Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3
A Game to be Played
Serene


“Lily,” Emperor Vandon said with a genuine smile on his face. “How do you like the roast?”

“It is filled with variety,” Serene said with a small smile to Vandon, but she was disinterested in what she was eating.

He frowned and reached over and touched her hand. It was warm and it made her skin crawl. The smooth pads of his hand disrupted the tiny hairs and made her want to vomit, but she smiled reassuringly at him. “You are distracted.”

“I am, Your Majesty,” she said. “I am worried.”

“What are you worried about?” he asked. His expression told her that he would make everything better. He always bent over backwards for the women he was pursuing. She had done her research on him before slipping on the glamor ring.

“It is the Empress,” she said.

He frowned darkly. His obsessive dislike for her was Serene's fault. In truth, she cultivated the problem by dropping tangled phrases and confusing time lines in such subtle ways he could barely tell it was happening. However, it was enough to plant the seed. Her plan demanded his paranoia and distaste, but she feared for Erista's life, and so she needed her cousin.

Thinking of whom, she could not see her at the guardian's table. No one seemed in the least bit concerned that she was missing. Their dislike for her was also part of the plan. It was necessary, especially now that Erista had chosen to go against Matiline. Serene hated it all though. It hurt to see her cousin so scorned all over again.

Guilt consumed her as she remembered their brief time at the Mage Academy. After a year of being away the time spent with Terabeth and her friends made her feel so terrible about herself. She knew that she always said horrible things about Pandora, but she never meant a single word. She simply had no true experience with having to make an unconditionally loving person happy before.

She sighed heavily.

“Lily?” Vandon said imploringly.

She blinked and then started out of her shame. “Your Majesty?”

“What worries you about my wife?”

“I don't know. It is hard to place. She just seemed so eager to have Amazon as a guard. Do you think she is unhappy with her guardians?” She pushed the food around on her plate.

He watched the movements of her silver fork with distracted interest. “Why would she be?” he asked. “They are suitable.”

“Well, she seems lonely,” Serene told him, “And she refused to put that infernal dog into the kennel.”

Part of her really wanted to see him in the kennel so that she could visit him, but on the other hand...no child of hers should be with beasts. She ached to spend time with Star and Rubio. Vandon was entertaining enough, but he exhausted her.

“She is always surrounded by people just as I am. I am never lonely. How can she be?” he asked.

“Well, you do have me,” Serene said with an attractive cut of her eyes. His breath hitched and he licked his lips and looked away.

“I do have you,” he said. “I am glad that I resented. You are a powerful and wise mage.”

She nodded. “It has been such a learning experience for me, serving you, my Emperor,” she said with a faint smile. It was difficult to manage much more. Worry nagged at the edges of her heart.
“Lily, what else is bothering you?”

She gave him a patient smile. It felt like a smile Pandora used when she was tired and the children were pestering her. Pandora always made it look so kind and natural. For her it felt patronizing. She shook her head. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I am just tired. Could I be excused? I think I need some rest.”

“Certainly,” he said with concern etched on his face. It was almost startling that he could be so concerned for her. She knew that if he knew who she was he would change his mind quickly about her, but for now she was a lovely woman he was convinced he had fallen in love with.

She rose and touched him on the shoulder. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do so as not to leave him discouraged. “I will see you in the morning, Your Majesty. If you need anything, send a servant to summon me.”

“Anything?”

“Well, I hope you leave it to something that is significant. I do feel a great need for rest.”
He nodded his agreement and she left him to his noisy hall. When she left the majority of the noise it took her a while to become accustomed to the quiet. The echoes of laughter and music bounced between her ears.

After the week of living in the palace, Serene entered a sort of “tunnel vision,” as Greg called it. She noticed none of the fine things around her, and she was glad of it. The colors, textures, and materials made her euphoric, but before she introduced herself as a potential High Mage she had to overcome her draconic obsession with expensive junk. Now it was just junk to her, and it helped her immensely when dealing with a man who was more extravagant in his tastes than she or her father ever had been.

Her steps halted at a vase she had never noticed before. It was crafted from jade and gold and stylized dragons rose up from the bottom with their noses winding to the rim. She reached out to it and brushed her fingers over it, but allowed there to be a buffering air between her and the artifact. The vase was so familiar to her that her body began to react to it.

Once, in another life, it had belonged to her father. She took a deep breath and turned away from it. Something inside of her felt renewed, but she felt an emptiness inside of her entire body. Even her fingers felt hollow inside. She was nothing more than a husk of skin now, animated by magic forces beyond her control.

A servant opened her door for her. She nodded her acknowledgment, which was more than most did and more than she had done as a child. Servants were always invisible creatures to her. They were not even human, but now she could not afford to hold such beliefs. She needed their loyalty to keep their mouths shut in case they caught her up to something.

