CHAPTER 199: FINISHED

SOREN

My office had never felt smaller.

Or perhaps Eris simply filled it too completely. The way fire fills a room, consuming air, demanding attention, making everything else irrelevant.

I’d led her here directly after the confrontation, one hand still resting at the small of her back as we walked through corridors that seemed to empty before us.

Servants vanished into doorways. Guards found urgent need to inspect distant walls. Even Aldric, following a few paces behind, radiated the energy of a man desperately wishing he could be anywhere else.

The door closed behind us with a soft click.

Aldric had witnessed everything in that preparation chamber. I’d seen him standing near the doorway, face carefully neutral, but his eyes... his eyes had carried judgment. Disapproval. The belief that Eris had overreacted, had acted rashly, had created exactly the kind of political incident we should be avoiding.

But he said nothing.

Because he was smart enough to recognize that criticizing her right now, in front of me, would end very badly for him.

No matter how close we were...

I turned to Eris.

She stood near the fireplace, back straight, chin lifted, looking for all the world like nothing significant had just happened. Like she hadn’t just slapped the Regent Empress’s chief lady-in-waiting hard enough to echo through marble halls. Like she hadn’t just declared war in front of witnesses.

Her hands, though.

Her hands told a different story.

I crossed to her, shortening the distance before she could protest. Took both her hands in mine, turning them over to examine her knuckles.

Slightly red. The skin abraded where it had connected with Isolde’s face. Nothing serious. Nothing that wouldn’t heal within hours.

But still.

I traced the reddened skin with my thumb, gentle, cataloging every mark. Checked her wrists next, looking for... I didn’t even know what. Signs of strain? Tension? Evidence that the confrontation had cost her more than she was showing?

Her breathing was steady. Controlled. Perfect.

Of course it was.

I brought her right hand to my lips, pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Then to her palm. Then to the inside of her wrist where her pulse hammered against my mouth.

When I looked up, she was watching me with an expression that suggested she found this entire display ridiculous.

But her cheeks were flushed.

Just slightly.

Just enough.

"You’re too dramatic in your check-up," she said, voice steady despite the color in her face. "I’m fine."

"I need to check properly." I turned her left hand over, repeated the examination. More kisses. More careful attention to skin that showed no real damage but had delivered such spectacular judgment.

She pushed at my chest with her free hand. "You’re flirting again."

I grinned, catching her wrist before she could pull away completely. "Is it working?"

"No."

"Liar."

She tried to glare at me. Failed. The flush in her cheeks deepened, and something in my chest warmed in a way that had nothing to do with her fire magic and everything to do with the fact that this woman, this brilliant, dangerous, wickedly cruel woman, was blushing because of me.

I shifted, reluctantly releasing her hands. Put proper distance between us before I did something inadvisable like kiss her senseless in my office while Vetra was probably already mobilizing her response.

Eris moved to one of the chairs near the fireplace, settling into it with practiced grace. Her expression shifted, the softness vanishing as strategy reasserted itself.

"The regent empress won’t let this slide," she said.

"I know." I leaned against my desk, arms crossed, watching her. "You’ve practically declared war. Isolde is precious to her."

"That’s exactly what we need." Her lips curved into a small smile. Just a hint of teeth. Just enough to make something in my pulse stutter. "Now I know who to go after first."

The gold in her eyes gleamed.

Not literally. Not magically. But something shifted in her gaze, something calculating and cold and utterly merciless. I watched her mind work, watched her strategize the downfall of people she’d only known for days, and felt my heart skip a beat.

This.

This was what I’d wanted when I chose her.

Not just the beauty, though gods knew she had that in abundance. Not the power, though her magic could level cities if she lost control. Not even the intelligence, though she’d already proven herself sharper than half my council combined.

No.

It was this. This cruelty. This absolute, uncompromising willingness to destroy anyone who stood in her way. This wickedness wrapped in a dangerous beauty and smile.

I’d spent my entire life surrounded by people who played at ruthlessness. Who talked about difficult decisions and necessary sacrifices while their hands stayed clean. Who wanted power but flinched from the cost of taking it.

Eris didn’t flinch.

Eris smiled.

And watching her strategize her enemies’ downfall made something dark and possessive coil in my chest. Made heat flood my veins that had nothing to do with her fire and everything to do with wanting this woman with an intensity that probably qualified as obsession.

I wanted to cross the room. Wanted to pull her from that chair and kiss her until neither of us could think straight. Wanted to see if I could make her lose that perfect control the way she made me lose mine.

But before I could move, a knock sounded at the door.

Sharp. Official.

I sighed. "Yes?"

A guard’s voice filtered through. "Your Majesty, forgive the intrusion. The Regent Empress requests an audience."

Of course she did.

I looked at Eris, raising an eyebrow. Asking permission, technically, though she wasn’t officially my empress yet. But I wanted her approval. Wanted her to know that I valued her opinion, her presence, her authority.

