LOVE AND HONOR: The Mad Emperor (BL)
She's alternately looking at Drusus' body and Livia, the empress.
The weight in her stola—her poison, still unopened, still wrapped in waxed linen—pressed cold and accusing against her ribs.
Someone had beaten her to it.
Her eyes slowly widened.
Her lips curled upward.
Then, slowly, softly—she began to laugh.
A single exhale at first. Then a breath. Then another.
"Ha."
Her shoulders shook.
"Ha… ha…"
She clutched her side, trembling, as the laughter came—shrill, sudden, unstoppable.