Free The Empire (The Lover's Opalus) by Grayson Reyes-Cole

my Spirit well. I took Valor to guard my back and allowed the hunters to run with me. I tracked the troupe. When I found them all dancing around the fire, singing songs, I rode through the fire, through spark and flame to take hold of his neck, to cast him down before my mount. When I was aground and Valor ensured all watched, I challenged him.”
    Her hand fluttered to her lips. “He was not a fighter and not nearly your size.”
    “You are correct, but that changed nothing save for the speed at which he died. I wanted a war befitting a conqueror. Instead, I had no more satisfaction than I would with the second bite of seasoned flank after a long run to the South. Not as tasty as the first bite and not enough to fill me.”
    “You are an animal.”
    “An animal? Indeed I am. I am an Emperor. That is my species. It is important you remember that. Never forget. No one, to my borders and beyond, should forget that I blood-sing the sweetest. I am a beast , Raeche. Not some sensitive timra player.”
    “But you played the timra for me.”
    “I played the timra to win a war.”
    “We are not at war, Lanus.”
    “Are we not? There has never in history been such a siege as this one you have set against me since we wed.” He snapped his head around. “In the box, Rucha!”
    Startled by the stern tone, she looked over his shoulder and saw that Rucha sat in a corner playing with dollies, half of which were strewn over the floor. Lanus had obviously asked her to clean them up.
    “You speak of this in front of her?”
    “I speak of everything in front of her. I also speak of my love for her, how I choke with it, how I know she will be the greatest of us all. I speak to her of all the things she needs to know, including the treachery of those who have your heart.”
    “I do not have your heart.” She could cut out her own tongue for this outburst.
    “It is not your treachery I speak of, Raeche. It is mine. Our daughter loves me. She clings to my Spirit but she must love me as I am, not as some romanticized version of myself. She must know what I am capable of and in turn know what she is capable of.”
    “Rucha!” Raeche called, carefully skirting past the Emperor.
    The little girl looked up, her cheeks pink and blond hair wild. Raeche dipped to scoop her up even as Rucha tried to place another doll into the chest that had been dragged into the Emperor’s room. Hot tears stung Raeche’s eyes. She was not so stupid that she did not know he did not speak solely of the child.
    “Mama.” Rucha laid a chubby, soft hand on her face and caught a drop above the small red spots that rode high on the Empress’s cheek.
    Raeche stopped where she stood. Her daughter had called her Mama, not Raeche or Empress. Raeche squeezed the girl hard, trying desperately not to crush but needing to return the great gift of love her daughter had given her.
    “Lanus says, ‘I love you. I love you,’” the little one informed her.
    Raeche nodded as she dried her eyes. “Softling, Mama loves you, too.”
    “Nooo,” the child crooned and pressed both hands against her mother’s chest. “‘I love Raeche!’”
    “Let’s go play Stars, softling. Enough talk of war and death and betrayal.”
    Holding her close, Raeche eased around Lanus again and headed to the curtain, throwing a fierce scowl over her shoulder as she went.
    * * * *
    Lanus did not allow her to escape him. After Rucha was tucked safely in her bed he sought Raeche out again, entering her room using the curtain. Of late, it always had a narrow opening at the end. Top to bottom, the rooms had the smallest connection, the smallest acknowledgment of connection.
    “When you think of your would-be lover, remember your hands are not clean, Raeche. I had no choice.”
    “You could have sent him away.”
    “I sent him to the only place that is outside the Empire.”
    “South of the Death White Border?”
    A guttural growl came from his throat. “You mock yourself, Empress.” He