If I truly sent him back, he would likely be dead within days. How could I live with myself?
“Mother... mother...” the boy mumbled, his small hand suddenly grasping mine, calling out in his fevered dreams.
“How could such a small child be guilty of anything? I am the queen. Can I not even protect one little boy?”
“But Your Majesty...” Viola began again, but I cut her off with a raised hand. I knew exactly what she was going to say.
The palace was cold and ruthless. The emperor was frail and sick, with little time left. I had entered this palace only to become a widow in all but name – how could there be any warmth in such a place?
But this child… fine. I would at least protect his life.
I knelt before the Queen Mother’s palace for three days and three nights, and at last, she relented. She agreed to let me raise Prince Caelan.
However, she asked me, “This child will never sit on the throne. He can’t offer you protection. Do you still wish to do this?”
“I have no regrets.”
I understood her meaning. As queen, I could easily adopt another prince and raise him as my own, ensuring that he would become emperor. Then I could secure my position and influence in the palace.
But I didn’t want to take another woman’s child, and I didn’t want this little life before me to wither away before it had even had a chance to bloom.
The Queen Mother sighed, though her gaze softened slightly.
Deep down, perhaps, even she felt some compassion...
From that day on, her attitude toward me changed. She became warmer, more willing to teach me the ways of palace life – how to rule as queen and manage the vast and treacherous court. Through countless lessons and grim examples, she showed me how to survive in this pit of vipers.
Three years later, the emperor passed away. My father, returning in triumph from the battlefield, brokered an alliance with Lord Alistair, the most powerful man in the kingdom.
Against all expectations, Alistair supported the ascension of eight-year-old Caelan as emperor.
On her deathbed, the Queen Mother cursed me, pointing a trembling finger in my direction: “You will bring ruin to the realm!”
…
I woke with a start, back in the familiar surroundings of my chamber.
Viola, red-eyed and weeping, was at my bedside. Seeing me stir, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
For a long while, I sat there, disoriented, trying to piece together the events of the previous day.