An Empress for the Emperor

"Today," he began, "We shall all witness a momentous occasion. The Elves have sent to us a priceless gift, the Elf King's youngest daughter. It is his wish, and my own to forge a new alliance between Elves and Humans that will extend far into the future." The room erupted into cheers and applause and I slowly edged myself to the back of the crowd. The Throne room doors opened and a flustered herald stepped in. He pounded his staff on the stone floor and the sound reverberated throughout the room, silencing all of the chatter.

"May I present, her most Royal Highness, Princess of the Elves, Rayden, and her manservant, Gillian Stormgull." In walked a proud man, dressed in what seemed like finer clothes than the Emperor. He was clean shaven and I barely recognized him. It took all of my composure to keep from breaking down into tears of joy or calling out his name. Bryant approached the throne with his arm out as if he had the hand of a fair maiden. Whispers began and then people began to gasp.

"She's beautiful!" someone whispered, loud enough that the Emperor could hear.

"I have never seen hair so gold, or skin so fair!" Another person said, louder this time. The room erupted in exclamations of the Princess' beauty and a look of stunned realization crossed the Emperor's face. He could see no Princess. He looked around the room at everyone else's reactions and was not sure what to do.

"Is there a problem, your Majesty?" Bartholomew had come up beside the Emperor and asked.

"No, Bartholomew." He responded, thinking quickly. "I am just overwhelmed by Princess Rayden's beauty." Bryant had reached the edge of the dais the throne rested upon and bowed deeply to the Emperor.

"Your Imperial Majesty, The Princess would like me to pass on that she is overjoyed by the welcome you have given her and willingly offers herself to you, if you would but accept her." He leaned close to the invisible woman as if listening to her whispering. "She does request a quiet place to rest, for we have had a long journey." The Emperor descended the steps and stood right before the Princess, pretending to look her over. He bowed deeply to her and when he rose he looked around.

"My people, meet your new Empress, Princess Rayden, of the Elves. The Wedding Ceremony will be held tomorrow morning with a parade through the city to share my happiness with all of my citizens." The room burst into cheers and applause once again. More quietly and directly stated to Bryant and the Princess he added. "It is my pleasure to accept you into my home and my heart. I look forward to tomorrow, Princess. My priest, Bartholomew will show you to your room. Thank you master Stormgull, for seeing my Empress safely to me." Bryant bowed again.

"It was my pleasure, majesty." The Emperor turned sharply and made his way out of the Throne room while Bartholomew led Bryant and the Princess to her private chambers. I could only imagine the messages reaching the Emperor. Many servants informed me that he wanted the Princess and her manservant watched. Hot water was brought to her room and to make it seem more believable, Bryant had a nice bath so the water was used. Food was also brought, enough for the Princess and her manservant. So that Bryant would not have to eat it all himself, he shared it with the servants who brought it for him. Bartholomew came for him soon after he ate to bring him to the girl's common room. I waited nervously for his arrival, Bartholomew having warned me before he went to fetch him. Not wanting the other girls to witness if I broke down, I waited in my own room, which seemed empty now without Bernadette. They needed my strength to see this through.

When the door opened I was engulfed in Bryant's large arms before I even had a chance to look at him. I held on tight, taking in the smell and feel of his body. I looked up into his face and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. My own hot tears were already falling on his shirt and we both laughed and wiped them away. He sat me down on the bed and kissed me passionately.

"Oh Marie!" Was all he could say. He held me for a long time when he suddenly ordered me to stand up. I did so without question, having become accustomed to following orders. Looking me over carefully he took my hands. "It's his child isn't it?" There was no anger in his voice, just concern and I nodded, breaking into body wrenching sobs. I fell to the floor weeping and barely noticed when Bryant scooped me up and placed me back on the bed beside him, holding me and offering comforting words. When I had finally calmed down he gently stroked my stomach and looked in my eyes. "I hear you are called, Fable here."

"I am. I suppose it is fitting."

Bryant smiled brightly "Indeed it is. She is a strong baby," he said, a hand on my stomach once again. I wanted to ask how he knew that I carried a girl but he continued. "She will be ours dearest, and I think it fitting that her name also be, Fable." I let his words sink in and I knew he was right. The child I carried was a new story, my Fable, not the Emperor's.

