Forty-two:
Imperator Zale
I woke in the morning to the smell of her. It was the best way I’d woken up in a long time. I had taken her virginity, and if destiny were on my side, she’d be pregnant. I could tell my father and we could finally get married. She would be mine, and no one else. And we could rule the world together like we were supposed to. Perhaps I had seduced her to do it, but I didn’t care. You either ruled the world or you ruled long enough to see it fall. And I wouldn’t be the one to make my world fall.
Sirena stirred in her sleep. I lay next to her, taking her in. She was beautiful. The kind of beauty men fought wars over. And she was all mine. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared directly at me, blushing. “Oh,” she said, “you stayed.”
“Did you think that I would
