Queensmen

Chapter 50

~Mother And Son~

Granted, there was no way Mikeal could have stopped a raging emperor in any way, he still felt bad for letting the elusive man slip away when he let his guard down.

Of course, he knew there was no way to restrain the ruler of the New World safe for crippling his legs. In the past Mikeal had tried do many things to keep his half-brother away from trouble.

His room had a balcony so locking Hermes in never worked. The emperor was smart and strong enough to break out of any shackle they could have put on him—and tying Hermes up wasn't exactly legal. Even the guards could not stop him because they had to listen to his command.

Mikeal could only hope that Hermes lost his heart to one of the many women striving for it. That way he would finally have a method to make the man obedient.

Now he had no choice but to stare helplessly into space as Faeradaigh paced worriedly in front of him.

He had been escorting Hermes back to his room when all of a sudden, he experienced a change of heart. Without a word or explanation, the emperor disappeared.

Well, he ordered them not to follow him then disappeared.

Mikeal couldn't disobey an order. Hermes gave him free reign to do what ever he wanted for this very reason. An order was an order. Obedience was obedience.

"Faeradaigh, where is Magnus?" he asked, a thought occuring to him.

The eunuch looked up at him and stood still for the first time since Hermes left. "In his quarters, why?"

"I need you to bring him a message."

"Him?!" Faeradaigh's eyes darted all over the hallway in fear as though he expected the man to pop up right at that moment. His voice dropped to a squeaky whisper. "Why?"

"The Emperor's safety is my priority," Mikeal whispered back, glad that he was still wearing his cloak. There were too many guards around that could easily discern his identity. "We can't follow him, but Magnus and Eugene can."

Mikeal had learnt early in life that most orders had exploitable loopholes. He didn't know whether they were created on purpose or not but he always used them to his advantage. This situation was one that required such.

"But," the eunuch inched towards to him. "Why me? Why can't you go?"

"I am an unknown servant hiding my identity, do I have clearance to see the emperor's advisor?"

Faeradaigh stayed silent, obviously giving up the argument. Without so much as another squeak, he hurried down the hallway and disappeared.

Mikeal let out a breath of relief, glad that worry for Hermes had made Faeradaigh forget that with his skills he could break into any room in the palace unseen.

"Now, if only I could just as skillfully break someone out," he mumbled to himself as he walked away. "How grand would that be?"

~

"Mother?"

The moment Hermes walked through the inner doors of the Empress Dowager's chambers, all the maids and servants fell to their knees in fear and laid their heads on the floor submissively.

Hermes didn't have the strength to ask them to get up so he could only leave them prostrate. He still hadn't gotten used to people kneeling the instant they saw him. Just years ago, he was the one who kneeled in submission at every turn.

The first thing Hermes' eyes landed on was Alice. Nearly half his size, she always looked small and delicate, especially so when she something more delicate in her hands. Her soft features only lended to that image. With silver hair that didn't yet reach her shoulders and pink irises, she looked more fay than human.