Flower In The Palace

by Jordan Silver

  I didn’t hang around there too long. Once eunuch Van found a young girl to sit with her I took my leave and headed back to the palace, doing my best to put her out of my mind.

  To put her out of my mind in the coming days, I threw myself into my plans to bring my enemies to their knees. That first night after I returned from the village of the damned, I reread all the letters my late father had left me.

  It’s something I sometimes do as a reminder. So that I never forget what it is that I must do.

  Now It was almost time to put the finishing touches on my plans. I had systematically removed all the support from around the Grand Empress dowager bit by bit and in such a way as to not be obvious in the beginning.

  All those men who upheld her and carried out her dark schemes had been taken care of. Now all that was left were her and her son. But I was still biding my time there.

  It’s not a small thing to execute a member of the royal family let alone two, or three. And though my father and grandfather had left more than enough evidence to take down the Grand Empress dowager, I still needed more to prove Prince Loren’s involvement without a doubt..

  As to her, I wanted to keep her alive long enough to see the destruction of her son. The one she had done all of this for. Not until I’ve destroyed him before her eyes will I be satisfied. Not until I’ve crushed all their dreams as mine had been.

  And then there was my growing suspicion that they had played a hand in Mia’s death. I still hadn’t found the proof as yet, but I was working on it most diligently.

  Thinking of my Princess brought the healer to mind. Bryony! That feeling of guilt and betrayal warred with the attraction I felt. And once again Mia’s face flashed before my eyes.

  I said a quiet apology to my Princess for my wayward thoughts and vowed for the one- hundredth time not to give into lust again.

  I’d avoided Prince’s Rowena’s bed all these years and hadn’t even thought of another woman. Because the memory of the one who owned my heart was always fresh. Until now.

  It was because of the striking resemblance between the two of them nothing more. But other than her eyes and what I would expect my Princess to look like had she lived, the two were vastly different.

  Mia wasn’t afraid of anything. She was a true warrior at heart without a shy bone in her little body. While Bryony, she was soft and withdrawn and afraid of much.

  She jumps at the sound of thunder, my Mia liked to play in the storm. Bryony barely lifts her head to look at me, my Princess had always looked me square in the eye.

  But it was getting harder and harder to separate the two to the point I feel like I’m going mad. But what about Bryan? Hadn’t he been fearless? Bryony as Bryan had fought better than anyone I’ve ever seen.

  That was something I could see in my Princess. But the rest, the fear and timidity, even as Bryan she had been withdrawn. That was not like my bright playful Princess.

  I grabbed my aching head as once again things blended together in a whirl of confusion. Leaving me with more questions than answers.

  I just need to remind myself that my love was gone that she was never coming back. And then I need to get over the guilt of laying with another.

  For the next six months me and my team of men worked diligently to bring about the demise of my enemies. Many lives were lost, many riches forfeited.

  I drove myself from sun up to sundown as I meticulously removed everyone and everything that had stood in the way of the good of the kingdom.

  During this time the Grand Empress dowager fell ill and her one request was to have her granddaughter by her side.

  I saw no need not to comply. I’d placed spies throughout her palace after removing those who were most loyal to her.

  I had no doubt that someone as sharp as she suspected this, but there was nothing she could do, other than to carry out her schemes more carefully. But even then, I had her covered from every angle.

  She had to realize by now that I was onto her. But she trusted in her position as the Grand Empress dowager, that I would not move against her personally.

  She had no idea that I had the decree from my grandfather. Long locked away for safe keeping until the day I needed it.

  I had been getting better at putting the healer out of my mind. I’d made peace with the fact that she had been nothing more than a plant.

  I had not seen her since that day I’d gone to the village. Had not allowed anyone to even mention her name in my presence.

  The secret of her true identity had been kept quiet. The doctor under threat of death and eunuch Van I need not worry about.

  Des had been locked away in the dungeons all this time, having kept his secrets to himself. I kept him alive I know not why. I guess I needed more answers, answers that I have no way of finding.

  Then one day out of the blue a courier appeared in all haste before me. “What is it, has something happened to my brother the Prince?” My first thought was of him as I’d sent him after a delicate matter.

  I was still trying to find the old woman and after sharing the happenings with him, he’d decided that it was best if he handled that particular matter for me.

  “No Your Majesty, I was told to give this to no one but you.”

  He held out a package to me. Since it had made it this far I was sure that it was safe, so I took it, looking at if from all angles trying to guess what it could be.

  I opened the package and sat in shocked silence for the first few seconds. “Where did you get this?” The words barely made it past my lips. My throat had gone tight blocking off my air.

  In my hands I held the necklace, the one that I’d given Mia all those years ago. This wasn’t possible. “An old lady at the gate. She insisted that it be brought to you right away. I dared not disobey lest it be of importance Your Majesty.”

  “Where is she? Bring her to me.” I stood to my feet.

  “She’s long gone Your Majesty.”

