Chapter twenty-three

The same dream of her father haunted the Empress that night too. It had been the third time she dreamed about not being able to kill him.

This time, instead of waking up she heard the voices of her past resonating in her head. All those "you're not enough", "liar", "attention seeker", "incapable" said by the people in her life. Her father, her older brothers, the servants, the maids, the other nobles. Even some knights. Everyone scorning and looking down on her.

She was shook by her shoulders.

"Lord Dorkas?" She mumbled, still half asleep.

"You were having a nightmare. I figured you'd want to wake up."

"Thank you", she said burying her face on the pillow.

His hand delicately played with her hair, stroking the strands that fell on her back in a shooting motion.

She exhaled and mumbled something, his touch was comforting.

"I can't understand you."

"Why are you awake? Have I woken you up?" She lazily lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

To her surprise, a candle was lit on his nightstand and a book was in his hand.

"I wanted to finish the chapter."

"It's late. You should sleep."

"It's a very interesting book."

"It will be there tomorrow morning too."

"I can read a bit to you. Maybe it'll help you fall asleep."

She smiled, "you don't have to."

"But I want to."

"Really?"

"Come here." He said, opening her arms for her.

She hesitated, unsure.

"I don't bite."

She decided to hug him, resting her head on his chest.

His arm wrapped around her, not in a sexual gesture, but in a firm and comforting embrace.

She was surprised to find the position mode comfortable that the pillow.

She hugged his chest and wriggled higher, almost to rest her head at his shoulder, but not quite.

He adjusted the covers on her.

"Is this uncomfortable?"

"It's not, I'm just a bit awkward."

"I've never been this close to someone either."

"You haven't?" Her eyes shot up, looking for his.

"You seem surprised."

"I am."

"I told you I have not laid with any woman."

"That's true."

"Then, shall I begin my reading?"

His heart beat fast in her ears, but she found the sound comforting.

She nodded against his chest.

He began reading. It wasn't the words on the page that lulled her to sleep, but the comforting sound of his voice guiding her in morpheus' arms.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧☆⋆｡𖦹°‧

Something touched the Empress' face.

She quickly opened her eyes, only to find Lord Dorkas' fingers caressing her cheeks. She relaxed into his touch.

Her legs were tangled in his and her arms tightly hugged his chest, yet he was still reading the same book as the night prior.

"Good morning", she mumbled.

He shoved the book aside, "good morning."

He hugged her with the arm he was using to read too. She chuckled against his chest as he tickled her a bit.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not much, I woke up not too long ago." He breathed in her hair, smelling the cherry scented oils they had bathed her in.

"Should we eat breakfast, my Lord?"

"Why make haste?"

"I have duties as Empress of Saol."

"And I have duties as royal consort."

"Such as?"

"Make sure the Empress doesn't die overworked."

His raspy voice tickled her ears.

"Is it alright for us to be like this?"

"Are we not a married couple?"

"I don't know much about you."

"You can ask questions."

"I don't want to ask questions, I want to get to know you naturally."

"Some things cannot be discovered if not asked."

She pondered for a moment.

"Who is your first love?"

"Talking about another woman while one lays in my arms does not seem very educated."

She chuckled against his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

"I don't have a first love."

"You do not?"

"No. I've been... Quite alone, I suppose."

"Then what is your favourite colour?"

"Red. I like red."

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧☆⋆｡𖦹°‧

When Empress Cassiopeia left the room, Lord Dorkas' mind went back to the night they spent together.

He closed the curtains and climbed in bed.

After he covered himself, he buried his face in the pillow, hiding his blush from the dark of the room.

She looked like another person when she was asleep.

She seemed serene, quiet, like a nymph. The little red freckles hid by powder could be lightly seen on her shoulders.

He held her tightly, afraid of letting her go. She had screamed and begged for help just moments before, yet she did not bear the memory of it once he woke her up.

Now there she was, peacefully resting against his chest, unaware of the inner turmoil her soft breaths caused in his person.

At times, she shifted her weight, moved her arm or scrunched her nose.

He felt her leg over him, and suddenly he was unable to breathe.

She paused, then kept tangling their legs together, as if she was scared he'd run away.

He was there, immovable like a statue, too in a panic to form coherent thoughts.

Had he rushed things too much? Yet, in her sleep, had she not begged someone to hug her?

So he did.

He tossed the book aside and held her as tightly as he could.

Even as her short nightgown was all over the place, and perhaps she was more naked than dressed, his mind never drifted away from the embrace.

So he tightened his grasp on her, wishing for both their pains to be naught but a distant nightmare.

That's when he realised, as he held her in his arms, so frail yet so fierce, that he would never leave the Empress' side, because she, like him, needed that comfort more than anything else in the world.

Writer's corner

Short chapter but very sweet, I hope you can forgive my busy schedule.