Shards of Darkness

Chapter Two

Bruce Bradley Blake

"Your Majesty," a servant bowed. "Irina Isis Ivy is ready to see you in the throne room." I nodded and dismissed him with a wave of my hand. The tailor is busy fixing my new emperor clothes.

    "You're good to go, Your Majesty," bowing his head, he left the room backwards, as a sign of respect. Finally, I am alone.

I adjusted my collar and swept my hands down the side of the fabric of the clothing that clung to my slim but muscular frame. I reached over and picked up my crown and settled it on my mass of blond hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and slowly blinked my honey golden eyes. I was quite tall, around six feet and three inches.

I smiled. I wore a white emperor robe-like clothing with golden lining. There were black patches on my chest with red gems in the middle. I wore wide scarf-like strips of fabric that hung from my shoulders.

Turning around, I walked out of my bedchamber. I didn't like guards surrounding me day and night so I walked alone. As I walked down the halls of my palace, servants left and right stopped what they were doing and bowed to me. As soon as I passed them, they went back to work.

After a while, I reached the throne room. I went through the back door, which leads to the back of the throne room. I opened it without a sound and slipped through. Then I walked around and sat down in my golden throne.

The general was standing near a teenager around the height of five feet and nine inches. She has shiny, long black hair with soulful, but somehow peaceful, dark blue eyes. She was skinny but I could tell by her muscles that she can be athletic.

    "Hello Your Majesty," Irina was the one who noticed me first and she curtsied. I guess she is quite observant. Her voice was soft and kind, with a pretty lilt to it. She didn't sound dangerous, and she didn't look dangerous either. Irina has a pleasing expression on her adorable face, not quite smiling but somehow she is.

    "Y-Your Majesty!" The general stammered, just noticing me when Irina spoke. He hastily bowed before straightening back up.

    "Hello, did you have a nice trip?" I asked warmly.

    "Yes, we had a great trip," the general said.

    "Did anyone cause you trouble?" I questioned, my gaze flickering to Irina.

    "No," the general looked surprised as he looked over at Irina. "No, not a single drop of trouble."

    "I'm glad to hear that," I leaned back into my throne and rested my right foot on the knee of my left leg.

    "If you don't mind me asking, Your Majesty," Irina spoke up after a few moments of silence, "What can I do to be a help?"

    "Help?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

    "Isn't that why the general brought me here for? Or is it that you want to talk about a public execution?" Irina wondered. Surprisingly, her voice didn't become rough or shaky when she said that. Instead, she still had that pleasant voice and equally pleasant face. There was no fear in her eyes.

    "Well, what do you think?" I inquired.

    "Since my parents have rebelled against you, then most emperors would kill them and then kill their children too," Irina reasoned.

    "Irina, do I look like most emperors?" Irina did not answer, which was smart of her. "Well, I'm not like most emperors, so no, I will not...execute you."

    Irina curtsied deeply. "Thank you Your Majesty."

    "Would you like to be my personal courtier?" I asked seriously.

    "What exactly do I have to do?" Irina asked.

    "You will stay by my side for the most of the day," I answered.

    "If that is what you want, then yes, I accept," she smiled at me. "It's a great honor though, too great for a common folk like me."

    "Oh, but I think you have a greater potential than most common folks," I rose from my set and walked down to her. I stood before her, face to face, my head tilted down to look at her. I leaned down and placed my pointed finger on her chin and lifted her chin so that she can look at me. I looked into her dark eyes as she stared back in my golden ones. "Do you accept? Not for my benefit, but yours?" I whispered.

    "I accept," she breathed.

    "Good," I dropped my hand and looked at the general, who was blinking like crazy at me. "Get her to my personal staff, get her ready," I commanded.

    "Yes, Your Majesty!" The general saluted and placed a hand on Irina's shoulder. "Let's go," he told her. Irina nodded and turned and walked away. I stared after her, smiling. Oh, this one is special.

👑 👑 👑

Irina Isis Ivy

    As the emperor's personal staff cleaned me, dressed me, do whatever they needed, I thought back to the devilishly handsome twenty three year old emperor. After hearing such awful things about him, I can't help but think he doesn't look like a person who destroyed the world. But like I heard, and know, looks can be deceiving.

    "You look amazing," the tailor squealed.

    I smiled. "Thank you. But really, it's your talent that is amazing."

    "Oh, it's nothing," the tailor blushed, waving away my compliment. I said nothing, just smiled once more, then turned to the mirror.

In place of my plain black t-shirt, scuffed jeans, and worn sneakers, I was wearing an elegant silver dress that merged with my skinny body. My black hair is up in a top bun with white silk flowers in my hair. I wore a diamond necklace, a simple silver bracelet, and dangling silver earrings and my feet were in black and silver ankle strap heels. Black eyeliner surrounded my dark blue eyes, mascara was on my eyelashes, a light pink blush was on my cheeks and my lips were tinted a light shade of red. I felt a bit uncomfortable, but accepted the fancy getup nonetheless. I don't want to anger the emperor once word gets to him I rejected his kind hospitality.

    "Are you ready to be His Majesty's courtier?" A maid asked, putting away the makeup. To be honest, I was quite surprised how the emperor's followers, and himself, was so kind to the daughter of two murderers.

    "I don't have much experience, but I'm sure with some practice, I can be His Majesty's courtier," I answered truthfully.

    "Oh, we think you're going to be a natural," a butler told me.

    I blushed. "Thank you."

    A knock sounded at the door. "Are you ready?" A masculine voice asked.

    "Yes," I replied, opening the door. A guard was waiting for me. When he saw me, his eyes went wide, then he narrowed it quickly.

    "Alright, let's go," he turned and started down the hallway with me in tow. We climbed the staircase up to the highest floor where there was one room at the end of the hall. The guard knocked on the double doors. "Your Majesty!" He called through the door. "Irina is here!" The right door opened and out stepped the emperor. He had changed his clothes. Instead of the golden and white emperor clothes, he wore a simple white tunic with sandals.

    "Great," he opened the door wider. "Come in, come in." I stepped inside and looked around. The emperor's bedroom was huge. Another set of doors led to what I believe is the walk-in closet. Red velvet curtains hung over the large windows. The floor was covered with a soft wall-to-wall carpet. A large white canopy bed was pushed up against the middle of the wall to the right. There were sofas and a glass table with a tea set to the left. Several chairs were scattered around near the windows. There was one wall dedicated to books where the bookcases rose up to the ceiling. "Ready for your training?"

    I looked at him for a moment, not speaking. I was thinking. Finally, I nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."