"What do you mean," Vivianne repeated, stepping closer, her voice trembling between fear and disbelief, "the empress consort is still alive or not?"
Roxanne opened her mouth but hesitated. For once, words didn't come easily to her. The night air around them felt heavier, pressing against her chest. She had spent months shielding Vivianne from the darker side of politics, the power plays, the blood bargains, and the corruption festering beneath the empire's gold, all to let her wife live peacefully, even if only for a while. But now, the lies were breaking apart. The emperor's sins, the deaths, the forbidden acts, none of it could stay hidden anymore.
"Sweetheart," Roxanne said quietly, her voice gentle but strained, "you should be asleep."
