40: MY MASTER, MY LORD

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...40...

MY MASTER, MY LORD🙇

The tension in her heart grew and grew with each moment of the silence that passed. To say that she was afraid, right there and then, on the spot was an understatement. En fait, she was thoroughly and completely terrified of everything: the emperor, the third prince, the questions and especially, the scenario. She just had this gut feeling that she had been entangled one way or another in a matter that she wanted nothing to do with. Oh if only she knew that she was right! Yes, she was right and she was just about to find that out!

'What do you say to working for my brother, the little prince?' he asked her. The question surprised her, but it did well to totally pacify her anxious mind after which she automatically calmed down significantly. She was then silent for a really long time, ratiocinating.

'I do not know what to say to you My Lord,' she finally said after ages if dwelling on the question.

'Speak freely Jaele, speak your mind,' he coerced her.

'I have no say in such,' she continued adamantly. The emperor sighed softly at her words.

'The Third Prince wants me to give you to him Jaele,' he began, causing her to snap her head up to look at him and then the little prince, and then back to him.

'My Lord,' she murmured.

'So you see Jaele, I need your consent to do so. That is the reason I am asking you such questions,' he explained to her. 'Shall I give you to him then?' he asked her.

'Do whatsoever pleases you My Lord,' was her reply after a short while of pondering on the question.

'Have her,' the emperor said after turning to the little prince. 'Greet your new master Jaele,' he ordered her. She nodded gently and stared at the little prince, proceeding to do as the emperor had bid her.

'I Jaele shall serve the third Prince with all of my sincerity. My master, My Lord, I acknowledge thee,' she said with a deep bow.

'I Maximilian shall care for you with all of my sincerity. Raise your head Jaele and look at me. I am not my brother,' he answered in a tone that suggested that he was still a wee bit angry that he had lost to the emperor earlier. The emperor chuckled mirthfully at his words.

'Why are looking for a fight Little?' he asked him. The little prince only sneered at him. He did not mind him at all, enjoying himself to the fullest at his brother's expense.

'Where are you from Jaele?' the little prince went on to ask the maid who was now looking at him.

'I am from the Iron clan My Lord,' was her reply.

'Then can you war?'

'I never tried to learn the art of war. I fear I am useless in something like that My Lord,' she confessed.

'What then can you do?'

'I can make things grow in the soil My Lord. I am extremely good with plants,' she informed him.

'And she is good with baths too,' the emperor chipped in. 'You can do that right? You can assist with baths Jaele, can't you?' Her fair face went crimson. The little prince sent the emperor a look of warning. The emperor smirked.

'Can you cook?'

'Yes I can My Lord,' she hesitated. 'But not so well.'

'Then it doesn't matter. You shall do well with me,' he said to her.

'If you say so My Lord.'

'Come,' he suddenly said to her with a beckoning hand. 'Come closer to me,' he ordered. She did so ever so slowly, her steps unsteady and unsure. And when she stopped a few feet away from him, he took the initiative to step forward and meet her with only about half a foot distance between them. She then began to fidget at his nearness. He raised her head to his with two fingers under her chin and studied her face slowly, interestedly. Her gaze shook as she tried hard not to stare at him. 'Jaele,' he began, 'how beautiful!' His voice so close to her eyes made her feel strange.

'M-my Lord.' Her tiny voice shook as she spoke to him in what sounded more like a squeak than anything else he could think of.

'Do not be so afraid,' he said. 'Is there something that you might like to take with you?' he asked her.

'Yes, yes My Lord,' she answered him. He released her face then.

'Then go and get it.'

'Yes, yes My Lord, Thank you,' she said and turned away. She half ran to get whatever it was. He watched her do so with the eyes of a hawk.

'She is just your type,' the emperor said to him, taking a seat.

'Do not taunt me,' he warned his brother, 'leave me be. I only recognize what she can be other than a maid,' he said to him.

'A warrior?' the emperor enquired with raised brows and a knowing look on his amused face.

'How d' you-' he began and then stopped short. 'Never mind, yes,' he answered him.

'She has the grace of a feline, the agility of a fighter, the elegance of a swordman and the aura of a slayer,' he explained taking a seat too.

'Leave the original be,' the emperor advised him after leaning on his chair and closing his eyes. 'She might have all you have mentioned, but she is at her best with roots and soil Little. Do not spoil that.'

'I shall not force her.'

'I know that you won't. If I thought you would, I would rather leave her be hear to enjoy tending my garden. She brings it some kind of peace.' Jaele returned then with her bag in hand and a potted cactus plant.

'I am sorry that I kept you waiting my Lord,' she apologized to him.

'It is not something to apologize for Jaele.' Then he turned to the emperor. 'Do not forget the court meeting,' he reminded him. The emperor nodded softly without opening his eyes. 'Come,' he said turning to her. 'Come let's go.' He said. She nodded and began to follow him and Octavia out. But, she trudged behind both. The little prince stopped and turned to look at her. The fragile lady that she was was being pulled by both the plant and bag. He walked up to her and took the pot out of her hands. She stared up at him, surprised.

