...63...
DOWAGER EMPRESS
Ever since he had told her the true state of his heart, she had almost always avoided him.
For the past two days since he had said to her that he married her because he loved her, she had evaded him, being rather successful at it.
She had an inkling that she succeeded at doing so because he actually let her.
She was doing so because the revelation had left her quite befuddled for a while as she could not describe the conflicting and confusing emotions that it had made her to feel.
It was all happiness yet sadness, excited yet unenthusiastic, remarkable yet unprepossessing-plain half and half.
They all contrasted, everything.
She had doubted him at first.
But as she continually pondered on it, perusing their eight months story, she found that his words seemed genuine and indubitable from all of his actions so far.
Oh yes, maybe he did.
Maybe he really did love her.
Or maybe he was joking around with her, who knew?
But what were the chances?Especially with a man like him?
A man who really didn't need to do all that to her.
That and every other thing made her feel guilty because she was yet to decipher the state of her confused heart, unable to discern the emotions that plagued her.
She was unable to name what she actually felt for him even after all this time.
Indeed she did desire him.
She did care for him.
But could she, could she love a man such as he?
Could she actually love the man who had allegedly abducted her, taken her away from the world that she used to know and then married her in her unconsciousness?
Kidnapping.
Forced Marriage.
Could she actually love the man who had consummated their union in her unconsciousness on the excuse that she would not have agreed to it?
Lack of Consent.
Or was it not Rape?
Could she love the same man who had kept her captive in his empire all this while, held her hostage in his territory?
Imprisonment.
Could she love the man who had truncated her every attempt at escape ever since then?
Barricading.
This was the man who had always laid her out afore his eyes and spanked her rear, every single time that she had attempted escape.
Could she love him?
That thought, it had made her head and her heart hurt.
The only conclusion she could come to was that this might be some type of trauma bonding.
And she hated it.
Therefore she had stubbornly refused to mull over it least she discovered what she actually dreaded the most.
'She will be back,' the little prince's voice broke into her chain of thought, causing her to break that his deep mesmerizing gaze.
'I know,' the emperor said turning to him.
The emperor watched as his brother helped himself to a seat.
'She will most likely call a court to challenge you.'
The emperor nodded.
'I will be just ready for her,' he said, going to take a seat.
Nonchalance dripped all over his facial features as he relaxed.
'I know that you will.'
The lady turned to leave in order to allow the men speak freely, for their upcoming discussion would most definitely be none of her concern.
'Lady Rose,' the little prince called out to her.
She halted in her tracks.
She twirled around slowly to him with a questioning look sitting on her pretty face.
He smiled at her.
She didn't move a muscle, both in her face or in her body.
'Come,' he beckoned to her.
She quirked a brow at him.
He pursed his lips in amusement at the question in them.
'Come and have a seat with us,' he invited her.
She slowlu turned to look at the emperor, using her eyes to ask him for his confirmation.
"You don't need to ask for his permission," the little prince grumbled under his breath.
The couples?
They both ignored him.
'Come to me Mine,' the emperor confirmed, flashing her a smile.
She obeyed him, going to him as he patted the space beside him.
When she made to sit beside him, he took her palm and drew her down, to his lap.
Her eyes widened as a small gasp left her mouth.
Meanwhile she stilled atop him in surprise at the motion.
What the hell was he doing? They fucking had company!
She tried to turn to look at him, but his hands around her midsection made that impossible.
She gave up, sitting there, and just cursing him out in her head.
The little prince cleared his throat loudly and she raised her eyes to meet his which were a lot similar to his brother's.
'You are aware that you are the emperor's bride?' the little prince asked her with serious eyes.
She hesitated.
'Yes,' was her answer.
The little prince nodded softly-once, twice as if he were only processing what she had just said to him.
She quickly ironed her own question in with the speed of light.
'He abducted me, you are aware of that?' she equally asked.
The emperor's hands around her waist tightened a bit.
She watched as the little prince's jaw dropped, stunned into speechlessness at her words.
"You were not informed?" She asked him, lifting a brow.
The little prince regained his composure, slowly being possessed by amusement.
His lips curved into a wide smile, warm and directed at her.
She noted once again that he was an extremely gorgeous man.
"Well," he began with a shrug, "I provided the hallucinogens.'
That was all he had to say for her to know exactly what went down.
And in that moment she almost hated the both of them.
He chuckled at the way her brows rose in slight shock.
'I was aware of his decision to take you away Rose.'
Her hands rolled into fist, her nails biting into her skin.
How dare he say that?
She leaned forward, despite the fact that the emperor tried to hold her back.
'And you were in corroboration with him instead?' she demanded.
Rage was beginning to build inside of her, like a booking volcano, waiting to erupt.
The little prince shook his head, and she noticed all traces of amusement went away with it.
"I wasn't," he began.
He looked away.
'But, it was done to protect you. He needed to protect you.'
"From what?" She demanded, her voice gaining pitch.
"Rose," the emperor said behind her, leaning towards her.
His warm breath brushed against the skin of her exposed neck.
Shivers ran down the length of her spine, warm and unholy.
But she supresssed it, highly determined to ignore it.
The little prince looked at her, an apology written in his eyes.
At least, he was remorseful about it, unlike his hard headed brother-the emperor.
'He told me same thing," she began to say to him.
He nodded.
"Meseems that this was pre choreographed between the both of you, I guess?" She pressed.
He hesitated.
She saw his eyes, move between her and to the ones behind her.
