The Emperor's Shadow

Chapter Four

"Get up! Get up this instant! Hurry! For the love of the gods, someone fetch a bucket of water-"

I sat up abruptly and immediately swayed as my body tried to fix my blood pressure. Blearily I looked over at the head attendant who had been frantically shaking me. "Wha's a ma'er?" I slurred. It was obvious by the darkness and feeble lantern light that it was some ungodly hour of the night and yet I was being roused from my slumber as if the palace was ablaze.

The dip between my brows deepened when I looked into the eyes of the woman in front of me. They were filled with terror and entirely frantic. Without explaining a thing, I was wrenched out of bed and pulled into a robe and slippers before I was being pushed a sprinting pace out of my chambers.

"His Majesty," the head attendant finally pushed out with a shaking voice, "He isn't well-"

"Tell him properly, madam! The Emperor woke up from a nightmare in a fit of hysteria and no one can calm him! He hasn't had an episode this bad in a week and a half! We were hoping that the past two days meant he would no longer fall into such a state but alas!" a eunuch joined us as the head attendant handed me off to him as if they were in a relay race and I was the baton.

No longer clouded with lack of sleep, I began sprinting as fast as I could towards the imperial chambers. Of course, this would happen! I was naive to believe they were over after he hadn't woken up once the night before. How could I have been so stupid!

In record time I had reached the chambers, and in quite an ineloquent manner shook my feet to remove my slippers before stepping in. I could hear him from around the corner, his cries and shouts were loud enough to wake the whole palace at this point. When I entered, he was surrounded by a gaggle of eunuchs and maids in various states of disarray trying to calm him and remove things from his reach before he could hurt himself. His eyes were glassy and he was doing his best to get to a decorative sword hung neatly on the wall as he was held back by five different eunuchs who young and muscled as they were still struggled to keep him at bay. The Head Eunuch pleaded that he return to his right mind and understand that it was just a nightmare.

I dashed to stand in front of him and skidded and slipped before falling straight on my ass in my haste. Jostled by the fall, I groaned quietly and did my best to stand up only to fall right back on my bruised backside.

The room around me stilled, and each of the servants around me looked at me like I was a messenger god sent to reprive them of famine. The Emperor's attention had been captured by my fall, and he now looked down at me at his feet with a heaving chest and frantic eyes.

I looked up at him into his eyes as I tried to stand again, but all too quickly I was in his embrace. I sighed as he cradled me like a babe to his chest, assuming that his recognition of me meant he had come to his senses until he growled lowly at the servants around us. Each of them scrambled away as quickly as they could in fear of the angry beast.

I realized with a jolt that he was protecting me from them almost like a mother bear. With newfound urgency, I hoisted myself up higher in his arms by pushing on his shoulders so that I would be at eye level with him, he seemed hesitant about it but didn't restrain me further. As soon as we were eye to eye I cupped his cheeks in my hands. He had completely forgotten those around us and was now focussed solely on me just as I wanted him to be.

"Your Majesty," I spoke softly but firmly, "You are alright. I am alright. The palace is alright. Everyone is safe. You had a bad dream. Can you understand me?"

He nodded and seemed to sigh in relief. Slowly, with me still securely in his arms he sank to the floor, and then we were in much the same position we had found ourselves in when we'd first met. His hair had come loose in the chaos and now hung looses around him as he hid in my neck.

As I began to use my fingers to gently untangle the knots in his hair, I looked to the Head Eunuch and nodded. He nodded in return and gathered the rest of the servants before they all silently excused themselves.

I allowed a few more moments of silence to pass languidly. It was calm. The room around us was in half disarray, but neither of us cared to acknowledge it.

"Are you feeling better, Your Majesty?" I inquired gently.

He gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

"Would Your Majesty like to talk about it?"

A shake of the head. I nodded in understanding.

"What is best for you at the moment, Your Majesty?"

Wordlessly, he clutched me tighter. I continued my ministrations in quiet compliance. He knew what he needed far better than I did.

"Do you think you will be able to sleep again tonight, Your Majesty?"

He took in a quivering breath before responding, "If you are with me, I doubt that even the most sinister illusion could shake me."

I nodded, "Of course, Sire." I had expected nothing less. I doubted I would get any more sleep tonight anyhow, and it would be irresponsible to abandon the Emperor again tonight.

"Would you like to get back to bed then?"

Without responding he stood and began walking himself over to the bed... with me still very much in tow.

He set me down next to the bed on the side I had slept the night before as he rounded the bed to his own side. I promptly pulled a cushioned stool over to the bedside so I wouldn't be sitting on the floor all night as I watched over him and plopped down as soon as I deemed the position close enough to him that he would be comfortable.

When I looked at him, he returned my gaze with baffled eyes. "What on earth are you doing, Little One?"

With flushed cheeks, I returned the stool and stood next to the bed. Of course, you can't use a stool that extravagant! Dimwit! Now they'll probably rid of it because it's been sullied-

I calloused palm clasped my waist and pulled me down on the mattress. I mentally slapped scolded myself for being so dense. Unlike the night before when he had pulled me into him, this time he laid on top of me as lightly as he could while fully wrapping himself around me. It was much like how we'd woken up rather than how we went to sleep. His cheek laid on my sternum; his arms were fully wrapped around my middle, and I worried they would fall asleep under the weight of the two of us, but this notion seemed negligible to him. Breathing was not the easiest feat in this position, but I had no intention of complaining. I had come to understand the Emperor was an envelope the entire person hugger.

My fingers combed through his hair until it was free of all knots and the world felt at peace once again. After a while, I could no longer tell if he was awake or not, and no matter how I fought sleep, my eyelids felt even heavier than my chest. The last thing I remembered was the slight shift of the ebony head on my chest that allowed soft lips to press against the silk over my collarbone.

When my eyes opened again, it took a moment to realize that there was no eunuch frying his vocal cords to wake us, and there was no weight on my chest. I sprang up groggily much like I had some number of hours before, scanning my surroundings with bleary eyes to find my master. How could I sleep through his waking up? I was normally a light sleeper. Gods forbid I stay asleep in the imperial chambers of the Emperor without the damn Emperor! Thankfully, I didn't have to look far. He was propped up against the pillows on the other side of the bed reading a book. He looked at me calmly as I rose to get out of the bed and bow for morning greetings, but my wrist was caught before I could slip out of the sheets.

"There is no need to get up, Little One. My attendants cleared my itinerary for the day in wake of last night's events, and I plan on staying in bed for at least another half hour," he told me.

I bowed my head, "Yes, Your Majesty."

I sat up much like him against the pillows, suddenly feeling quite awkward. The notion of continuing to rest after waking was violently foreign to me. Not to mention, I was sitting like a doll as I had no book of my own to read.

He glanced at my stiff form and gave a small smile before handing me his book, "Read for me."

I nodded.