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Thankfully, ever since the estate and associated title I gifted her gave her the freedom to divorce Ennius, very little of that drama has involved her. I can tell she prefers watching from the sidelines.

Bianca leans closer to me. “Which is not to say I’m not awfully grateful for the fact that I can count on quite a bit of peace even when I’m here.”

I tap my elbow against hers. “Then I’m grateful I could provide you with it.”

Lorenzo leaves off his playing while the court musicians carry on and extends his hand to me in a request for a dance. Bianca gives me a little shove toward my lover, and I let him tug me into step with him.

I take a turn with the prince of Rione, and then with Marc, and then Raul, and then Bastien. All around us, my court and the visiting royals make merry to the music as well. The kings and queens, crown princess and princes and their spouses, whirl in each other’s arms.

Axius moves more stiffly but no less enthusiastically with his wife. Baronissas Damina and Hivette match each other’s movements perfectly. Off by the edge of the platform, I catch sight of Neven’s pale head ducked next to Evando’s slightly darker one.

Bianca doesn’t bother with entertaining even the pretense of enjoying physical advances anymore, but she looks nothing but pleased to gambol between us hand in hand with Coraya, who’s giggling all the while. The obligation-free role of honorary aunt suits her perfectly.

When I sink into the throne set up in the middle of the platform, my daughter races over to scramble onto my lap. I cuddle her against my chest while I gaze out over the mass of people I’ve somehow brought together.

With only darkness showing beyond the windows, I kiss Coraya’s forehead goodnight and cross the hall to my apartment opposite hers. All three of my princes and Marc follow me in without hesitation.

They still keep their own rooms in the palace—I granted Marc one apart from the guard dormitories once he became known as my consort—but they rarely sleep there.

I had my bed expanded not long after the war was over, and a couple of broad sofas arranged so there’s plenty of opportunity to share the room without feeling crowded.

Marc shrugs off his fancy guard jacket and tosses it over the back of a chair, his gaze gone distant.

“Those new irrigation techniques the Cotean agricultural representative talked about have a lot of potential. Maybe you should see if they can send a few people to give training sessions in the Darium farmlands.”

I pick up the journal I left on my vanity. “Good idea. I’ll make a note of that for our meetings tomorrow.”

Raul glowers at both of us. “And then you’ll cut out the governing talk, because our wife has had a busy day and she deserves a break from politics.”

Marc narrows his eyes at the other man, though a smile lingers on his lips. “The work of leading an empire can never be completely set aside. ”

Raul snorts through a smile of his own. “Then lead it in your head for a little while, Your No-Longer-Imperial Majesty. And get that no-longer-imperial ass into bed.”

We do all end up in the bed, in our usual full formation with me tucked in the middle and my four lovers taking the sides, head, and foot of the vast mattress. Sprite curls up on the pillow in the corner that’s become permanently hers.

Next to me, Bastien teases his fingers over my hair. His expression turns pensive. “You requested more mirewort from the medics this morning.”

I hum in agreement. “My supply is getting low.”

His fingers trail across my shoulder. “I know you’re still establishing yourself and ensuring the transition is going smoothly… but do you think someday you’ll want to give Coraya a sibling or two?”

The other men go still around me. By my head, Marc lets out a disgruntled sound. “Going for another without giving anyone else a chance?”

Bastien rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “I wasn’t thinking it’d have to be me doing the deed.”

Raul’s bark of a laugh sounds a little strained. “Well, we know it won’t be me.”

I peer down at him where he’s sprawled by the footboard and nudge his arm with my toes. “You know any children I have will be yours too, no matter how they come into being.”

His eyes soften. He takes my foot in his hands to massage the arch. “Never doubted it. And I’m not going to regret my sacrifice when the gift I got for it ensured you stayed alive.”

Lorenzo dips his head to give my neck a provocative nip. His breath spills hot across my skin alongside his illusionary voice in my head. “Do you think— Do we need to worry about what the court and everyone else will make of it?”

His caress brings a giddy hitch into my voice. “It’s not as if they won’t realize any other children I have must be one of yours. They can’t imagine ‘Marclinus’ has returned from the grave. I doubt which of you it is will matter much to them.”

Marc strokes his fingers across my temple. “As long as you don’t give any indication of removing Coraya as your heir, I can’t imagine anyone raising a fuss about it.” He pauses. “ Are you considering it, then?”

