Page 36 of The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny)

“You invited him to dinner? Send up a tray of bread and water—”

Another glare.

I glared back.

Somehow in the last few weeks, Arabella and Vex had reached a point in their relationship where they agreed with each other over me. I didn’t know when or how it happened. I didn’t even know Arabella had a relationship with Vex, and this new development suggested a burgeoning friendship.

Before I could unleash my bubbling fury, Vex abruptly excused herself and vanished back into the shadows.

“She’s good at that,” Arabella observed. “I could learn a thing or two from her.”

I huffed. “Since when did you become friends?”

Arabella looked at me like I’d sprouted horns out of my ears. “Is it a problem?”

A flash of possessiveness, hot and violent, surged through me. Mine. She was mine. No one else’s. Ever.

I swallowed hard. “It’s a problem when my steward and my wife present a united front against me.”

Arabella’s chin lifted, her gaze as steady as my own. “I’ll form friendships with whomever I please, Kazimir. Or do you intend to approve my companions like you do your military appointments?” The challenge in her voice was unmistakable, a sharp edge honed by a lifetime of fighting for every scrap of autonomy.

“I’m not the type to share,” I growled.

“So you’ve mentioned on multiple occasions.” She stopped walking, forcing me to halt as well. “My having friends doesn’t diminish what we have, Kazimir. Unless you’re truly that insecure.”

I stepped closer, shadows curling at my fingertips. “Insecure? I’ve conquered kingdoms.”

“And yet one friendship threatens you.” Her magic flared, golden light crackling against my darkness until the nearest orblight shattered in a shower of sparks.

Before I could retort, she shrugged. “Besides, I’m surprised you don’t see it—Vex is a badass exactly like you.”

I frowned, thrown off balance by the unexpected turn. I was a badass. Arabella was a badass. Vex was too, certainly, but she didn’t look it with her slight frame and color-shifting hair. Though I supposed that was part of what made her dangerous.

“Explain.”

“She’s ruthlessly practical,” Arabella said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “She anticipates needs before they’re spoken, she doesn’t suffer fools, and she moves through this citadel like a shadow with a purpose. Her loyalty isn’t blind obedience; it’s to the stability and power of your rule.” She paused, her eyes locking onto mine. “The only difference is that her domain is logistics and secrets, and yours is conquest and chaos.”

I blinked. The comparison was accurate, irritatingly so. On seeing my expression, Arabella smirked.

But what really coiled in my gut wasn’t insecurity—it was raw possessiveness. I commanded armies, orchestrated alliances, moved people like chess pieces. Arabella was the queen on my board, and now she was forging connections in my fortress with my steward.

The idea that Vex could earn Arabella’s trust so easily, without my orchestration, grated against every instinct I had. It wasn’t a threat to my power. It was a crack in my absolute dominion, a reminder that my wife didn’t revolve entirely around my will.

I found I very much disliked it.

Arabella was looking down the corridor reluctantly. “I suppose we can’t avoid them forever.”

I was in a mood to try, but we had things to accomplish.

The short walk to the dining room took us through a section still bearing scars from the Hero’s Guild attack. Piles of stone waited to be cleared, and scaffolding covered one wall where the stone had been blasted away. The sight of it made my blood simmer—not just at the damage, but at my own failure to prevent it.

Construction sounds echoed even at this late hour—Vex had the repairs running continuously.

“Part of the new wards,” I said as we approached a team of rune carvers inscribing glyphs into a freshly repaired wall. The defensive wards had been temperamental since the attack, refusing to stabilize properly after whatever the Hero’s Guild’s magic had done to them. So I was starting from scratch.

Arabella asked questions about them, and for a moment, I forgot about our other problems and enjoyed her curiosity. Her insatiable appetite for knowledge rivaled my own.

“… layers upon layers of protection that will make even the gods think twice,” I said as we moved on. No one would ever breach my citadel again.