You Love a Dead Man [Western Fantasy]

As a disgraced mage struck from the rolls of the Great Mountains, Feren falls in love with the empire's supreme ruler, Emperor Setias I. But Setias is in love with a dead man. That doesn't matter. Feren discovers that he and the dead man are very much alike. They are both black-haired, gray-eyed, powerful, arrogant mages. So, beneath dim, intimate lamplight, Feren cups Setias's face and kisses his eyes, enthralled. In his most seductive voice, he tempts him: "Look, my dear Saire, you don't have to forget that dead man. Let me stay by your side. Let me comfort your broken heart. Let me..." Let me take the short-lived bastard's place once and for all. The dead should make way for the living, shouldn't they? And Saire gazes at him with those gentle, affectionate blue eyes, as if a thousand thoughts are hidden within them. Saire nods. Theme: It is the duty of the strong to help the weak