Laughter came from his mother's rooms, her laughter. Daichi ground his teeth as a stab of jealousy shot through his heart. He hated the infantile reaction but couldn't seem to curb it.
This was his mother and he should be grateful to Amara for embracing her when all other court members only tolerated her. Only all he could think about was how guarded his mate had become around him. Wish she was still as carefree with him as she was with his mother.
It was as if she was wary of him, afraid to put a step wrong. He couldn't understand it. Even when he touched her, there was a reserve there hadn't been the first time. Daichi didn't want to force anything upon her but he'd noticed the moment he stopped, things became even more tense.
It was a cycle that got worse the more it repeated and he'd no idea how to break it. He needed her and not just sexually. His dragon was getting restless, a bit violent. It was never a good idea to deny a dragon his mate but Daichi had never taken an unwilling female to his bed.
And he was shrewd enough to realize that was the problem with their relationship. Amara wanted to make love to him, or at least she had that day. Now, he was conflicted on what she wanted. Worse still, when talking to her she seemed to agree with whatever he said. If he insisted she be honest, her agitation increased.
"They seem to be enjoying themselves." Daichi was jolted out of his musing by his father's neutral voice. He'd forgotten the emperor was with him.
"Yes." He agreed doing his best to be as neutral.
"I imagine if we joined in, we'd take the joy out of them." Daichi turned sharply to his father, his eyes narrowing as he noted the weary look in his father's eyes. "At least I will." He muttered only for Daichi's ears.
The royal pair never went anywhere without a cadre of guards. Daichi was so used to them he barely noticed but he became aware of their presence at his father's caution.
"Father?" He questioned.
"Don't let whatever issues you're having with your mate fester." The emperor advised. "If you do, it becomes harder and harder to reconcile and the next thing you know, years have passed and you have nothing between you."
"Like you and mother." Daichi stated.
His father straightened his posture even more. "Yes."
"She won't tell me why she's upset." He confided to his father. "She won't even admit to being upset."
"Women are like that." The emperor agreed. "You'll have to court her out of it."
"And mother?" He asked. "Did you try the same?"
"I had ignored and been angry with her for centuries. I was too late." His father turned to look at his son. "I don't think your mother sees me anymore. Anything I do doesn't registers to her. She's long since made up her mind about me and I can't blame her."
Daichi felt a lump form on his throat. He'd never been that close to his father not only because of how he'd assumed he treated his mother but because the man himself was aloof. For the first time he realized there might be more to his father's reserve. Maybe he'd also been hurt by his mother to the extent he was only protecting himself. Having a child who took his mother's side had to have added to that.
"It's never too late." He comforted though it sounded trite given how dragons tended to hold onto grudges for centuries.
The emperor gave him a tight smile. "As you say." He agreed in that mild way that showed he didn't believe but wanted the topic dropped. "Just don't let time get away from you. Being a royal means it is a limited commodity, make time for your mate."
Daichi bowed to his father, indicating is acceptance and appreciation of the advice. "I shall put it into practice."
With a nod, his father undid the binding that had prevented their guards from eavesdropping. He hadn't even been aware of him casting it. They walked on in silence each lost in their own thoughts. It was hard for Daichi to realize he hadn't been fair to his father. Even knowing it took two to have a relationship, he'd made his mother a victim of his father. Which was unfair of him.
As he sat in through his father, hearing the complaints and needs of his people Daichi was further reminded of how complex people were. Nothing was cut and dry and since two people could view the same incident differently the truth was hardly ever brought before the emperor.
For the first time he paid attention to how his father dealt with them. He listened, questioned each closely before doing his best to be fair to both parties. It wasn't always possible but his father seemed to have a way of settling matters that left all parties satisfied.
It occurred to him that even with all his skill, personal matters still overcame the great emperor. Just as they did every other being. How had he failed to recognize that when all was said and done, the emperor was just a man. For some reason, that made him feel better.
