How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 46 - That Innocent Blood

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"For this betrayal, I should have Claudius Marcellus killed."

That was the moment fear entered her eyes. I recognised it immediately in the slight parting of her lips, the tension that spread through her shoulders, and the way her fingers closed around my wrists as though gentleness might restrain me more effectively than force.

She believed I was angry. Though not merely angry, but reckless too. 

She imagined that I would summon Claudius Marcellus, draw my sword before he had the opportunity to defend himself, and leave his blood soaking into the stones before sunset; it almost wounded me that she still thought so little of my restraint.

"Do not look at me like that, flower." I loosened my hold upon her face, allowing my hands to fall to her shoulders instead. "He will be questioned first before any action is taken."

"Questioned?" She echoed in a quiet whisper, her expression refusing to soften.

"Naturally. I will not condemn a man without permitting him to answer the accusations made against him." I spoke calmly because there was no reason not to be calm. This was not some fit of petty jealousy, despite what Ria would inevitably accuse me of. 

Claudius had helped steal my wife and heir. He had found another woman, placed Ria's jewellery upon her corpse, and allowed that stranger to be buried beneath my wife's name. He had then stood before me and lied directly to my face.

For six months, he had watched me grieve. And after Ria's return, he had continued serving beside her as though the secret between them did not make a mockery of every oath he had ever sworn to me.

Men had been executed for lesser betrayals. Emperors had ordered entire families destroyed for treason, yet I considered only the man responsible. If anything, I believed I was being merciful.

"There is nothing to question... Claude acted upon my orders. Every decision was mine, and mine alone." Ria attempted to pull away from me, though she failed as my hands fell to hold her waist, tightening my grip until she ceased with her struggles.

"But every lie was his. Whatever consequence awaits him, it is for him to face alone." I explained.

"Then you must punish me too. If escaping was treason, then I committed it. If placing another woman in my grave was a crime, then I ordered it. Claude did nothing that I did not ask of him." The answer left her so quickly that I almost laughed.

"Do not be absurd... You are my wife. He was my soldier." I pulled her closer as her hands came to rest against my chest while my voice remained quiet, but something in her expression shifted as I stepped closer. "You may betray me and still be forgiven, but he swore an oath."

"And I swore vows." For a moment, she only stared at me as if trying to remind me of our wedding day. As if that were something I would ever dare to forget.

"You are not the same as him nor anyone else." I reminded.

"Because you love me?" She asked, though we both knew it was meant to be a statement.

"Because you belong to me." The words settled between us, simple and undeniable. Yet Ria looked at me as though I had confessed to something monstrous.

"Guards." I called, turning towards the doors as they opened almost immediately. Two men entered and bowed, both of them glancing towards Ria before returning their attention to me. "Find Claudius Marcellus. Take him to the throne room and have him held there until I arrive."

"No. You will do no such thing." Ria moved before either guard could respond, placing herself between me and the doors as both men hesitated, glancing between my wife and me.