Turned Table of the Phoenix

A Spark of Love?

The table extended almost to the other side of the room. The smell of exotic foods made my mouth water as I sat there impatiently waiting for the other nobles to join. The empress and Emperor Hitoshi sat at the very front of the table watching their guest come in. They smiled and beamed, bowing their heads to their guest and starting small conversation. When everyone finally sat down, Emperor Hitoshi stood up and everyone went silent and rose. The guest bowed to Emperor Hitoshi and he raised his palms upward then rotated them downward showing that they could return to their seat. The nobles sat down and waited for what the emperor was going to say, he cleared his throat then rose his voice for all to hear.

"Thank you to all the noble men and women who have stayed these few days. I can assure you that the incident that occurred will not happen again and that the princess is in good hands. I do however want to announce that empress Saku Miyo and I will be wed within the next month. I hope that you may return for the wedding, it will be a joyous occasion".

My head lowered as I thought about what would happen. I couldn't let them wed. I couldn't let them have a child.

"Princess Eu-meh... do you have anything you would like to say? Is something wrong? Do you oppose the marriage"?

My head shot up and the emperor looked at me directly. The others turned their attention towards me and shifted in their seats to get a better look at me.

"No Emperor Hitoshi I do not oppose the marriage, nothing is the matter".

I thought for a moment and continued.

"In fact I would like to congratulate you and the empress. I wish you many years of happiness and peace. To the emperor and the empress!" I said as I raised my glass.

The nobles smiled and bowed, then drank in agreement.

We all started the feast, but I could hardly eat as schemes formed into my mind, but one after the other I thought of the possible outcomes. Continuously I formed ideas and finally I formed the perfect plan. I couldn't share this plan with anyone... not even Katsuro. I looked down at the food that was covering my plate... I couldn't let it go to waste. I looked up at the men and women who were talking amongst each other. The noble men were too drunk to care about anything except the women and more to drink and the women were too busy flirting with the men. I checked once more and grabbed food on my plate and sat it in the napkin on my lap. I rolled it up and tucked it between my legs quickly, then looked up.

No one had noticed. Good.

At the end of dinner I tucked the food into the wide sleeves of my sheni. With my head down I headed for the door trying not to draw attention to myself. I was nearly there to the door and had started to pick up my pace. The guards opened the door and I was finally free. Just as the guards closed the door I removed the food from my sleeve and held it eye level smiling, grinning from ear to ear.

Snatch!

A hand wrapped around my arm and I turned towards the person who was holding me captive.

"Let go of me! Let me have my food back!" I hissed.

Emperor Hitoshi's son looked at me dead in the eye and said, "I don't let thieves go so easily".

I shot back, "I'm not the thief here! It was given to me and sat on my plate, therefore it's mine! Also would you rather have me throw it away?!"

He looked at me up and down then chuckled showing his dashing smile

" I cannot blame you for that. Only question I have now is where are you going with that food? Your chamber is that way".

He pointed in the opposite direction. I glared and hissed, "why would you even know where my chamber is? Do you have bad intentions?"

His eyes grew wide and his face flushed red as he stammered, "I would never! It's my duty to become accustomed to the rules, customs, and even the layout of this palace. Now I ask you again where are you taking the food"?

I heaved a sigh and said, "well I was going to go for a walk around the gardens until you rudely interrupted me. Also let go of me it's not proper to touch a women you don't own from matrimony ".

He threw my hand down and glared.

His dark eyes seemed to search for my true intentions. His long black hair whipped around as he turned sharply on his heels. He headed for the dining hall just as he reached the door he stopped abruptly.

"I'll walk you back to your chambers safely... I give you my most humble apology for taking your food and questioning you".

He walked back towards me and slipped his arm through mine, leading me back to my chambers.

"We may take a walk perhaps some other time, but as of now you should get some rest".

I went ahead and nodded and allowed him to take me back. At my door he stopped and released my arm, opened the door, and watched me walk in. After he did so, he bowed to me and closed the door. I walked to my bed and sat down.

Why did he have to walk me back to make sure I returned here "safely" I thought for a moment and laid down on my back facing the ceiling.

I couldn't go back out of my room in case Emperor Hitoshi's son was still there. I couldn't take Katsuro his food either as I looked at my little bag of goodies... I could only wait and hope that he would visit me tonight.