2 Copper Coins

The Emperor, the supreme authority on the entire continent, smiled! Him! A kid from nowhere!

...

Better said... He smiled at them. To him and the countless people gathered in town.

Look how it was:

He was downtown. He was on his way to the library to return the book he'd borrowed the week before. He was a "regular patron" of the library because of his attraction to mystery, secrets, history and myths.

As he was walking toward the library, he hears a terrific wail from the back. When he turns to see what's going on, a crowd of people burst upon him and push him behind them. The people were very agitated.

"I think someone from the palace has come to announce something. Probably too unimportant to care," he said to himself and tried to slip through all the people looking for his book.

Everywhere he looked, no sign of it.... "Someone must have picked it up," he wondered as he passed through some older people who had gathered together and were talking about modern day politics.

After a while, she found herself outside the crowd of people. It was like a made corridor, and people could be heard cheering louder and louder. When he glanced to his right, he saw the book, but curiosity pushed him and he looked to his left to see what people were cheering about. No sooner does he turn around and sees it... The Emperor.

"What's he doing here? Why him? Why didn't just a palace servant come?" he wondered incessantly.

At the sight of him, his legs went soft. With difficulty he pushed himself a little into the back and knelt with the rest of the men. He wore a white robe with small gold prints on his shoulders and sleeves. His crown shone in the sunlight and he appeared to be wearing the sun on his head. He wore a pair of black silk pants that also had gold prints at the ends. His horse was gray and very well made. The saddle and hats were very shiny. His dark brown hair seemed to contrast with the sun on his head, and his white skin looked almost sickly, but his smile exuded a warmth and a self-assurance that you could have sworn he would sacrifice himself for anyone on the battlefield. A second later he realizes. "The book!!" his own thought echoes in his head.

Looking to his right again, he sees the book. "The Emperor will pass by it," he says to himself and tries not to let it out of his sight lest someone else steal it.

Meanwhile, the Emperor reaches the book.

He unpicks it, chuckles softly, opens the book and puts in it 2 copper coins lost in his pants pockets. Then he calls one of the soldiers and hands him the book, whispering an order. Before saddling back up, the Emperor takes another look around with an extremely broad smile. On signs that the book amused him.

The soldier who had taken the book remained in place, even though the Emperor with his entire retinue had long since departed. He waited for the emperor to move away and roared at the top of his lungs:

- To whom does this book belong to?

His scream shattered your eardrums and frightened your soul.

The soldier was very large, and the sturdy armor made him look like a giant. There were scars on the black skin around his eyes, but his gaze was gentle.

- It... It's mine...

He replied in a voice barely, barely out.

She approaches him, hands him the book and gives him a light smile.

- Here you are. The Emperor wishes you success if you want to prove the legend true.

With that, he turns abruptly and leaves.

"???"

"What happened?" he said to himself as he started home to let his family know he had seen the Emperor.