The Cold Palace Gardens
AdvertisementThe moonlight glowed in the garden's casting a shadowy veil over the colorful flowers . The simple wooden table and chair was currently occupied by a man no one would have expected to see here . A leopard lay quietly at the door, having returned to her post every night after meandering away during the day . The Emperor pat tears on the head, use to her accusing stare by now .
He reached out, gently pushing the door open and walking into the small main room . He remembered when the place had first been turned over to him . The small building had a feeling of cold oppression and despair . It had always been such a negative place that's very aura made him want to avoid it at all cost . That was by design, afterall it was the banishment hall . What had he been thinking, sending her here?
However, as he looked around a small smile curved his lips . He barely recognized this warm, cozy cottage atmosphere from the fridgide hell it had once been . Evelyn had not cleaned up, or packed her things so it was still set up as though it was her home . Her dresses were hung carefully in the wardrobe, skirts and accessories still tucked into their places . The desk had a book on it, the ink and brush she had prefered still resting open as though she had just started a insert . Four volumes beside it, looking similar with different dates on the side of each .
Gently, The Emperor passed his fingers over the page, her handwriting bringing out the saddness in his eyes . He had been so sure she would come home… his mind drifted back to the first time he had met Lady Evelyn .
A fall day oh so long ago . The sky had just cleared up from the downpour of rain that no one had expected . He had been in town, spending time with the lords when the daughter of Lord Roland was requested to play the Zither . She had slid into place and played so many beautiful songs, and those beautiful eyes, and raven hair had captured him . Every note she played and the bashful way she looked up blushing when her eyes met his own . She had stolen his heart that night, and honestly she had felt the same .
He missed those moments, laying in her rooms while she played, or feeling the way her heart beat in time with his own . Maybe, it was time to put that all behind him, and bring her home . Women's troubles shouldn't remove a wife from her husband's side . He picked up one of the closed volumes next to the open book . He read the cover absently "The Empress to a Hopeful Reign . " Curious he turned the third on edge, so he could read it as well . "The Phoenix Empress, Bloody Harem . " The open one drew his attention . He closed it, and looked at the cover "Fallen without Hope, Empress of the Cold Palace . " His eyebrows raised as he recognized the pattern .
He took the first book, and sat down on the edge of the bed . He stared at the cover for a few long moments, debating… but in the end he opened it . Morning dawned again, and the sun rose high before he finished the first volume . His face was blank, shocked as he reached for the next volume and disappeared down another hall of horror . The ugly truth lay bare before him… and he could close the book in walk away but he didn't want to . It was Evelyn's turn to be heard .
Chapter end
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