*Pour*
Serpens put the empty teapot down with a clink.
Celyn stared at the cold half-filled cup. His eyes dim, his head propped on his hand. He didn't lift the cup. But rather stared at Serpens. "The event still hasn't ended?"
The emperor had asked for a private conversation. But he didn't think it meant they would just shove him in a room.
The aide had no choice but to move his head in a 'No'. What was he going to do? Lie? The Consort selection would probably last longer. But he had been feeding the crown prince the lie of it will be over soon. "It might in an hour."
Serpens lifted his head up, looking outside the windows. It was already dark outside. Close to midnight. The event would last another two-three hour. And they could only wait in the room until then.
Celyn finally lifted the cup. Stirred the cold tea. "Why make me wait-"
His words hadn't finished. The door to the room opened. The knight outside shouted the entrance of the emperor. But he was a bit too late.
Celyn had hurriedly got up from the sofa. His eyes were on the same level as the emperor. The heavy lighting outside the hall created a mesmerizing image behind the Emperor. Giving his blonde hair a godly glow.
"We meet again." Carlos smiled looking at the displaced youth. The smile not quite reaching his eyes.
Celyn's eyes widened, a shock running through his body. He bowed quickly to greet the emperor. But his expression twisted as the mild stench hit his nose.
He lifted his head up. The realization was making his blood run cold. His expression remained neutral. But his eyes lowered looking at the emperor's waist for the sword. The sword that the emperor carried in the hall had now disappeared.
Carlos' smile grew wider realizing the gaze. His hand touched his waist. "Are you looking for my sword?"
He stepped forward, walking to the sofa across Celyn. His aide was right behind him like a shadow. The emperor sat down. "Since we are going to have a conversation. It wasn't needed."
His words didn't match the smell of blood coming from him. Celyn nodded, his lips moving in a 'yes'. There were blood stains on the emperor's sleeves. It was a hoax of an equal exchange.
Celyn sat down, his heart pounding in his chest. Everything was going to be fine....
"There were some mishaps during the event. Hope you can show some understanding." Carlos dusted the sleeve with blood drops visible. Folding it back inside his white uniform. His eyes shifted from the prince to the aide standing behind him. He looked Serpens up and down.
A signal Celyn understood as 'send him out'. A pressure tactic. If he yielded the whole conversation was going to go in favour of the emperor. "He understands what doesn't need to be spoken outside."
If it was the privacy the emperor was worried about, it was futile. But even after Celyn's reassurance Carlos broke in a smile of delight. A decision the prince might regret later on. Yet Carlos continued.
"Do you know the history of the imperial royal family?" A question so simple that any child living on the continent could answer. But Carlos wasn't expecting answers tonight. He was going to give both the explanation and verdict. "It is said the imperial family of Inferos are descendants of the goddess of light Virelia."
It seemed the emperor who was adopted in the imperial family didn't believe this. His red eyes fixed Celyn as if the gauge of the crown prince of Luxuria had faith in it. "Do you know what separates the imperial royal family from the rest?"
Celyn's eyes widened at the question. Finally understanding where this conversation was going. He tried to avoid the emperor's eyes as the latter once again answered his own question. "Their hereditary silver hair and light blue eyes."
Carlos' eyes weren't merciful. He tilted his head, the corner of his lips lifting up. He could finally see a glimpse of emotion out of the prince. It was fear.
Celyn's hands were sweating. He had to quickly come up with something to dispel the emperor's suspicion. "There's a saying in Luxuria: Inheritance may grant you a crown, but only when you understand the people you get their loyalty. Fairy tales don't run the kingdom."
"But people are stupid. They love fairytales." Carlos moved back resting his back on the sofa cushion. His arms crossed in front of him. This was going to be a long conversation. "Not you though. You have shown earlier you aren't stupid or a coward."
Celyn straightened up. Veiled words were not going to cut it. "Your majesty, Luxuria has been loyal to the empire for the last three generations. All your worries are meaningless. My mother hadn't spent even two decades in Inferos. She isn't even mentioned in the genealogy....."
"Doesn't Luxuria allow illegitimate children's right to inherit?" Carlos cut the prince off. He didn't want to hear praise for loyalty or how harmless the prince was. There was a different reason he singled out the prince. Out of all the candidates present today, the most direct claim to the throne.
But to some extent Celyn was right. Carlos had been ruling for almost a decade. So why now? Nothing made sense. But tyrants were not supposed to make sense to most people.
Celyn sat there horrified. Not accepting the emperor's claim nor denying it. Illegitimate children were a special case in Luxuria which allowed polygamy. But there could only be one main wife. As the only legitimate child of the king. He had looked down upon that law and his siblings. But now someone else shared the same feelings. Only this time he was the reason for someone else's same worries.
He was a hypocrite.
His head lowered not finding words to pledge his case. Coming to the empire was a mistake he made. Getting exiled for not showing up could have saved him his life.
