Destinare: A Destined Tale Of Time

X Princess with An Inapproachable Father

 “Greetings to the sun of the Kemet Empire,”

Azmeralda’s head snapped in the direction of the familiar sound. She saw a tall figure, the same man from the foyer hall, Prince Iraj. He stood before their table with a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

‘Does he know my father?’ Azmeralda couldn’t help but wonder. Why else would this unknown prince of Persia be smiling at her father? She felt uneasy as her eyes lingered on the smile. She shuddered, turning her head sideways when a reply never came from Julianus.

“Papa?” she whispered, tucking on her father’s sleeve.

The uneasiness appeared to be mutual between her and Julianus. She could read the discomfort in his eyes. The color of his eyes was two shades darker. In them, Azmeralda saw fury she rarely ever saw. Her father was a man of temper, but it was never without reason. Julianus is a wise man, he knows how to handle his emotions, or at least that’s what Azmeralda believed before now.

‘Or perhaps there is something I’m not aware of,’ she thought again. This time the chattering and murmur that surfaced from the tables around her, brought her back from her dwelling.

As she looked around, she saw eyes on them. Emperor Julianus Donna staring daggers at the prince of Persia, a spectacle to behold. If someone was unaware that these two men were acquainted, then they would now know.

“Father, there are eyes upon us,” Azmeralda repeated. This time she succeeded in catching her father's attention.

The fury in Julianus's eyes disappeared the instant he shifted his attention to his daughter. Azmeralda gestured to the man with a mischievous smile who was still hovering over their table. In the instant it took for Julianus to turn away, Azmeralda thought she saw tears held in his eyes.

She blinked twice but by the time she reopened her eyes, it was already gone.

“Greeting, Prince Iraj,” Julianus said, his voice sounding like poison. “It has been a while.”

“It has indeed…” Iraj said. Azmeralda thought she heard amusement in his tone. She jolted when Iraj shifted his attention towards her. “Your daughter…she is beautiful. Just like her mother.”

Iraj’s green eyes went out of focus as he uttered the words. His mind took him to memories that are better to be forgotten. The mischievous smile was replaced with an agonized frown. Azmeralda didn’t dare to breathe as his pupils never left her.

Beside her, Julianus clenched his jaw. His hands yanked Azmeralda’s chair and pulled it out of view behind him. Azmeralda gasped in surprise, holding the chair’s arms for balance. The loud clattering of the chair on the marble floor drew more attention to them.

“Don’t you dare,” Julianus hissed through clenched jaws. The words reached the ears of the prince before him. Iraj was barely shaken.

Iraj remained composed as if expecting this kind of reaction. Over her father’s shoulder, Azmeralda held her eyes on Iraj, the lonely look in his eyes remained. Iraj appeared almost disappointed.

“I apologize if I upset you,” Iraj finally said, a smile returning to his lips. “Now if you are to excuse me.”

Iraj bowed before he processed to greet the rest of the guests as if nothing happened. The silence in the hall lasted for a while before it ended. Obviously, the scene created the basis for rumors, or it could create the perfect environment for the truth to surface.

Azmeralda felt awkward and wondered if she had to stay in place until her father remembered her. Azmeralda felt herself getting pulled back into place again.

“Sorry, Pumpkin,” Julianus whsipered. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s…it’s alright,” she answered, tilting her head to take a better look at him. The traces of anger were gone as if it never happened.

“Who…Who is he?” Azmeralda said, hesitating.

Julianus avoided her eyes, instead, he brought the wine back to his lips. The sweet scent of it tickled his nose. “It’s Crown Prince Iraj,” he said, lowering the cup. “Prince of Persia.”

Azmeralda narrowed her eyes in frustration. “I know who he is!” she exclaimed. “I mean…do you know him? You looked quite bothered by him…and you are never bothered by anything.”

“Just someone I know from long ago,” Julianus said after a long moment of thought, feeling a lump in his throat.

Azmeralda sighed in defeat. ‘There is no forcing father into saying the full truth,’ she thought, looking back ahead of her.

The commotion settled down. Thankfully, Prince Iraj wasn’t within eyeshot of either Julianus or Azmeralda. She sighed in relief, though in the back of her mind, Azmeralda couldn’t get rid of forgetting something - or more like someone.

That was when she saw him, Tiberius. He stood in the middle of the hall amid the crowd of nobles. Azmeralda never took the time to see how good-looking he was until now. It felt to her that he was polished and clean, finally wearing something befitting a prince. A black suit that embraced his thin figure, he was short compared to the kids his age. Azmeralda figured that it was because of the lack of care.

She had to admit it made her angry. However, there was little to be done when the maids in the palace were all under Queen Blandia’s rule.

His raven hair was shimmering under the golden lights of the chandelier. His effort to style his hair was visible, Azmeralda couldn’t help but giggle.

Julianus glanced over after he heard the faint giggles coming from his daughter. The sound of it was like music to his ears. He couldn’t help but grin as well. However, his curiosity pushed him to know who made his princess smile like that and followed her gaze.

He soon spotted the young boy amid the crowd. He stuck out like a sore thumb amid the glimmering nobility around him. Tiberius looked, more or less, lost.

Azmeralda tried to calm her rushing heartbeats. ‘He fulfilled his promise!’ she exclaimed silently. Just as she held her hand up to get his attention, the two princes at the other end of the table did it first. They were just as excited as Azmeralda at the presence of their older brother. In fact, they weren't expecting him to attend.