I think of Coraya nestled in my arms on the throne, of watching her frolic with her fathers. The answer wells up inside me. “I think motherhood is something I wouldn’t mind experiencing more of. When the time is right.”

Raul arches an eyebrow. “Then it’ll only be a matter of who gets the next turn.”

Bastien, having already had his, stretches his arms in an unusually languid pose. “Perhaps we should leave this one to the fates. Find out whose seed is stronger.”

I wrinkle my nose at him. “We’re not going to make a competition out of getting me pregnant.”

He grins. “I don’t know. It sounds like a much more enjoyable trial than any other we’ve been through.”

I can’t hold back a guffaw. “All right, I’ll give you that.”

I lean back into Lorenzo’s embrace, tuck one hand around Marc’s wrist and the other by Bastien’s neck, and rest my feet against Raul’s solid chest where he’s continuing his massage.

“One more dream to add to the list for after I’m finished seeing my greatest one through.

Any other child I have is going to be born into a world we can be proud of. ”

“You know,” Raul says in an unusually soft tone, “for the first time, I’m actually looking forward to everything the future could bring.”

A deeper warmth washes over me, full of affection for the men around me and the knowledge of theirs for me—and hope, shining like the signal star Bastien likes to call me.

A smile stretches my lips. “So am I.”

* * *

Thank you so much for joining Aurelia and her princes as they conquered the empire together! I hope to write more series in this world in the future. You can join my Facebook reader group to make sure you catch all the news!

Want to know more about Signy, the historic heroine Marc mentions who also married more than one lover? You can grab Heart of Defiance , a standalone romantasy novel that tells her story, totally free when you sign up for Eva’s newsletter !

And my next series stars a similarly sweet and peace-loving heroine who’s unexpectedly dangerous, though with a more light-hearted tone. Get a whole lot of grumpy/sunshine, monster delinquent goodness in the Pack of Outcasts series, starting with Misfit Monsters…

Misfit Monsters (Pack of Outcasts #1)

Three delinquent monsters with fearsome powers. One girl made of pure sunshine. Can she save this team of misfits?

My past? Let's just pretend it never happened. All I want is to spread enough joy to make up for the pain I've caused.

So it'd be nice if my unexplainable powers would stop going haywire.

When I start blitzing my fellow monsters as well as mortals, the authorities of the supernatural world give me a final chance to avoid banishment.

I’ve got to join three monstrous criminals on a dangerous mission no one wants to take. Strange creatures are attacking innocent humans, and we have to stop their rampage.

It’s up to me, a frigid winter fae, a brutal basilisk shifter, and a chaotic kitsune to figure out what’s gone wrong—and fix it. Which would be a lot easier if my teammates didn’t see me as a ditzy pipsqueak.

And if they weren’t so distractingly, deliciously handsome.

Um, don’t tell them I said that part.

I’m sure my cheerful optimism will win them over so we can get home in one piece. That is, as long as I don’t blow us all up along the way...

Get the book now!

Or read on for an excerpt…

MISFIT MONSTERS

1

Today will be a good day! Today, I won’t kill anyone.

I chant my mantra to myself as I slink through the shadows, invisible to the mortal beings on the city street around me. With every iteration, I squeeze my conviction a little tighter.

It has to be true. I’m going to make it true, and there’s no arguing with that.

All I have to do is take it easy-peasy. No situations that could turn traumatic or overwhelm me. I’ve totally got this.

Hunger prickles through my filmy body like the jabs of a hundred really annoying needles. But that’s okay too. The ache gave me an excuse to come here.

There’s nowhere I’d rather be than the mortal realm… even if somehow things always go wrong.

Nope, not thinking about that. Stuff those memories in a trash bag and throw them away. This is a brand-new start!

And it’s a beautiful day for my most recent brand-new start. Beyond the patches of shadow I flit through, the sun beams down over the strolling humans. Its warmth stirs enough contentment in them for the emotion to touch me too.

Childish laughter carries from the next street over. I taste the edge of their joy, bright and shimmery like fizzy lemonade.

Mmm, delicious.

The needles of hunger jab deeper, and I pause. Yep, totally in control. I won’t rush or leap before I look this time.

I reach the edge of a small park. A patch of trees stands on one side, a playground on the other.