Renouncing the Emperor's Heart

Never Real

"Let me through."

Lord Maximus fidgeted under the harsh stare of Empress Jovine.

"Your Majesty," he pleaded. "He refuses to see you —"

"Maximus," Jovine bit out, clenching her fists against the fabric of her gown. "Don't do this to me. Not you as well."

The older man looked down at the young Empress, who looked as distressed as she sounded. With bloodshot eyes and the worsening state of her frail body, Empress Jovine was a vision of heartbreak. And, how could she not be?

She was cast aside by his master, and no matter how gracious she had been in the face of all the horrid rumors and the heartless way the Emperor paraded his new mistress around, her despair couldn't be so easily disguised.

The memory of her as a young girl suddenly flashed through his mind. He remembered seeing her for the first time when he was brought to the Palace by his father, who had served the late Emperor. She was a bright child with a bright mind. Her docile, dutiful nature didn't escape the eyes of the Court, who either praised her for her refinement or saw the child as a weakness to exploit.

But, back then, he believed the Prince would protect her.

No matter how the young Prince Richard might have tried to hide it, even Lord Maximus could tell he held a fondness for his betrothed.

From the way he allowed himself to smile in front of the timid girl or the small snippets of conversation the older man overheard, it was clear the Prince cared for the girl.

And, when they had finally become man and wife, nothing warmed his heart more than watching the way they cherished one another. Lord Maximus would have even said they were in love.

So, nothing shocked him more than when the Emperor cast his wife aside for another woman.

Unable to deny the pitiful Empress, Lord Maximus stepped aside with his head bowed down.

---

Jovine stopped at the threshold of her husband's chambers, a place she had not been invited to for a long while. It looked the same, with its rich blue tones painted throughout the room and a large four-poster bed reminding her of the moments she had spent in his arms.

Richard was settled comfortably behind a large, oak desk littered with papers and feathered quills. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up.

His eyes narrowed in displeasure. "I was not to be disturbed."

"How could you?" she whispered brokenly, trying to suppress the tears she had been holding at bay.

Richard tilted his head in contemplation, studying his haggard wife quivering in shock. "How could I what, Jovine?"

"For months, I have tolerated that woman here. For weeks, I have waited for you to spare me a single glance. And, now, I wake to hear that you have taken her as your mistress?" Jovine's voice rose with each sentence, the rage of her husband's betrayal finally breaking the dam of emotions she had been keeping locked away.

Richard grew very still, dropping the quill he had been holding onto the desk. The sound of its clatter echoed throughout the room.

"What is your issue?" he asked coolly.

Jovine dug her fingers into her palms. "My issue?" She looked at him with pained eyes. "My husband has taken another woman. He has shut me out and left me behind. That is my issue," she bit out in an unsteady voice.

Richard simply stared back with eyes lacking of any emotion or sympathy. "You have an issue with your Emperor claiming a mistress for himself," he stated back to her. "Jovine, what did you expect? Did you think I'd be wholeheartedly devoted to you?"