Flower In The Palace Read online

  Excitement mixed with the fear of being discovered at the very last second as I stepped up onto the first rung of the ladder.

  I shifted the slipping bag more securely onto my shoulders and climbed with my heart beating wildly in my chest. Any second I expected to hear raised voices calling me back.

  I was just about to reach the last rung and freedom when a noise startled me from behind. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes in frustration, sure that I’d been caught once again. But I didn’t hear the disapproving prattle of eunuch Van.

  Looking quickly over my shoulder to see who or what it was that had appeared, I came up short at the sight that met my eyes. I had to blink twice to be sure that I wasn’t imagining things.

  I stared open-mouthed at the unaccustomed sight of a stranger this far onto the palace grounds. It wasn’t just her presence here where she shouldn’t be that caught my attention though. It was the sheer beauty of her face.

  It wasn’t that there was a shortage of beauties in the palace. Beauties can be found in every class in the kingdom. But there was something about this one that stood out.

  A quiet gracefulness in the way she walked. An elegance about her, an aura that made my heart beat faster in my chest. The closer she came the more unreal she seemed. The look on her face was pure joy.

  She looked like my imagination of a fabled princess from another time. And for a split second, I thought she might not be real. That she was indeed just a figment of my imagination. But her tinkling laugh when it rang out, assured me that she was indeed very real.

  I watched spellbound as she got closer and closer to where I stood on the ladder, all but forgetting my adventure. Now my heart beat erratically for a different reason.

  The vision had yet to notice me as she stared at the bluebird that seemed to be leading her. My heart trembled when she giggled as she rushed forward and tried to catch her prey.

  It was then she noticed me atop the ladder, just as she was about to run into it, which would have sent me tumbling to the ground no doubt. I didn’t care. I was stuck in place, almost afraid that if I moved the vision would disappear.

  Her eyes, a more vibrant blue than the feathers of the bird, were wide with excitement as they looked from the bird to me. She stopped in her tracks, her mouth open in an ‘oh’ of surprise.

  The sun glistened in her raven colored hair that was far more beautiful than the ornaments that are often used to decorate the elaborate coiffures of the younger ladies of nobility.

  She was bare of all enhancements, not even a ring adorned her finger which was virtually unheard of. She needed nothing to add to her beauty. She shone like a sparkling gem all on her own.

  My eyes left her face and traveled down the rest of her. Not in a lascivious manner, but in awe that even as the emperor’s grandson, even with my life of grandeur here in the palace, I had never seen anything so beautiful.

  She was slender of build, beneath the floor-length gown that almost matched her eyes and the white cape that was tied around her shoulders. It was obvious from her dress that she was from a noble family but I was sure that I had never seen her before.

  As I looked at her I wondered how anything that beautiful could be real. Her eyes held me captive for the longest of moments and kept my tongue locked behind my teeth as I stared at her almost in wonder.

  She stared back at me with no fear and none of the reverence most reserved for members of the royal family. Not to mention the favorite grandson of the emperor.

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?” We both spoke those words at the same time, surprising each other. It was the first time anyone had ever spoken to me in such a manner in my life.

  My natural brashness when dealing with strangers or those of a lesser rank than myself, which was everyone except my father and grandfather, came to the forefront.

  “What do you mean what am I doing here? Do you know this place is forbidden?” I looked around for her attendants but there was no one following behind her. Almost unheard of for a young lady of breeding.

  She didn’t seem at all fazed by my abrupt manner but instead tapped her foot on the ground as she glared up at me. Her boldness fascinated more than offended. I was more than a little bit intrigued.

  “Are you a thief?” She indicated the forgotten bag on my shoulder. What cheek!

  “Excuse me?” I still hadn’t climbed down from my perch when she turned to head back the way she came. I hurried down the ladder, jumping the last few rungs and ran after her before I could think better of my actions.

  “Where are you going?” She tugged her elbow from my grasp and took a stance that seemed almost as if she were getting ready for a fight. How absurd, I thought. Something that delicate wouldn’t have the first clue about combat of any sort.

  I released her reluctantly and took a step back when I realized I was crowding her. Not only that but my hand was slightly shaking, with a tingling sensation where our flesh had met. “I’m going to get the guards what do you think?”

  “No, you’re not.” I wasn’t exactly panicked but it was close. How much time had gone by since I stood gazing at her from atop the ladder? And how soon before I was found out?

  If she went after the palace guards it will be all over for sure. I had to think fast since she seemed adamant and the look on her face said she meant what she said. I decided to go on the defensive and throw her off guard.

  “I’m no thief, you, on the other hand, are the one who’s trespassing. Explain yourself!” She actually turned to walk away without deigning to answer me and I was the one left running after her after being struck dumb with surprise at her actions.

  “Wait!” She stopped reluctantly and turned back with a look of annoyance on her face. This time instead of tapping her foot, her hand went to her hip as she faced me down.

  “What is it?” She all but sneered the words at me. I was beginning to wonder why she acted so different from everyone else who came into contact with me, and then I remembered what I was wearing.