She understood immediately. Her expression shifted to something between amusement and exasperation.

"You don’t need to ask my permission to speak with your mother."

"I like it when you order me as you please."

The look she gave me suggested I was a pervert of the highest order. She stood with dramatic flair, smoothing down her skirts. "I’ll return to my work then."

I followed her to the door. Couldn’t help it. Drew to her like iron to lodestone.

Unlocked it. Opened it.

And found Vetra standing in the corridor outside.

Regal. Stone-faced. Silver hair perfectly arranged, ice-blue gown without a single crease. Every inch the Regent Empress who’d ruled this empire through years that saw power and bloodshed.

Her eyes moved from me to Eris.

Something flickered in her expression. Too fast to name. Too controlled to interpret.

Her eyebrow arched fractionally as she took in the sight of us, Eris emerging from my locked office, me standing protectively behind her.

Eris smiled. Bright. Pleasant. Every inch the gracious future empress greeting her predecessor.

"Regent Empress." She inclined her head with perfect courtesy. "What a pleasant surprise."

Vetra’s gaze slid past her as though she hadn’t spoken. Fixed on me instead.

"Soren. We need to discuss what happened in the preparation chamber."

The dismissal was absolute. Eris might as well have been furniture.

Cold anger sparked in my chest.

"If you wish an audience with me mother, then you will acknowledge the woman I am to wed soon."

Vetra’s expression didn’t change, but she shifted her attention back to Eris with visible effort. "Lady Eris." The title came out perfectly polite and completely empty.

Better than nothing. Barely.

Vetra’s eyes softened then. Not much. Just enough. The way they always did when she wanted something from me. "Soren. Can we speak privately? There are matters of state that require—"

"Anything you need to say can be said in front of my future empress."

Her jaw tightened fractionally. "Very well." She paused, choosing words with visible care. "The incident this afternoon. With Lady Isolde. It was... unfortunate."

Eris had started to move past, clearly intending to leave us to our discussion. But Vetra’s next words stopped her.

"Such violent outbursts reflect poorly on the imperial family." Vetra’s tone remained perfectly controlled, but something sharp glinted beneath. "Especially from someone who should be demonstrating restraint. Grace. The qualities expected of an empress."

She wasn’t looking at Eris. Wasn’t addressing her directly. But the implication was clear.

"Lady Isolde was simply doing her duty," Vetra continued. "Managing the bridal preparations in my absence. If she said something that caused offense..." A delicate pause. "Well. One would hope our future empress has thicker skin than to resort to physical violence over mere words."

The words "mere words" landed like stones.

"After all," Vetra said, her gaze finally meeting Eris’s directly, "we can’t have someone with such an... unstable temperament representing Nevareth. People might begin to wonder if Solmire’s reputation for barbarism extends to all its citizens. If savagery is simply inherent to those raised in kingdoms that value fire over reason."

My hands clenched.

I opened my mouth to respond, to defend, to make absolutely clear that insulting Eris’s homeland was insulting me.

But Eris...

She smiled.

Slowly.

That smile spreading across her face made every hair on my body stand up. Not because it was cruel. Not because it was dangerous.

But because it was both. And something else. Something that suggested Vetra had just made a very serious miscalculation.

"You know," Eris said, her voice carrying that particular quality of silk over steel, "you make an excellent point, Your Grace."

She took a step closer to Vetra. Not threatening. Not aggressive. Simply... present.

"My reaction was entirely insufficient." Another step. "For the kind of disrespect Lady Isolde showed, for the insults she delivered in front of witnesses, for the deliberate attempts to humiliate not just me but His Majesty by extension..." Eris’s smile widened fractionally. "I should have done something far more cruel."

Vetra’s expression flickered. Just for a heartbeat. Rage flashing behind those ice-blue eyes before control reasserted itself.

"But unfortunately," Eris continued, still smiling, still pleasant, "I couldn’t defy the Emperor himself. When he caught my wrist before I could deliver the second blow, I had no choice but to back away. Such a shame, really. I had so many more creative ideas."

The temperature in the corridor dropped.

Not from my magic. From the pure, crystallized tension crackling between these two women.

Eris’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. She’d landed her blow. Drawn blood. Made absolutely clear that Vetra’s attempt at intimidation had failed spectacularly.

"If you’ll excuse me." Eris curtsied, the gesture flawlessly executed and somehow still mocking. "I should return to my studies. His Majesty has been kind enough to ensure I understand all of Nevareth’s traditions. Including the ones about knowing one’s place."

She swept past Vetra without waiting for dismissal.

Left us standing in the corridor.

Left Vetra with fury barely contained behind that perfect mask.

Left me trying very hard not to smile.

Because watching Eris verbally eviscerate my stepmother while maintaining perfect courtesy was possibly the most attractive thing I’d ever witnessed.

I was so completely, utterly finished.

And I didn’t care at all.