Silvana's Trial

Chapter 11 - Redemption

Silvana woke and stretched. Then her mind focused on the day at hand and she bounded out of bed, all remnants of sleep forgotten. She glanced out her window. The gloom of an overcast day shadowed the palace.

She shrugged, murmuring, "No matter." She didn't need a sunny day to keep her spirits up. Her heart fluttered in excitement while her stomach clenched at the same time. What would this day bring?

She flung open the door to her dressing room and walked in. Her eyes met with a multitude of colours. She liked how her wardrobe changed when she abdicated her position as Koutaishi of Oruna. No more blue and silver. Her lips twitched.

Then she turned serious, glancing through the array of outfits. She took out one, looked at it a moment and rejected it. She dismissed more than a dozen garments before her face lit up. She rummaged at the far end of the room and pulled out a somewhat crumpled green gown.

Tingles coursed through her when her hands closed around the soft fabric and her heart raced with the memory of this dress. Holding it against her, she twirled and giggled. Beads pressed into the skin of her hand where she held the bodice. She spread it out on a chair and skipped into the bathroom.

Bells rang out all over Kingston. Silvana raced to the window of her room. She was ready. She craned to see if there was anyone coming to the house but the gardens around her home were deserted. A sigh escaped her and she left her room, wandering the downstairs halls and spaces.

Waiting never sat well with Silvana but now it grated on her. She envied her mother and siblings who were in the palace while she remained at home. It was almost noon when she gave in to her restlessness and headed into the garden to pace by the cliff, overlooking the sea.

Stepping out the door, she looked up and frowned. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. A clear mauve canopy met her gaze. Where was the sun? Her eyes flew wide when the answer came to her. "How big is his ship?" It had to be gargantuan for it to block out the sun. Shrugging, she set off to her favourite part of the garden.

The sound of the waves mirrored her agitation, her spirit riled against the demands of imperial etiquette. She kept reminding herself she'd waited so many months, what were a few more hours or even minutes? Still, her exasperation surfaced. She tugged on a strand of hair as she walked to and fro, almost oblivious to the salt on the breeze.

Annoyance and impatience began to mingle with dread. Why was it taking so long? Where was her summons? Maybe he didn't want to see her. Perhaps this was a state visit and nothing more. Her stomach clenched around the little breakfast she'd forced down earlier. Her skin turned to gooseflesh with the next gust of wind.

Her thoughts were on the verge of spiralling when she picked out the crunch of footfalls on the gravel path. She looked up at the sound. Her heart stopped when she recognised the man walking towards her. Then elation fountained inside her.

With a shriek of joy, she flew across the distance separating them. Then a thought felled her to her knees, where she coughed a hoarse, "My Emperor."

He took a step forward, tugged her up until she stood before him. Cupping her face in his hands, he said, "Silvana, of all the people in this empire, you are the last I wish to see prostrated before me."

She saw hurt shimmering behind his eyes but it transformed to something entirely different within seconds. He gazed upon her, his amber eyes liquefying into honey. His mouth worked a moment and then he gave up trying to speak and crushed her to his chest.

"I've missed you so," he rasped, his voice overflowing with emotion.

When he relaxed his hold, Silvana shifted so she could study him. "I missed you too," she murmured, her gaze absorbing the new lines of worry etched into his forehead and around his mouth. Lips. She leaned forward and brushed them with a feather-light kiss.