  “Find her!” My mind went round and round. What could this possibly mean?

  The old lady. She could only be the same one from the forest. But why was she here now after all this time when I’d had men scouring the country looking for her? And my own brother was even now searching her out?

  I looked back at the package and there was a note inside. I removed the piece of paper with shaking hands and unfolded it. It simply said, ‘she’s alive’.

  All the blood rushed to my head and my limbs trembled. Was this some new trick? One last game? One final attempt from the Grand Empress dowager to side track me from my path?

  I sat for hours playing and replaying everything about her last days in my head. The sudden illness, the rushed burial… Des. I jumped to my feet as I remembered where I’d heard the name before.

  “Eunuch Van.” He was as usual right outside my door awaiting my every need.

  “Your Majesty.”

  “Bring Dunal Morgana here to me.” Could it possibly be? Hope and fear fought for precedence in my mind. The weight of the necklace was heavy in my hand.

  I went to my private chambers where the rest of the set has been kept all these years, waiting to join their mate. I’d planned to give her the tiara and ring once she became my Empress, many years in the future I’d thought at the time.

  But I never got the chance. I put the necklace in it’s place next to the tiara and the ring and remembered the day I’d given it to her. I wanted to rush out to the village right away, to look at her and know once and for all.

  But there were still too many unanswered questions. Still too much that didn’t add up. Dunal arrived an hour later and by then I was ready to climb out of my own skin.

  “Your Majesty, you wished to see me?” I looked at him for the longest time trying to find the words. It was enough that I’ve been plagued with these things, but as a father who’d loved his daughter so fiercely, what would opening this door do to him?

  What if my thoughts were wrong and this was indeed some sick jest on the part of my
enemies? “Your Majesty?” There was no hope for it, he was here now and I needed to share this with someone else so I didn’t feel like I was losing my senses.

  Emperor Jai

  “What do you remember about Crown Princess Mia’s death?” The look of confusion on his face was instantaneous.

  “Mia? Why do you ask this now Your Majesty?”

  “Just tell me all that you remember.”

  “There isn’t much to tell Your Majesty. She fell ill here and died within a few days of her illness. Her burial was rushed because of the fear that she carried a plague of unknown origin.”

  I’d been too filled with grief back then so didn’t know much of the details of that time. “Whose idea was it for her to be buried away from the royal tombs, do you remember?”

  “As I recall, it was the Grand Empress dowager who took care of that side of things. Her mother and I were not allowed to see her, just the coffin and the grave. What’s this all about Your Majesty?”

  He still wore a questioning look on his face, having no idea where this was going. I had to tread carefully lest I gave him false hope. I’ll carry that burden myself.

  “And Des, didn’t you say that he disappeared right after.”

  “Yes, that very night in fact. I remember thinking that it wasn’t like him. That even in his grief he wouldn’t have deserted the family.”

  Hope grew and surpassed doubt and fear. I held out the necklace to him with the note. His reaction was pretty much the same as mine. “How can this be possible…?”

  “What would you say if I told you that I’ve seen someone who reminds me very much of Mia?” He forgot himself and sat in my presence without being offered but I can’t say that I blame him. It was all I could do to remain standing myself.

  “How, where?” He looked down at the necklace again. I gave him the short version, leaving out some things of course. But the whole time I wanted to be on my way.

  He had a lot of questions but I needed to go to her and if she were indeed my Princess, get her out of that place. The place I’d sent her to live like an animal.

  “Wasn’t there an old lady who’d been brought in to care for her because the imperial doctors had no idea what was wrong with her?”

  “You’re right, how could I have forgotten that?” I’d even seen the woman come to think of it. But at the time my mind was too preoccupied with Mia to pay much attention.

  “Even with all this, my fear is that this is yet another ploy by my enemies to weaken me. They know that if I think there’s an ounce of truth to this that I would stop everything to find her.”

  But that would mean that they weren’t the ones who sent her to me. I’d come full circle again.

  “You say that you’ve seen this girl who looks like my daughter? If that is so then there’s an easy enough way to prove her identity.”

  “How?”

  “My daughter bears the mark of the phoenix on her right shoulder.”

  “What? Why did no one mention this before? That is why…”

  “Why what your majesty?”

  “Why I fell in love with her on sight. We were meant to be.” On my own royal body I bear the mark of the dragon. A mark that all the men who ascend the throne have carried for almost five hundred years.

  While the phoenix is the natural symbol of an empress. Though I’ve never heard of one being born with the actual mark on their body before.

  “Where are you going Your Majesty?” I was halfway out the door.

  “There is somewhere I need to go. Stay here until my return.”

  I didn’t say any more than that though I wanted to. But until I saw her myself with my own two eyes, I couldn’t do that to him.

  I raced towards the village, a million things going through my head. Leading was the great hope that she was indeed alive. Though common sense said that these things were not possible.

  I jumped from my horse before it came to a stop, my men not far behind. There was a lot of activity in one part of the village around what appeared to the the infirmary.

