Glass Dominion

Chapter Nineteen

Genevieve

It wasn't making sense to me, especially after having lunch with her. I didn't know much about her, I knew that she was a good person, with a kind heart, and an unyielding peace about her. And she was very witty and capable—but she was certainly no warrior. That left me to wonder just what she was doing in the palace.
My husband recruited all kinds of people from different cities training establishments. He'd recruit willing candidates who'd been trained their entire lives to fight, he'd recruit from overseas, and rarely, he'd pick peasants from farms and villages in the backcountry. But when I asked my husband about this girl from Grassheen, he told me that he couldn't recall the last time he had sent a recruiter all that way.
I was sitting at the end of the dining table, and he was at the head. "Are you sure you don't recall a young girl by the name of Amelie Am-"
"I already told you," my husband snapped, but a sip of wine put him at ease. "It must be Quinn's doing."
That very well could have been apparent. It was all the palace had been able to buzz about lately. The mysterious village girl finally had a name and a face. The Commander often had mistresses, but no one he'd gone out of his way for. So when he did, that raised enough flags for prying eyes to be drawn to.
While picking at the stewed vegetables on the gold-rimmed plate before me, I asked, "Do you like that? Him doing things unbeknownst to you?"
Belvedere wiped his mouth with a flawlessly white cloth, he'd just finished his last bit of steak. "I do not know what you mean," he said, handing his napkin to a servant, who replaced it immediately.
"Does it not bother you that he is so independent in his doings?" I explained to my husband, knowing that it would certainly bother me considering the person that the Commander was. "I guess the point I am trying to make is that he used to consult you on such matters. And now, over time, he's seemed to have grown to be very... private."
Belvedere laughed at my concern. "Have you met the man? He's an open book—and an arrogant son of a bitch—but he is just as much so trustworthy. He's worked for me for nearly a decade, to say that his loyalty lies anywhere else would be blasphemy."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
My husband looked at me from across the dining table, but he could never look me in the eyes. Not so much unable, I thought, but more so unwilling.
"Good gods, dear. Of course, I'm sure," he groused. "Now, stop making me second-guess myself, you'll give me forehead lines."
He took his cold, pale fingers and rubbed away the lines on his forehead. He'd had lines for a while now but would never have admitted it to himself. In his mind, I think he believed he was still a young buck with the respect of his people in the palm of his hands. At least one of those things used to be true, I wasn't sure I could've said the same anymore.
When I met Belvedere, he was an entirely different person. Being someone in power who carried the weight of the crown seemed to have taken its toll. Like all things, he and his intentions seemed to spoil with time.
We met on a cold winter day nearly six years before. I was helping move my family's horses across the yard when the emperor and a fleet of his men were journeying through Uhkaava. It was unmistakably him in his shiny golden coach.
His driver had approached me and said that the emperor had requested my presence. I was intimidated and flattered at the same time. He wanted to know how a beautiful girl such as myself wasn't living a suitable life. He offered to recruit me into the palace, and well, I wasn't really warrior material, and I told him so. He proceeded by inviting me to that year's winter ball the weekend after the first fall of snow. I gave him one good night, and after that, I never left.
To have said that the wedding was extravagant would be an understatement. It wasn't every day that a country's most honorable bachelor tied himself to one person.
I was fortunate that I was that person. But I was also naïve to think that it would stay that way. He quite often sought satisfaction through many other women. Initially, it bothered me, but I fancied the palace life a little too much to let my feelings get in the way of that.
I learned quickly that my role as empress was to be dainty arm candy for Belvedere Von Stein. I was very good at acting; it would have been my career of choice if I hadn't married so young. I supposed it ended up being a part of my life after all.
When Belvedere and I married, it did raise suspicion and brought about controversy. I was a young woman, and he was nearly in his fifties. I took the opportunity when it presented itself to me to live a lavish life, and my husband needed a beautiful young woman by his side because it was a sign of omnipotence and good fortune. It was a win-win situation.
