The Consort Who Walked Away

After Helena Clarence came back from petitioning the Emperor, she went straight to the west wing where Lucian was staying.

She didn't come out until evening, and even then, she only glanced toward my wing in passing.

Whenever I'd tried to find some way to keep her with me a little longer, she'd always make an excuse to leave.

Even on the days she stayed home, she never spent more than a couple of hours with me.

I'd made scenes. I'd argued.

But she always told me to be sensible.

She said she'd already married me, so I ought to be more generous, and that I shouldn't pry into her affairs.

So I learned to be generous. I learned to give in.

And she brought another man home.

She was even carrying his child.

So that was what "being sensible" had meant all along: paving the way for another man.

Late that night, I blew out the candle and got ready for bed.

Then came a soft knock at the door.

Three long, two short. Helena's usual knock.

I pulled on a robe and got up. To my surprise, Helena was standing at my door, her face clouded with worry.

Seeing the look on her face now, and remembering the young man sobbing at dinner, I knew her petition hadn't gone well.

The Ashfords had served the crown with distinction for generations, our name untarnished for just as long.

Neither the Emperor nor anyone at court would ever approve of her tossing aside her husband to marry someone else on a whim.

And now she'd come to plead for that man, to ask me to let him stay.

When she'd brought him and the child in her womb home, everyone in the princess's residence had expected me to make a scene and bar them from the door.

After all, I'd once been a man who couldn't tolerate the smallest slight.

I'd have defied even an imperial order without a second thought.

But this time, I was the one who'd gone to the palace and secured the decree for her.

Helena stood at my door for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse.

"Julian, Lucian and this child are my..."

Before she could finish, I invited her in and handed her the decree allowing her to take a new royal consort.

"Give him a proper place at your side.

"A child shouldn't grow up without a father."

Seeing how calm I was, Helena looked stunned.

I went on.

"Your military honors were earned over years on the battlefield. You paid for them with your life.

"And your private fortune took years to build. Don't waste either of them on something this small."

I smiled as if I understood perfectly. Helena went still, then asked in surprise, "How did you convince His Majesty?"

A fair question. What she couldn't buy with all her military glory and a fortune that could fill a city, how had I managed to get?

By asking to end our marriage, of course, and volunteering to serve as the Crown Prince's envoy to the Norvik clans.

I'd spend the rest of my life protecting the peace of the Aurelian Empire, and I'd leave Helena forever.

All that stood between us now was a separation agreement bearing her seal.

That night, Helena offered to stay in my room to make it up to me.

I refused.

The next morning, she couldn't wait to ask me to hand over management of the household.

I agreed.

But as she leafed through the ledgers and contracts page by page, she frowned. "Are there really this many ledgers and contracts?"

I nodded. "If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you're welcome to go through them from the beginning. The old steward handed them all to me."

I knew Helena had never liked books, not even as a child.