Chapter 13: Empress Lessons

After dressing her, the maids served Rowena a sumptuous breakfast on the terrace overlooking a small courtyard. Rowena was enjoying the coffee, eggs, and sweets when the Head Chamberlain entered.

He bowed low as he said, "Your Highness, it is time we go over your daily schedule."

Rowena sighed. "So soon?" She'd barely begun to eat her breakfast and it was only the first morning after her wedding to the Crown Prince. 'So much for a honeymoon.' She thought wryly. Although the Crown Prince did not romance her last night, she felt certain it would only be a matter of time. He was a man, after all. And she knew she was beautiful, not to mention skilled in the arts of seduction and lovemaking. It was not arrogance, just simply an acknowledgement of the facts. And, she admitted, she was eager to experience pleasure with him.

The Head Chamberlain scoffed "There is much for you to learn, Your Highness."

Rowena frowned.

"Now that you have wedded the Crown Prince, we must prepare for your new role and the Coronation."

"Coronation?" Rowena was confused. "But I'm not to be Empress yet, am I? Is the Crown Prince to be declared Emperor now?"

"No." chuckled the Head Chamberlain. "It is to officially confer upon you the title of Lady Empress, so that it will be established that you are to rule alongside the Crown Prince when he does become Emperor."

"Isn't that a given?" Rowena asked still quite confused.

"It is merely a formality, but it will declare you as a co-ruler and not simply a consort. Of course, I don't need to remind you that the Crown Prince will be the true ruler."

"Of course not. I'm well aware of my position." She said dryly. No aristocratic woman was unaware that their role was as a consort not leader. And all that entailed – arm candy, bedwarmer, babymaker, hostess, and whatever else suited the whims of her husband.

"Good. We shall have no problems then." He seemed satisfied with her answer.

The Head Chamberlain was rather nervous. From the moment she had changed her vows at the wedding, he knew he would not be dealing with a typical noblewoman. Although she had been the soul of decorum during the wedding and reception otherwise. Most had just assumed it was nerves that made her flub the vows and that it was not a deliberate change. But he wasn't so sure. There was something about her that made him realize she might not be quite the obedient little trophy the Emperor expected.

Of course, there had been no woman of any power in the Dragorian Empire since its inception. The Emperor had many women, of course, but they were part of his harem. He was careful not to give any particular one more attention than the others lest she think she had some influence over him. But the Emperor had been strict in laying out the duties and expectations of the Lady Empress' role in the Empire. The Head Chamberlain hoped she would not give him too much trouble. He could be replaced far easier than she could.

"I will send the Head Tutor to you shortly."

She nodded.

"Before the coronation, you must learn history, geography, law, and many other topics."

"I, myself, will instruct you in etiquette and diplomacy. In addition, I will ensure you know who the most important people in the Empire are including their names, status within their own kingdom of origin as well as within the Empire hierarchy itself, relationships, …" he droned on.

Rowena did her best not to roll her eyes. She started to think of him as a little gnat angrily buzzing around her ears. She desperately wanted to swat him away, but she knew she couldn't.

"I cannot stress the importance of such knowledge when dealing with the affairs of the Empire."

She nodded obediently, reasoning correctly that if she just agreed with him this would be over quicker. Of course, it would end their conversation sooner, but it would do nothing to alter the boring schedule she was about to be committed to for the rest of her monotonous life.

"You will have breakfast every morning at 730 AM sharp. After breakfast, I will instruct you from 8 to 930. Then you will meet with Tutor Jing until lunch at 1230. Your lessons with Tutor Jing will resume at 1 o'clock in the afternoon and continue until dinner with the Crown Prince at 730 in the evening. Your evenings will belong to the Crown Prince from dinner afterwards. You will be awakened every morning at 6 AM sharp so as to be properly dressed as befitting the Lady Empress of the illustrious Dragorian Empire. All of these scheduled tasks are unalterable, unless the Crown Prince says otherwise."

He didn't think the Crown Prince would care about her schedule seeing as how he had already left the bridal bed. He thought for sure that Daimon would want a few days alone with his wife before subjecting her to the tightly controlled life of a future empress. But when the Emperor was informed that Daimon was sparring on the training grounds, he insisted that Rowena's training begin immediately.

"You mean, I'll have no time to myself?" Rowena said unhappily. She had already suspected this would be the case, but she still held on to the slim hope that it would not be true.

"You are the wife of the Crown Prince of the illustrious Dragorian Empire, you live to serve your husband and the Empire. You do not belong to yourself, only to the Crown Prince and the Empire itself."

This time Rowena did not try to hide her eyeroll. And she added a derisive snort for good measure.

"And, what about the weekends?" Rowena asked already fearing the answer.

"The Empire never takes time off. Your schedule for the weekends will be no different. "However, Mondays are for religious observation. On Mondays, your schedule will differ from the rest of the week."

Rowena listened without enthusiasm. Married less than 24 hours and she was already regretting her decision. Not that she'd really had any choice in the matter to begin with. But sometimes she liked to fool herself into believing she had some autonomy.

"Once your studies have progressed to a satisfactory level, you will be allowed to choose some activities from a list of approved ones to cover the time periods in which you had previously been studying."

Intrigued at the promise of some small diversion, Rowena asked "What topics are approved?"

"You don't need to worry about that now. You have a long way to go before you're ready to choose your own subjects for education." The Head Chamberlain said dismissively. Rowena groaned inwardly. She knew life wouldn't be all fun and games, but she didn't think it would be this deadly dull. Fortunately for her, the arrival of her husband brought a brief respite.