Eternal by Marie Brown

Author:Marie Brown [Brown, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, scifi, queer, fantasy, magic, alternate history
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Book III: Demon

Once A Spy

News of the attack on the Imperial Palace swept around the worlds like wildfire. Every news service, everywhere, on each of the two hundred sixty-five Imperial worlds, showed the smoking wreckage of the Imperial Palace, and carried word of the injuries sustained by both Emperor and his bodyguard.

The news reported something far more astonishing, though.

Pietro Monfort sat at the breakfast table, tea in one hand, hand-held multi-unit in the other, breakfast growing cold in front of him, and felt the entire Empire rock beneath the shock of the news.

"I don't believe this," he whispered, then set his tea down in favor of holding the multi-unit with both hands and hunching closely over it, so there could be no question his eyes saw the words on the screen correctly.

But the words stayed the same the second time he read them, and the third, and even the fourth. No variation. He must really be seeing a news report that the Emperor and his bodyguard had been naked in bed together at the time of the attack.

He checked other news sources, ones he knew as reliable. Speculation aside, they all agreed on one thing: reliable sources claimed the Emperor and his bodyguard were pulled out of the flames naked, from what used to be the mage's bedroom.

Pietro set the Link down and looked at the kitchen around him. A pleasant, sunny place, it'd been his official home for nearly twenty years. He'd never spent much time here, though, not until he'd lost his job in the Imperial clandestine service. He'd kept an apartment of his own in Hongbo, worlds away from his wife and children here on Excelsior. And in that apartment, his secret life hadn't been an issue.

Penelope came into the kitchen, in her fluffy pink bathrobe. She started the coffeemaker, because she thought tea vile. Pietro watched her. He felt numb inside at the news that the Emperor was fey.

Somewhere beneath the numbing shock, a quiver of excitement came to life.

He'd heard about the new laws, of course. Who hadn't? But a decree that decriminalized homosexuality was a long, long way from secure. After all, other Emperors had tried the same thing, and it never once worked.

But maybe, with a fey Emperor...

"I don't know how you can eat that glop," Penelope said, nodding towards Pietro's half-eaten breakfast. Poached egg and salmon, atop a toasted bagel.

"It's an acquired taste." Pietro read the news again, then set the multi-unit down. A mad notion sprang to life inside him, an instant decision to seize this moment, take full advantage of the undreamed of opportunity. "The Imperial Palace was bombed last night."

She looked at him, brow furrowed. "What?"

"It was some kind of missile attack from space. The Emperor and his bodyguard were injured."

He deliberately left off the part about how the two men were found.

"Are you serious?" She sat at the table across from him, eyes wide, hands wrapped firmly around her coffee cup.

"Yes. And," he said, taking a deep breath, "I'm going back.

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