Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 51: The Emperor Plays Dress Up

Emilie set the lights on a dim burn about the room. She paced around, unsure of how to situate herself. Being acutely aware of what statements might be wordlessly spoken by her presence or posture made it hard for her to settle down.

She hoped Aurora was alright. He would be. Elias promised he would be fine. He wasn't the type to make promises that meant nothing. No, definitely not. Emilie asked him for help and he was going take care of it. She knew that certainly in her heart.

Eventually as the minutes ticked by, her anxiety dulled into curiosity. Though she wasn't sure what she was doing, Emilie walked over to the armoire and hooked her fingers in the brass dangling handles. She pulled at them, sliding the first drawer open. Her eyes tenderly fell upon the stacks of folded clothing. They could only be Elias' tunics. Nobody else would wear silver accents in every shirt. Her hand stretched down and her fingers lovingly trailed across the fabrics. She had missed him when they were apart.

The door swept open and Elias stepped inside casually, as though Emilie was not waiting there or as though this was a perfectly normal circumstance for the two of them. He gave a sigh and scratched his head as he pushed the door closed by leaning back against it. The moment he set eyes on Emilie, the remnants of what struggles happened outside his room fell off of him as though they had never captured him and he looked fondly at her from across the way.

"Poking through my things? That's what you went with?"

Emilie hurriedly slammed the drawer shut and she clasped her hands in front of her as she blurted, "is he-"

"Yes, yes, your ex-faux-fiance is fine. He needs a good rest, but he will be well enough to attending the Deisym Unification Festival tomorrow," Elias provided, crossing his arms over his chest and half-hiding a mocking smile.

"What did they do to him?" she stepped forward.

"The guards gave him a couple of kicks and they threw him in an empty well."

"They what!?" she jerked to a stop, shock pulling her back by her collar.

Elias shrugged, "it's an archaic punishment for violating Fellen Tradition. Rory's been trying to render those codes invalid for years, but obviously there's push-back from the Keepers and he hasn't managed it yet. As I said, he's gone through it before and I have too, so you shouldn't fret about it."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better that you've both been through it before!?" Emilie huffed.

He pushed off from the door and met her in the middle of the room where she stood. Elias rested his hand on her upper arm and he explained, "Once I found the guards that took Aurora, I ordered all actions under the Traditional Penal Code to be suspended until I leave Tilzen, a message which the Keepers will receive shortly. After that, I fished Aurora out of the well. When he got out, he asked if you had been taken, to which I told him you were in the best of care, and I personally walked him to his bedroom before calling the medical staff to treat a minor injury to his shoulder. He went to sleep mumbling your name and, in all honesty, I felt very jealous thinking about how much you were worried about him, so I left my slumbering brother to the nurses and came straight here to be with you. Do you feel caught up?"

"Yes," she muttered, though she was only a little bit able to take in what he said. His hand on her arm felt like a delicious poison infiltrating her body. She swallowed and turned away from him, taking a step toward the back of the room as she said over her shoulder quietly, "th-thank you."

"Hmm," Elias droned, stepping around her and returning to his bed. He sat down and then swung his legs back onto the mattress. He fluffed up the pillows behind him and leaned back. From there, he closely watched her. Emilie blushed furiously and she cleared her throat.