[CONTENTID1]Death Becomes You[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]The Emperor's Love[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The day the Princess arrived did not dawn bright and cheerful. Birds did not sing as her palanquin bearers came into view. In fact, there was hardly any form of nature that celebrated this wonderous arrival. The palace was not exactly celebrating either. Perhaps the citizens of the nation Zitao ruled felt differently, but for everyone who knew or at least guessed at Zitao’s relationship with his older Knight, his marriage was not a cause for joy.

Some may have felt pity for the Princess, after all, it was not as though the marriage were her choice, but merely duty. She would me marrying an Emperor who had no intention of ever loving her, or spending his nights anywhere but in a certain man’s arms. She had never met the man she would form a union with, perhaps bear a child with, even.

The sky was grey, not raining, but thouroughly dull and boring without a hint of sun to be found. Only harmless garden snakes slithered across the pathway as they rushed for cover as the horses hooves pounded heavily into the muddy earth, dragging the cart bearing the Queen’s dowry. As it pulled to a shuddering stop before the congregation of the Emperor’s palace, everyone held their breath.

The palanquin was lowered so the royal from within the elegant pine wood construction could step out easily. One beaded slipped emerged, followed by spangled dress hems, before the Princess they had been waiting for was before them.

She was, of course, beautiful. No one could have denied or expected any differently. Her face was as pale as their ruler’s, her hair black as midnight shadows, eyelashes like streaks of ink framing perfectly silver eyes. She was tiny, a child’s body, though her eyes held more depth, a contradiction. Her figure was svelte, her dress wrapped about her form elegantly, sleeves reaching to the ground in waves of silken white and lavender.

She was the perfect princess in every way, from her appearance. It was her expression, however, that gave those assembled pause. Such sadness, such grief, not at all to be expected a week before the bride’s big day. Zitao, for a brief moment, felt that he could concur. Their gazes met. In that split second before she looked down and away, returning to the awkward situation, he felt they had a mutual understanding. Neither of them wanted this…and if he had guessed correctly, she had her own special someone.

Perfect.

~~

Upon arriving back to the palace, it was Tao’s job to show the Princess her new rooms. Coincidentally, those right next to the Emperor’s. Until that point they had remained empty, and Tao and Kris had been granted complete privacy. If things didn’t go as planned, Zitao and Kris’s trysts would come to a halt, and be a lot more difficult to plan. To put it lightly, neither one of them was too thrilled with that idea.

“Thank you, My Lord,” the girl whispered, loose hair falling across her face so that Zitao could not see her.

“Princess Shardynn’lye –“

“My Lady? Oh, my apologies, I did not know you had company,” a young man with similar midnight hair, though this was streaked with crow feathers . Zitao briefly pondered why it was the stranger was trying to find the Princess when no one was around, but dismissed it.

“And you are?” Zitao asked with a frown, until Kris appeared in the door frame behind the man, transforming Zitao’s frown into a smile.

“Ah! Tao! I was just coming to let you know, Princess Shardynn’lye’s dowry is here,” Zitao could feel the Princess’s eyes on him at the familiar way Kris spoke to him, but he did not care. The sooner she figured it out