Destinare: A Destined Tale Of Time

II Pure And Innocent.

 “Don’t you even dare to go near the princess!”

The voice was so familiar to Tiberius, it didn’t surprise him. Thought the usual comfortable familiarity that a person usually has was absent from the speech spitting out of Queen Blandia’s mouth. Every word was meant to be the dagger it sounded like, she never ceased to hide or filter her hate towards the bastard she believed Tiberius to be.

And honestly, Tiberius never could bring himself to blame her, after all, his own origin was a mystery to him. He had no idea who his mother was, he never saw himself and his father close enough to open up the topic, and he couldn’t talk back to the Queen without being whipped by her words.

He might be a bastard, but he was by no means an i***t.

He stared blankly at the vexed expression on Blandia’s face and once. Tiberius was past the part where he would hope for something out of this meeting. To him, this was no more than another ball held by the Royal family of Pantera, and Azmeralda was nothing more than a pretty princess who came here to seek fun with her father.

Not that he had any hard feelings towards her.

Tiberius couldn’t hold back his mind from profiling and criticizing everything. His words were little, barely addressed to anyone. The conversations with the maids might be the longest he has ever had. Apparently, talking in the back of his mind was a side effect of being silent, however, it helped him release some of the energy pent up inside him. If he couldn’t find someone to talk to then, he would just talk to himself till there were no more words left to say.

Perhaps he would have been interested if he was a few years younger, his past self would have talked to the princess without a second thought. Now, that luxury was stripped from him, the matured part of him knew that it wasn’t worth the trouble that would come after from the Queen, however, there was also a child part of him that yearned to live his age, and Tiberius was fighting hard to subside it.

He stood amid the hallway, watching the Queen glare at him with daggers in her eyes that were no different from the real daggers that she hoped pierces his heart – the 10 years old heart that has barely grown up.

She turned on her heels to head back towards that moving crowd that was advancing without them, and they were going to keep going without him anyways… Tiberius knew that much. Not even his own father caught on to his disappearance, he barely ever realizes his existence during any normal day, and certainly, he wouldn’t when it was the day Emperor Julianus arrives in Makidia.

But, perhaps today wasn’t a usual day in any aspect?

From the side hall, Tiberius could see the crowd coming to a halt as Azmeralda’s eyes skimmed over the surrounding. When she turned to look in Tiberius’s direction, he felt his heart leap thinking they locked eyes, but the questioned look on her rounded face looked disappointed. Either she saw him and felt disappointed, or she didn’t and felt disappointed. It was one or the other and a loud part of Tiberius wanted it to be the latter.

Mayhap it was the idea of a stranger hating him that was something he was anxious about. In this huge ornamented palace in silver and gold, he found that he wasn’t very much known to many – let alone liked by anyone. The pure-innocent side of him wanted to believe that when they get to know him, they were going to like him. It was the part of him that was untainted by the cruelness of the world around him.

After all, he was a mere 10 years old looking for affection and love.

From afar, he heard the muffled giggles from the crowd. Tiberius watched Julianus pick up his daughter as she waved at his half-siblings. Something inside him clenched hard restricting his airway. That was when he turned on his heels to face the dark side of the hallway that led to his room, the faster he was out of here the better.

It was by far more comfortable to return to his own room, to be alone with his own mind and his own books, and away from the loudness of the palace and its new guests.