  No wonder she was so abrasive with me, she has no idea who I am. For some odd reason, I didn’t want to reveal my identity to her, not yet.

  Maybe because I knew once she realized who I was she’d change and become like everyone else. Bowing to me in reverence. Not being her true self.

  “I can explain. I’m not a thief, just one of the many guests here today. I got bored and decided to go into town.” That was as close to the truth as I was going to get. Besides, I’m not in the habit of explaining myself to anyone, it felt kind of strange.

  She studied me for what felt like minutes until the suspicion left her eyes and it appeared that she believed my story. Then she looked beyond me and scowled.

  “Oh darn it, it got away.” She seemed to only now remember the bird as she looked around for it, but it was long gone. She scowled at me this time, seeming truly put out by the loss and blaming me for it.

  I looked back at the ladder and back at her again, not even upset at the interruption of the day I’d been planning forever. “Follow me!”

  I was surprised when she did just that after I took the ladder from the wall and headed back to the place I’d kept it hidden before.

  I’ll have to put off my grand escape for another day it seems. Though I couldn’t explain why something that had seemed so important just moments ago no longer held much appeal.

  She kept a decent amount of space between us as we walked and I got the sense that she was alert and aware of my every step. Again I got the feeling that she was braced for a fight.

  I replaced the ladder and stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do with myself. Then I remembered the bag on my back and the snacks I’d pilfered earlier.

  “So who are you? Are you trying to get away from the banquet as well?” She gave me a slightly guilty smile and seemed to relax at my question.

  “Yes I am, but I’ve been gone too long already, I should be getting back...”

  “No!” I actually
grabbed her hand to keep her there.

  “Sorry!” I dropped it just as quickly as I’d grabbed it. I looked down at the ground to escape her bold stare, suddenly tongue-tied and feeling out of my depth. That had never happened to me before and I didn’t like it one bit.

  “I really need to go! You should think more carefully about your actions in the future. How would your poor parents feel if something were to happen to you?”

  “What about you? Where are your parents, do they even know where you are?” How old was she anyway? Her words didn’t exactly go with what I had first believed her age to be, which was younger than my seventeen years.

  “At least I’ve stayed to the relative safety of the palace grounds. What you were attempting to do was far more dangerous and very selfish I might add.”

  I felt my hackles rise at her reprimand. How dare she? No one ever dared before and here this slip of a girl was doing it without an ounce of fear of reprisal.

  “Selfish, how am I being selfish?” I knew I was just asking to keep her here a little longer. Even her scolding voice was beautiful and soft, almost melodic. This close I could see the unnatural color of her eyes and was almost drawn into their depths. Hypnotic!

  “Did you stop to think how your parents would feel? And where are your attendants? As a young master, I’m sure you have some. What would happen to them if you went missing? Wouldn’t they be punished for your misdeeds?”

  She didn’t think much of me at all. That’s what her words conveyed to me anyway. I couldn’t answer her because her every word rang true. I had only been thinking of myself. But it was my surety that I wouldn’t be caught and not my lack of care for my people.

  “How old are you?” The question coming out of nowhere seemed to stump her for a second and she looked at me quizzically.

  “Why? What has that got to do with anything?”

  “Are you always this rude?” She bit her lip at my question and her shoulders slumped slightly as if I’d scolded her.

  “I’m fifteen, now if there’s nothing else I really need to be getting back.” I couldn’t stop her this time as she bowed slightly before turning away. I felt that fluttering in my heart again and the hand I’d used to grab her still tingled.

  Prince Jai

  I watched her walk away and felt like I was losing something. It was an easy decision to follow her back. I wasn’t ready to leave her presence yet. I consoled myself with the thought that since she was a guest I was sure to see her at the banquet.

  By the time I reached the steps of Orchid palace she was nowhere to be found and I sped up my pace to get back to my chambers. No one noticed or stopped me as I made my way inside, still in a bit of a trance after our short encounter.

  “There you are, your highness. Where have you been and what is that that you’re wearing?” Head eunuch Van rushed toward me as I opened the door to my bedchamber, pulling off my clothes as I went.

  “Never mind that, where are my robes?” He rushed to get them as the others came running. “Oh merciful heavens, saints be praised.” The chamber mistress wrung her hands and shook her head at me.

  As much of a rush as I’d been in not more than an hour ago to escape the festivities going on in the palace, I was now in that same rush to get there. What if she left before I arrived?

  What if I never saw her again? The thought had something approaching fear awakening in my gut as I hurried eunuch Van’s assistant along with getting me dressed.

  Would she recognize me? I wondered as the crown was placed on my head instead of the scarf. Would she reveal my secret if she did? Or will she just think me a liar for misleading her?

  I was nervous as I headed towards the south grounds where the dais had been set up, with my attendants following close behind, as if expecting me to disappear again.

  I bowed before my father and mother before taking my place on the dais. Before us were long tables set up on either side of the grass lawn with a stage set up in the middle where acrobats were in the middle of their performance.

