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Back The Empress
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

As Maxi started up the next level of stairs, Franz turned into a hall. He didn’t even know where he was going. Just somewhere he could let his frustrations fizzle out without an audience.

TWENTY-ONE

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IT WAS SCORCHING HOT IN THE VILLA. EVEN HOTTER IN the heavy black dress. Still hotter when Elisabeth thought about joining her agitated sister and mother in their rooms. So instead, she slipped away to a quiet, empty room where she lay on the cool wood floor alone.

Here—in the silence and out of the heat—Elisabeth could breathe.

There was no one in this part of the palace. Not a single footstep, not one hushed conversation within hearing distance. Only the sound of birdsong through the open window, its melody moving through the room like a waltz.

The day had been so full, so overwhelming, that Elisabeth now craved the serenity of a field of wildflowers, a rocky mountain path, somewhere she could gather her thoughts. Trapped in the villa, she settled for stretching out on the floor, tracing her hands along its grooves.

“Are you unwell?”

Her breath hitched at the interruption, and she turned her head.

Franz stood above her, his face unreadable. Elisabeth sat up, cheeks warming with embarrassment yet again. Why was he always finding her at her most ridiculous moments?

“No. I … I feel fine.”

“Then what are you doing?” There was only curiosity in his voice, no judgement.

“It’s hot and the floor is nice and cool. Soothing.”

For a beat, Franz didn’t move. Then, to her surprise, the emperor slowly lowered himself to sit beside her. This close, she could see where his hair curled behind his ear, how perfectly straight his mustache was, the slight dimple in his chin. They were friendly details, the kind of details a person could stare at all day.

He lay back, mimicking her earlier position on the floor, and folded his hands over his stomach, his arm mere inches from hers. Elisabeth did the same, both of them now looking up at the fanciful ceiling. The color was a powdery blue, and against it, intricately detailed dragons frolicked as if flying across real sky. Tails curved in loop-de-loops, narrowing to arrow points at their ends. Wings spread in every direction, some small and birdlike, others reptilian, curving outward like claws.

“You’re right,” Franz said. “It is nice and cool.” His voice was pleasant, gentle. Intimate but not demanding. It was how she’d always wanted to talk to a man.

She glanced over and found he was already looking at her. Really looking at her—their faces such a short space apart, their shoulders even closer. She could see the curve of his lips so well from here, could have counted his eyelashes if she’d wanted to. Her heart skipped and sped up, her skin heating even against the cool floor.

“I heard what you said to my brother at lunch.”