“Ferris,” she said to the door man, “Be sure to give me ample warning if anyone is approaching. I'll be in my back room so that I can hear the bell more clearly.”

“Certainly,” he agreed with a faint, amused smile.

Usually, his smile would give her some relief, but now she was so high strung she could barely see it. She dipped her chin to her maids as they stood from their card game. They watched as ignored their curtsies and went into another room and shut the door. She could hear their whispers, but not make them out.

She dug her mirror out of the drawer and then sat down on a chair. “Pandora, please be around it.” She waited only a mirror before Pandora's face appeared in a blur.

“Serene?” Pandora sounded panicked and relieved all at the same time, but Serene had her release just by hearing her name.

“Who else?” she asked with a nervous laugh and glanced around uneasily. “I don't know how much time I have,” she said. “Are you all right?”

“Well, the guardians have it out for me,” Pandora said. She appeared so impassive, but after five or so years of living with her, fighting with her, and getting out of trouble with her, she could see the subtle highlights of Pandora's expression. It hurt and bothered her cousin that she was not even marginally accepted by the organization over half of her life had been dedicated to.

Serene began to chew on her lower lip, but the paint on it was vile. The muscles in her face responded with a scowl. She smoothed out the lines and sighed. “That could be a good thing or a bad thing,” she mulled over aloud. “You can work it to your advantage if the Empress likes you.”

“Maybe,” Pandora said. “I have a bad feeling about all of this.”

“Well, you just have to watch her and make sure she is safe,” Serene said. “She is not a part of this, and I don't want her caught up in it.”

“So you like her?”

“I think she's too innocent,” Serene said. “I don't even remember what it was like to be innocent.”

“Well, you were raised by a thief,” Pandora reminded her gently.

Serene smiled faintly and then nodded. She remembered her father's smile and the way he delighted in her shadow melding. Her throat constricted so tightly that she could barely breathe. She took a deep breath and forced her throat to relax. “You are right. Anyway, I'm sorry, Pandora, but... I have to be going very soon. Why weren't you at dinner?”

“What do you mean?” Pandora asked. “Someone is supposed to come get me.”

“What? No...” She closed her eyes and looked away from her patient cousin. She counted to ten as slowly as she could bear. “I can't do anything about this. Damn it.”

“It's all right. Someone will have to come for me if I'm going to watch the Empress tonight.” Pandora offered what she hoped to be a reassuring smile. “I just hope that Greg and the children are all right.”

“Greg will keep them in line. He's at least good at that,” she said. “They'll figure something out.”
Pandora nodded. Greg and Pandora were closer than Serene was to Greg. In fact, Greg and Serene could not be in the same room without arguing. Therefore, when there were no important issues Serene stayed away from him, but Greg was not a bad sort. He simply had a strong personality that only took the back burner when Pandora was involved. Serene could tell how much the otherworlder admired and adored her poor, emotionally devoid cousin. It was almost enough to break her heart.

“I miss them,” Pandora admitted.

“It is odd being away from them. For the last five years they've been our whole lives,” Serene said, but it was not all together true. Serene had to leave to get gold for the hatchlings and get books for their education. She gathered history books and other sorts of things for Greg to learn from so that he could better teach the hatchlings. When she discovered that her father was murdered under the guise of execution she became obsessed with recovering her previous belongings, but she still only focused on books and magical items. She wished she had spent more time with them. She wished she was with them all now.

The bell rang and disrupted her line of thoughts.

“I love you, Pandora. I'll find time to talk to you later. When?”

“Oh, um... I'm going to be watching her during the night. I'm confined here for the most part.”

“I see,” Serene said and pressed her lips into a tight line. There was a knock at her door. It was a faint knock that was meant to simply warn, but did not ask permission to enter. “I have to go,” she said so quickly that the words were stumbling from her mouth. She wiped her hand across it and then laid it down.

The door creaked open and the Emperor's head peaked in. She quickly rose to her feet and curtsied to him. Her head stayed down and her eyes did not leave his feet as he stepped in.

“I am sorry to disturb you,” he said. “I just could not get the things you said out of my mind.”

“And what was that, Your Majesty?” she asked placidly, but inside she was seething. Could he not leave her alone for a night? She just needed some time to be herself. She needed some time away from the game.

“Do you think she is lonely?”

“Your wife, Your Majesty?” she asked.

“Please, get out of that ridiculous pose,” he said and stretched his legs so that he was to her in only two and a half steps. One set of hands had two fingers under her chin and tilted her head back up and the other raised her up by her elbow. “You should not be so formal in private with me. We are friends and you are my most trusted advisor.”

“You hardly know me, Your Majesty. I could be a spy or someone bound to your destruction, yet you trust me more than your childhood friend?” she asked.

“Your humility does you justice,” he told her and caressed the side of her face. His whole body slowly drew closer to her. “If you were going to betray me would you caution me against trusting you so fully?” he asked.

