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Back The Empress Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1853
  4. PART I
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. 1854
  42. PART II
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. FIFTY-FOUR
  61. FIFTY-FIVE
  62. FIFTY-SIX
  63. FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. FIFTY-NINE
  66. SIXTY
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maxi’s casual mask slipped, his face paling. At least he remembered their names, Franz thought wryly. It would have been worse—the indifference more sickening—if he hadn’t.

Franz continued. “Agnes got pregnant by a young man who had no intention of marrying her. She died in childbirth. The child is orphaned.”

Maxi stared.

Franz shook his head. “Emilie fell prey to the same young man. Consumed with grief and heartbreak for herself and her sister, she threw herself from their barn and has been living in a sanatorium ever since.”

The lieutenant’s eyes filled with tears, and he stared at Maxi, chin quivering with something between rage and disgust. Maxi grew smaller in his gaze, pulling his hands together and twisting at the gold rings on his fingers.

Franz’s jaw tensed. “As we do not know the young man’s identity, we can only make sure the lieutenant and his family are compensated. A noble title and a yearly pension. Do you agree?”

“Yes.” Maxi nodded, solemn as he should be. Franz clenched his fists.

“That is, so that the lieutenant can forget this story and no longer feel compelled to tell it.” Franz hoped his full meaning was clear to both the lieutenant and Maxi. The family couldn’t afford to spend their time embroiled in scandal when war and unrest were already wearing away at the edges of the empire.

Franz turned to the lieutenant then, nodded.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The man inclined his head, rose from his chair, and left the room. Maxi flinched as he passed.

As the man’s footsteps echoed along wood floors into the distance, leaving Maxi and Franz alone, Maxi turned to his brother, ghost white. “Believe me, I didn’t know they were sisters.”

“And that makes it right?” Franz shook his head, incredulous, then stood, leaning toward Maxi, pressing a clenched fist to the desk. “We talked about this when you agreed to be my advisor. You must abide by the rules!”

Maxi had spent months chiding Franz for picking Elisabeth, telling him how he’d ruin her, how he’d destroy her life. And all the while Maxi was—as usual—treating the women around him as if they were objects, forgettable and easily discarded. Franz would never enter into an affair knowing he was going to hurt someone, let alone so many people. It made him sick. This was Maxi’s worst offense yet, and it had cost not only hearts, but two lives. Even Maxi shouldn’t have been capable of such cruelty.