Tale of Two Tails

Chapter 24

Eren was summoned to the emperor's room the next day for a private discussion concerning her pregnancy and what was told to her by her instructor. As Eren entered the room, the emperor noted the slight distressed look on his daughter-in-law's face. She sat in stanza as she had been taught, ignoring the beautiful garden the open doors lead to.

"Lady Eren, I would like to talk to you about how your pregnancy in the palace will go. I was to do this as soon as we learned you were with child, but didn't expect the news to come so soon." The emperor noticed how Eren's skin, which was originally such a beautiful and almost exotic golden tan, looked paler, and even more so at his words. Though this didn't seem to be from a physical sickness, but an emotional turmoil.

"My Lord, is it true?" Eren asked, eyes watering slightly as her voice gently trembled. "If I do not adhere to the wishes of the palace, another woman will raise my child?" Eren looked so defeated, so heartbroken as she gently held her stomach. She didn't seem to have changed at all, but it looked like she calmed ever so slightly by doing the action.

The emperor sighed deeply, shaking his head from side to side.

"No, your child will be raised by you either way." The emperor said. Eren looked at him slightly shocked. "You look surprised that I would say such a thing." He said. Eren didn't meet his eyes as she spoke.

"I have never heard of you being understanding, My Lord. I've only heard of your hate for demons and want of power and an heir."

"No doubt Levi told you these things." The emperor said. "And they are all true. I do care for my children, however, as I care for you. And I would rather my grandchildren have an upbringing more similar to your own."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked as she looked up, head slightly cocked to the side.

"I am sure you heard how my first and second wives died." Eren only gave a single nod. "They died when Levi and Mikasa were both young, never truly knowing a mother's touch. I was unable to be there for them in place of their mother's, and the women who raised them never made the connection they needed to have. I understand that your mother was able to raise you properly, and it shows in how you act compared to how my own children act. You show only true emotions, true happiness and anger that I have never seen on my own children's faces." The emperor took a deep breath. "Even as royalty, my children had hard childhoods, and I don't want that to happen to your children. You have the chance to be in your child's life, and I will not take that from you. Your child will not be burdened as my children had been, being raised by a stranger, so you will be raising your child, along with Levi. You have nothing to fear." The emperor smiled to Eren as she cried happily.

"Thank you, My Lord. Thank you so much." She said. The emperor only nodded before he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A shadow in one of the garden's trees, an assassin if the way the shadow nearly blended in was anything to go by. The emperor was prepared to move, make a call to the guards, when he realized something. The assassin was not in a position to kill him, but seemed to be aimed at the only other individual in the room.

"Eren-" The emperor said, but stopped when he saw the assassin already launching his attack, throwing an object. The emperor didn't think twice before shielding the female with his own body, the projectile lodging itself into his spine. Eren stared up at the emperor with large, golden eyes as he grew weak and collapsed.

After the emperor hit the floor, Eren screamed, not noticing the shadow disappear from the garden over the wall.

The guards rushed into the room along with Levi and Mikasa. What they found was an unconscious emperor and a hysterical Eren cowering in a corner as far from the garden as she could get.

Eren was taken to her and Levi's wing as the palace doctor tried to help the emperor. Mikasa stayed with her father to try and help, but Armin came to his friend and her husband.

"Eren, what happened?" Levi asked. Eren just continued taking deep breaths, shifting into her male form and wrapping his tails around himself.

"I... It happened so fast. The emperor had just finished telling me that our child will always be mine to raise and that no one will raise them but us, and then the next thing I knew, he was falling to the floor."

"Could you tell who did it?" Levi asked, but Eren shook his head.

"He was in to much emotional distress." Armin said, tails flowing behind him as his brow was furrowed in thought and slight anger. "You know that Eren is very intune to his emotions. If the emotions he's feeling are strong enough, it's possible that the emotion clouded his mind and was not able to recognize a threat was near by. It also seems that Eren switched from extremes in his emotions, so he can not help us find who attacked your father."

"I'm sorry." Eren cried. "I had taken it upon myself to be your family's guardian, and I couldn't protect your father. It's all my fault. I should have noticed, I should have been able to control my emotions better. I-"

"Enough." Levi said, hands finding Eren's cheeks and wiping the tears from his face. "You need to calm down, little fox. You are with child, and your emotions will be unstable as it is. There was nothing you could do because of that damn instructor's words."

"I will leave you two for now and see if I can help track the one who attacked the emperor. I will return with any information I find."

"Thank you." Levi said, and the blond Kitsune left the room, leaving Levi to, once again, care for his distraught, pregnant husband.