"So," Prince Yban said as he sat down in one of the Emperor's favorite rooms, a tea room, "The little princess will be in the pond tonight?"
On the outer walls, from the ceiling to the floor, there were sliding glass windows. They had starkly black frames shaped in vertical rows of rectangles. The sunlight put cage-like shadows on the inner walls and floors, but Yban had never felt cooped up in this place.
Not even the piglet was cooped up. Little Noffnoff was in a wide yet low circular dish filled with small, smooth rocks and little bits of hidden food. She was rooting around, stimulating her little pig brain and getting healthy snacks all at once.
Beside Noffnoff's special rooting dish, Emperor Antonai was seated at a table across from Yban, a warm cup of tea cradled in his fingers as delicately as a lover's body part. His eyes were calm. The tea was less peaceful than he was. "I'd love to prowl around the pond while she's there, but since I was the one who suggested her nightly outing, she might assume I have fiendish goals."
A fingertip on Yban's right hand followed the path of his own cup's rim. "Highly lamentable, isn't it? She'll be bare and wet and you won't be able to see it."
Antonai's eyebrow twitched. Then he sighed very dramatically.
Yban licked at his teeth and lips like a cat would. Then he said, "You don't need to speak. I hear you."
And in the middle of the night, Yban set out to do what was silently asked of him.
Holding an oil lamp that had a dial, Yban quietly made his way towards the swimming pond. After he turned the lamp off, he made sure to hide himself behind a nearby tree that had a very significant girth. Many soldiers had enjoyed shade underneath that tree.
Some feet away, he saw a couple of different oil lamps on a big blanket. A woman was kneeling on that blanket. The night obscured her face, but her voice gave her identity away. "Don't go any farther than that! It'd be too deep for you!"
That was Mrs. Donner.
Yban peeked at a figure standing in a section of the pond that was knee deep.
A barely visible figure.
But, thanks to the far off lights of the other buildings, there was something visible.
A silhouette of a little woman splashing her hands in the water.
The water stirred even more as she turned around at times, bending over or hopping a bit. He saw the gently sloping curves of her breasts. They fell down when she bent. They only slightly jostled when her back straightened. Their size seemed to be very nice, not very big, though.
Yban noticed that her hips were comparably wider than the rest of her.
She was a pretty little pear.
A few more minutes went on this way. The most adorable things to notice were the innocent giggles the woman made as she played in the water. It was highly possible that she didn't know how to swim after all, and this was all she could do. She seemed to be content, though.
A woman so pleased by the tiniest of things would be very easy and entertaining to coddle.
Panting, drooping, the pretty woman soon left the water, and she sat down beside Mrs. Donner. The oil lamps gave Yban flashes of her body, dripping curls dangling from her head, shorter curls between her thighs, nipples responding to the water cooling them.
Perfectly acceptable, more than acceptable!
As Mrs. Donner helped Princess Rellenora twist the water out of her long hair, Yban gripped his lamp and carefully walked off, making sure that the next time he lit his lamp, he was a reasonable distance away. He almost tripped a few times, but that was fine.
***
She woke up early again. That was so nice. She got to wear a comfy, low neckline again. She didn't even tie her hair back with any fabric. Instead, her hair was free and easy all around herself.
Her feet as light as wispy clouds, she went into a sitting room and sat at a desk that had been placed for her. A stack of blank scrolls were waiting on her. They were the sort made with thin strips of bamboo tied and knotted together. She unrolled one scroll and dragged a box of writing utensils close. Then she chose a paint brush with a tiny round container of ink, which needed to have water.
Fortunately, a cold teapot of water was waiting underneath the table, and she poured a little water over the dry, black material. Then she disturbed the darkness with a brush's hair. Originally, the hair had been white but overuse turned it gray.
Then ... falling out of her like an avalanche ...
Characters were being vertically painted down the bamboo strips. Her thoughts were free and soaring.
It didn't take long at all for her to use up all the free space on one scroll, lay it aside for the ink to dry, and grab a fresh one. Then another, and then another, and then a fourth scroll was being written on.
A woman's voice soon interrupted her with a harsh, impatient tone. Rellenora's brush halted in the air. Two drops of ink landed onto the bamboo strips. And then, she figured out what was being said.
"Get up, the Emperor's here! You're not properly dressed!"
