White Dragon Stories

The past, the present and the future

Slowly the door to Hakuryuu's bedroom was pushed open and someone entered. Heavy footsteps got closer to the bed. Hakuryuu hold his breath and pressed his plushy closer to his chest. Of course he couldn't see, who it was, but it couldn't be a guard. A guard would never enter the room of a royal without permission and there was no need for them to do so anyway. So it must be an assassin! Hakuryuu's heart beat increased. Never before had he been so afraid. But of course he would never admit it, he was brave and he was not crying or afraid. A prince of the great Kou Empire would never cry or hide or run away. Hakuryuu wasn't crying – he was – or hiding – he was – or running away – he would if he could –, he was just observing the intruder from a safe place, so he could report him later on or make a surprise attack.
The unknown person came to a hold in front of the bed, so Hakuryuu only saw their shoes and a bit of their robes. Somehow they looked familiar. An assassin wouldn't wear such fine shoes and clothes, right? Wouldn't they wear something less colorful and heavy looking? Hakuryuu wasn't sure, since he had never met an assassin, but he knew they were people, who killed others in the dark and from behind – they were cowards!
"Hakuryuu?", a familiar voice asked.
Hakuryuu froze for a second. This voice belonged to his father, he was sure of that.
"Father?", Hakuryuu replied hesitantly with a low voice.
"Where are you, Hakuryuu?"
"Here."
Very slowly Hakuryuu made his way out from under the bed, while his father took a few steps back in search of his youngest son, who was not in his bed as he should be. When Hakutoku saw how Hakuryuu came out from under the bed he bend down to help his son.
"Why were you under the bed?"
"Because I was scared."
"Scared of what?"
Hakuryuu did not answer. He felt ashamed to admit he thought his father might be an assassin. It was embarrassing enough to admit he had been scared.
"There is no reason to be scared anymore. I am here and I can assure you that everything is fine in the palace. I was just looking after you. It really scared me, when I couldn't find you in your bed."
Hakutoku had sat down on Hakuryuu's bed and had put his son on his lap. Hakuryuu on the other hand was holding on to his father's robes and had no intention of letting go soon. Although nothing bad had happened, he still felt uneasy.
Tenderly Hakutoku tighten his grip around Hakuryuu. His son was still scared and he knew that words alone would not change this, so he decided to stay silent and let his son calm down. Of course he still wanted to know what his son was scared of, but why bother Hakuryuu with question when the reason could be a simple nightmare. Hakuryuu was old enough to know what a nightmare was and that such dreams were only dreams and therefore not reality, so he probably would relax as soon as he realized that the nightmare was over.

It took Hakuryuu some time until he finally felt asleep in his father's arms, but it happened. Softly Hakutoku put his son back into bed and stayed a few minutes until he left the room. There were are few more children he had to look after as well. Hopefully those were sound asleep in their beds.

*

Hakuryuu cherished the few memories he had of his father very much. Unfortunately this memories were so few that he sometimes had to remind himself that he had memories of his father and that his father was not the cold-hearted man most people thought Hakutoku had been. As emperor one could not be emotional, one had to level-headed and this often lead to someone appearing as cold-hearted.
Whenever he remembers his father holding him, he started to dream about the future. A future in which he had a wonderful wife and a child with her. He dreamed about a future in which he would also hold his child at night and cast away its fears.
For the moment he may not have arrived at such a future, but he had a wonderful wife at his side and for now he would cast away her fears, be it at night or day. He hold her tight to himself and she did not mind at all. On the contrary she even tried to get closer to him, which was almost impossible. While she was focused on the story she read, he started to draw circles with his index finger on her skin.