Free The Gods of Amyrantha by Jennifer Fallon

seraglium?'
    'I'd heard rumours,' Stellan replied, wincing at the very thought of it. 'What about his other wives?'
    'If the Imperator has any other wives stashed about, Stellan, I saw no sign of them. And Chintara didn't strike me as the type to bother with the politics of a cage full of ambitious women, no matter how pleasantly gilded. There were other women there, but they seemed to be servants, or the wives of other palace staff. My guess is, if the Imperator had any other wives before Chintara came along, she's gotten rid of them. I doubt she'd tolerate the competition.'
    'Perhaps that's why she likes you,' Stellan suggested.
    'Because I'm no competition?'
    He nodded, sipping his wine, wishing it was chilled. 'You're foreign and married. Better yet, you're married to someone over whom the Imperator has no direct control. Even if he took a fancy to you, he couldn't order me to hand you over as he could one of his own subjects.'
    'Would he though?' Arkady asked. 'Adultery is a capital crime here, isn't it?'
    'The Imperator is above the law.'
    'It's a moot question anyway, dear,' Arkady pointed out. 'When is the Imperator ever likely to see me for long enough to take a fancy to me when I'm required
    to walk around wearing a bedsheet with eye-holes in it whenever I'm in his presence? Which begs another question — how does anybody manage to meet and fall in love in this country, anyway? Do the young men here swoon over a particularly well-worn sheet?'
    Stellan smiled. 'Tides, I hope you weren't making comments like that to Lady Chintara.'
    'No, Stellan,' she promised, sipping her wine. 'I behaved myself. You'd have been most impressed by my tact and forbearance.'
    He was relieved to hear it, although not really surprised. Arkady was a smart woman; too smart to endanger either herself or their position here in Ramahn with a frivolous remark to the wrong person. 'I don't think falling in love is an issue here. Arranged marriages are the norm, I gather.'
    'Speaking of marriages, have you heard from Kylia or Mathu since we arrived?'
    Stellan frowned and shook his head. 'Not a word. I'm starting to worry a little, actually.'
    'They're probably too busy having a good time in Herino to think about writing to anybody,' Arkady suggested. 'It's only been a couple of months since the wedding. I'd not read too much into their silence, if I were you. Lord Deryon hasn't said anything in his dispatches that gives you cause for concern, has he?'
    'No,' he replied with a shake of his head. 'But I still worry about my niece.'
    She smiled reassuringly. 'I think this is one of those no-news-is-good-news situations, Stellan. If there was anything really going on with the crown prince or his wife, we'd have heard about it by now, I'm quite certain.'
    'You're probably right. Will you join me for dinner this evening?'
    Arkady nodded. 'Provided there's no law in this Tide-forsaken country against a husband and wife sharing a meal in their own home.'
    'Well, technically here in the embassy we're on Glaeban soil, anyway. I guess that means we can do as we please.'
    'In that case, I'd be delighted to join you for dinner, minus that miserable shroud, of course.'
    He reached across and took her hand, squeezing it affectionately. 'I'll find a way to repay your forbearance someday, Arkady.'
    'We've only been here a short time, Stellan,' she informed him with a wry expression. 'You may want to reserve judgement on my wonderful levels of patience or the remarkable strength of my character until we've been here a while longer.' She downed the rest of her wine in an unladylike gulp and added, 'If I haven't choked anybody by ramming that wretched shroud down their throat in the next year or so, you can thank me then.'

CHAPTER 8
      
      
    In the normal course of events, Declan Hawkes had no mandate to keep tabs On the affairs of the royal family. His job was to keep Glaeba safe from outside threats. The implicit understanding was if Glaeba were under threat,