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And yet…
I sighed. I was inviting trouble into my chambers, trouble I did not need on top of all the other things I had to deal with.
And yet…
It’s not too late, my rational mind cried, you can make an excuse, send her back to her rooms…
Her blue eyes danced in front of my field of vision. I knew it sounded ludicrous, but just thinking of her soothed the constant churning in my stomach. Replaced the anger that always bubbled inside me with a calm I had never experienced before. The same calm even my rational mind couldn’t object to, even yearned for.
“Lady Heather, Your Imperial Highness,” a Myx announced.
“Show her in,” I ordered, turning to watch her enter.
But the human merrily who entered bore little to no likeliness to the merrily I met last night or saw earlier this afternoon. That merrily had been dressed in sensible clothing—attractive, expensive clothing—but nothing that resembled the garish outfits my ladies at court preferred of late.
Heather looked like a cloud filled in by a child in all the colors available to him or her. Puffs of material billowed from her arms, her hips, down her long legs. Granted, it made her appear as if she were levitating above the floor, not walking, but the entirety of her ensemble incited a deep chuckle inside me.
Twenty feet before me, she came to a standstill, falling into a deep curtesy, graceful despite the flowing material all around her. Only when she looked up with an expression of annoyance to blow some of the gauzy material out of her face, which had fallen down it from her just-as-ridiculous-looking headdress, did she remind me of the Heather I had expected.
“Lady Heather,” I managed without betraying the chuckle over her garish outfit that sat deep inside my chest, burning to be let out. My years as an emperor had taught me enough self-control, to step forward and take her offered hand to raise her to her feet.
“You look…”
“Like I was bathed in overcolored cotton candy,” she mumbled, lowering her eyes.
I didn’t have the faintest idea what cotton candy was, but the last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable, so I said, “Look beautiful.”
Her eyes searched mine and I put my most sincere, convincing face on. The same face I used during council and GTU meetings. The same face that fooled ambassadors, lord protectors, and other highly powerful rulers, but she saw right through it. I had no idea how, but she did.
“I look ridiculous,” she stated with conviction and since she seemed to read the truth in my eyes, I didn’t deny it.
“I’m sorry. But honestly, your beauty shines through whatever you wear,” I heard myself say and cringed inwardly.
She gave me an incredulous look, before she broke out in pealing laughter. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “But that is the most terrible line I’ve ever heard.”
Flabbergasted, I stared at her for a moment before my own chuckles broke through. “That bad, uh?”
She nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “As bad as this dress, so I suppose we’re even.”
“I take it this dress wasn’t of your choosing?”
“Hell no,” she exclaimed, slapping her palms to her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
I gently took her wrists and lowered her hands, “Don’t apologize. Please, promise me to always speak your mind when we are alone.”
She cocked her head to the side, a faint smile played around her lips. “I fear you might regret those words.”
Another chuckle moved inside my chest and this time I allowed it out. I had asked her to speak freely and so would I.
“Try me,” I challenged and took her hand to lead her to the table. “Are you hungry?”
“Truth?” she asked, and I nodded. “Lady Natoi made me eat a large dinner with her. She said it would be unseemly for a lady to stuff herself in the emperor’s presence.”
Familiar rage filled my stomach. How dare Lady Natoi try to ruin this dinner for me?! Oh, she was doing all the right things, things that would have been expected from any sentinel guardian, she had just taken it to the extreme, knowing me well enough to annoy me.
“I’m sorry,” Heather repeated.
I forced my anger down and a smile to spread across my lips. “I don’t want to hear another apology from you. What’s done is done and truth be told, I’m not that hungry either, would you like to have a seat?” I pointed to the seating arrangement before the open balcony.
