Malina went to bed peacefully for most of the night, surprisingly. The air was cool, much like it had been for the past two months. Hidden under thick sheets, she laid silent, apart from the world´s curiosity. The only sounds present were the distant, faded chirping crickets outside of her hut.
One by one, her aunts had left after supper, leaving with her all kinds of decorative knick knacks for her hair and outfits. Malina, although overwhelmed, was deeply gratified; most of these ítems had had to have taken a lot of their hard earned saved money.
She had put them all in one little wood carved table in a corner, along with the engagements gifts she had received from her classmates at school. The one that stuck out the most was a strange, unopened box that was given by Guaka. What its contents were, Malina hesitated to know, fearing that her husband-to-be´s chubby adorador had left her with a life size stone replica of Kuzco, for uses she did not want to know.
Perhaps, it was the nervous anxiety that she was feeling or the rustling of the tree branches outside, but she could have sworn that she heard steps coming toward her house. She pondered upon her rumbling stomach as the cause of the noise; she hadn´t eaten much at dinner. But, no, there was somebody or something approaching the front door.
She pulled her sheets and lifted herself from the bed, irritated enough to throw something at whoever had the nerve to bother her in the late hours of the night.
Putting her hair up, she looked out her window and down to the front porch. The sight had caught her breathless. She scratched her tired eyes.
There he was, being carried by four guards, each one as intimidating as the next one. His complacent, spoiled grin wearing a large crescent shaped headdress over his head. With no timidity, he dropped down from his platform confidently rearranging his crimson robe.
Malina was speechless. She had not seen Kuzco for weeks now and as much as she tried to deny it, she knew that in her head she had counted every passing day to his return. But the unexpected visit came to her as an annoyance. What on earth was the Emperor doing at this hour of the night at her house? She wasn´t really as prepared as she thought she might be and her body needed rest.
A knock was heard downstairs. Malina hesitated to answer it. Suddenly, her mother´s quiet voice was heard as well.
¨Who could be knocking at this hour of the night?¨ She yawned. ¨Honey, this doesn´t sound good.¨
¨I´ll take care of it.¨Malina´s father angrily retorted, grumbling in his breath. Opening the wood door, he came face to face with young Emperor Kuzco, standing ever so relaxed. He jerked his head around from side to side, ignoring the man in front of him and trying to see the habitants inside their home.
¨Kuzco?...¨
¨The one and only!¨ he boasted confidently.
¨What are you…¨
¨Hey, pops." Kuzco clapped his hands together, enthusiased. ¨Good news! The palace is all set for my Empress´s arrival and I am ready to go and pick her up to her new home!¨Kuzco couldn´t help but smile victouriosly, naive of the growing irritation of his father in law. He bit his lip. ¨Is Malina home?¨
Malina´s pajama-clad mother came out, growing curious of the outside noise. She immediately caught sight of the young man and the servitude behind him. A warm smile was spread across her face, as weird as this situation was, Kuzco had always been a pleasure to have around, as far as her knowledge went.
¨What is going on out here? Kuzco?¨
The man sighed, and put his hand on his forehead. ¨Oh, nothing out of the ordinary.¨
He had never been fond of their Emperor, not since he saw how arrogant and disconsiderate he was towards his own people, how he was a sorry excuse for a leader, a lousy student and how his little girl would cry in her bed, weeping his cruel actions from time to time.
However, ever since graduation, his daughter´s bethrotal to him, and his return to the throne, he had been quite used to having him around his home, more often than what he needed, in his opinion. His first reaction consisted of being taken aback at why out of all men, Malina would pick him. His daughter was much too smart, proud and responsible to aim for someone as...well, imprudent as he was. But, yes, he admitted it, the boy had changed more or less and for the better. At least there was one less worry to concern himself with.
This, nevertheless, was beyond him. Why would he need to tell the news at this specific hour?
He didn´t care if this was the Empire´s leader, the descendant of the Sun, or his daughter´s future husband, he would never have a right to disrupt the village at this hour, wake them up, and still get his way with their child.
He gazed upon his eyes closely, dark and vivid.
¨What…?¨Kuzco asked backing off aprehensively. ¨Amazed by my good looks?¨
¨You do realize what time it is, right?¨he said, annoyed.
The Emperor looked around, pretending to be amused by the peasant confronting him. Straightening his crown, he stood rigid, but it was no use. Malina´s father´s tallness was something not to be overlooked.
He tsked and picked his fingernails, casually.
¨Um, well, it´s...yeah, well, I thought now would be a good time to tell you that...¨
¨Ok, let´s not get too hot under the collar, shall we?¨ Malina´s mother caught his words short.
Her father grunted. He would have loved to have stayed here and argue. However, this was going nowhere.
¨We are pleased to have you back here, your highness. But I also need to remind you that this is our humble home you are meddling in and it is the late hours of the night. Now, if you wanted to come and talk to Malina tomorrow, we would be more than happy to have…¨he grumbled. ¨You here….¨
¨No, no, no, no wait. You don´t understand. Look, I...¨ Kuzco hesitated. ¨...apologize for waking you in up the latey late night, but Malina needs to know that...¨
¨Dad!¨Malina´s voice was heard, coming downstairs.¨It´s ok, Kuzco can stay for a little while.¨ She couldn´t help but smile and turn two shades redder at the sight of the Emperor.
Wearing only a light pink robe, Kuzco caught a sight of her and dropped his jaw open. Her black long hair trickled down her visibly unrestrained breasts. Once a hottie, always a hottie, even in the middle of the night.
¨Malina, are you sure?¨her mother asked, holding her arms together warm from the cold air. ¨It is the middle of the night.¨
¨And you should be getting some sleep for tomorrow.¨ her father added, hopefully changing his daughter´s mind away from her fiance.
¨Mom, Dad, I know you worry about me. But trust me, Kuzco is a good man. If anyone was to attack me I trust that he would put me as his first concern¨ she lied quickly, making Kuzco snort silently.
Malina´s mother nodded, putting her hand on her husband´s back. ¨Let´s go back to bed, she´ll be fine. And besides, she´s growing up, and we can´t stop her.¨
With one last reluctant passing look, Malina´s father went back to his room, trusting his daughter for good judgement.
¨How do you do it?¨Kuzco asked, putting his hands on his bride´s shoulder tenderly.
¨What?¨
¨You always know just the right thing to say.¨