“And when you overthrow Gaius Prospero, my love,” she purred at him, “when will I receive my coronation?”

“We will be crowned together, my dear,” he told her. “I would not have it otherwise. And it will be a far grander affair than either of our predecessors has had. That I promise you, my clever and fertile Vilia.”

Vilia smiled up into his face. She had known from the first time she had seen Jonah that he would be great one day. By binding them together with a child, Vilia instinctively understood that this man, unlike Gaius Prospero, would never cast her off. Jonah looked at the larger picture. He looked ahead. And while he enjoyed pleasures, he enjoyed power far more, as she did. They were really the most perfect couple. Perhaps even as perfect as the Dominus and Domina of Terah.

True to his word, Jonah cajoled Gaius Prospero into an immediate coronation for Shifra. And in the next few weeks he also negotiated a marriage contract with Vilia’s uncle, Cubert Ahasferus. The wealthy magnate was a canny man not easily brought to a settlement.

“She’s a wealthy woman in her own right now,” Cubert said slowly as he sat with Jonah over goblets of wine from the Outlands vineyards. “What can you offer her in exchange for her fortune and her blood ties?”

“What can any man offer such a woman?” Jonah replied carefully.

Vilia’s uncle smiled broadly. Then he said softly, “Power. You are no fool like our beloved emperor, who believes as all old-fashioned men believe that women are of little use but for pleasures. You appreciate my niece’s intellect.”

“Of course, she will have a certain amount of respect as my wife, and aye, I do value her wisdom,” Jonah replied quietly.

Now Cubert Ahasferus laughed aloud. “You do not fool me, my lord,” he said. “You have ambition. Do you think I cannot see it?”

“The emperor once had ambitions,” Jonah answered.

“To be emperor, to take pleasures with beautiful women.” His companion sneered. “But you, my lord, see beyond the end of your nose. You want more, and if you would wed my niece I must be certain that when you get what it is you want she will share equally in your glory. Guarantee me that and I will draw up the marriage contracts between you,” Cubert Ahasferus said.

Jonah considered his request and then he said, “How is it possible for me to do such a thing, my lord? Anything we put in writing, no matter its innocent intent, could easily be misinterpreted as treasonous. Such a covenant between us could endanger not just my life and Vilia’s, but the entire Ahasferus family, as well.”

“You are cautious and right to be so,” Cubert Ahasferus said approvingly. “Your reputation proceeds you, however. It is said you rarely give your word, but when you do that word is as good as gold. Take my hand and swear to me a blood oath.”

“Whose blood would we swear upon if indeed I decided to take you up on your proposal?” Jonah asked curiously. The answer stunned him.

“Swear to me on the life of your unborn child,” Vilia’s uncle said.

“What child?” Jonah replied, hiding his surprise.

Cubert Ahasferus smiled again. “Why, the one you will put in her belly, dear boy,” he said. “I know you will keep your word to me if you swear on his young life. You will not endanger your heir. He will, I suspect, be your one weakness.”

“Nay,” Jonah said. “I have no weaknesses.”

“But you will swear, will you not?” came the reply. “You will give me your blood oath and Vilia will be yours along with all her wealth and the favor of the Ahasferus family. We have many friends, my lord, but then you already know that.”

Jonah was silent for a short time as he considered what Cubert Ahasferus had proposed to him. He wanted Vilia. She was as pleasant a bed companion as he had ever enjoyed. He wanted her wealth. He valued her advice. Her connections were important to him. When he became emperor he would crown her his empress. Did all of that not make her his equal? If it reassured her family to have him swear a blood oath on the life of his unborn son that she would be that equal, then where was the harm in it? He considered the suggestion from all angles, but it always came back to the fact that without Vilia Prospero, born Ahasferus, his plans would not come to fruition.

“I will have my secretary write up the contracts with the necessary dower portion. Did you know that my niece has a quarter share in our trading company?” Cubert Ahasferus said.

“Aye, I knew,” Jonah replied. But he had not. He could see he was going to have to speak to Vilia about keeping things from him. “Have the agreement drawn up between us, and set a day for the signing. If I decide to accept your terms I will swear my oath on that day, my lord.” He arose from his seat. “I must leave you now. I hope you will forgive me, but the empress’s coronation is in just two more days. I have a great deal to oversee for the emperor.”

