The Empty Ones (Fantasy Romance)

54. Little helper

"You asked me what I want. I want her; you heard correctly."

Want me. How?

I stare at them.

"I think she can help me," says Thessarion, serious and matter-of-factly.

"How?" scoffs the Emperor, laughing a little.

It seems I landed in the middle of a strange power conflict.

"She is still a Mahrani. You cannot just request her like a servant," he says, but the mockery lingers a bit in his tone. "Besides, I doubt she can help with anything you require."

"You asked me what I want, to possibly be faster, and I answered. She is smart, as you surely know, and we can have... Great work synergy."

He actually means what he is saying, in a strange way. Or so it appears from the sound of his voice. But he has no idea what he is doing.

"No, my lord, I..." I try to say something to stop him.

"No, what?" he asks. His tone is almost playful, unlike how he sounds when he talks to my husband, all stern. "No, you don't want to work with me in service of your country?"

"No, it's not that. I..." Am driven in a corner and notice he is likely doing it deliberately.

Lysander is sipping his tea, looking very engaged at us.

"I will do everything for my country." Then I add. "As long as my husband allows it." Otherwise, I might be paralysed for another moon turn, which really isn't peachy. But yeah, I guess that's hard to explain.

"Thought so. You are... A g..." He smothers the shadow of a smirk. "Selfless person. And you are good with books. So, Your Highness, are we in agreement? I want her to spend at least half a day with me working in the library and to accompany me wherever I require."

The frown on my husband's face shows that he was driven in a corner. He could definitely deny the request, but then he would lose face. After all, he said 'everything' to show his power. But somehow he didn't think that Thessarion could ask for a person, in a rather inconspicuous way, but also unexpectedly and a person in a very strange situation. The whole court knows I am a pariah, yet now I get a new sort of importance given by this isolated fact.

"Your Highness?" asks Thessarion again, and Laini throws him daggers with her gaze for quite a while.

"Everything for the greater good," he says.

The bootlicker courtiers are clapping. I am still standing awkwardly, unsure what to do.

"My Lady, you can come sit here by my side since you will be my little helper now," says Thessarion.

I am in a way grateful that he is helping me move from the centre of the scene, but I am also afraid of what things might steer.

Fortunately, my husband doesn't say anything, preoccupied with whatever Sahib Ramir is telling him.

I sit cautiously to Thessarion's left.

"Zara," he says, when we are close enough only the two of us can hear, extending me a plate of roasted pumpkin seeds.

Oh, he planned this. He did certainly.

"My lord, I am honoured by your request, but I am uncertain whether I can actually help you. I am just a simple girl."

"No, you are not and neither do you want to be. You are associated with the royalty of this country, which sets you apart. So first of all, not ordinary, and you are interested in healing, and I have the feeling in science in general."