How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 26- Whispering Truths

--Valeria POV--

"Mother, please be alright," I whispered, clutching tightly onto her cold hand.

Instead of replying with words as I would have liked, she only managed a small, broken smile, her eyes trembling with an unknown emotion, one that I could not fathom.

"I would have liked to see my grandchild before I departed," She whispered. Leaning forward, I rested my forehead against her knuckles and released a shaky breath. "Please, I was barely able to get away myself," I whispered so quietly that no one heard.

"How have you been, my precious little girl?" She asked as I pulled away, stroking my cheek as she would always do at whatever chance she got. At the mere thought of no longer being able to feel her warm touch, I almost broke into another fit of sobs.

"I have been as well as I can be, mother. But please do not worry about me, I will be alright," I tried to assure her despite the big lie that it was.

"I am tired," She whispered, moving her hand away from my cheek to rest on her stomach and I moved my own hands to clutch onto the fabric of my cloak, clenching onto it so tightly that I felt my fingers go numb.

If only I would have been able to come a little bit earlier...

"Then sleep," I smiled a broken smile and moved to kiss her cheek lightly.

"I love you, mother. Thank you for raising me so well, I am always going to be grateful to you," She smiled at me, closing her eyes and I kissed her cheek again.

"I will tell Evander about the amazing woman that you are, he will grow up with the knowledge that he is blessed and that his grandmother loves him very much," She breathed out a light laugh at that, nodding her agreement.

"I like that," I laughed with her, my laughs mixing with my sobs as I rested my head on her body, feeling the light touches of her hand stroking my hair, possibly for the last time.

Father sat by her side and Balbina stood by my side, a comforting hand on my shoulder as I cried, waiting for my sobs to fade away.

"She has not left us yet. She truly is just sleeping," Father said, relieved.

I sat back up, trying to even out my breathing by gulping down some water that Balbina handed me and wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

"Are you feeling better?" Balbina asked and I nodded my head, sending her a grateful smile before putting the glass back down and standing up to hug her and she hugged back without a hint of hesitation.

"Shall we go for some air?" I suggested and she nodded. I spared one last glance at my mother before following Balbina outside, kissing my father on the cheek on my way out. I wish Julius could have been here but he was busy with work and couldn't get out of it apparently.

I wonder how long I have left before Stacius sends someone to come and get me?

I wonder if he has even noticed that I left the palace? It wouldn't be a miracle if he has, he has eyes and ears all over the palace; I learnt that the hard way.

"Honestly, I was afraid that you wouldn't make it," Balbina started once we were outside.

"What makes you think that?" I curiously asked, going to kneel in front of the flower bed that I planted myself when I was younger with Julius and mother. They've grown so well now, flowers growing and falling every season, I never got bored of watching it.

"Why? Because your husband does not allow you the freedom of leaving the palace walls. At first, I had simply thought that he was afraid of his enemies putting your life in danger but why would he be afraid of them if he is the one trying to scare you? I still do not believe he is the same man I saw at your wedding," She shook her head baffled.

But my ears were ringing, head spinning, at her words.

"What-What did you just say...?"I managed to cough out, thankful that I was sitting down or else I would surely have fallen.

I may have just misinterpreted her words, right?

"What? About your husband, the Emperor that worked to scare you that day at the market?" I nodded my head, waiting for her to further explain.

"You really do not know?" She raised a brow, surprised and squatted down on the ground with me. We had a short staring contest until she leaned forward and hugged me, her arms tightening as if in fear around me.

"Everyone knows about the day you ventured into the market, it was the talk of the Empire for a few weeks. The market became crowded after that day with people mostly being there with the hope of meeting you again, but of course, they failed,"

"I don't care about any of that. Tell me what you meant when you said that Stacius worked to scare me," I pulled away from the hug, holding her arm and pleading her with my eyes.

She breathed out a heavy sigh, running a hand through her hair before she finally got to the point and when she did, I only hoped that this was all one big nightmare.

"I went to the market the day after you did to buy some groceries. I overheard a small group of people talking about how much the Emperor paid them and got curious about what they were talking about so I listened in on them..."

"And... What did you hear?" I pushed.

"They were paid by the Emperor's men to cause a scene and rush after you, their screams are what drew more and more attention to you, they spread the word to other people... I confronted them about it and threatened to eat them alive if they wouldn't speak but they said the Emperor would have their heads if they revealed a single word of anything to anyone, I promised them I wouldn't tell anyone but that was a fake promise," She waved a hand.

"I thought you would have known," She gave me a saddened look and my face fell, my head falling with the weight of her words and I stared at my clenched hands which rested on my lap, wondering how to react, or even how to feel right now.

I was just so... Disappointed.

I knew he was a possessive man, I knew he could be scary at times and I knew that he was over-protective but to go to this extent to keep me with him... That was worrying.

"Oh yes, and remember the man that started this whole thing?" I looked up at her, confused for a moment but then realised that she must have been talking about the drunk man that bumped into me in the first place.

"He was the one that was paid the most. I asked around for a few days out of mere curiosity and eventually found him, threatening him too until he finally told me that he was paid. I was curious at first how your husband let him get away unscathed but then it made sense," She sighed, baffled by the series of events.

"What am I..." I whispered. "What am I to do now?... I ran into his arms that day and apologised for not having believed him, but all this time I was- I was just a mere tool to him," I felt the tears creeping up but bit my lip to hold them back.

I must have looked so pathetic.

How could I have been so naive?

This was all my fault for choosing to love him over fear him, I shouldn't have let my fear for him control me to do as he liked. If only I had been a little bit braver...

But not anymore... Now, I only needed Evan...

"Your majesty!" I snapped my head up when I heard Linus's rushed voice and saw him standing by the entrance, looking quite shaken.

"Linus, what's wrong?" I asked, standing up and dusting my clothes down.

He ran up to me, leaning down to whisper in an urgent voice. His next words being more than enough to chill the very blood that ran through my veins.

"The Emperor is here,"

...