The Star Gazer

Chapter 5: The Pleiades

| The Pleiades: The seven sisters constellation |

Seven sisters were so beautiful that Orion the hunter was constantly chasing them, which caused them a great amount of discomfort. They appealed to Zeus for help and in pity for them he changed them into doves. As doves they then flew up into the sky and found a hiding place among the stars.

The morning came with a terrible headache and blinding sunlight. Koumei groaned as he turned over and pulled the sheets over his head. He willed the sun to go away but the golden rays seemed to shine brighter over him. Clouded memories made their way into Koumei's mind as he slowly made his way back from sleeping like the dead.

"Oh, fuck. I knew there was a reason I hate drinking."

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Koumei bolted up in bed at the sound of the voice talking to him, he yanked the sheets from over his head and looked around. His pink eyes searched the room wildly with confusion as he quickly realized he was not in his room.

Tolui looked at him with her dark eyes, patiently waiting for him to calm down. She was dressed in a simple nightdress and sitting at the vanity with a hairbrush in her hand. A spark of worry flashed through Koumei and he quickly looked down at himself, thankfully all his clothes seemed to be intact and showed no signs of them having been removed.

"Where am I?"

"In my room. You walked me back here and then collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Don't worry, I didn't try to do anything." Tolui said with a small smirk as she turned to face the mirror on the vanity. She pulled the silver-backed brush through her dark hair with quiet strokes.

Koumei quickly got up from the bed and tried to smooth down his hair. He felt like he was going to be sick and his head was pounding as if someone was hitting it with a hammer. This wasn't the first time he had fallen asleep outside of his room, but this was different. He had fallen asleep in the same room as Tolui, the princess of an enemy clan.

Honestly, Koumei was surprised he had even awoken at all. If he were in the same situation, he definitely would have slit his captor's throat and escaped.

Tolui continued to brush her hair, seemingly ignoring Koumei but he knew better. He knew that her obsidian eyes were carefully watching him through his reflection in the mirror.

"Don't leave this room. I'll have someone bring you breakfast." Koumei grumbled as he staggered over to the door.

"Don't you mean lunch?" Tolui called out in a teasing voice. Koumei shut the door behind him, not bothering to answer her.

The pounding in Koumei's head seemed to dull down into a mild throbbing, it had quieted down enough for him to mostly ignore it. His room was close by so it wasn't long until he was laying down in his own bed. The memories of the previous night plagued his mind. He couldn't help but replay Kouen's scolding over and over and the way he completely lost control of Tolui.

He really needed to step up and complete the task of properly watching over her and making sure that she didn't cause any more problems. There was much more than just his brother's approval on the line, if he made any more mistakes then the entire subjugation of the Central Plains could be at risk.

Koumei bit his lip with worry; he was usually put in charge of territories that had already been conquered, so he wasn't used to the pressures of taking control of land. He was finally starting to understand the harsh pressure Kouen was under during his crusades. A single thoughtless act could completely compromise all of their efforts to unite the world under one nation. 
A knock at his door pulled him out of his worrying thoughts. He rolled over toward the door but didn't bother getting up from bed.