Queensmen

Chapter 86

~A Shadow~

"My heart aches, for what I had and have now lost: care, affection, pure like the waters of Ji'nan and as carefree as the rolling grasses of Kahal. My heart rises with the east wind yet my eyes will never again bask upon the sunsets of my youth. For the glory of my clan, I shall remain, but my soul departs and leaves naught but an earthly shell."

Oris spread her hands over the words, her fingers tracing every letter in the poem. She couldn't help but smile. "Hermes ancestors were quite romantic."

Andrea glanced around the reading hall and, when she saw that the other ladies weren't paying much attention to them, lowered herself to Oris' side. "Mistress, you can't speak the Emperor's name."

"Yes, it's taboo," Oris whispered back. "It's taboo but you grew up with him, don't tell me that you have never called his name?"

Andrea's face lit up, like a fire had been set beneath the skin of her cheeks. She bowed her head, a conspirational smile growing on her lips. "I called him Seventh Brother. Yes, we grew up together but he was already going to war before I really understood anything. I didn't want to be Empress. He was just my brother. The older brother who brought me sweets when he returned to the capital and helped me with my calligraphy."

"No wonder he was concerned enough to visit me in the dungeons," Oris teased.

Andrea perked up again. "He visited you?"

Oris pulled the girl to sit by her side. "He did, but I didn't see him. He only told me later. Now I know it's because of the relationship you shared in the past that you were willing to do so. You went to beg him, didn't you? Because of you, your father has clearly aligned himself with me. Me? I had no one and now a powerful minister of the court is in my corner... All thanks to you."

Andrea stopped her before she could perform a half bow. "M-Mistress, this joke isn't funny."

"I'm not joking." Oris brushed away the bangs falling over the girl's hazel eyes. "I do not know how your family could bare to sacrifice you like this. Leaving their precious daughter to work hard in the palace."

A tear slid down Andrea's cheek. "I only want to marry someone I like. My wish is too great for my family to bear and they cannot risk the Empress Dowager's wrath. Things are also fine like this. I have sisters now, and even a cute little brother."

She wiped her face and turned to the book in front of Oris. "Mistress, you have been reading history books for hours now. What are you looking for? Maybe I can help."

Oris turned back to the book too, to the poem. "The Emperor's maternal granduncle wrote this after his wife passed away young in childbirth. This king and our Emperor share the same name. It made me wonder what other similarities they shared."

"Oh," Andrea nodded, "The Emperor's maternal granduncle was once the crown prince of Narita but he willingly stepped down and gave his throne to his younger brother, to live in peace with his wife. The wife died giving birth to a son, and this son died later in a war. It is said that he was very kind to his niece, Nian Fey, and treated her as his own daughter, more so than her father. He was one of the many that petitioned repeatedly for her to rule in the place of her younger brother."

Oris nodded and stored the information away for later. "He was a wise man. Kind. Benevolent. Sage. Our Emperor must share these qualities."

She shut the book and opened another. In this, the imperial line was listed. From when the dynasty began in Measma till now with its capital situated in Inae, all the imperial rulers, heirs and children were written down, with vague references to who birthed them.