A Reality better than the Dream

20.- Delaying the return

General Sheng informed the emperor about the message from Lady Amary. She had agreed with them. Iris would stay in Oren's palace safe. So, General Sheng informed her about the problem of her safety and what Lady Amary had said. Iris reacted, because she was the queen, responsible to handle the problems of the kingdom and not burden her grandmother who was still mourning for her husband. They had to ask her first. She sat on a chair very angry.

This was not the only problem she had. As the time was passing by, she felt some feelings towards the emperor, not love of course, but disturbing ones... Alright, she could agree with the safety of the body, but what could she do for the safety of her heart? No way! She would never again permit such feelings to exist! She had given an oath one thousand years ago. She preferred to face a probable danger during a journey than repeating the past.

Iris: Sheng, tell me. You know that I am a stranger here, however you say that the emperor has now to tolerate my presence in his palace. But he is a man who likes loneliness and, also, dislikes women around him! I don't like to impose myself on the others. Think, even if he doesn't want me here, what can he do if you ask him to tolerate my presence? You must not tell him what has happened. I will return home anyway!

General Sheng could no more handle the matter and, so, he finally revealed to her that he had arranged this with the emperor himself together and that the Emperor was the one who had revealed to him the dangers and had chosen this solution. Iris was very surprised at the news. What did he have in his mind, that closed and unapproachable man? Why did he have such concerns for her safety? Did he face her as a weak woman?

G.Sheng reacted: No! He treats you only as a reactionary woman!

She was very upset and did not know what to do and how to face Emperor Oren. Her debt to him was growing bigger and bigger and she felt inconveniently with that fact. She was looking at Sheng with her face frowned, but in the end she smiled reluctantly, considering her resistance futile.

Iris: Alright, I cannot control the things. You are not to blame. Since the emperor was the one who took the initiative, then he will be the one to carry the burden of my disturbing presence!

Sheng laughed thinking that, on the contrary, the Emperor wanted her by his side for his own reasons and not of generosity. When the emperor was informed about her reaction, he could not believe that the queen was willing to face the danger than disturbing him. Ooh! Her will was too strong, but... his own was stronger! Who could ever imagine that the man who avoided even having around him female servants, to avoid their nonsense and constant attempts to allure him, would be so determined to have a woman?

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Kandik's suspicions

Kandik had been informed that Queen Iris was in the emperor's palace for long now. Was the emperor interested in her? But how? He was always a distant man. Was there any other reason? No, nothing could be a good explanation. Even his generals with whom the emperor usually scheduled the wars had already left his palace. But Iris was living there by his side without any reason. So, Kandik concluded that the emperor had been fascinated by her beauty and she by his rank as an emperor. He felt a deep hatred against both of them. He always hated the emperor, but now this hatred deepened. His spies could not even penetrate the periphery of the emperor's palace, so heavily guarded it was. It was obvious that the emperor wanted his woman away from the eyes of the outsiders.

So Kandik decided to hasten his efforts to unite the barbarians against the emperor's kingdom. If he seized the throne from king Karendim, in their kingdom, then he could act more freely. His extreme wealth gave him a great power, but he needed a political position, too, to increase this power and dominate all the kingdoms as an emperor. Of course, his wealth was not established only in his homeland, but had various origins in many kingdoms, it was a big net of interests, mainly of illegal trade. Not even the emperor knew it, although he was a very clever man. However, he had to be very careful, not to act violently and impulsively as in Iris's case, because then the emperor would find out who the culprit was, now that he was interested in her. As the matter of fact, this woman had tortured his imagination with her beauty and distance... it was the first time a woman was so indifferent to his wealth and to his nice appearance.