Nocte Yin

Chapter Sixteen

“How was it?” Savvy asked, looking up from her book.

Nocte shrugged, and then winced when her shoulders ached. “It was,” she frowned, “okay.”

Savvy pulled a face.

“Exactly like that,” Nocte joked, putting aside the shears. “What ‘cha reading?”

“The academy’s calendar,” Savvy replied. “I’m planning for next semester.”

“Oh,” Nocte sounded, confused. The semester wasn’t even half-way through and Savvy was planning for the next one? It seemed bizarre even for Nocte, who liked to do things early.

“His majesty called today,” Savvy said.

“Emperor Jīn Lóng?!” Nocte exclaimed incredulously.

“Er-Erm, no,” Savvy flustered with a blush. “I mean your brother. Em-Emperor Dire… of Lamise?”

“Oh, right,” Nocte sounded, embarrassed. “Of course it’s not the emperor of Xon. Duh!” She rolled her eyes. “He only calls for my dad.”

Savvy gave an overwhelmed smile.

“I’ll give him a call,” Nocte decided, reaching for the phone.

She dialled for Lamise’s Imperial Palace and entered the extension for Dire’s cell. Several beats later, she pressed a series of numbers to help the firewall identify her.

As she waited for the phone to pick up, Nocte went to the bathroom to wash her hands. From the dorm, she could hear Savvy begin to hum. Her roommate really did have a pretty voice, but the blonde only used it when she thought no one was listening.

“Good afternoon, Princess Nocte,” an automated voice sounded.

Nocte blinked. She supposed she was a princess if her brother was an emperor. Sometimes she forgot that.

“Please enter the twenty-fourth password, your highness.”

Nocte faltered, trying to remember the ten digit combination. Dire had at least fifty different combinations, and whenever any of their family members called, the computer would ask for one randomly.

“Please enter the-”

Nocte didn’t hear the rest of it when, suddenly, Dire picked up the phone.

“You said you would be fine,” was the first thing he said.

Not much of a greeting.

“You called?” Nocte asked, unperturbed.

“You promised you would be fine,” he continued. “But then you Glared and got saddled with that… demeaning punishment. I will kill them all.”

Nocte sighed. Dire could be a bit… dramatic at times. “I’m sorry. I called last night, but you were in a meeting.”

Dire stopped short and she waited for him to speak. She could picture him pacing in his throne room with a pinched expression, his councilmen sharing wary looks.

“No,” he said finally. “I should be the one to apologize. I did not get the news until this morning.”

Nocte shrugged her shoulders. “What can you do?”

“Kill the messenger,” he quipped impatiently.

“Dire!” she exclaimed, startling Savvy.

“I did not kill him,” he said, much to Nocte’s relief. “I broke his legs.”