Responsibility Ch. 19

As Rahela was dressed, she wondered about the ridiculous attempts at planting a dancer at the Emperor's side. She wondered to herself if that wasn't the first plan for them. Maybe it was actually the second plan and the recent invasion was the first plan.

The most important thing to think on, however, was what precisely Tashkila wanted.

And, her face drooped as she looked at her reflection because she thought the knew the answer.

She suddenly took Gabi's shoulder and said to her, "You must not let anyone leave you alone with a stranger. Do you understand?"

Gabi's pretty eyes hardened as she nodded.

Once Rahela was certain that she'd wasted enough time picking out any more pieces of jewelry to see if they could be pinned or hung somewhere, and she was certain that her body couldn't endure any more anyway, she told her group they were going off to the Imperial Throne Room. It was a long walk. Her retinue didn't have fancy court-style clothing. They were mainly casual looking. Rahela imagined that made her seem even more important.

She wondered how the Emperor would be dressed.

In the throne room, she found that there weren't any rows of guests. There were guards, Princess Tuya, the Empress Dowager, and their retinues. There was also the Emperor and Borys, but that Emperor wasn't sitting on the throne. He wasn't even dressed formally! There wasn't even a damn crown on him!

Rahela was the only one dressed to impress anyone.

Smirking, his light gown's hem swishing around his ankles, the Emperor approached. His shoes were made of ordinary leather, not even a few studs or stones, not even a flap of velvet.

Rahela tried to bow when he was close enough, but he just ...

Grabbed her waist and lifted her up!

Princess Tuya gasped, and so did almost every woman's girl attendant. The Empress Dowager turned a laugh into a prudent cough. Rahela trembled as she resisted her instincts. She'd wanted to scream and kick. Instead, she'd only gripped The Emperor's arms and tried not to panic at his impish countenance.

She was taken all the way to the steps to the throne, her retinue nervously following.

When the Emperor finally put Rahela down, her backside was on the throne's seat.

Yana and Oksana rushed up the platform to move the bejeweled veil out of the way and to one side. Then they joined Gabi and Ammas back to the floor, near the platform itself. When the Emperor was also back on the floor, he called out that he needed the golden chest.

Rahela was so amused that she almost lost her composure. She had to press the back of her hand to her rouged lips and calm herself with a few breaths.

The Emperor's indigo cloak was taken from the chest, and it was brought over to her. Her veil was lifted up. The cloak was put on her shoulders and draped aside. The veil was tastefully laid on top. Rahela wondered if she'd receive the scepter too, and that mental question was answered very quickly. The Emperor stepped up to hand it over to her.

What a show this was! Rahela's hand was so small. She didn't think she could hold the scepter properly, but she tried. She looked down to her husband, and she asked, "Am I meant to hold the power here?"

After a nod, the Emperor told her, "Tashkila has started a war with us. If you want that prince dead, then go on with it."

Princess Tuya and the Empress Dowager both seemed to hold some laughter in. Their eyes were far too giddy.

Rahela sighed and pointed the scepter's orb at the doors ahead. "Prince Jalil Sama will be brought before me!" Some guards opened the doors. More guards had the nicely dressed Prince Jalil by his arms, although he was calmly walking with them. His boy attendants weren't around. They might've been kept in the prince's guest room.

Once Prince Jalil was being kept some reasonable distance from the throne, Rahela saw that his expression changed from calm to confused. His eyebrows rose and his head turned to look at the Emperor. To Rahela's privately kept delight, the Emperor had turned himself away from the prince, showing him his back. Borys was looking at the prince though, watching as if he was worried a fight might start. He was even keeping a palm hovering over a dagger on his belt.

Rahela spoke. "Prince Jalil, Tashkila has moved against us. Explain."

Quiet.

That prince was still looking at the Emperor. His brow wrinkled. His nostrils flared. "Your Imperial Majesty," he said quite sharply, "will you hear my words?"

The Emperor didn't even pretend to be interested in his fingernails. He merely clasped his hands behind his back.

More quiet.

"Your Majesty," the prince said, "will you hear my words?"

Rahela corrected him. "The Emperor has put me on the throne, my shoulders under his cloak, and my fingers around his scepter. I'm the one that will hear your words."

Her face was so much colder than before the prince arrived.

That prince had his own stubborn streak. He continued looking at the Emperor's back, and he repeated, "Your Majesty, will you hear my words?"

