Palace etiquette and protocol stated the emperor and empress enter the dining area first and stand at their seats followed by the consorts in order of their position in the harem. Once the remaining consorts enter and find their seats, the emperor and empress sit first then everyone else may sit. This is taught to every consort upon entry to the harem and each child when they are old enough to partake in family dinners.

Shaugn's words were barely out of his mouth when Shilian and Sieh spun on their heels and marched into the dining room ahead of him. Goren gave a mocking smile and followed them. Maryam and the twins gasped at their brazenness. Even the guards looked at each other with widened eyes.

"They've lost their minds," Dane muttered.

"Your majesty-"

Shaugn kept his smile behind the fan and held his hand up to quiet them. He put one arm behind his back and walked into the dining room unbothered. Let them enjoy their arrogance. They were all destined to question life after this meal.

The other consorts continued to mind their manners and followed in behind him. Even though the previous three consorts were already sitting, they stood by their chairs and waited on word from the empress. Shaugn gave them all a small nod and sat in his seat.

Shilian put her elbows on the table and stuffed a melon ball in her mouth. "Why did you call us all for lunch two days in a row?"

Shaugn picked up his fork and began to eat the fruit salad put before them. That little bit at breakfast was nowhere near enough. "Does the empress need a reason to dine with their fellow consorts?"

"No, but..." she was at loss as to what to say next.

Goren sipped the white wine in front of him. He smirked at Shaugn. "It's not like you."

"No?" Shaugn sipped his juiced and leaned back in his seat. His dark eyes looked around the table at the other consorts before landing on the terrible trio. "What exactly is it you think you know about me?"

Shillian snorted. "You're a duju from a low-ranked physician family."

"Oh?" Shaugn raised a brow. Is that all she had to say about him? Sounded like the same regurgitated story passed on from one of the other consorts replayed again and again and again. "How don't I know my family is low ranked?" He asked with a playful tone.

"You're not from one of the top noble families." Sieh lifted her chin, pointing her nose in the air. "Anything less is low ranked."

Shaugn looked around the table. Several of the consorts had their heads down. One was openly glaring at the three, gripping her fork as if to stab them. They were starting to splinter. He added more fuel to the fire.

He leaned forward as if he was listening with interest. "So by that logic your fellow consorts are less than you is what you're saying?"

"That's right." Sieh gave a short nod.

His dark eyes landed on Shilian. "What about you? You were a maid. You were a servant. Lower than the low ranked."

Shilian's face turned red and her lips had disappeared into a thin line. Goren and Sieh's faces changed. While not exactly bosom buddies, the three acted together a number of times to make OG's life hell. Shilian was by no means the nastiest in her means. But she was the loudest and most verbal with OG.

Shaugn dug his knife a little deeper. "Had you not climbed the emperor's bed you'd still be a servant cleaning out the chamber pot of the first consort."

Juice sprayed on the side of the face of one of the twins. Dane began coughing loudly into a napkin. Jazzaia bit her lower lip trying to suppress a laugh.

"That's not very refined, your majesty," Torba reminded with a small smile.

Shaugn's smile widened. "That's the whole point."

They looked at him with puzzled glances.

"I'm not very refined." The smile disappeared from his face. "You have this notion in your heads of who I am and who I'm not. None of you knows who I really am."

Goren rolled his eyes. "Like you're all that interesting," he turned his head and gulped the rest of his wine.

Shaugn put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "At least I didn't use my relatives to speak to the late grandmother to get me into the harem."

Jazzaia and the twins turned their heads and laughed. Dane's lips were pressed into a tight line. Malek examined the ceiling.

Goren's face was a strawberry. He rose from his seat and pointed an angry finger in Shaugn's direction. "Outrageous slander!"

Sieh wiped her mouth with her napkin and pushed her plate away. "Commoners are so vile."

Vile? Shaugn raised a brow. I got your vile. He took a sip of his juice and smacked his lips. "Says the woman who drugged her husband repeatedly so he'd sleep with her when her face and body failed to seduce him."