"Bryant, make love to me please, I need to feel you, feel your love. I barely feel like a person anymore." He looked at me with surprise but there was understanding in his eyes. He took me slowly, understanding that I had been denied the pleasure of love for much too long. I had never been aroused for the Emperor. Despite his handsome face and sculpted body I never felt drawn to him since that first evening in the woods outside my mother's home. For the first time in months I felt the stirrings of desire as my husband kissed me and removed my clothing. The details of our encounter have not remained with me because the feelings associated with being with my husband again after so long were too overwhelming. As he made love to me I wept again and the world condensed into the small bed we shared and the undulations of our naked bodies, rocking together and carrying away some of my grief.

Bryant departed soon after we finished, we both feared discovery. I went to take a bath, hating to wash away the evidence of our union but knowing that if discovered the consequences would be dire. The night was coming on and I decided to lie down early. I was just dosing off when my door opened and Bartholomew called to me.

"Come, Fable. The Emperor demands your presence."

"But you said..." I began to protest but he interrupted.

"I know what I said, and I am sorry. I have no choice, if I did not bring you he was going to send his personal guards to fetch you even if they had to drag you to his chambers."

"Do you think he suspects?" I asked while getting to my feet and wrapping myself up in a robe. Bartholomew shook his head.

"When he called for me he could not stop speaking about the Princess' beauty and how delicate she seemed. He even talked about how her voice was like bells, although I remember no time when Bryant did not speak for her. He is a believer, my dear. Perhaps he thinks that once they are wed the spell will be broken and he will gain the ability to see and hear her. But come, we cannot keep him waiting." The two of us sped down the corridors as quickly as we could until I stood yet again before the doors to the Emperor's rooms. "I must leave you now, Fable. His instructions were quite precise; he only wishes to see you tonight." I swallowed hard and pushed into the room.

"Come here, Fable." The Emperor lay on his bed, already naked and propped up on one arm. I walked over to the side of the bed. He sat up and swung his legs over the side motioning for me to come closer. He took the sash that tied my robe closed and opened it, dropping the robe to the ground at my feet. I stood before him in a simple nighttime shift that he pushed from my shoulders as well and let drop. Taking my hands he pulled me onto the bed gently. I did not know what to make of his behavior. I had never seen him be so tender. Starting at my neck he began kissing me, moving down my body. I was surprised because my body was reacting to his touch. Perhaps it remembered the same act that was so intimately done to me but a few hours before but given my current company I felt sick. Although he still entered me against my will this was the first time it did not really hurt. I closed my eyes and felt as if I were with Bryant again and began to cry. When the Emperor finished he lay back on the bed and let me weep, not saying a word.

When my tears subsided he looked up at me.

"You are an extremely beautiful woman, Fable." He stroked my cheek gently with his hand. I began to doubt the actions I was taking against this man. Perhaps he could change. "I regret that this is all our relationship will ever be. I do suspect that since I will be married in the morning I will have to send the other girls home. However I do believe I will keep you here with me, I do so enjoy our nights together." There was no tenderness in his eyes; whatever had reminded me of Bryant was gone, and my moment of doubt had passed as well. "Tell me a story," he said. I began to refuse but stopped myself. It was time he heard a story.

"There was a great hunter," I began, the Emperor propped himself up on his elbows, shock clearly showing across his face that I was actually sharing a story with him. A satisfied smile crossed his face, one that showed his belief that I was totally his, before he lay back down. "And he lived on the edge of a majestic forest. It was said throughout the land that he was the greatest hunter in the world; but he doubted this. In order to prove to himself that he was indeed the greatest he set out into the forest to hunt all of the bucks in the wood. For weeks he stayed out there. At first, deer after deer fell to his arrows but as the days and then weeks went by there were fewer and fewer bucks left until he couldn't find even one. Still unsatisfied he began to shoot and kill any deer he saw. It finally came to a time when the only deer left was a pregnant doe. Despite her pregnancy and the obvious signs she left in her wake she evaded him for a week. Finally, one evening he found her in a meadow. As he raised his bow and put her in his sight, he heard a rustling from behind him. Before he could turn around a lioness pounced and ripped his throat out. You see, all the while the Hunter had been stalking the deer; the lioness had been stalking him. The great hunter had been so focused on what he wanted that he forgot to look around and be wary of the other hunters in the forest."

The Emperor laughed good naturedly, finding my tale extremely humorous.

