The Emperor's Concubine

B.2 Chapter Seventy-Three

I smile, sitting beside Sylvan.
Magnolia helps fix my makeup, leaving once she's finished.
"I apologize for crying in front of you, my lady." Sylvan kindly speaks.
"Please, don't apologize. It's emotional to meet like this... I do however have a million questions to ask you. Did you get the paper?" I ask, smiling.
She nods.
"Of course, my lady." Sylvan reaches into her cloak, pulling out the newspaper, "I haven't read it until recently, but an acquaintance of mine told me someone from Avris was to marry someone from Cypheler. I thought nothing of it until I glanced at the last name, and saw how you would wed his highness." Sylvan smiles, handing me the paper.
"I'm surprised you were able to read it." I giggle, looking at the note I wrote.
"Years of secretly speaking like this, it's been engraved that I'll notice it. Especially since your sentences didn't sound like proper speech." Sylvan laughs, gazing at the paper.

The note I wrote to be published contained a hidden message.
Sylvan and I have spoken to each other with notes and lists when I was in Avris as a small child.
Each sentence of importance when we had to be careful.
The first sentence, the first letter of the first word, and then the first letter of the second word in the next sentence, and repeated from the first to second word, all put together spell out a hidden message.

'SYLVAN ALIVE.'

I smile, staring at the lightly circled letters on the paper from Sylvan decoding it.
Once mother and father grew more violent, Sylvan and I came up with a way to speak to each other incase others were listening.
It was also how I always asked her to bring me new books whenever I needed another one.

"I always wondered what happened to you. After your birthday dinner, maids spoke about how they saw you taken away by guards. I searched everywhere for you, but couldn't find you. The king and queen grew more furious, and it seemed as though they were going to take their anger out on me... I had no choice but to take the jewels I gathered for you, and flee back to my kingdom." Sylvan speaks, tearing up again.
"Your kingdom?"
"Yes... My lady, I'm originally from Kingdom Brisia."
"Brisia?... Across the West Ocean?"
"Yes..."
"That far?... How did you come to Avris then?" I ask.
"My lady... I was born into a noble family... I'm the only daughter from Brisia's dukedom."
"You're a duke's daughter? Then why did you become my maid?" I exclaim, shocked.
"My lady... It may be impossible to think about, but I was once a young girl too." Sylvan chuckles, holding my hand, "I grew up happy, and loved... But once I became twenty, my father became sick. He grew weaker everyday, and my older brother was set to take over our father's title once he passed. While in his final moments, he decided I had to be married before he passed too. He arranged a marriage with me and a young count. I remember when I first met him, he was terrifying. He hit his maids, his own mother, and his siblings in front of me. I realized, if I marry someone like him, he would surely hurt me too. I begged my father to cancel the marriage but he wouldn't listen. As my wedding approached, news spread how Kingdom Avris was gifted with twins, and I knew that was how I was going to escape. I ran away in the night, and took a long journey, until I reached Avris. I begged your father and mother to let me become a nanny. I lied and said I was a nanny in Brisia, for the duke who had young children, and they believed me once I showed them a pin with my family's coat of arms."
"That's how you became our nanny?..."
She nods, smiling kindly.
"Yes, my lady... I was happy watching you and your brother grow, but realized your parents were sick when they gave me information on how to raise you. I couldn't accept their wishes because it was revolting, but I couldn't decline because I would be fired, and that would leave you in danger. It was foolish, but I stayed because it felt as though you were my daughter at times. It sounds ridiculous to say, I apologize." Sylvan smiles, chuckling at herself.
I shake my head, grasping her hand tightly.
"No... I believed you were a mother to me too..." I smile, gazing at the scars on her hands.
"Once I realized I couldn't find you, I had to escape. I used the jewels to get on a boat to travel back home, eventually returning to the dukedom. I begged them to let me meet my brother, and a few days passed until my brother decided to meet whoever was making a ruckus. Thankfully he had no ill feelings for me and accepted me back home."
"I see... You've been staying with him?"
"Yes... I eventually decided to become a knight for the duke's squadron, and now I'm a captain."
"A captain? It's fitting for a strong, caring person like you... I'm so relieved you've been safe and well." I smile, tearing up again.
"My lady, I have always been worried about you. I became a captain thanks to you. Everyday my mind has been filled with worries and questions about you, which made me train more and more, until my strength and skills surpassed even the higher knights... I became captain hoping to protect you if we met again... My lady, what happened that day?"
I take a deep breath and smile.

I explain everything that's happened, feeling surprisingly calm as I think back to the traumatic past.
As I speak, my heart and heavy shoulders grow lighter as the trauma no longer incites fear anymore.
"And so, his highness ordered me to be brought back into his harem." I explain, smiling.
"His highness? Goodness, it was a good thing I escaped when I did." Sylvan leans back, stunned.
"Yes... It's why I sent the message. If you thought I was dead, you would know I wasn't, and since I thought there was a chance you were dead, if you wrote to me I would know. I never expected you to visit me like this though." I smile, squeezing her hand.
"My lady... I heard rumours about you, but I never thought it was truly you. To think his highness changed your name."
"It's alright, I changed it myself. Father and mother calling me Celestia and Celeste, scarred me. I was glad to change my name and begin to move on from the past... And it seems as though I have now." I smile, thinking back to how petrified I was of my past when I first arrived.
"My lady... I was very surprised to hear you're marrying his highness. How did you two even decide on marrying? From the stories, he seems to be intimidating and harsh. How did my sweet little girl decide to marry someone as his highness?"
I smile, shaking my head.
My anxiousness returning, I take a small tight breath.
"His highness is kind... In the beginning he was intimidating, but he was easy to talk to. Eventually I fell in love with him the more time we spent together. I felt how much he cared about me, and I feel it more than ever now." I explain, taking a deep breath.
"I will need the full details, but it appears you're busy." Sylvan speaks, looking at my formal attire.
"Yes, actually our wedding is in a week. It's custom to throw a ball a week before a wedding, to allow their family and friends to say goodbye to the couple as 'singles', before marrying-" I cut myself off, overwhelmed.
"My lady?" Sylvan looks back at me, surprised.
I hold my head, my uneasiness growing stronger.
"I-I apologize, I'm just a bit nervous it seems-" I cut myself off again, covering my mouth.
Sylvan quickly grabs a bin near the sofa, holding it out to me.
I throw up, feeling my stomach churn.
"M-My lady, are you okay?" Sylvan asks, rubbing my back.
"Y-Yes... I think I'm just anxious for the wedding-" I throw up again, stressed as I think about the marriage.

"What happened?"
A familiar deep voice calls out.
I turn, looking to see Cabel and Lance, watching worried.