One Night with the Emperor

Chapter Fifteen – Home and Gone Again

"Blades!" Jauffre's voice echoed. "Pay homage to Martin's Champion!"

I opened my eyes. Back in Cloud Ruler Temple. Home.

The Blades circled around me. As one, they drew their katanas, pointing them at the ceiling. They knelt, rotating their blades so the points touched the floor.

"Abiyomi!"

Martin. I turned around. There he stood, just outside the ring of Blades, in front of the fire. Dressed in Emperor's robes. He stepped around Caroline and approached me.

"Abiyomi," he breathed. "You're alive. You look terrible. But you're alive."

I wanted to throw my arms around him. But I couldn't. My blood would ruin his robes. Stupid high-society standards.

"I feel terrible." My voice sounds funny. Is my nose broken? "You look kind of funny yourself."

"What, these?" He looked down at his robes. "Yeah, I know. I needed something to distract me while you were in there. There's always a spare set of robes here, so they fitted them to me. Which was a challenge because I refused to leave this room unless I absolutely had to."

He nodded to the side. I glanced toward where he nodded. A bedroll lay along the wall. It had plenty of books strewn across it.

I glanced back up. "How long was I gone?"

Martin grimaced. "A few days."

"Oh." I've been going for a few days on like three hours sleep. Exhaustion crashed into me. The world spun. I wobbled. "Oh."

Martin grabbed my shoulders. Healing magic slammed into the exhaustion inside of me. It felt strange, but a good kind of strange.

"Martin, your robes!" Jauffre protested.

"Well then get me something to cover it with! I need to heal her!" Ooh, he sounds angry. Damn, is he attractive angry.

Somebody brought over a normal robe. I focused on staying conscious. He only took one hand off of me at a time to keep the magic flowing.

Finally, he pulled me into his arms. Cradled me against his chest. Healing magic seeped into me from all angles. It felt wonderful. Beautiful. I sighed and snuggled farther into him. I could sleep like this, if only my hands weren't in the way.

My hands! "Martin!"

"What?"

I pulled partially out of his grasp. Looking down, I opened my hands. The Amulet of Kings glinted in my palms.

"The Amulet of Kings. You have it."

"Yeah, because I'm going to kill Camoran and then not grab it."

He smiled ruefully. "I know, I'm just…" He sighed. "I've known since you told me that Uriel was my father. But it's one thing to talk of being Heir and another completely to be Emperor."

I smiled at him. "Try it on, Your Majesty."

His eyes met mine. Fear and weariness rested there. "I'm not ready to be Emperor. I don't want to be Emperor. Can I even do it?"

"Yeah, you can do it. It's those who think they're not ready and who don't want it who are willing to learn from their actions and truly love their people. That's all the people of Tamriel can ask for. That's all I can ask for."

"I hope you're right." He bowed his head toward me.

Only those with the Septim blood can wear the Amulet. I clasped it around his neck. It didn't resist.

Martin straightened. "It fits."

"Of course it does." I adjusted it on his chest. "We need to get you to light the Dragonfires before they can recover from Camoran's death."

"You're right." He let me go.

Caroline and the other female Blade descended on me. Held me tight between them. Dragged me away.

"No!" I protested, squirming. "Not again! Martin!"

He smiled after me. "I would offer, but Jauffre thinks we would take too long. Besides, you should get used to it. After I make you my Empress, the servants won't let you do anything alone."

"I've decided that's the first thing I'm changing!" I shouted. "Martin Septim, you owe me!"

"I'll be sure to make it up to you."

Bathed and in new armor, I remerged. Martin waited for me. He wore a dark riding cloak over his Emperor's robes. Best to not draw attention.

"Here," he handed me a potion. "It'll give you energy."

I downed it in one swig. It burned through my veins like alcohol. Or poison. But it woke me up. Felt like I got a good night's sleep and something scared me awake.

"Did you and Jauffre have some of this?" I asked, setting the glass down on a table.

"Jauffre had one a few hours ago. I'm afraid that it might be too strong for me right now and I might start acting like one of Sheogorath's followers."

"Hey, if you want to start parading around in your underwear, I'd be okay with that."

Martin chuckled quietly. Shifted his weight so we touched. Snaked an arm around my waist. Cupped my face with his other hand.

"Only if you'll parade around in your underwear with me." He whispered.

I slid my hands up his chest. "Maybe. If the underwear is optional."

"Underwear is always optional." And he pressed his lips to mine.

I let myself revel in the kiss. Who knows the next time we would get a mildly private moment like this? Emperors are normally always surrounded by people. It'll only be worse for quite a while because of the assassinations and crisis. As his Champion, it'll be easier for me to be around him, especially if Jauffre assigns me to him as a Blade. But even a moment alone will still be really hard to get.

Martin pulled away and touched his forehead to mine. "I love you, Abiyomi. So much."

I smiled at him, smiled from my heart. "I love you too, Martin."

He kissed the tip of my nose. "I don't know how long I'll be able to survive without you by my side."

"Court me for a couple months. By then, it'll be more than well over a year since we met. While we haven't been courting the entire year, I did fall in love with you soon after we met. And all the Blades insist that we acted like a cute new couple even on the very first day we arrived here."

"I think I fell in love with you then too. Before we even made it to Weynon Priory. And I would love nothing more than to make you my Empress, but I can't take away your freedoms as a warrior. That's not fair to you."

"Oh, Martin." I cupped his cheek in my hand. "First of all, you wouldn't be taking it from me. I would more than willingly give it up for you. Secondly, even as your Empress, I'm still your Champion. The people will want to see me out and doing good deeds in your name while keeping them safe. And I'm a Blade. So you are completely unable to keep me down for long."

Jauffre approached us. "She has a point there, Martin. But we need to be on our way now."

Martin released me, but took my hands in his. "I don't know what we're going to encounter on the road, or even in the city. Jauffre gave the horses a potion similar to the one I gave you, but with a strong swiftness potion."

"How strong?"

"We should reach The Imperial City by dawn."

Holy cow. Getting from Bruma to The Imperial City was, at best, a few days of hard riding. To make it there in one night? That's some strong potion.

"Well, here we go. Emperor Martin's Champion is called once again to defend him with her swordsmanship mastery as they are off to get him crowned and save the world and all that." I said.

Martin smiled sadly. "Just be sure to get us there. And be careful."

"I'll try."