Page 156 of Scorched Earth

He slept for two days straight, his last moments of consciousness filled with the distant cheers of the legions shouting his name—they, at least, saw this as a victory.

Marcus wasn’t quite ready to cheer just yet.

“Look straight at me,” Racker ordered, and Marcus dutifully looked the surgeon in the eye. Racker grunted, then said, “Amarin, you searched everything?”

“Yes.” His servant gave Marcus a dark glare. “And I’ll do so twice daily until you tell me otherwise.”

With no parting words, the surgeon left, and Marcus walked to the table where Teriana sat with a mountain of food before her. “Icooked,” she said. “I’m sick of cold porridge and the kitchen here is well stocked.” Then she frowned. “Perhaps you might consider hiring a proper chef.”

“That’s not really how we do things.” He took a bite of some sort of grilled meat. The spices on it instantly made his eyes water. “Although I might consider it.”

“You’re an ass.”

He smirked before downing a mouthful of water. “That’s unlikely to change.”

Teriana only rolled her eyes, then ate a forkful of eggs from her own plate. While he’d been asleep, Felix had given her the royal suite of rooms, and Teriana had apparently availed herself of the much-discussed bath. She smelled of lavender, all the dust and grime washed clean of her long black braids, the tiny ship woven onto one of them resting against her right cheek. She wore a dress made of bright blue linen trimmed with an elaborate pattern of golden thread, the fabric ever-so-slightly sheer, which he’d noticed when she’d walked in front of the window, the outline of her legs tantalizingly visible. Her eyes were a brilliant blue of nearly the same hue and the waves rolling across their depths were calm, although the color deepened to indigo as she caught him staring, her cheeks coloring.

“I found it in the wardrobe,” she said. “Thought it would do until I could secure new clothes.”

“Take whatever you want.” The pleasure Marcus felt over seeing her in the spoils of victory was not anything he’d admit, but he felt it anyway. “Everything in that room is yours.”

“Temporarily,” she said. “I’ll pack up Kaira’s things and arrange for them to be sent to her.”

Marcus highly doubted that the princess cared about dresses, and after that pointed threat to Teriana, he wasn’t inclined to allow Kaira within a hundred paces of her, but he only said, “Let me settle things with the Senate first.” He coughed on an extra-spicy mouthful. “If I survive eating this breakfast, that is.”

Teriana flipped up her middle finger on the hand holding her fork, but there was laughter in her eyes. If her smile was the last thing he ever saw, Marcus swore he’d die happy.

This could be your life,a voice whispered up from his thoughts.Once the Maarin are freed, Cassius can’t use them as leverage against you. You hold the power here, which means the rules are yours to make.

His mind drifted as he ate, imagining going to bed with her in his arms every night and not having to hide it. Spending each dayunited in purpose, keeping the peace between the Empire and the West.

For how long? And how much will it cost you?

He shoved away the thought. This victory would bolster sentiment toward Cassius enough to ensure the citizens would vote him in for another term, and with trade from Katamarca, Arinoquia, and southern Gamdesh filling Senate coffers, they’d be content with what they had. He could make a life that didn’t endlessly revolve around war, and his mind’s eye filled with a future that he’d never dreamed possible, every vision with Teriana at his side.

When is the Senate ever content with what they have?

The answer was never, but what could they do if he held the gates between East and West?

Tell your secrets.

Teriana had absolved him.

Are you sure?

He wasn’t.

She doesn’t even know your real name…

The fork slipped from his hand to clatter against the plate, and Teriana jumped.

“You all right?”

“Fine.” He covered his reaction with a sip of water, appetite gone. “I should hear what Felix has to say. Amarin?”

“I’ll fetch the Tribunus, sir.”

Felix must have been on his way, because moments later, he appeared in the door. “Looks like all you needed was a feather bed,” he said, then inclined his head to Teriana. “Morning.”