Carlos on the other hand wasn't going to let it go just because the prince decided not to answer. He got up from his seat. If he had to shake the other person up for an answer, so be it.
Serpens' senses were heightened. The moment the emperor got up, he was ready. Even if it was the ruler of the empire, he wasn't going to allow any harm to his Prince.
The moment Carlos extended his arm to touch Celyn. Serpens was ready to slap it back. But it seemed he was too late.....
Before he could move, he was tackled by a figure. Serpens 'struggled', as he was pressed to the wall behind. The emperor's aide was not ready to move instead he whispered in his ear. "Let it go."
Serpens stopped struggling. But Carlos simply looked at the scene in disappointment. "Benjamin, you do lots of useless work, don't you?"
The aide that had been holding Serpens back finally moved back. Benjamin didn't answer the emperor. Simply fixed his glasses, that had become crooked in the process. And bowed. "I am sorry, sir."
Serpens was perplexed. He had set foot in a trap. His eyes quickly searched for the prince. But Celyn didn't turn around. Instead he was dismissed.
"Wait outside, Serpens." Celyn looked behind through the corner of his eyes. But most of his vision still focused on the emperor. Touching the emperor could have been twisted into treason. If it weren't for the emperor's aide, Serpens would have been killed.
Celyn stared at the emperor. What did the man in front of him want? The whole time he had been going in circles. Like the yellow spotted python, ready to strangle its prey.
*Clack*
Benjamin closed the door on his way out. Meaning only the emperor and he was left in the room. The pretending could now be shredded.
"Your majesty...." Celyn opened his mouth and resumed the conversation. But he couldn't finish. The emperor had pulled him by the collar. His head hit the back of the sofa. The tug on his collar made it hard to breathe. Low pain started to spread from where his head had hit the sofa. The youth winced. His eyes were closing in pain.
Why?
Carlos stood above, his red eyes looking down. Celyn was wrong. He had made a mistake seeing an angel in this man. Carlos ran his free hand through the youth's hair. Using it to force Celyn to make eye contact.
"Why?"
"...." Carlos paused his thumb going over the soft silver hair. It shined every time the light hit it in an angle. His eyes dimmed, the bitter feeling not leaving the tip of his tongue. Sheltered.
The cold wind flew from the open window. Followed by the silence of midnight.
Some people just had an easy life.
"In the wild do you know how the pack leader dominates his rival?"
Celyn froze hearing the emperor's words. His mind was not processing the insane logic anymore. Comparing himself with a wild animal? Brute, tyrant, barbaric.
His body recoiled in disgust at his own logic. But Carlos' grip didn't dull down. Instead his eyes glinted in rejoice seeing the fear.
"It's going to be a spectacle."
"Don't you want to see the look in the eyes of those old geezers as I declare you the empress consort." His words turning softer with each minute. Carlos let go of Celyn's collar and hair. His hands rested on the latter's shoulder.
Being placed in a feminine role somehow felt more humiliating. His hand moved to remove the emperor's hands. His palms barely circling the emperor's wrist, not daring to push back.
"Your grace.....do you really want to marry for vengeance?"
Celyn wasn't naive enough, to think the emperor would marry for love. But there was a big difference between them. Luxuria was a polygamy, the empire a strict monogamy.
Marrying a man meant the end for the emperor's bloodline. To go that far.....
"Who says it's just for vengeance?" The hand on Celyn's shoulder slowly but surely moved upwards. The warm hand almost too carefully caressing his face.
This was bad. They were close. Celyn felt strands of hair brushing past his eyes. Leaving faint sensation of tickles behind. This time he didn't just smell the blood. But the blood mixed with the expensive scents of Rosewood.
"It's also.... because I am a deviant."
*Bang*
The emperor fell backwards on the tea table. The empty teapot shattered falling on the ground from the impact. The teacup rolled, the porcelain noises not calming down for a while.
But the man who was at the centre
of it all? Carlos? He simply sat on the tea table his hands propping him up. He wasn't alarmed. Just too stunned. His eyes glued to the culprit. The corner of his lips couldn't help but lift up.
The feeling of emperor's fine uniform was still fresh on his finger. But unlike the emperor, Celyn didn't look happy. "A tiny ant can leave the elephant paralyzed, your grace."
The red eyes narrowed. Not pleased hearing the rhetoric. A tiny ant, it was a perfect metaphor for a small kingdom like Luxuria. But these ants lived in a colony called the continent.
"You shouldn't make a hasty decision." Carlos wasn't the kind to admit his own weakness. But he liked to poke at others.
He got up from the tea table. The wooden table rattled. The white uniform was now stained with a thin layer of dust. "Stay the night as my guest. You can give the answer in the morning."
Celyn simply stared at the back of this man. Tyrant, pervert, brute, barbaric, classless..... Words were not enough to explain how he felt.
-------------