The Throne of Eleven: An Epic Fantasy Novelette (LGBTQIA+)

The Emperor's Family

The week passed and I was still in control of my mind.

I learned to make a game of observation during my long times standing behind the emperor. I'd watch the minutiae of his every move, try to pick out words on his documents without appearing to be looking, trace every single grain of every piece of paneling in his rooms. By the end of the week, Cain pronounced me fit and said the next day I would take the same shift, and she would pace me in the evening, which suited me fine. A week with Cain and I couldn't say I enjoyed her company, though I still preferred it to the cacophony of Len.

One evening after I'd settled down on my bed, after Cain had gone for her shower and before Len came back, another servant appeared at my door and said I was needed in the Chapel. I groaned myself up and straightened out my rumpled clothes, then followed him.

Servants' Country was familiar by now, and I knew in the palace itself the way to the Chapel, though I had not yet been there in my new capacity. The servant bowed to an Eleven who stood guard by the carved Chapel doors, and I followed suit. The servant opened one door and beckoned me in. He did not follow me, and I heard the soft click of the door re-latching behind me. My heart sped up.

The Chapel was dark this time of day. The high windows that ringed the top of the walls let in small sunlight and cast the whole in an orange glow. Braziers flared white-blue along the rows of benches slanting down to the shrine at the front, and on the shrine itself, the braziers blazed around the double-slash emblem of the Elevens, the brightest point in the room.

"It is time," an Eleven said, appearing beside me, and I snorted to cover my jump. Another Eleven melted from the shadows on my left. Both were robed in the gray of the trainers, but their posture spoke of red—even among the Elevens there were levels of pride.

"Time?" I asked.

The first Eleven only nodded their misted head. The Elevens wore their markers of gender beneath their robes, or maybe they had no markers at all. "Follow us."

They led me through the Chapel, behind the shrine and its emblem, and through a small oval door. From there, we walked a long, narrow corridor, down two flights of stairs, and then stepped out into a cobbled alley.

I breathed chill open air and coughed my confusion. I was not to leave the palace, and if the Elevens were taking me out, it meant that I had failed. Someone had found me out, I had been too obvious somewhere. Maybe Cain had told—but then, she'd have been taken too. Taken to where?

The Elevens motioned to a covered carriage, the horses snorting in the near dark.

"Get in."

I stepped up first and sat facing back; the two Elevens stooped in and faced me. One thumped the carriage wall, and we began to bounce over the cobblestones.

Taking me where? Would they reinvent my features again and put me back in the service? No, I was too dangerous for that.

I hunched my arms to my side and stilled my body so I wouldn't shiver. There was gray twilight in the glow from the streets, but it was fast fading to the indigo night.

And then I could stand it no more.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To see the emperor's family," said the Eleven on the right, the taller one. I stared at the mist that was their face and itched to try and reach through it, to see if they were people after all or spirits bent on tormenting us—did they feel anything at all?

I curled my fingers into my palms.

"The emperor's family? Forgive me, but wouldn't his family be at the palace—"

I cut myself off and sat back. The emperor's family. My family. I'd forgotten...I'd almost forgotten the rights to visitation I would have once a week during my time in service. My eyes flooded, and I had to blink hard not to flow the tears. My family. It had only been a month, but also a lifetime ago, since I had seen my family.

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So the Elevens are sort of monks, but also sort of gods, and just that shade of creepy. What's something I wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley? An Eleven, that's what. Thanks for reading! Please like and comment if you loved it, and follow for more updates!