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  Other people took up the chant and soon it had spread to the crowd of waiting nobles and royalty in the broad main hallway outside.

  “Long live the Empress! Long live the Empress!”

  “Come,” Kristoff said, bending down so I could hear him over the noise. “We need to get you to the Royal Chambers.” He looked at T’zorin. “You go ahead of us and make certain they’re all clear. And make damn sure no one and nothing goes in or out until we get there!”

  “Yes, Captain!” T’zorin saluted and began weaving his way through the crowd.

  Kristoff had me by the arm and was leading me out too. I tried to follow him but the moment I forgot and put weight on my hurt foot, a bolt of pain went through me, making me gasp and sink to the ground.

  “Charlotte?” He looked back at me, his eyes filled with fear for me. It was that look on his face, more than anything else, that made me realize we were in a vulnerable and dangerous position. No wonder Kristoff wanted to get us out of here and back to the safety and privacy of the Royal Chambers. “Are you well? What happened?” he asked.

  “I…my foot. She…Eucilla stomped on it when she was trying to get away. I don’t know but I think she might have broken it,” I said in a rush. The one good thing about the intense pain was that it drove the desire out—at least a little. So when he bent and scooped me up into his arms, I could feel his body against mine without moaning in need.

  It was a good thing because everyone was watching us, including Morbain and Head Councilor Tannus, both of whom were staring daggers in my general direction. If I had started writhing in Kristoff’s arms or trying to kiss him—the way I badly wanted to do—we could have been in real trouble.

  Poor Eucilla—who would have thought by breaking my foot she was doing me a favor?

  And then we were in the middle of the mob, the honor guard surrounding us and barely clearing a path. It seemed that now I was officially the Goddess-Empress, everyone wanted a better look at me.

  “Bow!” Kristoff roared, holding me tightly as he surged forward like a man fighting against a strong current. “Show the proper respect and bow before your new Empress, people of Femme One!”

  Reluctantly, I thought, they began to do as he said. They probably would have bowed more readily to Eucilla—she had certainly looked the part more than me and everyone had expected her to win the deadly contest we’d just played together.

  God, I couldn’t think of that now. Nor did I want to think of the pulsing desire that was growing inside me like a ball of energy threatening to explode and turn me into a shivering mass of mindless lust.

  The feel of Kristoff’s hard body against my own, the spicy, warm scent of his skin, the way he carried me, so strong and sure…everything about him made me want him. Want him so badly I thought I would die if I couldn’t have him. And yet, somehow I held back, mindful of the many, many eyes that watched us as we went.

  But God, what was happening to me? And how long could I stand this before I snapped?

  Kristoff

  “No, no—you’re fine. Just fine.” Dr. Churika snapped her medical case closed and stood up.

  “What? How can you say that?” Charlotte’s voice was terse and angry. She’d objected to having Dr. Churika attend her—asking instead for the under-healer who had tried to help us with Eucilla at the Garden of Death.

  I had explained, as patiently as I could, that the other healer had not been vetted yet or taken the Oath of Loyalty. Until I could look into her background and be sure of her completely, she wouldn’t be allowed to attend the Empress.

  “I don’t care about any of that,” Charlotte had muttered. “She knew what she was doing—I could tell. And she wouldn’t be dismissive of me and…and what I’m going through right now.”

  “And what are you going through?” I’d asked her, frowning. I had felt the surge of energy that went through her during the pronouncement of Investiture—everyone in the hall had. It had rippled outwards in waves—a great flow of divine power that proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Charlotte was indeed the True Incarnation.

  But there was something else too—the need I had seen in her eyes when I touched her—the desire I felt thrumming through her lovely body was both intense and immense. I knew it was there but I wanted to hear her say it—to know exactly what we were dealing with before we called the healer in.

  “You know what it is,” Charlotte had said, looking up at me. “And you know what I need.”

  To that, I had no answer—not one she wanted to hear, anyway. I could feel her yearning for me—it was matched by mine for hers. But we could never be together and there was no use in belaboring the point.

  Just then, Dr. Churika had been announced and our conversation had been cut short. The healer had examined Charlotte with her usual brisk efficiency, given her an injection in the hurt foot—which was only badly bruised and not broken—and pronounced everything to be fine.

  “I’m not fine,” Charlotte told her again, glaring up from the rich, golden brocade settee in the sitting room where I had deposited her when I finally got her back to the Royal Apartments.

  “I assure you, your Majesty, that foot will feel as good as new in just a few minutes. The injection I gave you is a fast healing agent which will—”

  “It’s not my foot I’m concerned about,” Charlotte said through gritted teeth.

  Churika raised her brows. “And what is it that concerns your Majesty?” she asked dryly.

  “It’s these feelings—this need—which you said would fade as the effects of my blood left Kristoff’s system.” She glanced at me and I looked calmly back, willing my face to remain neutral. I had felt her trembling in my arms as I carried her through the crowd back to the safety of the Royal Chambers. Her lust had licked at me like a flame, teasing me with what I could never have.

  “Hmm…this is still an issue?” Dr. Churika frowned. “That’s most irregular.”

  “Not only is it still an issue, it just got exponentially worse when I was confirmed, uh, I mean Invested as the True Incarnation,” Charlotte told her. “It hit me in this massive wave—I feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin if I don’t get some…” Her eyes lingered on me, hungry and full of desire. “If I don’t get some relief.”

  The healer saw where Charlotte’s eyes had wandered and her face took on a stony, disapproving expression.

  “Well, it’s common knowledge that the Empress needs a Consort—you’re probably just longing for yours. I’ll recommend to the Council of Wisdom that the Ceremony of Culling be scheduled for tomorrow and you can choose a Royal Consort very soon.”

  “No.” Charlotte’s voice was tense and angry. “I don’t want some stranger I’ve never met before! I don’t want anyone but—”

  “You cannot always have what you want, child, even if you are the Empress,” Churika said sharply before Charlotte could speak my name. “As for the need you feel now, I’ll schedule a trip for you to the Royal House of Goddess Pleasures this very evening. Bathe and dress yourself and be ready to go.”

  “But—” Charlotte began.

  “Not another word,” the older female said sternly. “I will not hear blasphemy spoken in my presence, not even from the mouth of she who rules us all.”

  “So it’s blasphemy to be with the one man in the whole universe I want?” Charlotte demanded. “If that’s the case, I don’t think much of your religion. And I don’t remember converting to it, either.”

  “You converted when you were Invested as the True Incarnation,” Churika snapped. “Kindly remember that you are the Goddess-Empress and act like it, instead of a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because she cannot get her way.”

  Charlotte’s eyes got very wide and for a moment I thought she would shout or possibly even throw something at the older female’s head. She certainly looked angry enough to do either or both. But she simply took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her gaze was every bit as steely as Dr.