However, Azmeralda met one person who wasn’t as excited as them, the Queen. Roman stood up from his seat, waving at Tiberius cheerfully while gesturing to the empty seat next to him. Tiberius smiled, taking a step forth before he felt the burning glare coming from the Emperor’s left side, the Queen’s side.

Even from a distance, Tiberius felt the pierce of her gaze. Surprisingly, he didn’t shudder in fear as he always did. Somehow, Tiberius was calm about it…ignoring it almost.

‘My place is there,’ Tiberius thought. ‘I’ve my place within this family.’

For the first time, these thoughts found their way to Tiberius’s head, and something told him that it wasn’t going to be like the last time. It made him feel better about himself.

“Brother!” Roman exclaimed, rushing over to hug Tiberius. “You are here?!”

“Is there a reason that I shouldn’t be?” Tiberius said, he smiled, ruffling his younger brother’s hair.

Roman looked oddly at his brother’s unusual behavior. Roman might be a child, but the discomfort was clear in the presence of both Tiberius and Queen Blandia. Roman glanced back at his mother, who paid little attention to them while sipping her wine.

“No! I’m glad that you are here!” Roman said. He shifted his attention back to his brother.

Tiberius felt another pair of eyes lingering on him, but this time the feeling of it brought warmth washing over him. He glanced up to the other end of the table, and there it was. Azmeralda grinned brightly as she gazed at him. Gradually he began to grin as well.

When he was in the silence of his mind back in his chambers, he had doubts about attending. The thought that he was to sit with the Queen at the same table was unbearable.

“You have to come okay!?” Azmeralda’s voice kept repeating in his mind. Tiberius hated to disappoint her due to his own fear of the Queen.

Now that he is here, he was glad that he overcame his own fears.

“Tiberius, son!”

Tiberius held his head up to see his father, Emperor Petrus, hovering over him. “Good evening, Your Majesty,” Tiberius said, bowing his head.

“No need to be so formal, son,” Petrus said with a loud giggle.

Tiberius barely nodded as his father patted him on the shoulder. Surprisingly, it felt weird. ‘Is he treating me like that because we are in front of guests?’ Tiberius wondered, his eyes drifting to look behind his father.

His eyes came in contact with the Queen. Blandia had her teeth bared at him with a sharp frown, clearly not very fond of the fatherly gestures the king was giving him. Again, Tiberius wasn’t bothered by the glare, it was about time he gets used to those glares. As he decided to ignore it, just behind the queen his eyes fell on Azmeralda again.

‘I want to go to her,’ he thought. ‘But the Emperor…’

The night back in the garden reminded Tiberius of how scary Julianus can get. Queen Blandia might look scary, but Emperor Julianus… was unapproachable. Tiberius gulped before raising his head again to look at Azmeralda. Even from the distance, her eagerness was clear, her eyes spoke how they were waiting for Tiberius to approach. Just like the princess she is. Waiting for the prince to approach her first.

“We will go to the princess!” Victor said, breaking Tiberius’s line of thought.

“Wait…what?!” Tiberius exclaimed. In the corner of his eyes he saw his two half-brothers dash by. It was too late to stop them, and honestly, he didn’t want to.

Tiberius smiled faintly and went after his brother. In his walk, he felt a hand grip his wrist and yank him around. He glanced over to see the Queen’s hand grasping his wrist till her knuckles went white. His heart sank to his knees as a shadow fell over his face, the traumatic memories rushed to him. Tiberius felt his blood go cold in his veins. The boy trembled in fear as his ink-black pupils were too scared to look away from the queen.

“Don’t you dare…” The Queen hissed through clenched jaws. The words were spat like poison.

Tiberius gulped in fear, wanting to pull away. The world around them went by while he felt stuck in this terrifying moment. He thought that he had overcome his fear of her. However, the scar inflicted on him was too deep to heal so easily.

‘Someone…Help!’ A desperate silent plea as he lost hope in his own feet to drag him away from there. Tiberius even went to the extent of believing she was going to beat him right then and now. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to happen.

“Blandia!”

Emperor Petrus uttered angrily, his thick brows frowning as he yanked her hand away from Tiberius. Tiberius stumbled back. He breathed heavily as he felt the blood rushing back to his veins, though he still felt his knees trembling, threatening to give in underneath his weight at any moment.

A moment after Tiberius was able to breathe, he took in the sight before him. The Emperor grabbed the Queen’s hand. Apparently, he was his savior. This added another surprise to Tiberius today. Moreover, in his father’s eyes, he could see genuine fury as he looked at the Queen. That fury was gone once he glanced over at Tiberius.

“You can go after your brothers, son,’’ Petrus said with a smile, his voice sounded fatherly gentle. “Make sure to make the princess comfortable.”

Tiberius was hesitant but nodded, he wanted to get away and far from the Queen. Petrus gave his son a broad grin before Tiberius turned on his heels and rushed to follow his brothers.

Even from a distance, Petrus could see the happy grins of the 3 brothers as they greeted the princess. He couldn’t help but smile as well. For a moment, he lost sensation of the Queen’s wrist in his own hand. He turned to face her displeased complexion.

“I warned you, Blandia. Tiberius is my *son*.”