“I do not know,” she said with a faint smile and looked passed him at the door.

“You always think of me first,” he said. “But now you think of my wife. Why does she concern you so?”

“It is simply that she seems so miserable. A miserable queen does little to inspire your people. Plus, you have no heirs and that puts them at unease.”

“It is not my fault,” he told her with an ill suppressed edge in his tone. “The women I wed bear no fruit.”

“You do not know that about your current wife,' she said. “Empress Erista has only had the privilege of your bed a handful of times since you were wed. You can not impregnate a woman by being married to her and glaring at her in distaste. If that were the case some couples would have far more children.”

He smiled at her, soft and fond. “You are right, but I do not desire her.”

“Then pretend she is someone else. You cannot fail your people because you do not desire your wife. Put on a blind fold and pretend you are ravishing the woman you truly desire.”
“I do not know if I could touch her,” he said. “She is as uninterested in my touch as I am in hers.”
“You may be an Emperor, Your Majesty, but you are a servant to your people, and you must do what is right by them, do you not think? They need an heir and so do you. Go to your wife tonight and put one in her belly.”

“Do you think it is the right time for a son?” he asked.

“I have no way of knowing, but even if you only father a daughter, she will be better than nothing to the people. She will prove your virility and the fertility of the Empress. It is a small thing to ask.”

“Children are expensive,” he told her with a teasing chuckle.

“Then it is a good thing you have more wealth than any being in the world. Besides, the nobles will gift any child you have with more than you will have to give. They will lavish any child of yours with the same gifts of gold and other fine things just as they did to you.”

“You are right,” he said. “I will go to her tonight with thoughts of another in my mind.”
Serene nodded.

“Thank you, Lily,” he said and fondly kissed her forehead, but she felt his desire to do more.

She took a step back from him. “Good night, Your Majesty.”

He left her alone in her thoughts, and she wondered if what she did was the right thing to do. She hoped and prayed that it would give Pandora the opening that she needed to worm her way into the confidence and friendship of the Empress. She would need it if things went out of hand with the Emperor.

“Mistress Lily?” a servant said from the door.

She recognized his voice. “Yes, Mithal?” she asked politely.

“There is a Duke here to speak with you.”

“Which one?”

“Duke Ricard, Mistress Lily,” he said quietly.

“The Empress's father?”

“Yes, Mistress. Would you see him?” he asked. “I told him you required quiet and peace, but give that the Emperor just left...”

“Yes, certainly,” she said. “We cannot have rumors going about that I am the Emperor's harlot.” The idea sickened her, and she was no innocent virgin. She doubted a spoiled man like him even knew what an orgasming woman was like. “I will see him in the parlor. Do I look all right?”

“Your lip has teeth marks in it,” he told her. She smoothed her fingers of it and then he nodded. “Much better if not a bit thin.”

“It cannot be helped. Tell him I will see him in a moment. Have someone bring up some tea and some raisin biscuits.”

“You do not like--”

“No, but he does,” she said. “I must be a gracious hostess, and I have no idea how long he will wish to discuss...whatever it is with me.”

“As you wish, I will handle it presently.”

She nodded and they left the small back room. She went into the parlor and found one of her maids making certain that everything was in order for the guest. Mithal was an efficient man. She appreciated him, but did not trust him entirely. He was a “gift” from Vandan, and she could trust nothing that came from him.

She stood in the center of the room and placed her hand on the chair. “Cary, please go tell the announcer I am ready to give the Duke audience.”

“Certainly, Mistress,” she said with a curtsy and exited the room.

In less than a moment Mithal stepped inside and clicked his heals together. “Introducing His Grace, the Duke Ricard of Ressitch.”

The duke entered in behind him with purpose, but floundered when he saw Lily standing there as proud as any noble in her silk gown that flowed around her. She curtsied to him deferentially. There was no point in pushing his buttons.

“To what do I owe this unexpected honor?” she asked without sarcasm, but she seethed inside about him walking into her domain as if he owned it.

“I have a boon to ask,” he said.

“I see. Why do you not sit, your grace? I am having tea and your favorite biscuits sent up to us,” she said with a polite smile. She imagined that if her mother ever entertained guests it was the same smile she would use.

The Duke carefully walked over to the offered chair and sat down, flaring out his coat tails. He was an older gentle with gray hair sunken eyes, but there was a virility about him that could intimidate the most cocky of nobles. Despite herself, Serene admired him for it. She sat down after him. It was a sign if disrespect, but she ignored it. She was not a woman when she was in the Emperor's service. She was simply a polite hostess.

“I have come to discuss my daughter,” he said.

“You are very blunt this eve,” Serene said mildly and pushed back the flicker in her eyes. “I am to assume that it is not the Duchess of Berale that you come to me about?”

“You assume correctly,” he said in a clipped manner. The lines of his face deepened.

