Eighty-two:
Imperator Zale
My cousin and I were taken back to the palace, prisoners. They locked me in my room. It still smelled of Sirena. Her perfume on my sheets. But she was gone, and if I believed the rumors, was siding with The Argenti. Her brother had arranged a marriage for her with Antero and everyone seemed to believe that she was going to marry him and wouldn’t have anything to do with me going forward. My father was intent on making certain that I didn’t marry Sirena. He didn’t want me to have anything to do with her.
Aurum had declared Sirena an enemy of the state. We were going to war with them. But first, my father said, I had to marry Charlotte. And he was keeping me locked in my room the way he had with Sirena. I didn’t know how many days I had been in there. Every
