“Princess Rowena, is the Empress Mia alive or not?” I knew by now she was terrified. She may believe that there was still a slight chance that she may live if she told the truth which is what I wanted her to believe.
“Yes Your Majesty, she is alive.”
“And how do you know this?” She hung her head and wrung her hands together.
“I saw her. Walking in the Imperial garden…with you.”
I let that settle in among the council who muttered in disbelief. The old woman’s words plus those of Princess Rowena had been enough to convince them. Now they looked at the Grand Empress dowager in horror.
Those who wore looks of skepticism in the beginning were now appalled and visibly shaken as all the past hidden deeds of the Grand Empress dowager and her son were revealed one by one.
It wasn’t long before the calls for punishment rang out around the room. And by the end of the telling, the Grand Empress dowager had to be held up as her knees gave out and she had no strength left to stand.
The once formidable figure who had ruled the inner palace and beyond through blood and tyranny. Who had meddled in the political and state affairs of the kingdom contrary to custom, in just a matter of moments had become a feeble replica of herself.
If she thought her weakened state would move me she was sorely mistaken. Her terror had only just begun. There was no one to plead for her, I’d already removed all of her supporters for this very reason.
“You’ve heard all the crimes committed at the behest of these two. Including the murder of the former Emperors and my grandmother the Empress as well as the Crown Princess whose life they sought to take.”
“There can be no question of their guilt and I will not spare. As to the Princess Rowena though she played no part in their crimes, she had knowledge of the plot against the Crown Princess and for her own personal gain, chose to keep it hidden.”
“Not only that, but since realizing that my Empress was still alive, sought to have her killed by her own father.” The grumblings among the council begun again. Each had their own ideas as to what their punishment should be.
“All three should heretofore be stripped of their titles and their names removed from the family history except for purposes of teaching future generations what would befall them be they as perverse as they.”
“The son Loren, shall be drawn and quartered. For his crimes of filicide and fratricide, his head shall be hung from the city wall for all to see, his body sent to the four corners of the kingdom. This sentence is to be carried out immediately.”
I waited for the furor to die down after he was dragged out by the waiting guards. Valeria, who still didn’t seem to understand that the title she once held no longer protected her, still tried to be heard.
“As to Rowena, for trying to have my wife killed even after all she’d already suffered. Such a person cannot be left alive to plot and scheme again in the future. I give her death by poisoning.”
Rowena fainted and had to be carried out before her grandmother’s sentencing could be read. I turned my focus on Valeria now, not allowing my hate and disgust to show as it’s not fit for the Emperor, but I’m sure she knew. Besides, I was a long way from done with her.
“As to Valeria, she shall be entombed alive in a location of my choosing, where she will live out the rest of her days.” That’s not as bad as it sounds. It only meant that she will be walled up in a room with no outside contact.
Her wails and screeches could be heard long after she’d been dragged from the room. Now I turned my attention to the old woman, Giselle. “I cannot forgive your crimes, but you did keep the Empress alive so I have to take that into consideration.”
“I sentence you to forty lashes of the whip. If you survive you’re free to return to your home, but you will never step foot in the capital city again. If you should ever use your gift to harm in the future, you will lose your head.”
I left the council room after making that final judgment and went to a quiet place alone until I had cleared my mind, before returning to my family.
They were finally safe. I’d removed our enemies and now they can live freely and without fear. Though there will always be those who seek to harm for gain, for now at least I’d rid the government and the palace of the darkness that had prevailed for way too long.
Now that it was behind us, it was time to turn my mind to more pleasant things. Like the crowning of my wife and the naming of my son as Crown Prince. I wanted her coronation to be the grandest the kingdom had ever held and had already set about making that happen.
I hadn’t told her any of what was taking place today, I did not want her to worry. Especially not for the old woman who’d taken her away. Knowing her soft heart, she’d find a way to forgive, but I could not.
This way, when I present it to her as a done deal, she will have no choice but to accept and then we can move on. “Is he asleep again?” I never knew that newborns slept as much as my son.
This time I sat on the bed and took her hand in mine instead of laying with her. I told her of all that I’d done that day and she listened without interrupting.
I didn’t miss the way her shoulders relaxed and I realized that she had been worried since her return. Her next words told me where her mind was and what it was that she really feared.
“Promise me that no one would use our children and destroy their lives for gain. That they will never face the things we have.”
“That is a promise I can both make and keep.”
Emperor Jai
Both the coronation and naming of the Crown Prince were grand affairs. After the uproar had died down from the death sentences passed on Loren and Rowena and their crimes had been made known to the public, life settled down once again.
Her family, including Des had been there for the coronation and had been allowed to spend time with her and the baby for a few days following before the palace went back to normal.
But that day, the day she was finally named as my Empress had been the final insult to Valeria. I’d had her walled in where I knew she could see and hear the procession.
