Bound

I  reached for her as I’d been dreaming of doing for almost a decade, swinging her up in the air as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  I couldn’t help my laughter at her startled cry.  Here in my arms was perfection.  Her long, ebony tresses came out of her carefully coiffed style from the force of my revolutions, and I couldn’t have cared less.  Finally, finally, I was free of the Emperor’s campaign.  Finally, I could come home to my love, the only woman for me.

My father’s war with the Samarians had lasted too long. I’d only been fifteen when I went off with the third battalion to secure our borders against the greedy trespassers bent on plundering our land. Emperor Sandhu was a greedy tyrant looking to expand his borders. His warlike people were disorganized but eager for conquest. It had taken almost a decade to subdue their bloodlust, no small feat for such an organized army. Our people were tired of war and I was right with them. 

My fiancée’s sapphire blue eyes were shining with emotion as I spun and laughed like a madman.  I love everything about my lady.  Her fierce loyalty, her wild, untamable spirit-

…Her devastating right hook…

Yep.  Still, the same amount of temper I remembered from the moment I left her behind nine years ago.  How could I have forgotten that?

...And what the heck could I have done to set her off this time?

“Oro…” I muttered incoherently as the momentum I’d built up from my wild spinning tipped me straight into the pile of luggage I’d come home with.  The servants had been unloading with that quiet efficiency I’d come to expect of them, and now I’d gone and ruined their hard work with my antics.  Great job, there, Pedro.  No doubt I’ve earned my father’s name-calling for the day.

“What in the name of Drackven’s Sigil is your problem?” Rhonda Dillons, the woman who’s just laid me out in front of half the Court, spat angrily.  The gasps and whispers were already starting; by the end of the day, I knew that the story would be that she beat me within an inch of my life, not thrown a simple punch.  I’d forgotten how annoying life in the castle can be.  With an Emperor like ours, you would think we’d have a more militarized Court.

Maybe that was the point.

“I missed you, Lady Dillons,” I said carefully, finally remembering my Court manners.  Military campaigns tend to skip these formalities, something I know I’ll miss as I move farther into the role I was born to play as an Emperor’s firstborn and heir.  “I’m sorry if I got a little… enthusiastic... in my greeting,” I finished lamely.

The only woman that could strike me and not face execution, unless I willed it, approached me like an avenging angel, the brightness of her chi distracting me from the pain in my cheek. Was she planning to strike me again? I’d more than earned it judging from her unbridled anger. One of the servants pressed a cold compress into my slack hand before she could reach me.  Curling my fingers around the familiar chill, I pressed it to my cheek with a sigh of relief.  Maybe the bruise wouldn’t be so big now.

“Have I done something to offend you, Lady?” I asked, surprised that that lethal blue-eyed gaze of hers didn’t incinerate me.  While Rhonda had never been bold enough to hit me outside of our practice bouts, she’d always had that temper.  It was the stuff of legend, both in its intensity and its duration.  Oh.  Wait.  I know what’s wrong here.  “I know you missed me, Lady, but I’m here now.  It’s just as I promised,” I said gently, radiating peace from my own chi to try and calm hers.  

And just like that, her anger diffused.  “What do you care if I missed you or not?” she said bitterly, giving me her back as she moved into the castle.  While I’d expected the fire of her fury to snuff out quickly, I didn’t expect it to be replaced by… that.  Where did that angry resentment come from?  I don’t remember anything like that in her chi before I left.  Yet, nine years is a long time to leave one’s beloved and betrothed behind.  Rather than confront such a blatant challenge to my affections, I decided to give her some time to cool off and gather herself.  I’ve done enough to unbalance her this afternoon.  Turning on my heel in a small show of defiance to my foppish Court, I made my way inside the castle proper.  Time to seek out my father and update him on my arrival.  Oy…  This is shaping up to be some day…

…  …

I made my way to my private rooms, my friends and fellow ladies-in-waiting Walda and Lisa following in my furious wake. How dare he embarrass me in front of the royal Court like that? 

“It wasn’t so bad, Rhonda. I think your hair can be salvaged.” 

“But can my pride, Lisa? Can my pride be salvaged?” I growled, anger consuming me. I hadn’t experienced anger like this in a long, long time. Probably nine years, come to think of it. “My hair is ruined and everyone will know exactly why by the end of the day! How dare that-”

“Oh Rhonda. Calm down, sweetie. Prince Pedro just laid claim on you in front of the Court. If nothing else, that should stave off Laslo’s attempts to Court you behind the Emperor’s back. That’s a good thing, right?” Walda forced me into my seat in front of my mirror as she tried to reason with me. 

“That’s not the point!”