"It appears you wish to return to my good graces with a story such as that. Well, if you insist." He pinned me on the bed and ran his hands over my body. "I see you are endulging well in the castles delicacies. You've gained a belly, dear Fable." He patted my stomach with his hand. "Be careful, I might not like you as much if you're fat." If he was not so self indulgent I would have worried that he suspected more than that I had just gained weight. One last time he had his way with me. All the while I looked at his throat and thought just how delicious it looked.

This next part of the story Bartholomew told me about after it happened. Bryant presented himself to the Emperor early the next morning, carrying a box. He informed the Emperor that it was Elven custom that the Bride make the clothes the Groom wears on their wedding day. He explained that Princess Rayden had been working diligently on these garments for weeks in anticipation of being chosen as Empress. Intrigued by his announcement the Emperor ordered Bryant to help him dress. Opening the box, Bryant seemed to be lifting out a delicate piece of fabric.

"Now your majesty, although these all look delicate, it would take a lot to rip anything Elf made. Look here at the precise stitching and the gold embroidery; and here you can see your family crest, inlaid with precious stones. Is it not beautiful?" The Emperor agreed and asked Bryant to show him the other pieces. "Oh well, here are the pants, they were woven with silk as fine as a spider's web. Feel how light they are?" The Emperor reached out to feel the invisible fabric.

"Like air," he mused.

"Indeed they are, majesty, you will feel like you are wearing nothing at all. Now the boots are made from specially tanned basilisk skin, just as light as the clothes." The city clock struck ten. "Oh, your majesty, let me help you dress or you will be late to your own wedding."

Very carefully Bryant helped the Emperor dress in his Elven clothes, complementing him at how regal he appeared. "I must see to the Princess so we may make our way to the grand ballroom. Please excuse me, highness." The Emperor waved Bryant away and Bartholomew entered.

"Why your majesty! I have never seen you look more fit to rule. This is indeed a happy day. Come lad, your blushing bride awaits."

When the Emperor began his procession down the aisle, the girls and women servants began to swoon, saying how lucky the Princess was to have such a handsome man for her husband. Everyone remarked on his remarkable clothing. With the talk the Emperor puffed up his chest a little more and stood as straight as possible before Bartholomew. A quartet of violins began to play and the room fell silent as Bryant appeared dressed in his finest, an arm out to offer the Princess an escort down the aisle. Again the comments of her beauty began and before anyone knew it, Bartholomew was almost through the vows. The Princess had enthusiastically said "I do." And the Emperor followed suit.

"I now pronounce you, Husband and Wife. You may kiss the Bride." The Emperor leaned forward cautiously with his lips puckered. The crowd sighed and he took that as a completion of their kiss. Putting his hand out he grasped thin air and like a school boy, led her back down the aisle to the waiting carriage to take them into the city.

In the celebration that followed it was easy for all of the girls to gather their things and make it to the other waiting carriages at the rear of the castle. Bartholomew refused to join us, saying he had to release Silvia and needed to be there when the Emperor returned. I feared greatly for his safety but trusted his judgment. The servants and many of the guards were also packing their things and leaving the city. One of the Emperor's personal guards had snuck into the royal treasury and given Bryant and myself and all of the servants enough gold to live comfortably; the girls all came from wealthy families and refused the guard's offer.

As we left the castle grounds and entered the outskirts of the city, I swear I could hear laughter erupting from the populace and an enraged Emperor storming back up to the palace.

As the parade wound its way through the city streets everyone pretended to be awed at the beauty of their new Empress and the Elegant Elf clothing the Emperor wore, no one wishing to appear unworthy. Near the end of the parade however, a small girl could be heard over the crowd.

"Mama, why is the Emperor naked? I don't see an Empress either, there isn't anyone there but the Emperor." The crowd fell silent and began to realize that if a small innocent girl was not worthy to see an Elven Princess, then perhaps there was not one after all. The news spread quickly and suddenly people were laughing, and not just at the comedy of the scene but at the Emperor himself.

By the time the Emperor returned humiliated to the palace it was all but deserted. He raced to his chambers and threw on his clothes yelling for any servant to attend him. The only person to arrive was his mother.

"This was left for you, boy." She ignored his glare and stood, waiting for him to open the letter she had handed to him. My letter.

You, highness were the hunter, greedy and blind. I was the Lioness.

It is your turn to learn from a Fable.