Silence filled the room as the emperor let his gaze wander through the room, arms crossed behind his back, while the glow of the candles stroked his face.

The golden light kissed his eyes and made them seem like a fire was trapped inside these shimmering brown orbs of his.

With your chin raised and some sort of attitude, you waited for him to say something.

It was still hard to tell but the way his facial expressions didn't change made it seem like he was either displeased or absolutely disinterested about your use of the floor.

"If you have a complain, voice it now.", you said and turned away to get some wine from a shelf. "May I offer you one too?"

He didn't look up from the floor.

"You may.", he allowed with a gesture. "Don't slip anything into it. It'll cost your head."

A huff brought a smirk to your face.

"If I would want to get rid of you, I would just use my rudeness."

It was a good joke. You would have laughed.

He didn't.

After all, he was the emperor. And the emperor didn't laugh. Not ever.

Perhaps, he didn't know how to laugh. Or smile for that matter.

Only thinking about that possibility was enough to make you smile even more to yourself.

With a cold expression, the eyes of the emperor caught you from the corner of his vision.

The tips of his fingers twitched. He felt the urge to reach out and wipe that smile off your face.

Nobody ever dared to be cheerful in his presence. At least not sincerely.

All he ever got was fake smiles, laughter that made his ears bleed. They always had to voice their thrills only to please him.

He hated how they managed to lie to themselves and believe that they could lure him into liking them more.

But you were different.

You smiled because you wanted to.

Although it was beyond him about what you were smiling.

Him, perhaps?

Anger boiled up inside of him.

But he decided not to act on it. Not yet.

The sound of wine dripping into a goblet filled the tense silence.

The emperor's eyes were glued to your back, digging into the deepest part of your flesh and bones.

As you turned, you made sure to wipe that smile off your face and put back on the mask that was appropriate for a meeting with the emperor.

Politely, you handed him the one that looked more clean.

Surprisingly, he took it without complain and only examined it after you didn't pay attention anymore.

Perhaps he would have expected you to try and poison him right on the spot, but you knew that playing dirty was an easy way.

A way that he would have called lazy.

It was common knowledge that the emperor was a complex man.

And you wanted to be a complex opponent.

After all, you needed to be someone your father could have been proud of.

With a playful smirk, you crossed your arms in front of your chest and took a sip from your own cup.

"Do not think of me so ill.", you asked in a playfully offended manner. "Poison isn't my weapon of choice. Nor would an assassination be."

His eyes rose from the surface of his wine to meet yours.

They seemed to sparkle all of a sudden. Brown turned lighter and turned to flawed gold.

At first you had thought his eyes to be the colour of the bark of old trees, in forests so sacred that even the elven folk refused to set foot in them.

Yet with the lingering light of the candles, it almost appeared to be shining like metal, not so motionless nor hard to read.

There was caution hidden in those eyes.

Of course. After all, he was a man in such high power, he always needed to be cautious of everyone and everything.
Even himself.

But there was also something else.

Was that... interest?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

But the way he looked at you in that moment was different from the way he had looked at you in the throne room.

So totally unused to the sight of emotions in him, you couldn't help but let out a soft huff.

Quickly, his expression changed.

"Do you laugh at your emperor?", he asked, a hint of warning in his voice.

His eyebrows drew together.

You managed to close your lips again. Yet the amusement remained visible.

"I don't have an emperor for myself.", you replied calmly and took another sip of wine.

"I'm your emperor."

"You're the man who refused me when my parents died. And the one who took not only my title but also my land and wealth. How could I call you emperor if all you are to me is a thief?"

Maybe you shouldn't have voiced the bitterness that you truly felt for him.

Maybe it had been a mistake.

But words that left mouths couldn't be taken back.

You cursed yourself for it right in the moment as your tongue took permission to speak honesty.

It could have meant death.

He decided to be kind.

It wasn't every day that the emperor of Nilfgaard allowed people to speak to his face as if he were just one man like any other.

And he made sure that you would keep that in mind.

Without a warning, his hand snapped forward and wrapped around your neck.

Struck by surprise, you froze.

His long, narrow fingers clawed around your throat, one by one and pulled you closer, so close that the warmth of his breath stroked your cheeks.

Even though he was close and his breath the one of a living being it felt like he had some kind of cold to him that made goosebumps grow all over your body.

"I warn you once.", he said and made it clear how there was no room for disobedience anymore. "Everything that happened to your family was brought upon by your mother's decision."

Anger lit up inside your eyes.

Like a fuzzy kid, you withstood his gaze.

"And how can that be?", you asked. "My mother was a good woman. She served you well."

His eyes narrowed.

Judgment appeared on his face.

"Maybe she shouldn't have married an elven mage then."