"Believe him," was all he said when his eyes returned to hers.
She swallowed.
Her shoulders dropped as several thoughts began to race through her head in sequence.
Then, she spoke.
'I have never doubted him.'
That comment from her struck the emperor deep.
His eyes slightly widened in what must have been suprise.
His grip on her tightened as he came to the realization.
She trusted him.
Rose have him her trust.
His heart warmed, fast becoming ignescent for love.
Heat travelled through him at the speed of light, releasing a good dose of dopamine inside of him.
The corners of his lips threatened to lift into a smile.
He gave the little prince a look that said he was dismissed.
The little prince scoffed even as he stood to his feet.
'I know," he told his brother whose eyes was glistening with unbridled happiness.
He gave a light bow.
'I shall leave now Lady Rose. I promised my Jaele that I will spar with her before the sun is too high in the sky.'
'Jaele,' the emperor rolled the name around his mouth slowly, giving his brother a devilish smirk.
The little prince sized him up with eyes that seemed furious.
'She rejected my advances,' he confessed with the frustration about it vivid in his voice.
The emperor chuckled.
"I didn't think you were attractive, maybe she is on my side," he teased his brother.
The little prince made a tsk sound, unsatisfied.
"I've been persistent, asking over and over again. But she keeps turning me down without batting an eye lid," he groused.
Rose stared at him.
She mused over the fact that a woman had turned down this gorgeous soft spoken man.
Though, she still hated him for providing the hallucinogens.
'She has rejected me so many times. How many times was it again Octavia?' he turned around to ask his aide.
Octavia stepped forward.
'Quintuple times my lord,' his aide answered him.
The emperor roared with laughter, obviously pleased.
'You are keeping count?' the emperor asked after he had had his fill of laughter. 'That means you are disappointed.'
'I am,' he truthfully said.
'You are moving too fast on her,' the emperor said to him.
'What sort of woman would reject you with her eyes open?' the lady asked him with humoured eyes.
'It is one who thinks that she is actually too low a standard for me,' he replied her with a small smile.
'Oh! I see! It is not that she doesn't want you, it is that she feels totally unworthy of you?'
'Exactly. You really hit the nail on the head.'
'I see that she needs a little push then, just a little push. But it must be hard enough in one go.'
'I see this is why they say to talk to a woman about your problems. My brother just laughed at me.'
'Well seduce her,' the emperor quipped in.
His eyes were alit with mischief.
'I have given you a good advice.'
The little prince glared at him in resignation.
'I am not you.'
'Who said that you were?' he said leaning forward and in the process bringing the lady closer to him, really close to him.
She in turn didn't notice it, too immersed in watching them exchange banter.
'I will be late if I keep answering to you. So long,' he bid them both and turned away.
Octavia bowed slightly at them before she turned and followed her master.
The moment that the little prince left, she was grateful that she was not totally alone with him.
The escorts were standing there with them.
'Do not let the empress dowager get to you again like today,' he said to her, his mouth close to her ears.
His fingers gently began to caress hers which were in his.
'You should not react like that publicly especially when she leads you on. Just ignore her and when you are both in the confines of walls, you can pick her flesh from her bones,' he ended.
She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before she began to laugh at his words.
It was the finish for her.
She had thought that he had been scolding her until he had uttered the last sentence.
And somehow, it felt really good to have his support in this.
"I see," she mused.
'I do not want what happened with Hera-Mera to ever repeat itself again, you hear?"
His hands roamed her skin.
She nodded.
"Especially now that she and her scheming counterparts are out of my dungeon thanks to you," he said, not looking please at all.
She tried to keep her lips from curving but failed woefully.
'It will not,' she assured him.
He made tsk sound.
'Thank you for sparing them. It's just some jealousy you know? They will as quickly get over it as they did adjust to the dungeons.'
'Whatever,' the emperor said, still not pleased by it all.
'Don't be sulky.'
He slanted his eyes at her.
'I am not,' he instantly refuted as he pulled her closer to him-as if she wasn't already close enough, as close as she could be to him.
'Yes you are,' she teased him but he said nothing.
The receiving area grew quiesce.
She began to stand to her feet then, and he just let her be.
He stood after her just as she began to turn away from him.
He stopped her with a hand to her elbow, the same one he used to twirl her back to him.
'Not so fast,' he muttered to only her hearing.
She mouthed "what" at him.
He said nothing.
She noticed the smirk that instantly curved his lips.
But, it was too late.
Before she could dissuade him, he just bent and scooped her into his arms.
Then he looked down at her surprised face and smiled childishly with all of his teeth.
'Why are you carrying me?' she asked him even as her hands reached out to hold onto him.
'It is because I want to.'
'But-'
'Will you be quiet for once and go with the flow,' he chided her.
She obeyed.
He carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.
He then set her down after closing the bedroom door and let her slide down his body rather slowly.
The gesture was erotically seductive.
Her body instantly fired up with the amount of body heat received.
She tried to step away from his arms but he held her in place with a hand around her waist.
'You can... You can let go... Of me now,' she stammered, her voice quivering.
She could not meet his eyes.
'I have never doubted him,' he repeated her words from earlier.
Her heart froze for a second, and then it began to roar with blood.
She looked up into his melanous eyes at his words and as usual was lost in them, was caught in its overspreading charm.
She remembered saying such.
He tilted her head and lipped her slowly, languorously.
She gasped inaudibly as he pressed her hard against his body.
She returned the kiss.
...OmaPhinaPhire