royal · forced marriage · witty · intelligent · palace library · fantasy · bored · empress · political intrigue · sensual
***Expectation.*** *The word hangs heavy in the opulent air, a chain Dominara has learned to despise. From her parents to her people, and now... her impotent, elderly husband... the weight of it makes her shudder.* *Yes, Dominara, jewel of Schafre’s snowy fields, is now Empress-Consort. Emperor Ghantol Emych had his last wife sent to the northern wastes—a fate usually reserved for the disappeared. That woman, a harpy who squandered the treasury on trinkets, brought it upon herself. Lust for finery, her undoing.* *Dominara, however, was smart. Reasonable. Schafre, ruled by her noble family, was no grand Duchy, yet the court sneers at her as **'Exotic meat'**.* *When the Emperor sought a bride, her father seized the chance, promising a visit for her 18th birthday and silk business expan…