This is something I’d planned when I decided on her punishment. I wanted her to see all that she’d worked so hard for come to nothing.
It had been weeks since the death of her son and granddaughter, something she had to live with day and night, and now the final straw. The young girl she’d sought to destroy was now in her rightful place.
The admiration and adulation for Mia that day was hard to miss. Something I knew was hard for the old woman to stomach. I’d gone all out to show my love for my Empress, even going so far as to compare her virtue to that of my grandmother .
My final act was to look toward the place from whence I knew she watched. Forced to by the guard I’d sent to specifically ensure that she didn’t miss a thing.
And when the remembrance of the ancestors were read, her name was not mentioned. It was as if she’d never been. Something I knew would hurt her more than even her present circumstances.
Empress Mia was now the head of the inner court, and with the help and guidance of my mother the Empress dowager was fast catching on to the ins and outs of her duties.
It was a fact that there was a much lighter air about the palace these days, and with her goodness of nature not a day went by that I did not hear some whisper about her kindness towards even the lowliest of servants.
There was only one fly in the ointment; Valeria. I’d set something in motion for her that I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist. Knowing well her thirst for blood and vengeance, I knew it was only a matter of time.
I’d wanted her to live long enough to hear about the coronation and naming ceremony. To know before she drew her last breath that all she’d done over the years had been in vain.
The court lady I’d chosen to take her meals was someone known to her. I’d purposely done this to put her mind at ease so she’d have no knowledge of the trap I was setting for her.
T
hough the court lady had been ordered to have no other contact other than to pass the food through the slot in the door, she had broken this rule from the very first day.
When Valeria ordered the woman to find a way to poison my wife and child she was made to believe that this order would be carried out. For three days she was made to believe that things were progressing in her favor.
She was even made to believe that I myself will be taken care of and that she would one day soon be released from her prison. Her words upon hearing this showed the darkness that still lived in her heart.
By nightfall the next day she was dead. Poisoned by the court lady under my orders. I waited until she was drawing her last breath to visit that depressing place and stand over her dying form as the last of her life began to drain from her eyes.
“You…” She pointed a gnarly finger at me and tried to stand to her feet, but it was too late. The poison had already done its work.
I turned and walked away as blood leaked from her lips. That was the end of it. “Bury her in the hunting woods, there should be no marker on the grave.” I know she heard me, I made sure of it.
I walked out into the sunshine and forgot her as soon as I returned to the palace. Today was a special day after all. My wife was finally healed from giving birth to our son.
It had been a long two months, but in that time we’d grown to know each other in ways we never got the chance to before. And the love we once held for each other only grew stronger.
For pleasure throughout that time I’d drained her breasts at least once a day, barely controlling myself enough to leave food for my son when he grew hungry.
It had fast become one of my favorite things. And at night when we laid in bed, even though I couldn’t take her, I forbade her to wear anything against her naked skin, and would spend hours caressing and learning her amazing body.
She’d regained her girlish figure because in the weeks after the sentencing, when she was no longer confined to my rooms, she’d been training as she always did.
I dared not say anything about it, no matter how I felt that my Empress, the mother of my child, should not be doing such a thing.
Her former boldness had returned and seemed to have only grown worse. And even as Emperor, I knew that if I wanted peace in my kingdom and my home, I had to let her be.
It was only in my bed that I truly ruled, as I’d learned all her secrets and spent hours taming the warrior. In my bed she was just my woman, owned and controlled by me.
Now today I was finally free to have her again. It felt like forever and was indeed a full year had gone by since I’d had her. And even then I hadn’t been in my right mind.
I found her in my mother’s chambers having one of their afternoon chats. I had enough presence of mind to greet my own mother before grabbing the Empress’ hand and asking mother to excuse us as I had something of the utmost import to discuss with her.
Mother’s ‘oh my’ assured me that she’d seen right through me, that I hadn’t fooled her one bit. I didn’t have time to worry about my un-Emperor-like behavior though.
Now that the time was here, it seems my patience had ran out. I’d been able to hold out this long but now… “Jai, where are you dragging me off to in such a hurry?” She could barely keep up.
I’d already dismissed everyone and threatened them to within an inch of their lives if they sought us out. Instead of taking her to my palace or hers, I headed for the Orchid Palace.
She still had no idea what I was up to until I practically dragged her into the sleep chamber and attacked her clothes. She laughed when she finally caught on to what I was after and helped me disrobe us both.
I lifted her naked body in my arms and took her to the bed which I had made up the way it would’ve been on our wedding night all those many years ago.
My hands shook with nerves as I trailed them over her softness. Even in these past months as I enjoyed her body beneath my hands I wasn’t this nervous. Because I knew that I could only go so far.
