The palace was chaotic. Everyone was running around to repair the damage caused by the small insurrection of the Centurions. From putting out fires to rebuilding the damaged buildings. I put Lucious in charge of everything while I tried to figure out what room was what in this place. He had given me a map of every room and its purpose, but the chaos didn’t help my already existing confusion. He had also given me a list of all the council members and their purposes. We tossed up my lack of memory to the partying I did the night before. Apparently, this isn’t my first time in this position. Finding my chambers wasn’t difficult. It’s the largest bedroom in the palace with a golden lamb head in the center of either door. If that doesn’t scream Emperor, I don’t know what does. It seems that this room was not the one I had originally awakened in, I wonder whose room that was. This room was large, with a bay window to the right. A long wooden desk sat underneath the window, just enough so that you could look through it if you were sitting in the wooden chair. The desk had various papers stacked on it, with a tall, unused, candle that sat next to a quill and ink container. The ink container was a glossy white, probably from some smooth stone, and the quill had vibrant colors on its feather. On the left side of the bedroom, there was a large wardrobe with various clothes and robes in it. Next to the wardrobe was a dark, wooden stand with a long sword mounted on top of it. It’s milky white blade flickered gold in the moonlight. Its hilt was wrapped in some red cloth that had black writing in the middle of it. It was beautiful, as if I was staring at a star itself. A few feet away from the wardrobe and sword, was another room. This room had no doors and had a wooden floor, unlike the main bedroom that had carpet. There was a giant wooden bathtub with various buckets of water and a small fire pit, seemingly to boil the water when necessary. At the back of the main bedroom sat the bed, on either side of it sat small wooden nightstands that had a lit candle on each of them. The bed seemed to be slightly larger than a king-sized bed, with a thick black fur blanket that sat on top of the bed, and several thick pillows on the back of the bed. The frame lifted the bed halfway up my shin. I had called the meeting to start in 15 minutes from now, so I must get dressed quickly. Walking over to the wardrobe, I look at the multitude of clothing choices and have absolutely no clue what to wear. That’s when I hear a knock on my door,
“Come in!”
Lucious enters the room, bowing,
“Forgive my intrusion, Your Grace.”
“There’s nothing to forgive, what can I do for you? The meeting doesn’t start for a few more minutes.”
“Correct, Your Grace, however there’s someone who wished to speak with yo- “
Interrupting his sentence at the last second, walks in a middle-aged woman. Her heels could be heard before she entered the room, so it’s not like it was much a surprise. Her large breasts were the first thing to notice as her long emerald dress, with silver fur along the bottom of it, did their best to keep them inside the dress. She was tall and wore a silver fur coat that covered her arms and part of her upper body. As she pushed back her long black hair from her face, her silver eyes glowed in the moonlight. She also had a mole on the corner of her mouth and pointed ears. Before she began to speak, she licked her large, red lipstick filled lips.
“I don’t need permission to speak to my son! Leave us, this is royalty business. Are you royalty? I didn’t think so.”
With a brief pause, Lucious replies as he leaves disgruntled,
“Yes… Of course, Your Grace.”
With the door closing, my apparent mother walks over to the wardrobe rummaging through the clothes. She isn’t my mother though, so no harm in actually being attracted to her. Especially with the curves she has. Hopefully my “dad” is out of the picture. Grabbing some clothes, looking at them, and then putting them back as she shakes her head, she asks me,
“So, I hear your calling a meeting for the council.”
Walking towards the bed, I reply as I sit down,
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“I am.”
“And you let Judas go with a slap on the wrist? What is going on with you? Is it that Talia women again? Is she getting into your head because her father is good friends with Judas?”
“What? Nothing’s wrong with me. And, no, she wasn’t getting in my head. We didn’t exactly do a lot of talking last night. Judas brought up very reasonable concerns and it seemed like we were doing nothing to fix it. It’s obvious things need to change around here.”