“Of course, of course,” Cubert Ahasferus responded jovially, offering Jonah his hand. “I will have the contracts ready the day after the coronation.”

Jonah shook the pale white hand, which was surprisingly strong. “Excellent!” he said and hurried off.

Jonah had hardly departed the chamber before Vilia entered the room by means of an inside passage.

“Were you listening?” her uncle asked. “Of course you were.”

“I heard it all,” Vilia replied. “Did I not tell you he was clever?”

“Let us hope he is not too clever,” Cubert Ahasferus said. “Will he sign? Will he swear the blood oath? And are you sure he can get you with child?”

“I am certain,” Vilia said. “And he will both sign and swear. Gaius never loved me, Uncle. He loved the support my family gave him over the years. Jonah, for all his coldness, does, I believe, love me.”

“Perhaps,” her uncle agreed, “but do not be blinded by your love for him, Niece. This man you are taking as your second husband is as cold as ice. Were there a better opportunity, he would seize it and cast you aside, Vilia. Make no mistake about that.”

“But you will protect me, Uncle, will you not?” Vilia murmured.

“Aye, Niece, your family will protect your interests first and foremost,” Cubert Ahasferus said firmly.

Vilia smiled. “Then I have naught to trouble myself about, Uncle.”

“You are taking part in the empress’s coronation, are you not?” he asked.

“I will carry her train,” Vilia said.

Cubert Ahasferus snorted. “What presumption!” he grumbled.

“Uncle, had not Jonah intervened I should have served as her footstool as she sat upon her throne. And Jonah, the emperor’s footstool. But my clever lover convinced Gaius that such an honor could undermine his authority to speak for the emperor. I understand that our soon-to-be empress was not pleased and the footstool upon which her dainty feet will now rest is an expensive concoction of gold and jewels,” Vilia said.

“What outrageous effrontery!” her uncle snapped. “The wench is most sure of herself that she would demand such concessions from the emperor.”

“He has been besotted by her from the moment he saw her in the slave market,” Vilia admitted a bit sourly. “She is very beautiful and reminds me a bit of the faerie woman, Lara, except Shifra’s hair is red-gold.”

“Who is she?” Cubert Ahasferus demanded to know. “Who are her family? What connections does she have that can be useful?”

“She is a nobody and claims to have lived with her grandmother on the edge of the forest bordering the Midlands,” Vilia replied. “But I sent my own agents to find the grandmother and the hut in which she lived, and they learned nothing, nor could any in that region help them. No one seemed to know Shifra or her grandmother, Uncle. My agents searched all along the forest border but could find no trace of her relations at all.”

“Interesting,” Cubert Ahasferus mused.

“So then I sought out Lenya the slaver, who had sold her. He swears he found her where she claims he did. He even said he saw a small hut that Shifra said was her grandmother’s home. And he did see the old woman, but spoke not to her, for he feared she would refuse to sell Shifra to him. He simply made off with the girl. I am certain he was telling the truth.”

“Then who is this creature Gaius Prospero would crown?” Cubert Ahasferus wondered. “Is she magical? Can she protect him?”

“I doubt she is magical herself,” Vilia said. “She would appear to be just what she is. A beautiful, simple-minded girl, who exists solely to please Gaius. She really is his ideal woman.” Vilia laughed softly.

“Not so simple that she did not attempt to thwart your dignity,” her uncle noted.

“But she did not protest too greatly when she could not. She simply persuaded Gaius to have a gold and bejeweled footstool made for her instead,” Vilia replied. “I see no malice in her. A budding greed perhaps, but no malice, Uncle.” Leaning forward she kissed his cheek. “You must go now,” she said.

“Aye, I want those contracts drawn up by tomorrow. I will have them sent to you for any omissions or corrections.”

She nodded her understanding.

“Do your part well at the coronation ceremony,” Cubert Ahasferus advised her. “The family will all be there watching. I have had a great deal of difficulty calming them down over your divorce and the emperor’s decision to crown this young wife of his. I suspect that he had Anora disposed of although such a thing would be difficult to prove. I have told them we are fortunate he did not murder you, as well.”

“He never intended to, Uncle,” Vilia told him. “He simply wanted me out of his life. It was Jonah who warned me and told me what to ask for in the settlement.”

“While standing by to snap you up like a tasty morsel dropped from his master’s table,” Cubert Ahasferus remarked dryly.