Page 278 of Scorched Earth

Whether she had a spy in his ranks or was watching from afar, Marcus wasn’t sure, but he suspected lying would not serve him well. “I don’t suffer those who betray me to live. Agrippa’s time will come.”

“They won’t surrender either woman,” Rufina said after a long moment of silence. “It has to be done by force. And it needs to be done now.”

“Why? Time is our friend, not theirs. I’ll not spend the lives of good men when time and hunger will do the work for me.” He gave her a long look. “And in truth, the same could be said of you. Why haven’t you attacked?”

She didn’t answer.

“Afraid you’ll lose to Calorian? Again.”

Rufina’s jaw tightened.

“I think you wear Derin’s crown not because you enjoy the tedium of rule but as a means to an end,” he said. “Let us ally to achieve that end, because in doing so, we will both be satisfied.”

“What is it that you think I want?”

“Revenge,” he answered. “Against the Six.”

Rufina’s breath caught.

“I’m sure you are aware of the Empire’s sentiment toward paganism,” he continued. “What happened in Galinha, Aracam, Emrant, and Revat. What has happened to every one of the marked who has stood in my path.” Leaning across the table so that his mouth was near her ear, Marcus murmured, “We can tear them all down, you and me. You will have your revenge, and I will have it so that none stand above us, save the ones we serve.”

As he sat back in his chair, Marcus could see the yearning behind those eyes ringed with fire. Part of him wondered what wrong she’d suffered to allow her desire for revenge to consume her so. To allow hate to burn away her humanity until she cared not for those she crushed beneath her feet in pursuit of her goal.

Then Rufina’s gaze focused on him again, and she said, “You desire to rule the world, don’t you, Legatus?”

“One might argue that I already control most of it.”

She huffed out a soft breath that held grudging admiration, but then said, “You wish for everyone to dance to the beat of your drum, but what will you do when there’s nothing else to conquer?”

Marcus allowed the darkness that lurked in his own soul to stare out at her. “There’s always something to conquer, Your Majesty. Ally with me in this fight, and I will show you how to rule the world.”

104KILLIAN

“He was being an ass in refusing to speak anything but Cel,” Agrippa said, from where he sat his horse next to Killian. “He speaks Mudamorian perfectly. He just did it to piss you off, which means he sees you as a threat. And that, my friend, is something to be proud of.”

“Just because I didn’t kill him then doesn’t mean I won’t kill the arrogant prick later.”

Agrippa laughed. “I’d say he gets better the more time you spend around him, but that’s how he is.”

“What did Teriana see in him?”

“Heispainfully good looking. Being stuck in the same room as you two was honestly one of the worst experiences of my life, and Ihope I never have to repeat it. Spending all my days with you is already destroying my ego.”

Killian cast a sideways glance at the other man, allowing himself to be distracted from his irritation about being a cog inLegatus Marcus’splan. “Why? Everyone is always going on about how good looking you are.”

“You don’t.”

“I talk about how you’re a great fighter.”

“That only makes me feel worse. Like being the first runner up at a prize hog contest and being given a consolation pat on the head before being turned into bacon.”

Rolling his eyes at the sky, Killian shook his head. “I’m not saying it.”

“But you’re definitely thinking it.”

Despite himself, Killian laughed, Agrippa’s inane chatter taking the edge off his anxiety, as the other man had intended. But for all his jokes, Killian could feel Agrippa’s own tension. Tension he shared, because this entire plan hinged on their enemy holding to his word.

“How will we be able to tell that they’re following through?” Malahi asked, coming up behind them and stopping her horse next to Agrippa. Lydia was next to her, both women wearing hooded cloaks with chain mail beneath.