“After all, this changes nothing for me,” he mumbled under his breath.

~~~~

Azmeralda felt the ground back underneath her feet the moment that heavy doors were sealed behind her and her father as he let her down.

She couldn’t help but hold her head up to stare at his towering figure in question.

“If you have something to ask, it’s never too late,” Julianus uttered, unclasping his cape from around his shoulder, sighing in relief at the absence of the heavy fabric.

“I do have my own room,” Azmeralda awkwardly said, fumbling with her tiny fingers before her.

Julianus tossed the cape aside before turning sideways to look at the small figure before him. “We have never had the time to spend it together like this,” he said, sounding surprised.

Azmeralda might be young but she knew that there was a fault in her father’s words, it wasn’t *we*, it was *he*. He was the one who always had something to take care of, leaving them barely anytime to spend together. Nevertheless, this has never damaged or had any reflection on his image to her, he has always been the same. The father was her only family for as long as she could remember.

She hummed under her breath, turning her attention to admiring the room. It looked different from the one back in Kemet, but she liked it as much. The adorned walls with flowering patterns ever so softly crafted atop it, the furniture had a different look from what she was used to but it still had its charm.

“You were right about the 3 princes.”

“Eh?”

“You argued that there are 3,” Julianus quoted, turning over his shoulder. “Back in the carriage when I said there were 2.”

“Oh,” she muttered, feeling proud of her knowledge. “I’ve only said what I have learned in the book I’ve read.”

Julianus blinked, doubting the very conversation that he was having with his daughter. Sometimes, he has a hard time believing that Azmeralda was merely 10 years of age. But then again, he figured that the kind of environment that she grew up in forced her to grow up quickly.

*Perhaps it was even faster than my comprehension* he wondered. The fatherly part of him was regretting not being with her every step of the way, during every moment that she lived, to be there and support her. But the father in him never ceases to vanish whenever he handled the responsibilities of the empire.

*I deal with everyone’s problems, except for mine* he thought again never noticing that he was staring too hard that Azmeralda couldn’t help but get closer to him, and sill his warm honey-colored eyes were fixed on the spot where she once stood.

“Are you overthinking again?” she puzzled, tilting her head as she stared up at the towering figure of her father.

Julianus snapped with the resonation of her voice in the back of his head, he ruffled his hair knowing now that she was right before him. “No, it’s alright,” he said with a gentle smile dancing on his thin lips.

“Why don’t you go rest and get ready for the dinner later today?”

Azmeralda saw right through him like crystals, however, she faked her ignorance and nodded once. Julianus gestured to one of the knights standing at the door to escort her to her room.

In a mere minute Azmeralda found herself in front of the chamber she was told was hers during her stay in Makidia. Canaria, her handmaiden took her from the knight with a bow and began to prepare her for dinner.

“So much for taking a rest after the long journey,” Azmeralda mumbled under her breath, holding her hands out as Canaria helped her but on her dress.

Even if Azmeralda is a bit mature for her age, her soul was still that of a child, staying still for long hours to get ready was eating at her inside bit by bit. Her feet were threatening to unleash underneath her and run around to see the palace for herself.

“I’ve heard today won’t be any grand dinner, Princess” Canaria said, her hands busy fumbling with the waist of the dress. “No need to go grand today with the outfit.”

Azmeralda hummed in response as her head went wild at the scenes she made up in her mind about the big gathering tomorrow. In the back of her mind, the image of the raven-haired prince never left her mind, the way he disappeared right after he greeted them. As if the sole reason for being there was for formalities and internally he wanted to return to his room as soon as possible.

She set her mind on wanting to get closer to the mysterious prince in her stay here, perhaps she was driven by her love for mysteries and fantasies, either way, she was determined. To her, this whole experience was to create a memory she wouldn’t forget.

And perhaps she will…

Azmeralda was ready just in time for dinner – Canaria made sure of that. Just as she placed the last hairpiece in her raven hair, the door knocked announcing the arrival of her escort to the dinner held in Julianus’s honor.

Canaria swiftly opened the door, her eyes widened at the visitor and her head dropped in a deep bow as her mind registered the Emperor’s presence before her. “Greetings, Your Majesty!” she exclaimed.

Azmeralda’s head darted to the door with a questioning frown at her father’s sight. “Papa,” said she. “Why are you here? I was waiting for a knight to come for me.”

“Can’t possibly leave my princess to be escorted by my knight, can I?” he said.

“But you always did, Papa”

“At least not today.”

He cleared his throat, awing the cute frown on her rounded face *Just like her mother* he thought before disregarding the memory. “I told you to know is different,” he added. “This is a vacation of sorts, let’s enjoy it.”

And she didn’t want to push this any further, after all, she wasn’t complaining about it. She loved spending time wither father, perhaps she was seeing something new because this whole setting was something foreign to her…even her own father’s reactions.

Azmeralda took her father’s warm hands, welcoming the comforting warmth soothing on her skin as he led her to the dining hall, five knights on their tail with the sole purpose of protecting their king. Her eyes were fixed to the hallway around her, admiring the Corinthian columns lining up the hall to carry the vaulted roof atop their heads. The curvature of the vaults was adorned with paintings of bright colors that started to fade as time took its toll on them.

A figure representing an Emperor was standing tall atop rubble with a flag representing Makidia hovering above his head. Azmeralda assumed that it was King Pantera, the founder of Makidia. All along the way, her head was fixed at the ceiling putting the small pieces she figured from the painting into a story, bit by bit everything fell together as she got to the end of the hall. Later did she realize the pain in her neck when she found herself before the doors.

Before Julianus even came to a halt, the doors opened wide from the inside by the guards. She was blessed by the sight of the brightly lit room from above by the dangling chandelier. The Royal family were already seated in their places around the dining table that extended from along the length of the hall.

The effort could be seen to create the table, a large vase filled with red and white roses decorated the table as smaller vases were gradually put into position from either side. The tableware was already set in advance, the white plates shimmered under the bright light.

Just as the vaulted hallways, the dining room had another painting on its ceiling, but rather storytelling this one was normal painting, setting the mood inside the space to enjoy meals rather than lose touch with the reality to understand the story behind the painting.

“Your Majesty!” king Petrus exclaimed as he rose to his feet, greeting Julianus. “We have been waiting for you! I hope you rested well after your long journey.”

Azmeralda zoomed out her attention from her father as the boring greetings started to unfold – one day she’ll have to take part in these boring habits, however, today wasn’t that day so, she better enjoy it as it lasts.

Her eyes darted to the dining table to recognize the ones sitting around it, Romanus and Victor, Queen Blandia. All were there except for the one, Tiberius.

A frown fell over her face as her plans to get closer to him fell into ruins before they even started. How was she going to get closer to him when he wasn’t even there?!

She felt her feet move over the raged floor under the lead of her father, taking her to her seat. Azmeralda was lost in thought *Was he late? Isn’t he going to have dinner?* she thought, snapping out of her daze as she saw the two brothers wave at her from over the side of the table.

Her lips curved up into a smile as she smiled back at them, returning the wave, and soon, Tiberius was drowned her mind as she enjoyed a proper dinner.