Naeva? Rellenora looked up. She saw Naeva's slender fingers trembling before her pale cinnabar colored gown. Rellenora shrugged and put her brush down, the wet bristles balanced over the inkwell. She was about to take her writing slate so she could better communicate with Naeva, but some very formal looking servants entered the room unannounced and distracted her with a statement. "His Imperial Majesty arrives now!"
Rellenora and Naeva both knelt down to the floor. She heard Naeva and assumed she gave the polite greeting one was expected to give the Emperor.
The Emperor said something. Naeva got to her feet. Then she tapped Rellenora's bare shoulder.
Oh, did he say they could get up? Yes ... now that her brain was registering it ... he did say that, didn't he? Rellenora stood up and sighed.
She saw black slippers peek out from underneath two hems of robes, the lower one a bright cyan and the higher one a dark brown with golden kittens embroidered in a playful pattern. He walked closer as his servants moved aside. He spoke. Then Naeva spoke.
Rellenora heard his tail whip in the air. Then the Emperor said something with a firm tone.
Discomfort poisoned the air as Rellenora's brain absorbed the short interaction.
So ... first the Emperor said, "Good morning, Your Highness. Have you been writing?"
Then, Naeva had said, "Ah, Your Majesty, should I call a servant to bring some food?"
And the Emperor replied with, "I'm waiting for your princess' response."
Rellenora didn't really understand why he was asking about her writing. Nobody else had ever had much interest in it before. She waved her hand over the desk and gave a single, cantankerous word. "Stupid."
He walked up to the desk and put the heel of his white hand on the tabletop's edge. A masculine perfume floated into her nose, spicy musk and leather with a light touch of mint. He spoke again and bowed. Then he honestly did wait for Rellenora to gather his words together.
"Have I offended you? Please accept my apology. I'm terribly sorry."
Rellenora patted the tabletop with her palm. "No." She put her fingertips to a bamboo scroll. "Stupid." Then she picked up her writing slate and wrote this statement on it, "My writing is stupid. I don't write anything intelligent, only haphazard ramblings."
Another phrase came from the man. The tone was questioning. Rellenora figured out that he was asking, "Are these diary entries?"
She wiped the slate. Then she wrote another statement. The chalk sounded soft but also crunchy, which was a beautiful and reassuring contradiction in her opinion. "I don't have a diary. I burn my scrolls when I have too many. I only write to empty my brain."
She heard his tail rise and brush against his expensive clothing. He said something with a tone that confused her. It was ... creamy? A few beats later, and Rellenora understood.
He had asked, "Does your brain often overflow with thoughts because you can't speak well? Because you need to express yourself and this is the optimal method? I'd love to know your thoughts. Won't you please let me read them?"
Never before had her right hand been so fascinating. Never before had she examined the details so exhaustively. She saw the little bits of white coming from her fingernails. She saw the old patches of dryness. She saw chalk and old ink stains. She saw a hand that shouldn't belong to a princess.
Something cold and viscous bubbled in her stomach.
Rellenora new she shouldn't take any risks. Upsetting the Emperor could lead to anything bad, even war. She needed to be cautious.
Thankfully, some thoughts would never be recorded, because even she knew that sometimes people look over a writer's shoulder. As hurtful as it was, some thoughts were not expressed. Therefore, Rellenora decided that there wasn't any risk in letting him read her writings ... but goodness!! It felt like a highly disquieting idea!!
She wiped the slate again. Then she wrote down, "You are a wise leader, Your Highness. I can only approve of you." Her neck twisted as she looked for Naeva. Wait ... no! She wasn't nearby! Did she leave her alone with the Emperor?!
Heat! Heat was near her, oozing into her skin!
Rellenora turned her head back to its normal state.
He was close! So close! She could see the noses of the kittens on his robes!
A calm voice, a baking voice, a voice that was mixed in with vulturine feelings. Rellenora didn't need to understand the words to know that she didn't like what he said. It didn't matter, though. Her brain caught up eventually. "You have my gratitude, Your Highness, for letting me read something so personal."
Rellenora frowned, sensing that something was off in his breath. It was heavy and thick, making her scalp tingle. Her nerves despised the feeling.
Wanting the moment to halt completely, Rellenora reached to the first scroll she had written on. Then she handed it to the Emperor.
