Draconia Offline vol. 1

34.3. Emperor's Nature - Part 3

"So," Erik pokes me after he let me rest in our bed for half an hour. I literally collapsed on it when we got home.

"So?" I mutter into the pillow, lying on my stomach, my wings fully spread to the sides and falling over the edge of our huge bed.

"A co-dependent relationship, huh?" he sighs.

"The biggest part of it must be my telepathy," I murmur. "You know I'm a telepathic addict. And I don't know if I can work on that. Probably can't. Telepathy and empathy sound miraculous only in fiction. In reality, there are many drawbacks."

"And you know that I'm a doting jealous type," he sighs again.

"We're a match made in heaven. Yet, I wouldn't exchange it for anything."

"Me neither," he scratches my right wing. "Are you calmer now? What about I give you a massage?"

"A massage?" I turn my head so that I'm not muttering into the pillow all the time. "That would be great. My back is sore."

"Get out of your robe then," Erik smirks and doesn't wait for my answer. He starts undressing me right away.

"You just want me naked!" I accuse him.

"I'm not denying that," he laughs and undoes the kimono belt holding my robe together.

"Don't we need a lotion or something?" I decide to cooperate with his effort.

"Right, I think there's some coconut oil in the bathroom," he nods and jump out of bed to fetch it.

Fortunately, the door to the bathroom leads right out of our bedroom. I'm really glad for that. Half-naked Erik going through the living room with patrolling guards would be mortifying.

"Got it!" it takes him only a few seconds to return. "Lay on your stomach again."

"Be gentle okay?" I say, a bit alarmed when he cracks his knuckles. "It's your first time massaging a Celestial. We're frail."

"I know that better than anybody, love," he says and pushes me back into the pillow. "Try to relax and enjoy it."

I trust Erik with my life and I've had several massages from my previous lovers. But that was before my body transformed into this almost ethereal being.

"Bones in my back are different from humans," I remind him, totally unnecessarily because it's obvious.

"Relaaaaax," he prolongs and takes a palmful of coconut oil.

I hiss instinctively when he puts pressure against my back but it doesn't hurt. I try to relax as he was telling me and close my eyes. Erik's hands are gentle and he's testing the amount of pressure he can afford with me. He's able to tell right away through our telepathic connection when it's too much so I stop being wary.

Just around two minutes into the massage, I start to thoroughly enjoy it. My back really is sore from the weight of my wings I have to carry all the time and those uncomfortable chairs I'm forced to sit on. Erik's hands are pure bliss.

"Not nooooow!" Erik cries when someone knocks on the door after just twenty minutes.

"It must be our dinner," I whine, also annoyed.

"Right, you can't skip any meals," he realises and hastily throws my kimono pyjamas at me. I still don't feel dressed enough to be seen by our maid so I also put on an embroidered cloak on top.

"Come in then!" Erik finally allows.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Your Majestry, Royal Consort, but you know that...," one of the maids arrives with a food cart.

"Yes, we know, the Emperor has to eat. Thank you, Cien," Erik waves at her impatiently.

The maid, Cien, bows and leaves.

"Seriously, no privacy here," Erik rolls his eyes.

"You heard Zetraya, Celestials find nothing wrong with that," I say. "The Emperor belongs to his people. I'm afraid we have to prepare that it's only going to get worse. What's on the menu?"

"A steak for me, hummus for you," Erik takes off the lid to find out.

"Oh, I love hummus!" I grab my plate with telekinesis and realise that I'm quite hungry after all.

But I don't manage to swallow even one bite because I suddenly feel that something is wrong. Very, very wrong. I let go of the spoon and it falls into the sheets. Erik looks at me, confused, but I don't have time to explain.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath and let my telepathy grow sharper. All those leaking emotions around me get stronger and I quickly scan the whole skyscraper, looking for the source of disturbance.

And there it is, such strong negative emotions aren't hard to find—six human minds filled with hatred so burning it makes me nauseous. I open my eyes, use my telekinesis to slip into the shoes and start running.