Silverware clinked against a dish. There was a barking cough at the end of the table. Sieh gapped at him. Shaugn stared back with amusement.

"Not to mention how you shamelessly used your unborn child to save your own skin."

Her fist pounded the table. "Shut your mouth, duju!"

The twins had enough. They looked at their fellow consorts with disgust.

"Stop. You always have to cause trouble."

"Don't you get bored?"

Even Torba found a voice to reprimand her fellow harem mates. "You're unworthy to be consorts."

"Oh really?" Shilian turned her venom on the tenth consort.

Torba squared her shoulders. "Yes."

"You're just mad that the tiny prince has no chance of becoming emperor unless his four older brothers die first."

Torba remained poised and shrugged off the insult. "As long as my son can live a long, healthy, happy life I am satisfied."

Shilian looked her up and down and sneered. "Sure you are." She turned her fury on the twins. "And you two. You're just mad the emperor hasn't touched you since bringing you back."

Emelli, the oldest of the two twins, narrowed her eyes. "The emperor saved us from...a life worse than death."

Her twin, Ahala, nodded. "We are grateful to his majesty for everything he has done for us. We ask for nothing in return."

"Pathetic." Shilian sucked her teeth.

Shaugn was thoroughly enjoying himself. The youngest of five and the only boy, he had his share of messy conflicts. "Don't project."

A look of confusion crossed Shilian's face. "What did you say?"

"Are you deaf? Perhaps slow in the head."

"Why you-"

"How will your son become emperor?" Shaugn cut her off and gave a mocking smile. "The first and second prince are hearty and healthy young men. Extremely bright. Unless they die or become infirm, your child also has no chance at becoming the emperor."

Sieh glanced at her with narrowed eyes. As if they just realized this, the other consorts' faces changed and looked at her with accusation. Shilian went on the defense.

"I would never do anything to a child. How dare you suggest otherwise."

Shaugn popped a melon ball in his mouth. "Is that so?"

"Of course!"

"I wonder who was it that had access and tried to poison the second consort during the sixth month of her pregnancy." Shaugn looked up at the ceiling as if thinking and tapped his chin with his closed fan.

"It wasn't me!" she slammed her fist on the table as the staff brought out their soup.

The savory smell of pumpkin and spice filled the dining room. Shaugn looked down at the roasted pumpkin soup topped with grated pistachio. As if he wasn't in the middle of sowing discord, he took a few spoonfuls to warm his stomach.

Seeing he was no longer speaking, the others picked up their spoons. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts as they slowly sipped the dish before them. Sieh's eyes stared off somewhere over Jazzaia's shoulder. Shilian angrily stirred her soup. Goren poured another wine. He'd polished off half the bottle by himself.

Shaugn put his spoon down after a few mouthfuls and continued to push. The cracks in their alliance were widening by the minute. Even if he didn't break them today, they'd leave with distrust and vigilance against one another. He only needed to push a little harder to completely break them apart. Then he just had to sit back and watch them tear each other apart.

He put on a look of confusion. "Remind me, who was it that poisoned the tea that the 8th and 9th consorts drank that caused their children to flow away with the bathwater?" The 8th consort's body had been severely damaged afterward. The doctor said that having a child in the future would be dangerous. The 9th consort was consumed with grief and lost herself. Xoan was sorry for her and released her to the temple under Faizan.

No one spoke. A few pairs of angry eyes stared at the three.

"And let's not talk about those of us who instruct our children to fight the other children when they think no one is looking," Shaugn gave a quick glance at two of the consorts who had been quiet all this time.

Maryam and Iksa buried their heads in their bowls. Their children had to use dirty tricks from time to time to avoid being bullied. Sometimes it even meant started trouble when no one was looking.

"Or how about which consort slept with a guard and was filled with his seed?" He snapped his fingers. "That's right. You took herbs to scrub it from your body before the emperor could find out."

His deep eyes were filled with ridicule and disgust.