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Peter grasped his throat as soon as the Emperor of Eorka released him. Flinching from the murder in the man’s eyes and his threats of war. His Chief Aide and right hand man coughed, dispelling the moment and he whispered something to the Emperor, though he only caught on to the word Empress before the fire died in his eyes and the room returned to it’s usual state. The rest of his fellow diplomats all breathed a sigh of relief and Peter stamped down the curiosity burning in him for the sake of self preservation.
The Emperor dismissed them and stormed off, the Chief Aide had already left to go somewhere else while he and his fellow delegation lingered around awkwardly, dread in each of them as they thought of the impending war.
They whispered quietly amongst themselves but one of the Aides approached them with a pacifying smile.
“Don’t worry about the Emperor’s threats.” He said. “It won’t come to war.”
He seemed awfully confident and he stared at the man with a certain sort of hopeless gratefulness at the way he was trying to make them feel better.
“No, really.” He motioned to where the Emperor had walked through. “The Empress won’t allow it.”
The Empress, the beautiful former commoner turned adopted daughter of the highest noble family, turned Empress. She had a reputation in her earlier years of being a ‘mad dog’ but he found it unfair and chalked it up to the jealousy of the noble women who, to be kind, were by a majority, quite plain in comparison to the Empress. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was eloquent, well mannered, sharp tongued but also kind and a loving mother at that.
To think that such a woman was married to the Barbarian Emperor, a man so cruel that he gave no thought or care for the lives of others. He feared for the Empress should she pique her violent and brutish husband’s anger, feared that such a beautiful and brilliant woman would be struck down in a moment of madness.
“Lord Porter would have no doubt taken care of things by now.” He motioned for them to follow him as though he had seen the thoughts on his face. “The first phase, distraction.” He motioned to where the three young Imperial Princesses had suddenly ambushed their father.
Terror gripped him as he thought of the three adorable little girls lying in a pool of blood, except the Emperor didn’t strike them down. Instead he laughed, his anger instantly disappearing at the sight of his daughters. They jumped on his back, the baby who had just turned two, jumped on his cape and began to climb up with surprising alacrity and agility. The three showed no fear as they ordered their father around.
“Hurry Servant Emperor!” Crown Princess Judith yelled out happily.
“Servant! S’vant!” The two younger princesses called out after their elder sister.
The Emperor sighed loudly. “Call me Papa.”
“Servant! Forward to Mama!” The Crown Princess ordered imperiously.
Surprisingly, the Emperor followed through. The Crown Princess sitting on his shoulder while he had the two younger princesses tucked into an arm.
“The Princesses were no doubt unleashed by Lord Porter to quell their father’s anger and to give him time to brief the Empress.”
And just as he had said that, the Empress came in, resplendent in her gilded red and gold dress and draped in the Emperor’s colours. She walked with a grace that few women could achieve.
The three princesses immediately left their father to run to their mother’s arms. The swell of her womb noticeable even from the distance that they observed. Another Princess, no doubt, following the trend. There were so many whispers about her inability to produce a proper heir, and one of them had been delivered by the Princess of Nausica, Peter’s home land. The Princess in question held an infatuation towards the Emperor and believed herself to be better than the Empress, had derided the fact that she couldn’t make a son and had loudly proclaimed herself capable of such a feat. Which led to their current predicament after the Princess’ words had reached the Emperor’s ears just as a letter from her about a most scandalous proposition had arrived.
Peter watched as the Emperor strode forward, arms raised to join in the hug when the Empress turned towards him and dismissed the children. The Princesses ran with delighted laughter into the maze followed by a handful of nannies and guards. He watched as the Empress raised her hand and struck the Emperor, repeatedly.
The Emperor yelped and made to shield himself, apologizing.
From a far, he could hear the words ‘war’ and ‘nonsense’ and at the end there was even a proclamation from the Empress that had the Emperor practically grovelling. “If you continue on with this war, you can be sure that I’ll be locking my door and making you stay in a separate room for the foreseeable future.”
“Fine, fine. No war.” The Emperor said and the Empress stopped the onslaught of slaps to his shoulder.
The Emperor leaned in close and he whispered something to her as he embraced her.
The Aide motioned for them to follow him away from the window they’ve been watching from and back into the audience hall. “As you can see, the Empress has it well in hand. Lord Porter had called her because even he admitted that it wasn’t a fair thing to have war for slander. If he thought it just cause, he wouldn’t have sent for the Empress.” The Aide told them kindly. “Even the Empress who disdained war for the toll it takes on our people, would understand and listen to her husband’s rationale. Especially if Lord Porter himself sided with the Emperor on this.”
It seemed that though the Emperor was the most powerful man in Eorka, his wife was the one that had the final say on this.
There had been rumours that it had been a love match and others that it had been purely politics to win the Eckart backing at first while the second prince had lived, and then for their support in rebuilding the Capital after the Leila’s attack. But it didn’t seem to be the case.
The door slammed open and the Emperor walked in, the Empress at his side as he guided her gently to their thrones. His eyes soft as he looked at her and her smile warm as she held his hand.
“The Empress in all her wisdom, has managed to convince me against pursuing war.” If Peter hadn’t seen the earlier display, he would’ve thought that the glorious woman before him had used her words to persuade him. “Instead, until the King of Nausica properly punishes Princess Bianchi, and she issues a proper apology towards my wife, we will be imposing economic sanctions.”
That… that was a step up from war but even he had to wince at the thought of what economic sanctions meant but… but he would take it.