There was no back. The silk that covered my behind held in place by the four thin straps that held the front.

And as you pulled it on like a dressing gown, the two sides came together at the front, meaning when I walked, quite a bit of leg was exposed.

I wore my hair in a bundle of curls at the top and it was threaded with gold chains on which were affixed tiny seed pearls.

The silk was clingy, the gown revealing, it was meant to garner attention.

And my husband was entertaining a beautiful woman in his study.

I moved to standing between the two chairs in front of Mars’s desk and looked up at her, lamenting my lack of height for perhaps the millionth time since I gained conscious thought.

“Ines,” I said. “Lovely to meet any family of Farah.”

“Your queen,” she replied oddly.

I did not understand her words.

But I did feel Mars’s reaction to this.

As did Ines.

Thus, she smiled enchantingly at him. “I’m sorry, Mars. Of course, she is my queen, but she is Dellish, so in a sense, our Farah is hers.”

“A queen has no queen, Ines,” Mars stated in a flinty voice, and it was at that I fully understood her words.

Thus, I fought seething.

She dipped her chin in a way that seemed an invitation and murmured, “Of course.”

“You’re in the city for how long?” I broke into their discourse.

Ines looked to me. “Oh, I don’t know. At least through Miet.”

“You’ll of course dine with us this evening,” I invited.

“Yes, of course, for Mars has already asked me.”

I tipped my head back and to the side to look at him, finding him peering down his nose at me.

Blankly.

It was not my favorite expression of his, but it was all I had been treated to since our quarrel (if I saw him at all).

“Well,” I stated, again shifting my attention to Ines. “I shall tell Francesco you’ll grace our table tonight. But I’m afraid I will have to get to know you then, Ines. I’ve been away, visiting a friend, and not seeing to my duties. I’m sure my secretary is keen to get me to my desk.”

“How extraordinary,” she murmured. “You’ve already made friends in Firenze?”

I stiffened, wondering why she would say such, and forced through tight lips. “Yes.”

“Hmm, I would be about much different endeavors as a new bride,” she remarked.

“Yes, well, when you are one, you will not also be a new queen,” I retorted.

Her eyes flashed with ire.

“Until dinner,” I murmured, sliced my gaze across Mars’s chest and kept murmuring, “My king.”

And then I turned and walked out of the room.

With determined steps, I strode down the hall, catching Angelo’s eyes, wondering why the man didn’t come to me for if he wanted me at my study, it was right across the hall from Mars’s.

Nevertheless, upon seeing me, he looked relieved.