Borys spoke for the Emperor here. "Your Highness, the Empress Consort is on the throne. I understand that in your culture, it wouldn't be polite for you to try to speak to a high class woman that isn't part of your family, but you're in Yahsin. His Majesty has put the Empress Consort in his place. If you want to explain, she'll be the one to hear you."

His eyes moving down to the boy, Prince Jalil said, "His Majesty is right there. He doesn't have linen in his ears. If he won't listen to me, then I'll speak to you."

One of Borys' shoulders quirked up. "I could try to deliver your words, but there's no guarantee that he'll accept them."

"I won't waste any more time," the prince said, his frown deepening. "This is so foolish. Tashkila is willing to retreat from the islands if a condition is followed."

Starting from the second half of an exhale, the boy said, "Very well." He lightly pinched and tugged on the Emperor's sleeve. "Your Majesty? I have something to report."

"If it's from Prince Jalil," the Emperor calmly said, "then I won't hear it. I don't have an appropriate disposition. The Empress Consort is on the throne. She'll hear the words."

Borys stepped away from the Emperor and took a spot a bit away from the prince and the guards holding him. With a little bow, Borys addressed Rahela. "Your Majesty, Empress Consort, will you hear my report?"

Rahela swallowed down a tiny laugh and kept her coldness. It was almost difficult. "I will."

"His Highness, Prince Jalil has said that Tashkila will retreat if a condition is met."

Looking back to that prince that didn't even want to look at her, Rahela asked, "Prince Jalil, what's the condition?"

He might've been more pig-headed than she was! He said to the boy, "I can't acknowledge another man's woman. If she says something, you must report it to me."

Borys' patience was already thinning. He rolled his eyes and said very quickly, "Her Majesty wants to know what the condition is."

The next thing Prince Jalil said, it was so flippant, so everyday, that it almost couldn't be believed.

"My brother has died. So, I'll have a marriage with one of Yahsin's maidens. I'll take Princess Gabriella Kadri Ekatarine of Testoa."

One of Rahela's eyelids twitched just enough, just the right amount for her to realize that she needed to slow her blood. Her free hand's fingernails pressed onto one of the throne's arms. "Your Highness, my little sister could have a betrothal arranged, and once she's eighteen years old she could be sent off to marry. This sort of arrangement would be too slow for our current situation. It would be more efficient to find an older maiden for you."

With a quiet little groan, Borys told the prince what she'd said, even though the prince could obviously hear her.

And just as casually as before, the prince said, "She's old enough. I know of many younger brides."

The oddest part of it was how ... how little Rahela could recall. She remembered her blood rushing and her hands clenching. She remembered Ammas calling out to her. She even remembered swinging the scepter around like a club. Still, she didn't remember much else.

The next thing she knew she was being held back by the Emperor. His hands were on her arms. The scepter was on the floor. She'd been screeching. Her throat hurt from it. She was mostly certain the last thing she'd cried out was, "Disgusting, child raping, evil culture! It's not wonder many don't send their daughters to you!! I'd only send an adult off with her consent! Never a child! NEVER!!" Well, if she had to repeat her words to herself later, perhaps she'd only have paraphrased. So that might not have been accurate.

But ...

Why was the prince being carried away?

Why was he limp?

Why was his turban at an odd angle?

Why was there blood on his head?

Why was there blood on the rug?

Why ...

Why did the scepter have blood on it?!

Rahela's legs gave in. The Emperor had her wrists then, holding her arms up, but his grip was lighter.

Someone was removing the cloak from her. Someone else was trying to untangle her bejeweled veil. She'd forgotten all about their combined weight.

She heard the Emperor say, "The Empress Consort needs a hot bath and a good meal. She's aggrieved."

Borys asked, "What of His Highness?"

"Lock him away in his room, but have a physician sent to him. Keep him separated from his boys and those dancers of his."

The Empress Dowager's voice came. "What will be done once he's recovered?"

"If he recovers," the Emperor carefully said. "If he lives, we'll send him home with his boys and dancers, along with an official declaration of war. If he dies, the plan won't change very much."

Princess Tuya spoke then. "Her Majesty ... I believe she's just ... committed a murder."

Rahela whole body chilled. She squeaked out part of a word, but the rest wouldn't come.

"I could've had him executed any time," The Emperor gently argued. "Besides, I told my wife to put him to death if she wanted. This must've been her desired method."

"Not even a hearing?" the Empress Dowager said.

"During war, hearings are luxuries," the Emperor said. Then he released Rahela's wrists. While she slowly lowered her arms, staring down at the rug, he told her, "You must rise. You've already seen too much death in your lifetime. At least have a rest before it happens again."

***