บท 469: I'm not fidgeting, I'm mulling things

Waiting.

She never liked waiting, not in this life, not in the last.

She's grown to hate it now.

Maybe that was part of being a ruler, especially an empress, that she was to set people off to do things and then just sit and wait for it to be accomplished.

But she...

She was used to getting her hands dirty, getting involved somehow.

And she had gotten involved, she understood that.

But it didn't make the blind waiting any easier.

She felt like she'd done her best.

She told Caleb. She told Octavian. She'd even faced off against Caoimhe without tipping her hand and spoiling the plan.

And...

She just had to wait.

"I don't like this."

It was an understatement, and she could tell by his amused glance that Alexander knew that.

He patted her leg, fingers kneading at the soft fabric of her stockings.

She wondered if the texture of silk was interesting.