  I grabbed one of the women as she passed by. “Where is Bryony?” I looked down at the bloody cloths in her hands.

  “She’s in there, dying.”

  “What?” She said something else but I didn’t hear as I ran towards the building. There were screams coming from inside and I did not stop to think as I burst through the door

  The sight I came upon was one I was not expecting, not in a million years. There were three women around the bed while others stood around outside.

  I rushed towards the bed and looked down at her. She was panting and sweaty from her efforts. Over her spread bent legs there was a sheet thrown to protect her privacy, and just as I reached her head a loud cry rend the air.

  I looked from her dull eyes to the place where one of the women was quickly wrapping a child in swaddling. “Jai?” Her voice was low and tired and weak.

  “What did you say?”

  My heart beat too loudly in my ears. Tears fell from her eyes and filled mine as I moved around and lifted her shoulders off the bed.

  I saw the mark as her father described and my world tilted. “Mia?” I looked from her to the child. The night we shared played through my mind. I remembered it all clearly now. Especially the tearing of her maidenhead. “Bring the baby here.”

  I didn’t question if the child was mine, my rushed calculations told me it was the right time for her to give birth if she’d conceived that night. The midwife brought the child to me and placed it in my arms.

  I had no idea if it were a boy or a girl until I pulled back the swaddling cloth. What’s more, my son bore the mark of the dragon on his torso, the same as I. What have I done?

  This place, I’d sent her to this place to face hell. It’s because of me that my son, the heir had been born in such a place as this. And that his mother had suffered. It as the lowest point in my life. Second only to the day I thought I lost her.

  I looked around at the filthy room with its stained walls and dirty floor. Even the mattress she’d given birth on was stained and worn. As long as I live I’ll never forgive myself for this. But now was not the time for self flagellation.

  “Mia, I have much to say to you, but first I must get you and my son away from this place.” She cried pitifully at my words and I held her until she settled. Then I ordered the women to get her ready for travel while I went to the door and gave orders to my men.

  In less than an hour we were on our way back to the palace after I saw to every comfort for the two of them for the hour-long trip ahead.

  I rode my horse next to the palanquin where my wife and child laid. My wife and child. I hadn’t had time for it all to set in yet. It was too much for any man to take in at once.

  Guilt, love, remorse, these were my companions as I rode beside her through the night. My first thought was to take her to my city residence to keep her away from the palace and all its dangers.

  But that wouldn’t do. I want her with me. Close to me where I can keep an eye on both of them. So I headed instead for the palace.

  When we reached the palace I had them taken to my private quarters under deep cover. No way was I letting them out of my sight. “Eunuch Van!”

  “Yes Your Majesty.” I heard the tears in his voice and well understood my trusted servant. I did not need to tell him what was going on. If anyone would, I know he would be able to put the pieces together himself.

  “I will be right back Empress.” She was tired from the trip and only nodded her head before closing her eyes again.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have moved her so soon after giving birth, but I couldn’t see leaving her there in that horrible place. “Get the imperial doctor and his assistant here.”

  I’d long gotten rid of the other doctor who’d been here since the days of my grandfather and put someone I trusted in his place. Someone I knew would care for her to my specifications.

  I’d forgotten my father in law, but went to him now. He was sitt
ing where I’d left him and the worry lines on his face told me that his mind had not been at ease while I’d been gone.

  “You’ve returned Your Majesty.” He stood from his seat expectantly as I moved forward to take my chair. I felt the weight of all that had passed on my shoulders.

  “There’s something I need to tell you.” Again I couldn’t find the words, didn’t know how to say them out loud. In the end I just told him. “I found her, she’s alive.”

  He wanted to see her right away but I held him off. “She just gave birth a little more than an hour ago. The imperial doctor is with her now. I had no choice but to move her, I couldn’t leave her in that place.”

  And then I told him the truth of what I’d done to his daughter, his beloved child. He didn’t pass judgment or recriminations. Just cried real tears of joy that his child was alive.

  “We’ll talk later, I have to get back to her.” I left him to be seen out and headed back to my quarters. I felt lighter the closer I got to my chambers. And then reality set in. Will she blame me? How could she not? I was at fault after all.

  I hadn’t protected her and she’d suffered these many years without me at her side. My Crown Princess had lived in a rundown cottage in the forest.

  My Empress had lived in the village of the damned, sent there by me. I’d destroyed her young life just as if I’d done the deed with my bare hands.

  But none of that mattered now that I had her back here with me. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her, but she’s never leaving my sight again in this lifetime.

  She’d already been cleaned up and was sitting up in bed when I returned to her. The child, my son was asleep in her arms. My heart was too full for a few seconds for my feet to move.

  She looked up when she sensed my presence. “I don’t know what to say to you.” How do I make this right? How can I ever make this up to her? “When did you know?” She didn’t pretend not to understand. But pain flashed in her eyes and tore at my heart before she looked away again.