Untouchable.

"All for the sake of my soul," he teased.

"Yes."

He tried to appear accepting, though she could feel that he was not. "I will miss seeing Jahn die, but the result will be the same. Come tomorrow, I will be emperor."

"Will you forgive me?" she asked softly.

"I don't know."

It was the truth, but it could not change her mind.

She left Alix tied to the bed where they'd made love- and perhaps would again-and stepped into the hallway. She'd get lost on the hidden stairs, she imagined, and that would not do. She knew where the emperor resided, thanks to an earlier conversation with Alix.

The palace rose ten stories from the ground. Level One, which had once been the seat of power for the twins' father, was at the very top. It was rarely used these days. Level Ten was at ground level, and Alix had told her there were two levels beneath the ground-there had once been three levelsthere, but Level Thirteen had been filled in. He had not elaborated, but when he'd spoken the words "Level Thirteen, " she had experienced a soul-deep chill.

Jahn now resided on Level Eight, which was three stories down from this floor where Alix made his home. All she had to do was get there and do what had to be done.

She walked slowly but with determination down the stairway, and when she reached her destination and stepped into the wide hallway, she was not surprised to see three sentinels standing guard at what had to be the entrance to the emperor's bedchamber. Instead of appearing alarmed, she gave them her best smile.

"Good evening. I'm here to see the emperor."

"At this hour?" one asked. Another poked him in the ribs.

It was no mistake that the dress she'd fas.h.i.+oned showed her figure to its best advantage, or that her shoulder was bare or that a hint of cleavage was revealed. No one would mistake the apparent reasons why she wished to see Emperor Jahn.

"The emperor will soon be taking a wife," one of the sentinels said with disapproval.

"But he has not taken one yet, has he?" Sanura asked with a seductive smile.

"No, but..."

"I am a gift from the King of Tryfyn," she said. "Would you send me away without even telling the emperor that I'm here? Would you rob him of the pleasure which is offered by a woman of the Agnese?"

"A woman of the... what?"

Sanura sighed. "Just tell him I've arrived, if you please."

"He might be sleeping," one of the guards said.

At that moment they heard a loudly delivered curse word which easily penetrated the large wooden door. Sanura smiled. "I think not. It sounds as if he's in great need of my ministrations."

Her heart pounded too hard and her mouth went dry. She wasn't sure she could do this, but what choice did she have? It was her fault the shadows in Alix now ruled. Her fault! The least she could do was to save him from an act which would forever taint his soul.

She did not think of her own soul at the moment. Could not.

The youngest of the guards slipped into the emperor's room and was back a moment later with a nod to Sanura.

If they searched her for weapons and found the knife, they'd probably kill her. But the knife was small and there was not much in the way of hiding places on her person, especially since the sheet she wore parted and revealed her long legs as she walked toward the guards and the open door. She smiled at the men, men who at this moment wished to be Emperor of Columbyana simply because she was walking into his bedchamber.

The emperor awaited her, sitting on a large chair on the side of the room away from his ma.s.sive bed. He was a handsome man, much prettier than Alix and more fair of hair, though there were darker streaks mixed with the blond. Even though the hour was late, he was still dressed in imperial crimson. His face was set in stone, but he was curious. Curious, confused, angry... and a good man, in spite of all his faults.

"King Bhaltair sent you?"

"Yes," she said as a sentinel closed the door behind her, leaving her and the emperor alone.

"I have heard a distressing rumor that Princess Edlyn was murdered."

"I'm afraid that is true."

"I also heard that my brother, Prince Alixandyr, did the killing."

"That is not true."

A wave of

Sanura hesitated before shaking her head. Lying did not come easily to her, but what was she to say?

"You are Sanura, correct?" he asked.

She nodded. "I am. You have heard of me?"

"The sentinel who just yesterday delivered word of the princess's death told me that Alix escaped with a blue woman named Sanura. Though you are no longer blue, you do match the rest of his rather vivid description." His eyes raked her up and down. "There are also at least two Tryfynian soldiers in Arthes who insist upon taking Alix's head, as well as two very insistent wild men in residence who are adamant about killing Alix for touching you."

"Paki and Kontar are here?" she asked, her heart thumping.

"Yes. We've been doing our best to keep them occupied, but they remain quite insistent on killing my brother." His expression hardened. "I cannot allow that to happen."

"Don't hurt them," she said as she took a step toward the emperor. "They're only doing their duty."

"To protect you," he said, almost as if he did not quite believe what he said.

"Yes."

"Where is Alix?" he asked again.

"I told you, I do not know."

"I don't believe you."

Sanura stopped a few feet away from the emperor. The weight of the dagger which was tangled in her clothing grew heavier with each step she took. With three guards outside the door, it was unlikely she would survive once the emperor was dead, but if it meant Alix did not have to carry out this monstrous task...

She sensed something unexpected from the emperor, something which stopped her in her tracks and took her breath away. "You know," she said.