  I scanned the guests as I took my seat but did not see her at once. I felt sick to my stomach when I did not find her face amidst the crowd. Instead my eyes landed on my cousin who always seems to find herself in my way whenever she visits the palace.

  I looked away from her gaze quickly, not willing to give her an opening to approach me later. At least I knew she wasn’t so bold as to approach the dais so I was safe from her grasping hands for the time being.

  I couldn’t help making comparisons in my mind between her and the young maiden I’d just met. Where one had an ethereal beauty and charm that had touched me, the other left me cold.

  Princess Rowena is the daughter of my father’s older brother. The two have a very similar story as Prince Javan and I do. The difference is that I trust my brother implicitly, while my father is ever wary of his.

  Uncle Loren as far as I’m concerned is the slyest being I know. If the ministers are degenerates, then he is the master of it. His words never seem to match his actions, very much like his mother Empress Valeria.

  We never have much dealings with each other, except here lately when he’s been visiting the palace more and more often and for some odd reason trying to seek me out.

  I’ve been able to avoid him so far and with good reason. The whispers around the palace have it that the time is fast approaching when the court ladies, led most likely by the empress, would choose a Princess Consort for me.

  No doubt he wanted his daughter to take that position. And why not? She would one day become the empress of our nation, making him the internal prince. Father in law of the emperor.

  I’ll never let that happen, not after what it was rumored that he’d done to my father in the past. Not to mention she was most likely Empress Valeria’s choice as well and her I would not please if I can help it.

  It was no secret that my betrothal was more for political gain than love. That is the way with royalty after all, and has been for centuries.

  But I have in mind to find a love like the one my parents share. I have no interest in side consorts or concubines, as I have seen what that had done to my father and grandfather. But no one knew this but me, as I wasn’t fond of sharing my inner thoughts that freely with others.

  No one knew that I had my own ideas about the woman I would one day marry, the one who would rule beside me. No one knew the deep thoughts that lived inside me. Shaped by the mistakes of the past.

  I will have no one that I did not love. My future empress must be someone I can trust, who had only my interest and the interest of our people at heart.

  I have no doubt that Princess Rowena is controlled by her father and would seek to carry out his every wish if I were ever stupid enough to accept her.

  As I looked out over the gathered guests again, I had the fleeting thought that the girl I had met not too long ago would make a perfect empress.

  In just that short meeting I’d learned a lot, maybe more than she’d expected to reveal. I knew that she had a strong core of ethics, that she had no fear and that her laugh felt like the heat of the sun on my face on a warm summer’s day.

  My feelings were rash and unlike my usual careful manner when dealing with matters of state. But somehow I couldn’t shake the feeling because of the way we met, so unexpectedly, that she belonged to me, that we were meant to be.

  I couldn’t share these thoughts with anyone I know, because the fight for the position of Princess Consort was going to be a rough one. And anyone vying for that position was sure to face great opposition.

  I knew this from studying the history of my ancestors and listening to the stories the servants told when they thought I wasn’t listening in.

  It’s a habit I picked up long ago when I realized they sometimes know more than even the emperor himself.

  I know from my reading and listening in where I shouldn’t, that over the centuries blood had been shed in the palace and beyond to seat a preferred woman on the throne. Someone that c
an be easily controlled by the ruling faction of the time.

  As a future Empress, the woman I choose would one day be second only to me on the throne and would wield great power.

  Though women were relegated to the inner court and harem, it was true that their family ties always placed them in the center of the political struggle.

  If I chose Princess Rowena as her father and the Empress wanted, then their faction would have an even stronger foothold in politics and the running of the country.

  Since I do not agree with their policies, it would be foolhardy to get caught in their net. Not to mention the fact that I absolutely most of them as human beings for their part in my brother’s ousting from his home.

  It’s for this reason that I avoid my uncle so diligently. Though I know it’s not wise to show him my displeasure and utter dislike for him and his mother, I haven’t always been able to keep my feelings hidden.

  My father is the only one who’s aware of my feelings since he too has harbored the same for years. But sometimes there’s no escaping the traps and snares of the wily. So the least amount of time I spend around the father and the daughter the better.

  My eyes scanned the nobles seated at the tables, more slowly this time. I caught a glimpse of unadorned raven black hair, and my heart picked up its pace. I’d found her. I relaxed back in my seat until my heart settled down again.

  Her head was turned as she listened to something the older woman next to her was saying and I willed her to turn around. She didn’t and I felt restless again.

  I have to find out, who she is. Even just knowing her name would suffice for now. Why hadn’t I pushed for an answer as to who she is? Learn her family name at least?

  She laughed at something the lady, probably her mother, said, but I couldn’t hear her sweet laughter over the music and loud banter of the other guests. Then I had another worry.

  Even if she did look my way, was I too far away for her to recognize me? The dais felt miles away even though it was just about thirty feet or so. There were quite a few people between her and I as well, which might make it even harder for her to notice me.