Destinare: A Destined Tale Of Time

XV A Handsome Father

 “A secret chamber?” Julianus quoted oddly.

Alexander stood a few steps before him. Julianus sat on the cushioned chair by the terrace’s door. The night’s breeze fluttering his hair and cloak that he still had on, the wine glass still in hand. He was never the heavy drinker. However, he found the need for it tonight. His mind might be tipsy, but his senses were still sharp enough.

Alexnder nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he said. “The room must have been deserted for years, as well as the garden. However, the garden is still alive and somehow attended.”

Julianus has got to say that he at first paid little attention to his commander’s report of how his daughter’s night went. But a secret garden, that one poked his curiosity. Slightly, but it definitely did something to him.

“Is there anything else special about that…secret garden,” Julianus said, almost sounding amused. As if the boredom he felt was now replaced by interest.

“I believe that the garden is blessed with mana.”

“Mana?” Julianus quoted, again.

“I felt mana streaming through the garden,” Alexander elaborated. “Like water in its roots.”

Julianus turned to look at Alexander with his head tilted to the side, a sneer on his face. “A garden functioning by mana?”

Alexander was silent, realising that the question wasn’t addressed to him but to the Emperor himself. Soon, Julianus shifted his gaze elsewhere on the ground. His eyes followed the pattern of light reflected on the marbled floor. His mind thought of the possibilities of what Alexander had just said, and in the end, it had some truth to it.

“There is a possibility for that to happen,” Julianus said, taking a long moment to think. “However, continuous mana going only to take care of that garden seems like a waste. Unless the caster has that much mana to spare.”

“Should I look into it?”

“That’s not necessary,” Julianus said, the corner of his lips curling up into a smirk before he took another sip of his wine. “Every palace has its own secrets…and gardens. We are merely guests here. Let’s not dig our noses where they don’t belong.”

Alexander was silent but nodded anyway. His need was no longer required, Julianus gestured for him to leave. He bowed and left the chamber. After the door clattered shut with a soft click as the lock moved in place, Julianus was left to the silence of his mind once more. The silence was far from resembling the peace around him, his brain felt like a battlefield.

It has always been this way. He stopped trying to remember the last time he had a peaceful mind. In fact, he forgot what it felt like. Tonight, however, Iraj’s presence brought the memory back.

‘It was with her that I felt peace,’ he reminded himself.

“And it’s because of him that I lost her…along with that peace,” he whispered weakly, his heart felt like it was pierced by daggers.

Even when he has been doing just fine for the past years, the pain was intense tonight. Perhaps, it was the same as the day of the fall of his heart. The day he wished to forget but was never able to do so. Forgetting that night meant forgetting her…and he never even thought of forgetting her. Cleopatra. The only good part of him was represented in her.

“Even after all this time,” he mumbled under his breath. He felt the tears. However, all the tears were already shed. There was nothing more to give.

‘Always,’ a voice inside him answered. It was the last thing he said that night.