"I know what?" he snapped impatiently.

"You know about Alix's struggle. At least-you suspect that something is not right with him."

"Don't be ridiculous."

He was protecting his brother, he loved his brother.

"The shadows, the dark battle, the tight control..."

Emperor Jahn placed both hands on the arms of his chair and stood, moving slowly so that he coiled from his chair like a snake rising to strike. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about," he said tightly.

"I know too well, I'm sad to say," she said. "For years a darkness has lived within Alix, wis.h.i.+ng to rise and take power, to take control. His determination has kept that darkness deep within until I unknowingly unleashed that which Alix has fought all these years." Was it safe to trust this man? Did she dare tell him everything? "What you do not know, what I have just come to understand, is that both parts, he who fought and he who tried to rise, are one and the same. Alix was fractured, but he is fractured no more."

"So you do know where he is."

"Yes." Sanura reached into her clothing and pulled out the dagger with which she had planned to kill the emperor. "I came here to murder you."

"Did he send you?" Sadness radiated from the emperor, but there was very little surprise.

"No. He plans to do the a.s.sa.s.sination himself, but I cannot allow that to happen. He will never recover from such a dark deed."

"Neither will I, I imagine," the emperor said dryly. He pointed to her small dagger. "What made you think you could kill me with that?"

"My plan was simple. I would get close to you, promising all that I was meant to give, and when you were lost in desire, I would stab you through the heart."

"Ouch." He laid a hand over his chest. "Lucky for me I have enough womanly trouble at the moment and would not let you get so close."

She tossed the knife onto his large bed, knowing that she could not kill this man any more than she could kill Alix.

"I am responsible for the change in Alix, though it was unknowing. I would never hurt him, never." She looked the emperor in the eye. "I love him."

"Enough to commit murder in his name?"

She glanced at the dagger, which sat on the bed, out of reach. "Apparently not."

"So, what now?" the emperor asked testily. "Less than three months ago I set in motion a silly contest for the position of empress, and at this moment two of the candidates are dead, killed en route by accident or malicious intent; my brother is wanted dead by two burly, saber-wielding madmen and more than a handful of Tryfynian soldiers; Alix appears to have lost the battle he's fought for so long; and I..."

"You?" Sanura prodded.

The emperor shook his head and declined to continue. "My own problems matter little, at the moment. Where is Alix? Is there any way to save him from this?" He raked his hand tiredly through his loose hair. "As if you would know."

"But I do know," Sanura said. She stepped toward the emperor. "You love Alix, and so do I. Together we can save him. Will you help me, My Lord Emperor?"

Intelligent blue eyes looked into her own, searching for answers. The emperor had no reason to trust her, and yet he did. He had no reason to keep her alive, and yet he did not call for his guards and inform them that she'd come to his room with murderous intentions.

"What do you need?" he asked.

Sanura sighed in relief. "Time, m'lord. I need time."

His eyes went hard with determination. "There are ten days remaining until the first night of the Summer Festival, ten short days until I will be obligated to make my choice. Will that be enough time?"

"I hope so, m'lord. With all my heart, I hope so."

Chapter Eighteen.

HE had managed to free one hand and was frantically working on freeing the other when the door opened and Sanura slipped inside. Alix's heart sank, and he hoped she would not see his instinctive reaction. How foolish of him. Sanura always saw.

"It's done?" he asked.

She shook her head and walked toward him, taking the dagger from the folds of her form-fitting sheet-gown and placing it on the table near the door. "The emperor is not in residence. According to the sentinels I spoke to, I missed him by no more than an hour."

"Not in residence," he said as she sat on the edge of the bed and began to work at one of the bonds on his ankles. "I don't believe you."

She shrugged her shoulders, unconcerned. "In the morning you can ask them yourself. I suppose I could lie, but it would be a lie easily undone when the sun rises and your brother appears."

"Where did he go?"

"The sentinels did not say."

No, they would not tell her. They would tell him, though, when he asked. "When will he be back?"

"By the first night of the Summer Festival, they said, when he must choose his bride." She looked him in the eye. "Are you horribly angry with me?"

"Yes," he said honestly.

"Will you forgive me?"

"Probably," he admitted grudgingly.

"I only wished to help you," she said. "I don't agree with your plan, I don't even want you to be emperor, but if it is what you want..."

"It is."

"Even so, you should not be forced to kill your own brother."

She often referred to Jahn as his brother, instead of as emperor. Did she think he needed to be reminded? That if he heard the word often enough he would change his mind? "I will do whatever is necessary."

"Too bad." Sanura placed her body next to his and reclined there quite easily and comfortably, even though she knew he was still angry with her.

"Why is it too bad?" he asked. "Don't you want to be the emperor's mistress and have everything any woman could possibly want laid at your feet?"

She tilted her head back and looked at him. "Should I tell you what I truly want?"

"If you wish to do so."

"You will not like it."