“Isn’t it?” Lisa jumped in, combing my long locks out expertly. “Laslo had been trying to bed you for years now, looking to get into Emperor HIko’s good graces by preparing for a state funeral for your fiancé. He knows that the Emperor favors you and-”

“I can handle that slimy son of a bitch,” I declared angrily. “Laslo is a coward and a worm. He wouldn’t even serve in the military despite his younger cousin running off to do his duty at such a young age. He’s not worthy of my hand.” My friends nodded in agreement. They worked in silence to get my hair back in some semblance of order. I was too busy stewing in my intense anger to be of much help. My heart almost stopped at the knock on my door, only to plunge into fury once more when I saw it was Laslo. Speak of the devil…

“Milady Dillons,” He addressed me as he always did. “I heard that my cousin Pedro humiliated you in front of the entire Court. Please allow me to apologize for-”

“As usual, the ‘entire Court’ exaggerates,” I cut the cowardly snake off. She didn’t want to hear his nasally voice making excuses for his cousin. And I certainly didn’t want another ‘suggestion’ that I call off my long-standing engagement to Pedro in favor of him. “No, I did not appreciate being manhandled in front of the Court, but I took care of the situation myself. And the only person I require an apology from is my fiancé!”

“If you were my fiancée, you would never have to worry about-”

“But I’m not,” I interrupted him again. Laslo’s eyes narrowed, but he seemed to decide not to get into it with me in front of my friends. Instead, he bowed formally to me and left. I shuddered, relieved that he was gone at last.

“The nerve of that guy,” Walda growled. “His cousin hasn’t even been here a half-hour and he’s already sniffing at your door!” Her fury matched my own. What a creep!

“Some people will do anything for a scrap of more power. Don’t worry about him. There!” Lisa smiled as she finished my hair. “Now you only have to worry about keeping your hair in proper order throughout the dinner tonight and restraining yourself from attacking the Crown Prince at his celebration.” I groaned.

“Oh gods, I forgot all about that!”

“Are you sure you didn’t block it out?” Walda asked slyly. I didn’t bother answering because we all knew it was true. 

”Let’s look through your closet for something appropriate to wear,” Lisa suggested in a falsely cheerful voice. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur as we dressed for dinner. It pissed me off that Pedro hadn’t come to my private rooms to apologize for that horrid display in front of the castle. There was no telling how I might react the next time I saw him.

…  …

“A woman is not interested in being manhandled on arrival, my idiot son.”

“I was excited. I still am,” I attempted to defend myself against my father’s snide remark. “I haven’t seen my fiancée in nine years! What? Was I supposed to settle for a Courtly bow and a handshake?”

“Some in the Court may have preferred that. But,” the Emperor hedged, “Those that understand the uncertainty of war will understand your behavior. Unfortunately, there are those, like your cousin Laslo, who will attempt to turn the incident into something it wasn’t. You will have to be careful how you conduct yourself now that you're off the battlefield.”

“I was practically raised on the battlefield,” I sighed. “I don’t really know how to act for the Court.”

“Well, you’d better learn quickly, my idiot son. The Court is not very forgiving and your cousin has gained a great deal of popularity over the years you've been away.”

“Enough to take my throne?”

“Enough to take your fiancée.” I growled, incensed more at the idea of someone taking my woman from me than my birthright. That night, I began the arduous task of rebuilding my relationship with my fiancée. 

“I wish to apologize for my crude behavior toward my Intended this afternoon. Clearly, I was overcome with emotion after returning to my beloved homeland after almost a decade of being away.”

“Yes, well, you have clearly overcome incredible odds,” Laslo jumped in before anyone else could. “I admit, cousin, I have despaired for your life many times over the last nine years. ‘Where must he be hiding to survive this long’, I wondered over and over as the years progressed.” This brought a round of titters and sniggers that I didn’t appreciate in the least.

“There’s no place to hide on the front lines, cousin,” I retorted angrily. “A fact that you would know if you’d bothered to serve your time in the war effort.”

“Well, we couldn’t both have served, cousin,” the snake said smoothly, obviously having practiced for this line of accusation. “If we’d both been killed, where would the future of our beloved country be?”

“You could have replaced me,” I said softly. “You knew I had ties here, obligations here. We could have both done our country proud-”

“Yes, well, hindsight is 20/20,” Laslo said hastily, hearing the murmurs my words had caused. “Lady Dillons has bloomed into quite the rose in your absence. I wonder if you have what it takes to properly nurture her after all those years of rough living. Perhaps it would be best if-” The sentence was allowed to die a painless death as I growled at the coward, my normally amethyst eyes burning golden in my ire.

“You attempt to supplant my throne in my absence and now you would try to take my woman from me?” There was dead silence in the hall. Everyone was listening now. I hadn’t planned on this confrontation, but it seemed my soft-living cousin had planned to box me in with the unspoken rules of the Court. I intended to prove to him - to everyone - that I would not be boxed. I glared at my cousin, a breath from challenging him and ridding the world of his evil, when my fiancée stepped in.

“We should start the wedding preparations, My Lord Pedro. I accept your apology and am eager to wed.” That caused quite the stir. My cousin was suddenly fuming and all I could do was gape at my future wife, a goofy grin on my face. She ignored me, staring at my cousin defiantly. 

Gods above, I loved this woman.