He stood still in the darkness of his chambers, sulking in his sadness for the first time in a long while, he was able to grieve again…the never-ending grieve he was to take to his grave.

~~~~

The sun shone brightly out of the blue. Azmeralda flinched, bringing her hand to cover her sensitive eyes.

“It’s time to wake up, Princess,” Canaria said, opening the curtains.

The morning sun flooded inside harshly, lighting the whole room with its warm rays. Azmeralda flipped to her side and groaned softly, still half-asleep. Her mind was still dazed, she didn’t recall anything of the previous night or how she got to bed. She turned on her back, staring up at the ornamented ceiling, and she began regaining her senses.

The memories came shoving their way into her brain all at once, replayed in the back of her mind. The Persian prince. Her father. The Secret Garden. Her eyes finally fluttered open wide, a grin forming on her lips at the last memories she had created before she retired the previous night.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Canaria noted, a grin forming on her own lips as she prepared to wash the Princess. “Did something good happen yesterday, Princess? You returned and retired directly to your bed, never said a word.”

“Indeed I’m,” Azmeralda agreed, sitting up straight in her bed with a smile still on her face. “I wanted the morning to come quickly!”

Canaria placed the clothes she had prepared at the end of the bed before looking at Azmeralda oddly – a good kind of odd. It was only a few times that Azmeralda woke up so brightly, excited even, for a new day. She felt like a proud mother watching her daughter grow, she watched her through it all. Now that Azmeralda found a new spark in her life, Canaria couldn’t have been happier.

Before long, Canaria smiled back as well. “We had better get you ready, Princess,” she said. “We don’t want you late for the breakfast invitation.”

“Breakfast invitation?” Azmeralda quoted, tilting her head.

“Emperor Petrus asked for His Majesty’s presence today,” Canaria elaborated. “And of course, you will have to be there as the Emperor’s daughter.”

Azmeralda felt she missed something from Canaria’s words. She took a moment to think it over before her eyes went wide with realization.

“Is Crown Prince Iraj coming as well?!” she exclaimed, almost falling forward at the sudden rushed movement.

Canaria, ignorant of the happenings of the night before, didn’t catch on to what Azmeralda tried to imply. “N-No,” Canaria said, taking a minute to register. “I wasn’t told any other families were invited.”

Azmeralda sighed in relief. There was no knowing what would happen this time if her father were to meet Prince Iraj again. ‘The last time Papa almost killed him,’ she said to herself. The remainder of the incident made her sleepy bones shiver. She hoped wholeheartedly that Prince Iraj would remain far from her father’s sight during their stay here.

Azmeralda had no idea what was the matter between the two adults, or how they were so familiar – and displeased with one another. However, something told her that she had better not know.

Some things are better to remain hidden, and perhaps this is one of those things. Arguing with her father for the truth was futile. She was aware of that much. Julianus was good at many things. War, politics, ruling the greatest empire on the continent, if not the world. But what he really excelled at, was keeping secrets. It was almost a hobby for him.

‘There is truly so little I know about him besides the fact that he is my father,’ Azmeralda thought, her body moving on its own as her maid got her up and ready. She might have forgotten about the incident when she was with Tiberius…or she chose to ignore it, at least for the little time she spent with Tiberius. Worrying about her father was an infinite loop with no answers.

“It’s almost like talking to the wall,” she mumbled out loud, her head hanging low on her neck. “But this wall can talk and makes excuses.”

“Pardon?” Canaria was puzzled, busy fixing Azmeralda’s hair.

“It’s nothing,” she sighed and looked in the mirror to admire her handmaiden’s handy work. “You never fail to amaze me.”

“It’s only because your hair is soft like silk,” Canaria said, stretching her sore back with her hands on her waist. “Just like your mother.”

As she finished her words, Canaria sounded weak – sad even. She might have been just another maid in the Imperial palace back then. However, the Empress’s death was something that rocked the entire empire…it rocked the Emperor’s heart even more. Despite his young age, and having no male heirs. He chooses to stay devoted to the empire and his only daughter. In front of the court's objection to the empress’s seat being empty, there was only so little that they could do.

“Do I lack being the emperor with no wife?” Julianus replied once to a member of the court. “If not, then you had better return to your position, My Lord.”

Being assigned to serve the court, Canaria was astonished by the way the Emperor held the court members in place. Yes, they help rule, but the final word belongs to him. Canaria felt safe somehow, knowing that she was serving such an emperor…and his daughter that she practically raised.

Azmeralda gazed at Canaria, wondering what hads gotten into her out of the blue. But mostly, she was oddly checking the sad smile that still lingered on her lips.

“Are you about to cry?” Azmeralda asked in worry, tilting her head to take a better look at her handmaiden.

Canaria held her head up to lock gaze with the Princess, her smile brightened, the sadness in them was gone. “I just miss the little baby I had to take care of.”

Azmeralda gave her the i-don’t-believe-you look. She figured that lately everyone has been having this sad agonized part in their smile. ‘It feels like I trigger all the sad memories in them,’ she thought in the back of her head, knowing the fact that Canaria was there when her mother was still alive.

However, there was something Azmeralda was still unaware of, the fractions of the memories that flood the people the moment their eyes fall on her. They were never sad memories – in fact, they were memories they wanted to relive again. The realization that they couldn’t have that was what hurt their hearts.

Azmeralda was the last thing the Empress left before she went into eternal sleep.

‘I’ll serve and protect her with my life, my Queen,’ Canaria renewed her promise once again.

The gentle knock on the door broke the tension surfacing around them. Canaria cleared her throat as she headed to open the door. The moment she saw Sir Alexander, Canaria bowed in greeting.

“Greeting, Ms. Canaria,” Alexander said. “Is the Princess ready?”

Before Canaria would reply, Alexander spotted the little Princess behind Canaria’s skirt. He bowed his head respectfully before straightening his tall frame, he towered over Canaria. She even had a hard time looking at the tall knight for a long time, it gave her a sore neck. However, for Azmeralda she gave up on looking up at him.

“Greetings, Princess,” he said. “His Majesty is waiting for you to escort you to the dining hall.”

Azmeralda nodded. She waved goodbye to Canaria before she followed the Knight to where her father was. He led her to her father’s chamber, which was just down the hall from her’s. He was already in his uniform, the black suit less fancy than the one he wore to the banquet. Nevertheless, it made him look glammy…or it was he who glammed the suit.

It was an easy thing to say…

‘My father really is handsome.’