.

"Or it is you who is simply getting slow." He chuckled at my words as we continued to trade blows. Deliberate and controlled, it was the kind of sparring that spoke with more strategy than fury, just how I liked it.

Precision calmed me. The rhythm steadied my thoughts which have lately been far too clouded with dreams and doubts. Dreams and doubts of none but my wife.

She should be on her way back from her little failure of an escapade by now, scared, guilty, and possibly trembling in fear at the thought of my anger. But I will not show her my anger, I will open my arms and comfort her in the way that any good husband does, and I will prove to her that I am the only one that can keep her safe from this cruel world in which we live.

I simply hoped that this lesson which I have so painstakingly planned for her is a lesson which she has learned, so that the topic of her freedom will never have to come up in conversation ever again.

I continued to spar with Tiberius, using this exercise to quell the worry which rested in my mind. The worry that she had been hurt or that something had gone wrong, because if that is so then I will never be able to forgive myself.

"You are as shrewd a man as your father ever was." The man's words returned me to reality as I blocked one of his slashes, jumping back to put a safe distance between us.

"I will take that as a compliment." Afterall, as shrewd a man that my father may have been, his legacy is nothing compared to what mine will be.

"Of course, I meant it as such." Before we could continue slashing our swords, the doors leading into the corridors of the palace were flung open, a servant approaching us at a breathless pace as he bowed mid-stride.

"Speak." I ordered, standing up straight.

"Your imperial majesty, they have arrived. The guards have her imperial majesty with them, and they are bringing her through the east wing to head to the throne room." I let my blade lower fully, my grip around the hilt tightening, but only for a moment before I calmly handed the sword over to a waiting attendant.

Taking the rag which he handed to me, I cleaned the sweat off my face before giving Tiberius a brief nod, remaining composed but unreadable. I could not let my thoughts seep onto my face, but the worry would not wane.

Quickly, I needed to make sure that she was all right.

Regret is not an emotion which I often feel, and I doubt that today will be the first. This lesson needed to be taught, I had to cut off her rebellious act now before it could grow, at least, I continued telling myself that as we moved through the halls in silence.

The throne room doors opened with a heavy groan as I stepped inside, walking straight down to the golden throne before sitting down and awaiting my wife, Tiberius stood to my side as we sat in silence, not uttering a single word.

Moments later, the sound of boots echoed, dozens of them as the doors were pushed open once again with a loud creak, and in marched the palace guards. Linus was at the front, stone-faced, Claudius a few feet beside him, eyes pinned forward, but with a flicker of discomfort in his jaw. And between them, flanked like a guilty prisoner, was her.