She lays down the clothes she picked out on the chair at my desk, walks over and sits on the bed directly next to me. Her breasts caught my eyes instantly once again. She puts her soft hand on mine, which made my eyes catch hers, as she asks me,
“Who are you? And what have you done with my son?”
There was tension in the air as she stared into my eyes, seeking the answer. It was as if she was actually looking deep into my soul, searching for her long-lost son. However, Osiris said someone I trusted had something to do with Octavia’s – the real Octavia – death. Considering how I was killed by my mom, who knows if she’s guilty or not. She’s not as innocent as she looks. Oh, who am I kidding, she looks like a bad girl… would it be wrong to try to seduce her? Now’s not the time for that. Attempting to break the tension, I look away from her eyes and respond, nervously laughing,
“Heh! Mother, it’s still me! Maybe last night and the situation with Sir Judas really opened my eyes. Look, I’ll explain everything at the council meeting.”
Slowly taking her hand away, she gets up and walks towards the door, saying,
“You will have to fill me in later. I’m not apart of the council… remember?”
Maybe she’s catching on, even more nervous, I try to laugh off the awkward situation,
“HAHA! Right, of course! I just forgot for a moment. Crazy few hours, these have been. I’ll just have to fill you in later. Maybe dinner tonight? I’ll have the chefs whip up something nice for us.”
Not even looking at me, she lets out a quiet, yet heavy, sigh as she briefly ponders the offer,
“Yes…I would like that very much.”
She walks out of the room, without as much as saying goodbye or looking at me. She must know the truth already without me telling her. I need to relax, however, because I can’t walk out with my pants looking like Pinocchio is lying. I look over to see the outfit she set out for me. She obviously has great taste. That, and it doesn’t help that almost everything in the wardrobe is black like the empire’s colors.
I didn’t notice the large mirror next to my desk. I walk over to it, finishing up buttoning the last button on my suit to look at myself. And all black suit, 3 buttons, with a golden tassel going from my left shoulder to collarbone on my black coat. Various medals on my left breast side of the coat and my golden handkerchief in my left breast pocket. My shiny black shoes matched the rest of the outfit. No tie was needed, that’s for sure. My tanned skin matched well with the suit, as I look into my silver eyes and black slicked back hair with silver highlights throughout them. I hope those are natural. Turning towards the door, I remember that the council chamber is down the stairs and should be the first door on the right. The palace was still chaotic, and so were my thoughts. Trying to come up with what to say to these guys and still trying to process everything that’s happened within the past several hours, is a lot for anyone to handle. I was so lost in thought that the next thing I knew, I’m at the doors of the council chambers. I really need to pay attention to my surroundings more often. There stood two women, wearing a black and white kimono with golden flowers stitched along their left side. They were both around the same height and age and were twins for sure with how similar they looked. They had pink eyes and dark pink hair, with them both looking to be in their early-twenties. At the same time, they ask,
“Good evening, Your Majesty. Would you like to enter the Council Chambers to begin the meeting?”
With a deep breathe, I reply,
“Yes, I sure would. Thank you ladies.”
They both looked at each other and blushed as they opened the doors to the council chambers. Taking one step in, I see three chairs on both sides of a long table, with one chair on either end of it. With, another, deep breathe, I look around and tell them,
“Let’s begin!”
----------------------------------------
Looking out her window bay window, a tall woman in dark green robes seemingly spoke to herself,
“Yes…Yes I know…It should’ve worked… I… don’t know who thA-. Yes, yes I understand… I will do my best… It is difficult when he’s… no.. Of course, I’ll get the job done. I did with his father after all… Don’t worry, our plan will still work. For the good of our people, I won’t let anymore chaos break out. No matter the cost… I understand, Your Majesty. It will be done… Ina Sindarine.”
The woman can be seen holding a mocking jay in her hands. She puts a rose pedal in its mouth and tosses the bird in the air as it flaps its wings away from her and then zips away so fast that the air left streaks behind. Tears fall down the woman’s face as she grabs a letter from her table and tosses it into the fire as the words 'Octavia' and 'Threat' turned into ashes.