“You are free to share your concerns with me, your Grace, though why you do so with a lowly mage such as myself is not understood,” she told him in as courtly a manner as she could manage.

“Of course not,” he said with a sickeningly sweet smile that promised poison. “You are the Emperor's favorite and you could not see how this concerns my daughter?”

“I am a staunch supporter of you daughter and my Empress,” she said. “I think of her happiness even now.”

“Do you?” he asked.

“Oh, certainly,” she said. “I think that a child would make her infinitely more joyful, do you not?” she asked with a smile.

He raised his right eyebrow in question and his lips puckered. “I think that you are correct in your assumptions,” he said.

“Then it would, perhaps, please you to know that he left to join her company right before you called?” she asked.

“It would,” he said with a hard edge in his voice. His shoulders were stiff. “What do you have to benefit from this?” he asked.

“Despite what you may think, your grace, I am a professional woman. If I may be candid?” she asked and he nodded. “Has a pretty maid ever caught your eye?”

His silence was a brick wall and Serene laughed. “Your grace, I do not mean to be insulting. No one can help who they are attracted to, but they can help if they do anything about it. I am simply asking if there was an attraction between a man and a woman, not a duke and a servant.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, “What man is not attracted to a maid at one time or another?” he asked.

“Well, your grace, I am the Emperor's maid. I know that nothing good could come out of me being his mistress. I have no desire to lose my position when he loses interest, and he will always lose interest. I hope you view me as prudent.”

“You strike me as such,” he said with some tension released from his shoulders.

“Then you must be assured that the Emperor's affection for me will bear no fruit and I will not attempt to remove your daughter from her rightful place.”

“And what assurance do I actually have?” he asked.

There was a knock at the parlor doors and Serene ordered them to enter. They laid down their burdens on the table, but were waved away when they attempted to serve. “I will serve my guest,” she said and launched herself into the ritual of serving tea.

When they were satisfied with what they had and were alone Serene said, “Imagine a child, if you will, your grace. He sees something he knows that he must not have. His mother and father go to all lengths to prevent him from having it, but he gets it anyway. He is fascinated by it for a short time, but his pleasure in it ends when he realizes that it was not as fun as he thought. Then he sees something else he desires and discards what he worked so hard to obtain.”

“I do not think I follow.”

“Let us say that your daughter is all the toys he discarded. They are safe toys for a child to have. They are respectable and trusted. The knew toy he desires is dangerous to him, but may be benign in other respects. He will grow tired of this thing just as he did the others. Say I am this new obsession. He will grow tired of me and he will discard me as he would his other toys. It is simply the type of man he is. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He may quietly put your daughter away, but he may not think he can do that twice and it could be my head.”

“You think of it on such...practical terms.”

“We all have our priorities, your grace. I have more power and respect now that I think I would have as his broodmare. I hate to refer to someone as sweet and innocent as the Empress as such, but it may be her foothold into the Emperor's heart. It is my goal to make him happy with his wife so that he will be loved by his people.”

“So it is all political for you,” he said.

“Oh, do not get on your high horse with me, your grace. Did you think of her happiness when you married her off to the Emperor. You know how he is. You were in his court as he grew. You watched how he broke the heart of his late wife, may her soul rest in eternal peace and tranquility. Certainly you knew that a young, lovely woman such as the Empress could not hold his love or attention. It was power and the desire for it that drove you. It back fired, for he despises her now and you as well.”

The duke glowered, but Serene did not regret what she said. He had to recognize his place.
“I do assure you, though, as a woman that your daughter is very important to me. I seek to see her treated well and that she be happy. His Majesty will not look out for her well being, so I will. I know that she hates me, but I harbor no ill will for her. I am simply clumsy with my tongue. A person such as myself only needs be powerful in and of herself, not socially graceful.”

“You are correct,” he agreed. “You have set my soul at ease, though. You are certain that he has gone to her?”

“I am,” she said. “An heir will concrete her position.”

“I pray she has a boy.”

“If she has a daughter a son will certainly follow. His Majesty had no luck with his late wife, but her line was never as fertile as that of your wife's. I wish the best for her and your family. Do not be discouraged.”

“And what do you get out of this?” he asked.

“Respect, I hope,” she said. “I do not like being seen as a potential lover. As I told you, I am a professional woman. I am not his mistress. I am his High Mage. I do not desire to miss the roles.”

The duke watched her for a long moment. “I should be going. I am pleased that we had this discussion.”

“I hope you will be wise enough not to goad the Emperor in any way about my lack of desire in him. It would only cause you and your daughter more woes. I would hate to see all of my work gone to waste because I trusted you with this information.”

“I am no fool. Your prudence in this matter will not go unrewarded.”

She smiled at him and they both rose. She curtsied and he kissed her hand before leaving. She wished there was a way to speed this all up.