Chapter 10
Lucius woke the next day to weak morning light on his face, he saw that he was alone in the bed, his lovers must already be up. He smiled as remembered yesterday's events and couldn't wait to corner the omega alone. He couldn't understand why they had ignored Harry for such a long time despite coveting him from the first time they had laid eyes on him. They had paid all the other concubines a visit, some less, others more, none as much as Draco, were they so smitten by him that they forgot Harry or was something else at play? He sighed and puzzled about it. The more he thought about their behavior, the more he got confused, he let it go for now. He knew thinking about the past was not going to change it he just had to make sure that this did not happen in the future.
They would have to hire a healer who had knowledge about the physiology of the omega. They couldn't afford to be lax about it now with Harry's maturity reaching soon. Thomas had mentioned that there was a supreme omega in Europe; he would have to contact him for more information. He would have to do it himself without alerting anyone apart from Thomas or Severus. Hopefully the supreme omega in Europe was older and could help him.
The Empress Dowager also had to be informed about Harry being a supreme omega, Lucius finally got up from his bed to start the day and inform his lovers about his plans.
It was a few weeks after Harry had met the Emperor in the garden and the spring banquet had been postponed by the unexpected absence of the Emperor. The Emperor, his Kings, and the Empress were absent from the palace due to a diplomatic visit from the King of Persia. There were talks of a possible treaty that benefited both parties, but the Persians were a traditional people, and they do everything to reflect that, even foreign policy.
Therefore, they were meeting in a neutral zone to settle their differences. In their absence, Consort Delacour was in charge of the harem. The day was especially warm for a April afternoon and Harry had opted for a nap in the shade of the garden trees to escape the heat. On his way back to his palace, he was distracted in his musings by the frantic steps of a rushing servant. He turned around only to discover Dobby, Malfoy's enthusiastic servant, almost in tears. The eunuch explained that his mistress went to greet Consort Delacour and had been late. He feared that she may try to punish him and was looking for someone to help. To calm him, Harry agreed to personally go with him to Consort Delacour's residence, though he did not see how he could help Malfoy.
Upon his arrival Harry was met with a meeting of consorts already gathered in the main hall of Consort Delacour's residence. There were about fifteen consorts in attendance, all speaking in hushed tones behind their hands. Harry greeted Consort Delacour and sat down. He wasn't obligated to come to this meeting since he'd been assisting the Dowager Empress and was sickly most of the time. She couldn't fault him for his tardiness. On his immediate right sat Draco Malfoy, looking tense and ruffled. Not at all his usual self when he had the Emperor and his lovers to back him up.
"Greetings to Consort Delacour, I wasn't feeling well so I arrived late. Please forgive me." the blond pled tensely. "Due to your pregnancy fatigue is unavoidable, please rise." The stress the consort put on "pregnancy" put Harry's teeth on edge. The air seemed to absorb all the tension immediately, leaving the room uncomfortable and pensive. Blaise Zabini broke the tension by picking up a small rose-flavored cake. "The rose-flavored cake is one of the tastiest delicacies, yet after smelling the fragrant incense in your palace, the cake seems flavorless." The mocha-skinned boy smiled as he bit into the cake. The consort smiled smugly. He continued," Forgive my boldness, but what scent does consort use?" Draco dabbed at his nose with his scentless handkerchief. "Ah, Noble Lady Zabini has a great sense of smell, this incense was specially created for me by experts on the order of the Emperor."
The concubines squirmed in jealousy. "It's called desire, and only I am allowed to use it in the palace," she finished with a superior smirk. Zabini seemed speechless, once again introducing the thick silence back into the gathering. Harry resumed the conversation if only to divert the attention from the pale-looking Malfoy. He looked sick with jealousy and genuine nausea. "My knowledge is limited and I have not seen as much as Consort Delacour. Please, tell us more" Harry appeased carefully. "As meimei (younger sister) came to serve the Emperor later in his reign you wouldn't know, but when the Emperor was new, he used the incense he inherited from his father as the base and had the experts create the incense for Consort Delacour." Noble lady Parkinson was now firmly attached to the proverbial hip of the consort. "That was a long time ago, no need to dwell" The consort preened with false modesty."Yes, my apology, I have spoken too much," Parkinson smiled. "There seems to be a lot of uncertainty and jealousy between the servants lately," the consort started once more. "If the servants misbehave, it reflects badly on their masters and mistresses. It means that their masters have been behaving improperly. I have heard that someone has been using their pregnancy to incite needless conflicts. I shall use this opportunity to clean up the palace." Harry knew that this meeting was going to yield nothing good. He braced himself. "Imperial Concubine Malfoy, do you admit your crime?" She accused with a pinched face. Harry saw the blond visually pale even more. Nonetheless, he arose to hear her case.