'My Lord?' she said in surprise. But when he took the bag away too with the intention to carry it for her, she protested. 'No, no My Lord! You can not do that!' she said to him.

'Shush,' he ordered taking her right hand -as he was holding the pot of plant in the left- and gently dragging her away with him.

The emperor opened his eyes then, watching them depart his manor with a smile that boldly curved his lips. He knew what was going on. If his brother needed a hard lay, it definitely wasn't Jaele. She was the type of woman to be cherished gently. He turned to Peter who was standing closeby, having returned from putting away the money bag.

'Peter?'

'Yes My Lord,' the man answered him almost instantly if he had just been there, patiently waiting for his master to call on him.

'Has my Lady had lunch?' he asked, worried about Rose and equally missing her at the same time.

'Yes My Lord. The healer told that she was napping after that to me, just before your arrival.'

'I should go check on her before I prepare for the court meeting,' he said getting to his feet.

'Yes My Lord,' Peter answered as he watched his master stride up the stairs to his quarters to check on his lady as he had called her.

He walked into his quarters with ling powerful yet obviously impatient strides, headed for his bedroom, the one he shared with the lady. He knew the moment he got there that she wasn't in the bedroom. He was able to do so instantly because he did not see any of her aides around. He began to wonder then where she might be. He turned away from the bedroom door and headed for the library. Sure enough, he saw Vura crouched outside the library, playing dice with Xiera. He hoped that they weren't gambling.

'My Lord,' both of them greeted him at his appearance, standing to their feet while Xiera tried to stylishly stash away the dice. He just knew then that they were indeed gaming or doing something worthy of scolding.

'I hope that you think of your Lady's image the next time you want to do something illegal with a dice,' he said to them. Vura blinked repeatedly, flustered at his words.

'We are sorry My Lord!' Both apologized at that moment. He only nodded at them.

'Your Lady is busy with a book, yes?' he asked them.

'Yes My Lord,' Xiera said to him. 'She is reading the Linamine history. She does not seem to want to part with the series at all.'

'Thank you,' he said and went to the door. The both bowed slightly, leaving their heads like that until he turned the door knob and went into the library.

'That was close!' Xiera immediately snapped at Vura the moment the emperor vanished behind the closed door. Vura raised her head and stared at her.

'Come on Xiera. That was nothing. Now, stop being a scaredy cat.'

'I am not a scaredy cat. I am only trying to be careful,' she snapped at her colleague.

'Well well, I know just that.' She walked over to the couch just nearby and sat in it. She sighed and leaned back, completely relaxed. 'What are you scared of Xiera? Nothing is going to happen. And if anything were to do so, it will most definitely be your fault seeing how you look ready to spill every single thing '

'I do not blame you.'

'I do not blame you either,' Vura answered her with a nonchalant shrug and a lazy smile that went on to infuriate Xiera.

She knew it was him the moment he stepped into the library. And it wasn't because she had faintly heard her aides address him outside the door, but because the library instantly filled with his scent, that wonderful giddy scent of coconut and lemon. She raised her eyes from the book she was reading to look at him. He simply smiled radiantly at her the moment their eyes met.

'I do not think I have seen you all day,' she said sending her eyes back to her book though he doubted that she was actually reading it now.

'I was not here sweet Rose,' he said going to her. He stared down at her who was sitting. She didn't lift her eyes from the book even when she sensed his presence.

'Ahh, I see,' was her only reply to him. She looked up then.

'Are you feeling copacetic enough to be here reading?' he asked her. 'Does seating not put a strain on your injured back?'

'It is bearable. Besides, it is better than being cooped up in that bedroom. I feel confined under the bedcovers. It is kind of suffocating.'

'I am happy that you are doing well,' he said taking a seat beside her and taking the book in her hand away from her. She turned to look at him as he made a bookmark with the page and shut the book. Then, he placed it on the table.

'Why?' she asked him. He smiled at her like so clingy child with some sort of relief in his eyes.

'Jagi,' he said lifting his hands to caress her cheek. She stared at him, their eyes mirroring each other's intense emotions. 'There will be a court,' he informed her.

'What for? I thought that you have punished the perpetrators already? I thought that was a forgotten matter already?' she said to him.

'Maybe to everyone, but not to Hera-Mera. You see, she raised a petition against me despite me letting her off lightly for her offense.'

'Whoa! She is one gutsy bitch. I always knew that. I could never keep up with her brazenness,' she said with a sneer. The emperor chuckled softly at her words.

'I want you to be there, in that court Mine.'

'Why?' she asked him with raised brows. He leaned back and took his hands off her cheek.

'It is because I want you to be there to watch her fall. It will hurt her far more than she had hurt you. Will you come Mine?' he asked.

'Yes beast, yes I will come,' she said. And then they looked at each other and smiled prettily.

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...OmaPhinaPhire🔥