Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 50: The Emperor's Clear Intentions and Slightly Dirtier Conditions

 The keys rattled against each other on the ring as Emilie bit her lip and tried to still her hands enough to get the one marked Tilzen into the lock. She sucked in a sob. She glanced down both ends of the hall, praying that no one heard her. When she looked back at the door, her fingers gripped the key harder and it finally turned in the lock. The door swayed an inch open. Emilie grabbed her lantern and gratefully rushed inside. She closed it behind her and rushed for the bed at the back end of the room.

"Elias," she whispered as she approached.

When she got to the edge of the bed, she lifted her lantern and saw he was sleeping on the other side. So distraught was she that she stuck the lantern on the nightstand and climbed onto the mattress. Clambering across, she sat down next to him. Her breath caught in her throat and she needed a moment to remember her voice again. As she tried to calm down enough to speak, she watched him in his undisturbed slumber.

Elias rested on his stomach, his legs tangled up in the white sheets as though he had started with it pulled up and then kicked it back. His face was teetering on the corner of one of the massive, fluffy pillows. His lips were slightly parted and innocent gushes of breaths flowed in and out of him peacefully. Looking at him calmed Emilie almost instantly.

She reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder. Her touch was light. She called out to him in a soft voice, "Elias, wake up."

He stirred in his sleep, but he didn't open his eyes. Emilie sucked in a breath. She didn't know the most proper way to wake an Emperor, but she had to do it. She tapped him on the back of his shoulder with firm fingers.

"Elias, please," she urged him, leaning in, "please, wake up. Elias!"

His eyes flashed open like he had only been pretending to sleep, though Emilie knew he had been in a deep slumber and it showed when he furrowed his eyebrows, squinting his eyes at her as he pushed up from the mattress. Emilie covered her mouth with her hand as she breathed in relief. Elias pulled his legs in under him and his eyes never left her through the dark.

"You used the keys I gave you," he beamed at her after a pause to retrieve his mind from sleep.

"Yes," she nodded. She meant to add in the crisis that brought her here, but her voice cut out from the stress.

Elias laughed and he crawled toward her on the bed, "won't you tell me what you came for? I'm dying to hear it from your lips."

"There's not a lot of time-"

"Oh, there isn't? Pray, tell, where do you have to be at this hour?" Elias mused. He sat in front of her and put his arms out on either side of her, his hands resting on the bed behind her. His eyes flickered over her trembling form -she saw his eyes in the lantern light. "No matter, I guess. I can be quick if that's what you want."

"Elias..." she tried again, but in total honesty with herself, she had never snuck into an Emperor's bedroom at midnight and she was getting a little caught up in the moment. She envisioned slapping her face to keep her focused on the very real danger Aurora was in.

Then Elias grabbed her hips with a side simper and pushed her back onto the bed, her robe flapping out with the rush of air. He hovered atop her and before she could force out the most important words, he held her face and dove down to kiss her.

His touch completely transformed her once again. Emilie didn't think anyone could recognize her when she was kissing Elias. Even as their lips melted together in the darkness, Emilie felt tears running down her cheeks. Under his influence, she could scarcely remember why she was upset. It felt like a concern from a past life that she had no current knowledge of. In the back of her mind, of course, Emilie knew she was being selfish and heartless by ignoring the panic in her chest, and that's why she was grateful to Elias for pulling away.