Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 56: The Tailor's Blue Dress

 She wanted to call out to him and then thought better of it. And then she wanted to catch up to him and thought better of it. And then he turned his head -their gazes locked- and she couldn't do anything but stand there for him to look at even if she could figure out what to do.

Some irritating and pointless courtier dared cross through the space between them and when Aurora was in her view again, his eyes fell down. He folded his arms behind his back and he left the palace.

Emilie collapsed back into the bench and into herself. She didn't come out again until Cedric returned with a stolen sack of food, offering his hand to run off to the outskirts of Tilzen for the rest of the day. Emilie was afraid she would see Aurora again and that it would hurt even worse, so she gladly agreed to venture with him to the quiet, not-so-noble parts of the city.

Cedric knew all the backroads because his sister transported many of their farm's products to Tilzen and the palace using these routes. The wide path was quiet, unlike the busy ones leading from the courtyard to the business district that Emilie had walked and been driven on. While they strolled, they shared a half of a loaf of bread with some exquisitely cooked cuts of fish.

"How far away is your family?" she asked as the edge of Tilzen rose on the horizon, "I've studied some maps from the library and it seems as though the plains region isn't far off from the capitol, but it is rather expansive."

"If you've got a good horse or two, it's a day's journey," he shrugged, "I'm luckier than other staff who have moved across the country to work at the palace. I think there's a scullery maid who has a husband that lives a three days away on horseback."

"How awful to be parted!"

"I'm sure you have distance on your mind a lot right now," Cedric supposed, tying the sack shut and slinging it over his shoulder, "but you'll see your mother again, I know it."

"There's no way of knowing that, though. I thought I would see her again when I left for the Temple that week and then after... I thought she was gone. And I haven't seen her since. I may never see her."

"If there's anything certain in your situation, it's that you will see your mother again," he insisted, "because you can either return to Zuhia with the Emperor's blessing and spend the rest of your days with your mother as a priestess, or you can return to Zuhia as someone's wife and visit your mother without having to swear fealty to the Temple of Nolais. Either way... the two of you will reunite."

"You're... you're right," she conceded.

With Elias' promise, it was no longer a choice between her mother and the people of Fellen, it was a choice between being a priestess or being a wife. While marrying an Emperor was still on the table made it seem like there could be no choice at all, there was much to priestess life Emilie appreciated. And beyond the simple pleasures of life in the temple, she didn't have the responsibilities of being an Empress.

But even if she did choose to leave her priestess days behind, Elias was not her only choice. She could avoid ascending to the imperial throne and still be married. Her heart cried out for Aurora, but that door was closed to her. Still...

She glanced to her side at Cedric. He walked tall with an easy smile on his face, his hand swinging by his side.

There were others she might make a beautiful life with.

Emilie blinked hard and exhaled her thoughts out to make room for new ones. There was a lot to think about tonight, after all.

"How many in your family?" she asked Cedric after they had reached the tiny marketplace among the widely spaced homes on the fringe of Tilzen.