cut in the front. The silk draped down almost to her navel. It was daring, and…a little breezy. It was cut all the way to her waist in the back. Only a few delicate chains held it all together. She was told they were gold.
“Ah. Right. This came back today.” Kema picked something up and carefully placed a necklace around her throat. It was one she knew the weight of very well. It would be on full display in her low-cut dress. Usually, her robes hid the pendant and tassels of her slave chain. But now…
“He’s flaunting to them what I am.” Her face fell.
“Viktor and Hugo dislike the culture of slavery. I can’t say I blame them. But he’s not trying to belittle you. He’s trying to bait them into an argument like he always does. Any chance he has to annoy those two, he’ll take.”
“Great.” She sighed. “Tonight sounds like it’ll be so much fun. You’re really making me look forward to this.”
“Don’t be too worried. He’ll show you off, probably grab your ass in front of them to annoy them, and talk loudly about how stellar you are between the sheets.”
“But we haven’t done anything.”
“They don’t know that.” Kema snickered and settled a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed gently. “Look. Nero loves to spin a good story sometimes. He likes to be dramatic for the sake of it. He can’t always be trusted. But what he says about you? About how he feels? I’ve never seen him act around anyone the way he does with you. I think he means it this time.”
This time. “Thank you, Kema.” She placed her hand over the other woman’s and smiled into the mirror. Or she assumed she did, anyway. It could have been the wall, for all she knew. “It means a lot to have someone I can call a friend in this place.”
“Any time. Now, come on. He wants you to be fashionably late to make an entrance, but not this fashionably late. Oh. And watch out for Viktor. He’s not going to do anything strange, but he’s not…a nice man. Hugo will be fine. Awkward, but friendly. Viktor will be cold and cruel.”
“Good to know. I can handle that kind of man a lot better than I can someone like Nero. It’s more what I’m used to. Those who raised me in the temple weren’t known for their empathy.” She stood from the small stool and brushed her hands down her silk dress. “Are you sure I don’t look like a whore in this?”
Kema laughed. “Trust me. You’re wearing far too much fabric for that. Come on.”
And with that, they went out to the main atrium. It was a huge room with a shallow pool in the center. Water poured into it from a statue at the end that she was told was a carved head of a lion. She hadn’t ever gone close enough to inspect it. She followed Kema along the edge of the water and past the columns that dotted the wall. The ceiling was open to the air above, and she could feel the cool breeze struggling to come in to fight the warmth of the fires that burned along the walls in open cauldrons.
Nero liked things to look “classical,” he said. And fire was his element, so wherever he could, he preferred that to electric lights or gas lamps. It gave the whole place a rather homey smell and filled it with warmth even during the coldest part of the night. She heard a conversation by one wall that included several voices she didn’t recognize.
“Master Nero,” Kema said as they approached. Hope had never heard Kema call Nero anything of the sort. It must be for appearances. They hate slavery, so of course, she would play into it to help piss them off. Kema was almost as much of a troublemaker as Nero. “I apologize for our lateness.”
“Of course, no trouble,” Nero said as he stood from wherever he was sitting and walked up to them, heels clicking on the marble. Hope held her head high and stood there, knowing she had all eyes in the room on her. She could feel them burning into her.
She fought the urge to make sure the silk of her dress was still covering her. It did feel so terribly open in the front.
Nero scooped up her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing the backs of her knuckles. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She couldn’t