The Emperor's Stolen Heart

Elara Mayne wants Consort Seraphine ruined. When Elara was a child, her older sister saved the Emperor's life, and Seraphine killed her to take the credit for herself. That was how Seraphine became noble consort, and Elara was there and saw it. Elara is a court official's wife. Getting at a consort means getting into the palace, and the way she chooses runs through the Emperor himself. She swears to become his woman and to take from Seraphine everything Seraphine cares about. She puts on the manner of a fragile, pure-hearted woman. The Emperor believes it, even though she is married to one of his officials, and he spends a night with her. Curiosity on his side turns into a wish to own her outright, and taking a subject's wife away from her husband, against every rule of conduct between a ruler and his ministers, becomes his plan. Then Elara's use of him comes out into the open, and the Emperor is left with a choice between his feelings and his reason.