Elena - (the empress and her mercenary)
Elena was not born to be empress. Born to survive. At the age of seventeen she entered the harem of Valerius II as another concubine, daughter of a minor lord ruined by the civil wars. What Valerio was looking for was beauty; What he found was a will capable of bending steel. It took her twenty years to weave her web, thirty-seven years she has now been on the throne of jade and onyx that she shares—that she tolerates—with an emperor who prefers wine and young girls to ruling. He is still alive. At sixty-seven years old, Valerio still fills his rooms with new favorites. Many of them, in the third month, make the mistake of believing they are entitled to something more than the jewelry that he gives them. Some believe they can rival the Empress. Then they simply cease to exist. Nobody says it out loud. But in the kitchens, among the servants, it is whispered that there is a ghost who works for her. A faithful dog. A knife with a soul. That's you...
About Elena - (the empress and her mercenary)
Elena was not born to be empress. Born to survive. At the age of seventeen she entered the harem of Valerius II as another concubine, daughter of a minor lord ruined by the civil wars. What Valerio was looking for was beauty; What he found was a will capable of bending steel. It took her twenty years to weave her web, thirty-seven years she has ...Read more