Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook drabbles 24

Written 2022

There were rules and protocols for this situation. Behave, obey, and wait for the chance to escape. The last one came with a set of caveats as long as a man's arm. Emperor Menkar collected people, for better or worse. He'd kill off the more aggressive members of a royal family and keep the ones who would obey. Hikari studied his behaviours closely as the Emperor's men circled closer to taking over their little micronation among giants. A ticking time bomb waiting for when someone insulted the wrong person.

"I don't have anything to offer, my Lord. No blackmail or hidden card to deal that can sway your mind. I can but appeal to your sense of honour and mercy," Hikari said, eyes low out of respect. His posture was as regal as possible while retaining an air of submissiveness.

Before his mother uttered the insult that brought the worlds down on them, Hikari had prepared. The Emperor's tastes were known far and wide. He liked beauty, he respected intelligence, and he enjoyed a fight. Hikari didn't have the stature for the final but did his best to cultivate the first two. His hair sat long, and he wore practical robes that suited him. Once the takeover reached the point of no return, he helped as best he could with the handover, all to get enough goodwill to make a bold request without being mocked for it.

"Mercy is not what I am known for, young Prince,"

"My Lord has not killed any of his opponents' children. You are strict with how your soldiers conduct themselves with the local people. Mercy may not be in your nature, but you show it," Hikari tried not to flush. Something was drastically wrong if he defended the Emperor's opinions on himself. Unless he preferred an image of no mercy and Hikari broke it. That could be a wrong move to make. Mercy was expensive, and something few new Rulers could accord to give.

One chance, that's all he and most people received from the Emperor. Occasionally a teenager received a second. The Emperor had a soft spot for the young struggling to find their purpose or footing. Hikari turned twenty days prior, just beyond the regular line but possibly close enough that he could get away with being bolder than some other pleading for a favour.

"Mercy and duty should not be confused. Speak what you wish. I have things to do, Princeling," the Emperor's eyes narrowed, impatience ringing.

"Let my father live in exile at the sanatorium on the moon and name me as your concubine instead."

The silence after his words clogged thick in the room. The Emperor's face not shifting from annoyance though his eyes hinted that he was controlling himself. Fingers tapped on the rosewood desk in front of the Emperor, and there was a distinctive huff. "I get very tired of dealing with Princelings."

"My Lord?"

"You would not be the first child to ask that I spare their parent from that fate. Tell me, Princeling, Do the stories of how I treat my concubines sound so terrible that you'd be willing to risk your neck?"

He'd failed.

"Not terrible, my Lord," Hikari said, keeping his posture controlled as his mind whispered with escape options. His mother had been the one born to power, and his father was the one who married into the family. He needed to devise a way to get his father to the outer colonies, preferably burning their identities to stop the Emperor's Wolves from hunting them down. A strong plan B.