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My guards knew to stay as far back as security allowed, to give me the space I needed to breathe and restore my waning patience in order to make the right decisions for my empire, especially now with the looming threat of the Cryons. One wrong decision could lead to unimaginable events, even war.
The moment I exited the elevator and placed my feet on the first stepping stone leading to the main path, my breathing turned easier, the weight always pressing on my shoulders and my chest lifted some, even the constant knot in my stomach loosened. I took a deep breath. The air here was filled with the sweet fragrance of spring—its trees, bushes, and flowers.
Lost in thought, I wandered over the pebblestone walkways, surrounded by shrubs, flowers, and trees.
Here and there I ran into others, who respectfully stepped out of my way, and depending on gender were either bowing or curtsying. I ignored each one of them, lest our eyes met, which they might see as an encouragement to voice a plea, a request for a favor of some sort or another. If some were disappointed I didn’t speak to them, I didn’t notice as I kept moving.
It would have been in my power to clear this area before I took my stroll, but how could I deny others the same pleasure I sought?
I kept moving and soon the sound of rushing water reached my ears; the waterfall wasn’t far now and I looked up. For the first time since stepping into the park, I truly took in my surroundings.
I stopped and marveled at the beauty of the bluish fern growing underneath a noble viryth tree. I noticed a zyphoran—an eight-winged butterfly—fluttering through the leaves. Each wing gleamed in neon green, outlined with tiny black feathers. How long has it been since I’ve seen one of them? I wondered.
To think that millennia ago my entire planet looked like this, as opposed to such beauty being limited to only a small section of my palace, filled me with… nocc, not sadness exactly, because we had come so far since. Nostalgia? Perhaps, I allowed.
Pandrax had gone through as many evolutions as us Pandraxians. I was glad that we managed to find a balance that allowed some planets to remain the same as they were when we found them, while others supported the technology we needed to defend those worlds.
Still… imagining this beauty all around instead of the millions of buildings we had erected was somewhat unsettling.
With a sigh, I rubbed my chin and moved on. I hadn’t come here to philosophize over things my ancestors had done and which I couldn’t change. I came to find some peace.
And there it was. The waterfall and lake lay right before me in all their splendor, freeing my heart of all constraints as they always did. For a fraction of a click, I considered that perhaps I should have cleared the park for myself. I imagined how wonderful it would feel to strip naked and dip into the lake.
Maybe another day. For now, I would satisfy myself by sitting on my bench in—I stopped and narrowed my eyes. Was that a person sitting on my bench?
I didn’t allow myself many indulgences as the emperor of one of the mightiest powers in the universe, but one of them was this bench, reserved for me. At all times.
An artificial ray of light hit golden hair, making my heart hitch in recognition.
All night and all morning I had tried to forget about the human merrily who had so surprisingly appeared in my chambers yesterday. It seemed Staphor had other things in mind than letting me push her out of my thoughts though, because it had to have been him who placed her in my path just hours later, again.
The merrily was so deep in thought, she never noticed my approach, nor did she acknowledge my shadow as it fell over her, giving me time to study her regal profile.
Her eyes were closed, her head slightly bent backward as if she was absorbing the very essence of her surroundings, trying to find the same peace I sought when I came here.
For just a click I considered leaving her to her meditations, returning the long way back to my chambers instead of relishing in the tranquility of this place—a startling thought.
Something must have given me away though, because she opened her astonishing sapphire eyes and, blinking a few times, stared at me with incomprehension. When she finally puzzled out who I was, she abruptly rose to her feet, searching her memory for how to greet her emperor.
“Don’t fret.” I bestowed a lenient smile on her. “Come, sit.”
I moved forward, she shuffled back. I sat, she stood there, staring at me. I patted the spot next to me on the bench she had just vacated.
“Please,” I added for good measure.
Reluctantly she did, regarding me through the deep pools of her eyes, drawing me in like a hologram.
“Do you come here often?” I asked, since she didn’t seem to want to start a conversation or talk to me or, I allowed, perhaps my presence unnerved her. I was the emperor after all.
“Sometimes,” she replied in a more melodious voice than I remembered from last night. “It’s not forbidden, is it?” She looked around nervously.
I shook my head. “Nocc, this place is for all my subjects to enjoy.”
She flinched slightly as if she disagreed, but didn’t respond.
“You disagree?” I asked amused.
“Well… if by subjects you mean the people who live in the palace, then your statement is correct. But I don’t think all your subjects are allowed in the palace.”
