The Emperor's Rose

Chapter 15 //Hot Spring

As soon as the Emperor left his soon-to-be-empress alone, Aiko started crying, falling to the floor. The room filled up with her heart -breaking sobs. Her chest was quaking, and her breath hitched as she hid her face in her legs. 

She didn't like to cry; she didn't like to be weak. But she couldn't hold back. Her desire to be free had been broken and shattered right in front of her outstretched hand. Crying was the only thing left to do. She knew she would never be able to break free from this marriage. Aiko sobbed into her arms. "Mother! Mother, spare me!" She croaked, hiccuping, her hands pressing together, hoping to pass the prayer to the sky.

The Emperor leaned in, listening to her cry. The wails of despair made him flinch. His face was neutral, but something in his chest was twinging annoyingly. The sudden desire to hurt someone made his hands itch. He hated this feeling. The Emperor didn't want someone else to become his weak spot. That had already happened, and the Emperor had been destroyed. He gritted his teeth in pain, relieving the memory.

A maid absentmindedly scuttled by, her arms full of new kimonos for Fumi. They were all wrapped in linen cloths to keep them from wrinkling. The maid couldn't see where she was going, so she gently laid the kimonos on the ground and started re-adjusting them in her arms. Her head was bent down, and she could only see the kimonos in front of her. The Emperor walked headed towards her; his footsteps were heavy. The maid blushed as she straightened the kimonos.

"Gaku, I told you I can't eat dinner with you tonight, maybe later." She said, a soft giggle escaping her mouth.

"Gaku?" He thought. "Probably the girl's lover."
He grabbed the maid's shoulder. The maid turned around, ready to scold her lover, when she came face to face with the Emperor. She fell to her feet, fear surging inside her. Her voice broke as she begged for forgiveness. She started whimpering about how she hadn't meant to confuse him with someone else.

The maid was fearing for her life, while the Emperor felt nothing for the lowly maid. She was just a leaf he had stepped on.

The maid's incessant begging was aggravating his already strong headache; he was getting annoyed. He grabbed her collar and pulled her closer. The maid didn't utter a word. Her breath stuck in her throat. Her pupils shrank in her dark eyes.

"Give me the priciest kimono in that stack, and you will do it now!" He hissed in her face. He let go of her collar. The maid fell; she bowed down again. "But, Your Majesty, this kimonos are for Her Highness, Your Majesty's sister!" She whispered softly, worried about the terrifying scolding she would receive from the other royal.

The Emperor grinned. "Who are they for?" He asked, pretending not to have heard.

"For...for Her Highness." She repeated louder.

"Well, I'm getting them for the Empress. Don't. Try. To. Disobey. Me. Again."  He said, his voice turning harsher every word. The maid flinched and dug around in the pile. Her worried eyes scanned the fabrics. She sighed in relief as she found the kimono she was looking for. She laid it at the Emperor's feet.
He snatched it and walked away. Not a word uttered to the maid.
She exhaled and arranged all the kimonos in a pile, wondering which of the concubines the Empress was.
•
•
•
The Emperor walked inside, the guards closing the door behind him.

Aiko was outside. Her tears had dried, and she was admiring the spring in the garden. The kimono almost tumbled out of the Emperor's grip as he saw her. The afternoon light illuminated her soft frame. The shadows delicately accentuated her cheekbones.
"I'm glad she stopped crying." The Emperor thought. He quickly shooed the thought away.

Aiko had stopped crying because she didn't want to see the Emperor's sadistic grin as she cried. She knew he wanted to make her suffer. Aiko believed he was marrying her to make her suffer forever. She didn't know that the Emperor had been roped into this. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have stopped crying. Aiko had rubbed her tears away and started admiring the view. She had just finished jumping around to get her emotions out.

"You stopped crying." The Emperor said. He had been so quiet and had spoken so suddenly, Aiko jumped back in fear.

It would have been fine if Aiko stood in front of frozen ground, but instead, the hot spring was resting behind her. Aiko plunged in the spring.

Her clothes became instantly drenched as her body touched the water. The kimono, full of water, started pulling her down.

Aiko's lungs were empty of air. She instantly started choking. She attempted to reach the surface, but the kimono was weighing her down too much. Her arms tried to reach for the light above. Her vision turned hazy and then black.
"Mother, I'm coming...." she thought as the water pulled her deeper in its arms.