But now, now that she was laid out before me and there was nothing stopping me from taking her, I didn’t know where to begin. I trailed a finger down her middle slowly, until fine goose pimples appeared on her flesh and her nipples stood upright as if begging for my mouth.
With my tongue I tasted the very tip of one before sucking it into my mouth. I let my hands travel her body slowly, building the heat inside her the way I’d learned how.
And when my fingers found the wet silk between her thighs, all my angst just drifted away as she opened for me, letting me take her with my fingers.
I’d stayed away from this part of her before, afraid of hurting her so soon after she bore my child, and so she was still tight around my fingers as I slid them slowly, gently, in and out of her.
My cock was already hard, had been hard since I took her hand in my mother’s chambers. And when she reached down between us and took it in her soft warm hand, it jumped and leaked my essence into her palm.
She stroked me the way she’d done these past months while I loved her nipples with my tongue before lifting my lips to hers.
Our kisses were wild, hot; tempestuous in their intensity as I sped up the movement of my fingers inside her. Our tongues dueled against each other as she lifted her hips from the bed, pushing her cunt harder into my hand.
She pulled on my cock and opened her legs wider in an unspoken command for me to come to her. I rolled, putting her beneath my heavier weight and released her lips once again to capture her nipple as I slipped my cock into her welcoming heat.
We both sighed together at the feeling of finally being together like this again. I lathed her breast with my tongue before moving onto the next and sucking the milk that now flowed from her.
This seemed to please her as I felt her tighten inside as she dug her nails into my back and rocked her hips against mine feverishly.
I wanted her mouth again, so once I had my fill of her sweet milk, being sure to leave some for my greedy son later, I took her head in my hands and fed her my tongue, letting her taste her milk.
We moved together as if we’d done it a thousand times before. Her hips lifted to meet my downward thrusts and even as she sucked on my tongue something deep inside her sucked at the head of my cock.
I pulled my lips away from hers long enough to share what was in my heart. What has been on my mind these days.
“The last time I got you with child, I didn’t know that it was real. This time I want to plant my seed in you with purpose.”
“I want you to give me a little girl, like you. A little Princess to be the apple of her father’s eye.” She pulled my head down and found my lips hungrily with hers again and we didn’t come up for air for a long time.
Not even when our bodies moved faster together until the loud sound of the bed hitting the wall filled the room. Our moans mingled together and the sound of our flesh meeting over and over again filled the air.
I ate at her lips ravenously as something sweet and overpowering built inside me. She wrapped her legs higher around my hips and used her hands to pull me into her as if she couldn’t get enough.
I pounded into her with force now, now that I knew I wasn’t hurting her and in my mind imagined all the ways I wanted to take her before this day was over.
My thoughts fueled my lust until way too soon I felt my seed fill my sac, ready to explode inside her. I tried to prolong our mating, but it was no use, I had to spend inside her soon.
“Take my seed!” I reared back far enough to look down between us at where my cock was stuffed into her and felt the first of my seed burst forth inside her.
She opened and accepted me, her movements slowing as if she wanted to feel all of me as I spilled my seed deep in her belly.
Even when I was drained, when there was nothing left, I found it hard to leave her. “Am I too heavy?” I asked the question with my face buried in her neck and my arms wrapped tightly around her.
She wrapped her arms a
nd legs around me, holding me tight. And I did my best not to crush her into the bed. Cupping her head in my hand, with my cock still lodged deep inside her, I rolled, bringing her to lay on top of me.
Just that small movement was enough to bring my cock back to life and I started moving inside her again. With her face in my neck I placed one hand on her plump ass, and the other held her head as I moved her on and off my growing cock.
She licked my neck and then I felt her teeth there, biting into my flesh as her cunt squeezed tight around my marauding cock. Our movements were slow as I moved deep inside her, but it wasn’t long before we both needed more.
I sat her up until her legs straddled my hips and she planted her hands on my chest and rocked back and forth until she found the perfect rhythm. She laughed gaily when my cock jumped inside her, enjoying the power she held over me.
My hands played up her body until I caught both her breasts in my hands and squeezed. Milk sprung from her hard nipples and she cried out in pleasure pain.
Pulling her down to my mouth, I suckled her until that tightening started deep inside her again.
This time when her body tightened up I didn’t stop moving but thrust into her even harder as she flung her head back and rode herself to orgasm harder on my cock.
I didn’t give her a chance to come down, but threw her onto her back and pounded out my lust into her body until I came hard and deep inside her once more.
This time it was her teeth and nails that scored my body as she found fulfillment again. I stayed buried inside her until the last of my seed dripped into her.
I was barely able to roll away from her as we both fought to breathe afterwards. I held her close while my heart thundered in my chest and kissed her brow, too choked up to form the words that were in my heart.
Epilogue
NARRATOR
Flower In The Palace Page 26