I had this strange fantasy that I'd let play in my mind some nights when trying to sleep—that I was empress and empress alone. A tragedy or an overthrow would occur, and the throne would be left to someone who could rule justly and the crown to someone strong enough to bear its weight. And naturally, that someone would be me. It was only a fantasy, of course. I was nowhere near qualified to rule, but I'd still like to think I could.
"Dear," I said, forcing myself back to reality. My husband had his servant pour some more red wine, and he was working on some documents at his end of the table, primarily ones of minor significance. "Dear, I was wondering if you might want to speak with Quinn about—"
"About what?" he hastily lifted his attention to me.
I noticed his tone and changed mine. "Well... this new warrior he seems to have recruited for reasons other than to serve the country."
With a sigh, my husband said, "You forget this man has been General Commander of my armies for over half a decade, his reasons are always secure."
"There is something different about this girl to him. He wants to keep her rather close," I went on. "I just wonder—"
"Ah," boomed my husband. "I see. Has Quinn finally found someone who suits his fancy?"
That wasn't at all what I was getting at, but after six years of marriage, I knew by now that the man only heard what he wanted. And he only responded how he wanted to. If you disagreed or tried to assert yourself, you learned quickly that you were wrong, even if you weren't.
"I believe so," I answered optimistically.
My husband smiled. He'd known Quinn for however long he'd served in the palace. Quinn, more often than not, did more than the emperor himself. Which inevitably made him a highly respected person. There weren't many people I knew with more respect and fear for my husband than the Commander.
It only bothered me slightly. I knew that power didn't belong to the most politically notable person, to the bearer of the diamond-studded crown—it belonged to those, like Quinn, zealous enough to take it.
"Though it is quite unsettling to know he'd settle for such poor village scraps." My husband spoke blithely into his wine glass.
I sat up in my chair and leaned on the table, making sure I kept my low dress pulled up. "You know, last I heard, they are still people."
"Hardly," he responded.
"Well, they certainly can't help what class they are forced into." I felt bold arguing with him, it was such a forbidden thing, almost like arguing with a stranger when really you should just be polite. "It's sad, really."
My husband rose from his throne-like chair. The servant helped him slip a thick robe over his shoulders before the emperor made his way down to my end of the table.
He was handsome, I had to admit. It would have been no fun to be married to an ugly man, emperor or not.
"Well, I'm afraid that's just how the world works." His voice was coated in something faux.
I stood from my chair when he was closer, taking the action I felt was needed. "But it doesn't have to be," I exclaimed. "It doesn't have to work this way. Just think if we—"
"Dear," my husband's stern and solemn voice brought mine to a halt. His eyes were the chestnut color of his hair, his nose was pointy, and his facial hair wasn't his best feature. "Dear, remember your place."
I looked away from him, his words felt like needles in the place of chills that erupted across my skin. His soft, manicured hand that'd never known a day of work in its life pinched my chin, forcing me to look at him.
"And if you cannot remember your place," he hissed, "remember that you are replaceable." He pushed me away and released his grip on my chin. Almost instinctively, I bowed before him, and he turned to leave.
On his way out of our dining room, my husband told the servant, "Be sure that my little wife accompanies me tonight." The doors closed behind him.
I clenched my stomach and reclaimed my seat. Snatching my wine glass, I knocked the rest back and asked the servant for more. Though I didn't need to ask, my voice was one that could shout orders if I pleased, but I'd never really gotten into doing that.
I thought back to earlier that day when I'd met my new acquaintance, Amelie. I was the empress with a gold-plated life, yet I still found myself feeling envious of her. She didn't have to smile and politely agree with everything. She was blatantly unapologetic in everything she did, even down to how she simply existed.
I knew she couldn't have cared less about what people thought of her. When she walked through a room, everyone stared, everyone's gaze was drawn to her. Knowing her now, I couldn't have blamed Quinn in the least bit.
I did my best to warn her of him. I'd never known the commander that well, but I knew that when he wanted something, he got it. He was a compelling person, to say the least. He wanted to keep her close, I thought it was sweet of him. The man was brutal and cruel at times, and yet I'd never seen him with such a soft glint in his eyes before.
I knew it was not my place nor my responsibility, but Amelie seemed to be the kind to love comfort and warmth. But if one was kept too close to a burning fire, they were bound to go up in flames.