"Today all the concubines summoned by me came here to listen. You arrived late, disrespecting me. Hurry up and kneel before me!" Harry flinched at her harsh tone.
The blond knelt with the help of a servant. "I admit my guilt and ask for forgiveness." The consort ignored him. "Today you disrespected those above you, I wonder how you'll act should you bear a son. Do you expect everyone to defer to you?" Harry hurried to intervene. The blond was still kneeling, this was not good. "Consort Delacour, you've been speaking extensively so you must be thirsty, please drink some tea to rest your throat," Harry curtsied. "Imperial Concubine Draco may be wrong, but please allow him to rise and talk."
Ignoring Harry, she continued, "You've been disrespectful, thinking yourself to be clever, disobeying the rules, and offending me. You shall kneel outside my palace." Harry immediately knelt with urgency, trying to plead the blonde's cause. "Niang Niang, the sun is strong and the ground is hard. Imperial Concubine is pregnant, he can't kneel there!" Zabini knelt too, "Consort please forgive our sister for the sake of his unborn child." Harry started again, appealing to the love the consort had for the Emperor, "Niang Niang punishing him is a small matter, but if it harms the child, the Emperor, and the Empress will surely punish you." The consort ignored them, stating, "The rules aren't strict enough so I shall correct them. If the Emperor and Empress were here, it would also be this way." She turned eyes flashing towards Harry, "Unless you want to use the Emperor and the Empress to threaten me?" "I wouldn't dare," Harry deferred. He looked towards Malfoy and found him petrified, Harry wanted to cry. Damn his empathy. "Consort Delacour, please keep the Emperor in mind," Harry tried once more. Consort Delacour ignored Harry and asked Malfoy, "Imperial Concubine, will you walk out there yourself?" She smiled sweetly, "or should I ask someone to give you a hand?" Malfoy stayed rooted in place, shaking in fear. The consort nodded her head at the head eunuch, a hateful man with a horrible disposition. He hobbled towards Malfoy with a cruel smile, "Imperial Concubine Malfoy this way please." Malfoy was ushered down the stairs to kneel on the hard ground. Harry didn't know what to do. But Malfoy, it seemed, had regained his wits, "Niang Niang, I admit my fault and accept your rebuke, however, I am pregnant, and cannot kneel for a long time. Please rethink your decision."
The consort scoffed. "Do you think me foolish and gullible?" She clasped her fan in her hands and stared at Malfoy as if he was an undesirable bug under her shoe. "You're doing well in your pregnancy, and already are in the third trimester. Your pregnancy has been stable for a while. I already consulted with the imperial healers, kneeling for two hours should not harm the child."
She nodded to her hobbling head eunuch and he moved forward with his awkward gait to push Malfoy bodily down on his knees. Harry moved forward before his mind could stop him. He fought with the eunuch but was pushed aside. Harry fell on his back, scraping it, but he still crawled towards Malfoy and put his arms around him to stabilize him. "The reason why I accept this punishment is that the Emperor put you in charge of supervising the inner palace while he is away, and I trust the Emperor's judgment," Malfoy stated with a shaky but determined voice. The consort threw down a book of palace etiquette and said, "Read this to my satisfaction." Harry moved forward to kneel before her, "Imperial Concubine Malfoy is pregnant. Please, he cannot take kneeling in the sun for too long."
"Does being pregnant mean you're absolved from the rules of the palace? I think you should be reminded of the rules too." She stopped and paused dramatically. "Why don't you kneel beside him instead of pleading for him?" Surprisingly, Malfoy spoke up. "Potter Changzai isn't intentionally asking for my forgiveness. Please don't involve him as well." The consort smirked, "If I really wanted to involve him, what could you do? And are you two now close siblings who defend each other's honors?" She walked around calmly, flicking her fan in any which way. "Fine then, hold the book for him and have him recite it so you both can learn the rules properly," she said to Harry.
Harry stood up and moved over to Malfoy with the book in his hands."I'll stay with you," he whispered to him. The consort rolled her eyes at them and lifted her fan to shield her face from the heat, "Oh it's so hot, bring the concubines' chairs out here so they can all watch and see the consequences of defying me." The servants scrambled to obey. The consort sauntered back to the shade of her veranda. Malfoy turned his anxious eyes towards Harry and Harry tried to muster his most reassuring expression to soothe him.
Edited and updated on 29/06/2021