How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 13 - Like a Caged Bird

--Valeria POV--

The banquet was as grand as I expected it to be, Stacius spared no effort. Gilded walls, candlelit chandeliers, and nobles in shimmering silks; this reception hall which he had gifted me was already beautiful, but now it truly felt like a place straight out of heaven.

A string quartet played softly in the corner, and everywhere I turned, people bowed and wished me well. As thankful as I was to it all, I could simply not get used to it.

My arm was looped through my husbands as we moved through the crowd, the perfect image of imperial unity. Unlike me, who felt like an imposter with a waning smile, he was magnificent as always. Every gesture was clean, effortless, and commanding, and I knew he was proud to have me by his side, but I could not help but feel that I did not belong.

We halted in our steps as an unfamiliar face came to greet us, one of many. An old man with silver hair, and a smile too polished to be deemed sincere.

"Your imperial majesties." He spoke with a bow of the head.

"Lord Varien, I am glad to see that you were able to make it. Tell me, what do you think of this banquet? I had it all done with my darling wife in mind." Stacius spoke with an air of confidence around him, his hand going to rub mine which was linked through his.

"It is as radiant as the empress herself, your imperial majesty." His ageing eyes turned away from Stacius to look at me. "You grow more beautiful by the day, your imperial majesty. The empire is lucky to have such perfection gracing its throne." His words could not have been more fake, but I picked my smile up higher.

"Thank you, my lord." My voice was soft, almost drowned out by the music and chattering souls, but I did not let my smile wane. I had to remain perfect. For him.

I felt Stacius look down at me, and when I turned to look at him, a proud smile was curved along his lips. As though my silence were elegant. As though this stillness inside of me, which could not have been further from my true self, proved something to him.

Who knew that marrying the man you love would force you to sacrifice everything else? I was an empress, but despite being bathed in gold and glamour, it was a stark contrast to the quiet ache I felt of feeling trapped in my own home.

As the lord and Stacius spoke about tariffs or land routes, I found myself becoming even more disinterested in this banquet. While my husband responded in that rich, easy tone of his, I found myself wishing that we were in our chambers where I could simply curl up against his body; that would have made this a perfect birthday.

I would have no worries about being the perfect empress. I could simply be his perfectly imperfect wife. That is all I wanted. But I cannot have Stacius without being his empress.

"You have been married for almost a year now; do you suppose that the time will be coming for our empire to soon be blessed with an heir?" My ears picked up on their new topic of conversation, causing my heartbeat to pick up.

Children. Oh, how I wished to have a few of my own. Perhaps then this palace could start feeling more like a home.

Stacius chuckled in response to the lord's words. "We will have children when the gods bless us with children, but I am a jealous man, lord Varien. I wish to keep my wife to myself for just a little longer." His words could be taken as a joke, but it was his subtle way of telling the man not to stress me because giving birth to an heir was no small feat.

But yet, I could not stop myself from wishing that if we are to have children then we can be blessed with them sooner rather than later.

They continued to speak while my eyes drifted over the banquet hall. My parents were in attendance today, but I could not stay with them for long as we had been pulled apart to talk to different groups of people, and Julius was busy with his job of leading the guards.