"I'll Distract your mother." The emperor said as they left the audience chambers. "Try to remember the moment she pulled away from you and what had happened." His father gave him a small smile that never touched his eyes. "What you said and did."
"So it's my fault?" Daichi questioned in a dry tone.
"When dealing with a woman it always is." His father replied with humour, the first time he could remember hearing it from his father.
They walked back in silence, Daichi thinking on what could've made his sweetly honest mate close off that part of herself. It didn't take much imagination to figure out how he'd hurt her. By the dragon masters he wished he could've given in to her desire. He'd wanted her, he still did, but at that time he'd been raging, his dragon out of control. If he'd allowed himself...if he hadn't been strong enough... he shuddered at the thought.
True to his word, his father took his mother away from the rooms where the two females had still been together. The tension between them broke his heart and he wished he could do something to ease their relationship but he couldn't think what. He needed to settle things with Amara first.
She waited for him with the calm face she'd been presenting to him, what he thought of as her mask. When he turned to her, she met his gaze without flinching, nothing in here yes to betray what she was thinking. He hated that expressionless innocent look.
"Walk with me." he stated.
"Of course." her ready acceptance annoyed him but he'd expected it and brushed it off.
There was a private garden close to his mother's rooms, one that could only be accessed from said rooms and no other. He led her to the patio doors that led out from his mother's first flood sitting room. His hand on her supple back led her deeper into the shrubbery that his mother loved.
Into a maze of roses, though not in the proper sense of a walking puzzle one had to navigate. Daichi had asked his mother why she hadn't put a true maze and she'd told him they were too common now. Her maze had many ways out of it and a riot of different roses that had an elegance to them even as they were wild.
"Why are you upset with me Amara?"
"I'm not..." he held up his hand to her to stop the lie that she'd been feeding him.
"I told you I studied humans in my youth. One of the things I noticed was how their females hid their true feelings from their mates. That will not work with us. I need the truth from you, I expect and demand it." he explained in an authoritative voice stopping them in their tracks and turning her to face him.
Her lips trembled and his gaze fixed on them. At the temptation they afforded but once again he held himself back. "I'm just trying to be a good wife."
A shaft of remorse washed through him at her confusion and pain. "By whose standards?" He demanded.
That stubborn chin he remembered rose in defiance. "I might now have to live in your city but I'm still human. I still carry my culture with me."
"And that culture teaches you to hide who your are?" he demanded again and almost smiled at the disapproving look that came over her.
"No, it teaches us how to be proper women. To respect the wishes of one's husband."
"Pretending to be fine is far from what I wish and yet that is what you have been doing." he pointed out and was struck by the flash of hurt that crossed her eyes. He continued, "Can you see yourself pretending everything is fine, changing your opinion to suit mine for a century? How about a thousand years, five thousands?"
Her eyes fluttered up at him, unsure and lost. "Human females can afford to hide who they are from their males since their lives are short. We, you cannot afford the same since our lives will be far much longer. And what relationship can we have if you are constantly lying to me? How will I ever know you?"
"I wasn't lying Daichi." she protested in a small voice, her eyes earnest on his.
"Yes you were." he argued gently. "Any time you suppress what you feel to make someone believe otherwise or feel better, you're lying. I would rather have you call me a fool than to go about believing you support me when you don't. Do you have any idea how painful it is to have your mate constantly lie to you?"
Daichi knew he was being a bit too harsh but he needed her to understand. Needed her to never hide from him again. "I want and expect truth from you, always, as I will give you the same of me."
Shame filled her eyes and Daichi felt his heart ache that he was the one to cause her pain. "I'm sorry." she whispered as tears filled her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. "I didn't think it was lying."
"I know you didn't." he comforted as he enfolded her into his arms. "Which is why I am letting you know. If I didn't, we might have ended up as my parents, polite strangers. I don't think either one of us wants that."
She hiccupped as she burrowed into his chest. "No."
He held her for a while as her tears ran, until she was quiet and then for a long time after. "Are you better now?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Good, I have something to show you."