Chapter 9

Kiara stands there, not sure of what to do. She wanders to a large window overlooking the courtyard of the castle, the place where all the inhabitants of this kingdom where standing, still cheering.

A few spot her and begin pointing at her, she moves away from the window, afraid of what the consequence of her action will be, more so, after being warned by the Emperor himself. What did he call it? Behaving like a filthy commoner.

Nia comes around the corner, giving Kiara a little shock.

“Come now, it’s time for you to have breakfast with the Emperor at the rooftop.” Nia says, pulling Kiara along.

“The rooftop? Why the rooftop?” Kiara swallows, she had just seen the height of the castle, now she had to eat up there?

“You came to the city wearing a ceremonial mask, no one saw your face, it is bound to spark some rumors. So, you have to show yourself, so the people can be reassured that it is indeed a woman. You might not know this but something similar happened a few years ago in a Kingdom east of here. A prince was wedded to a foreign woman of another kingdom to fulfill a peace treaty. She came in a veil, throughout all the proceedings, no one ever saw her face for a long time until one day her veil was ripped away by a clumsy servant. It wasn’t the bride, it was her brother. The king’s youngest son. The memory of the incident is still fresh in everyone’s mind, your appearance in a mask will relive it and spark rumors. And there is nothing the Emperor hates more than rumors. He has breakfast on the rooftop every morning, what better way to reveal your identity to the people?”

As Nia speaks, she leads Kiara through a large hallway, then takes a left turn to a door that was guarded with two hefty soldiers in armour. Seeing Nia, they open the door to let them through. Nia leads Kiara through a well-lit, long spiral staircase that leaves Kiara a little bit dizzy, they exit through a door to a spacious balcony where servants are setting up a large table before the Emperor. Kiara looks at the items they are setting on the table, a large white pot with matching tea cups that were smaller than anything Kiara has ever seen.

“Go on, he’s waiting for you.” Nia gives Kiara a small push. “Take it from me, he’s not a patient man.

Kiara takes a few steps forward and gets to the table, she finds the Emperor seated on a cushion, legs folded beneath him.

Another servant drops a bowl of brown sticks which on closer observation Kiara discovers to be tea leaves. She had seen them on merchant’s tables back home, merchants who had come from foreign lands she had not heard of before, she had never tasted them before.

“Sit.” He says.

She obeys and sits, mirroring his posture. Behind him, Kiara has an unobstructed view of the kingdom. She sees people bustling about the huge market place and the streets, she sees the houses lining each street, sees the women and children performing their daily task on the flat roofs of their homes. On some roofs people weren’t doing any chores, men women and children were gathered on the roof, staring at in this direction, they could see her, both of them, on this balcony.

She turns her attention away from the people and looks behind her. She can see the vast desert, and other castles farther away. His castle, this balcony in fact, was an excellent vantage point, she can see for miles in every direction. She whips her head this way and that, trying to look at everything at once before realizing she is doing it again. She catches herself and turns to the Emperor, his intense stare on her form makes her nervous. She tries to tuck a loose strand behind her ear only to realize that there is no strand to tuck, all her hair had been stuffed into the mask.

“Take it off.” He says.

“Take what off?” She asks, utterly confused.                                                                         

“Your mask, take it off. Unless you prefer to eat through the holes for your nose.”

The mockery in his tone makes Kiara’s cheeks burn with rage. She lifts the mask off and carefully lays it on the table. The wind whips her hair in every direction and Kiara struggles to get it under control. Nia comes to her aid and gets hold of every strand, weaving it, Kiara sees the Emperor follow the movement of her hair with his eyes until Nia drops the long braid that stops above her bottom.

Nia retreats to her place by the door, Kiara realizes she is the only one there, the other servants had disappeared. She turns back and sees the Emperor’s gaze is fixed on her, he raises an eyebrow.

“Serve the meal…You don’t expect me to serve myself, do you?”

Kiara reaches for the plate of small round puffs that looked like cakes, she hesitates, or did he want to eat the fruits, if he did, which fruits did he want?”

“The tea, serve the tea first.” The Emperor says with a sigh.

The tea…Kiara reached for the empty teapot. She doesn’t know how to serve the tea. She looks from the teapot to him, with big brown eyes filled with confusion and expectancy.

The Emperor brushes his palm over his face, ending the gesture with his forefinger on his upper lip. “Put the leaves in first, then put in the boiling water.” He says, pointing to the kettle quietly whistling by the corner.

She obeys his instructions.

“Good. Now let it sit for a while, we want to get the best out of it…Now serve.”

“Won’t the leaves get into your cup? Are you supposed to swallow the leaves?”

The Emperor tries so hard to conceal his smile by staying stone-faced but his quivering lip betrays him, he is forced to pick up a slice of peach to cover the smile.

“Serve the tea.” He says in his usual monotone after getting himself under control.

Kiara gets on her knees and leans over the assorted platters to serve the tea.

But she doesn’t know how to hold the teapot properly and scalds her palm on the sides, more so she is scared that she will overpour into his tiny cup that she is sure will not hold more than three drops at most. She is nervous, so naturally her hands begin to shake.

“If even a drop of that tea touches me, I will not hesitate to return the favour with a pot of boiling water.”

Nia stands at a corner, her head bowed. Kiara knows she cannot call out to her for help.

The remark does not help Kiara, in fact it disorganizes her, her hands shake more in an attempt not to spill the tea, so much that the top of the teapot rattles. Yet, she manages to pour the tea into the tiny cup without causing much damage, a few drops had escaped and landed on the white table cloth.

Kiara sits on her cushion fidgeting with her fingers.

“Serve yourself.”

Kiara obeys.

The Emperor put powdered sugar from a bowl into his cup and passes the bowl to Kiara who copies his actions. She takes a small sip of the golden-brown liquid and is instantly hit with a sensation of utmost pleasure. He takes one of those fluffy cakes from the bowl before passing the bowl to her, Kiara takes one bite of those little cloud things and feels like she is in heaven.

“Do you like it?” The Emperor asks, his golden eyes fixed on her.

“Yes.” Kiara replies, whilst stuffing her mouth with another cloud cake.

“It’s rude to talk with your mouth full. It’s uncouth behavior.” His tone suddenly changes from toneless to dark.

Kiara stops eating, afraid to anger him to a fit, knowing full well that he can chuck anything at the table at her.

They sit quiet for a while before the Emperor passes her a bowl of fruit and asks her to try it.

After passing her various meals and eating to his fill, the Emperor gets up from his seat, startling Kiara, causing her to spill tea on herself.

He passes her a disgusted look before leaving the balcony.

“Come on, let me show you around.” Nia takes Kiara’s arm and leads her away from the table. As they leave the balcony, servants walk through other hidden doors to clear the table.

---------------------------------