All Chapters of The Tyrant Emperor's Secret Triplets: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Early the next morning, I changed into a sea-green winter gown that looked a little less shabby than the rest of my clothes and took Nell to the Royal Garden.It was January and bitterly cold, so the garden was nearly empty.In the distance, a figure in imperial gold stood alone beneath a blossoming almond tree, with only two attendants waiting a respectful distance away.My heart leaped into my throat.The last time I'd seen him, his eyes had been cold enough to freeze my blood.But I had no other way out.I pulled Nell around to the far side of the tree, pretending I hadn't seen him, and turned to her. "The blossoms are lovely this year. Pick a branch for me, and I'll set it before the chapel altar."Nell went to pick the flowers while I bent down to gather the fallen petals.Then a wave of real dizziness crashed over me.It wasn't an act. Ever since I'd become pregnant, I'd been having dizzy spells, and this one hit hard and fast. Everything went black.As I pitched forwar

The next day, Swan Palace sent over a plate of honey cakes.The maid who delivered them wore a sugary smile. "Her Majesty says Junior Consort Mornay has been living so frugally that she had her private kitchen make these especially for you."I thanked her, shut the door, and stared at the dainty little cakes.Beneath the sweetness was the faintest rank smell.I sent for Lucan to test them.He tried them with a silver needle, then crushed one and sniffed it. His face darkened."Saffron. Only a trace. Not enough to tarnish a silver needle, and an ordinary poison test wouldn't catch it either. But if a pregnant woman ate this, she'd lose the baby."When the empress realized I hadn't eaten the cakes, she tried a different approach.Three days later, she hosted a flower-viewing banquet for the inner palace, and every consort was required to attend.I sat at the table in the farthest corner, with a few cold dishes and a flagon of wine in front of me.I didn't dare touch the wine. I

I told my two new maids, Posy and Wren, that I wanted to keep copying scripture as a prayer for the empress's good health.The empress allowed it.To her, a pregnant woman cooped up in her room copying scripture posed no threat at all.What she didn't know was that I wasn't copying ordinary scripture.On the last page of every manuscript, I wrote a few small lines in the faintest ink.It wasn't a plea for help.It was a poem.Severin had written it as a young man at the Royal Academy. Before I entered the palace, I'd heard my tutor at a southern academy mention it. He said our current emperor had been brilliantly gifted in his youth, but after taking the throne, he had never written another word.I was betting he still cared about those old memories.Once the manuscripts were finished, they went to the main hall of Swan Palace and from there to the palace chapel as offerings.They had to pass through the empress's hands.But the chapel was open, and anyone could go there to

In three days, the Blackcloak Guard uncovered most of the truth. It took them another five to piece the whole thing together.The wandering healer's name was Corwin Dacre, a traveling quack by trade. Three years ago, a steward of House Ravencourt had brought him to the capital, given him a new identity and a purse of silver, and arranged for him to enter the palace to "treat an old illness" of the empress.But the empress had never had any old illness.The prescription hadn't been a mistake. It had been deliberate.The medicine contained an ingredient that slowly sapped a man's vitality. After the emperor had spent three months tasting it for the empress, he could no longer father children.The night the report reached the Imperial Study, half the palace heard Severin's roar from Swan Palace.Empress Isolde was deposed and sent to the Cold Tower.Her brother, Lord Cassar Ravencourt, was stripped of every office he held, and every honor House Ravencourt had earned over three gene

On the day of the princes' naming feast, the palace was hung with lanterns and streamers, and every official at court came to offer congratulations.I had been made a High Consort and was seated just below the empress's empty seat.Severin sat on the imperial throne holding the eldest prince. He held the baby awkwardly, but his face wore a tenderness I'd never seen before.He'd named the three boys. The eldest was Caelan Veyr, the second was Rowan Veyr, and the third was Tarian Veyr.The officials knelt in congratulations, their voices rising in a chorus of "Long live the emperor!"I sat beside him, my palms slick with cold sweat.Because the golden text had told me that someone would come to kill my children tonight.Beforehand, I'd asked Lucan to claim that I was "still recovering" so the princes' wet nurses could keep the second and third princes in the rear hall of Larkspur Palace instead of attending the banquet. As far as anyone else knew, the two little princes had caught