(Celeste)
Jubal had led her to the courtyard, and she had marveled at its greatness, taking in the open sky above them, yet surrounded by many archways. In the center was the biggest fountain she had ever seen, it was beautiful, the bluest water drizzled down the stone figure. The garden immediately drew her attention and she found herself walking towards it without thinking, leaving Jubal to wonder off, she did not really care where he went. The fact that she was allowed outside made her thankful for the small amount of freedom. None of the other women were out, leaving her to do as she pleased without having to worry about senseless judgment. The sadness of missing home crept up, but she forcefully shoved it away, there was no reason to miss such a terrible place, it had been on the cusp of decay for a while now. Her relatives had wanted to do nothing to save it, make her work like a hired hand, they could all be damned several times over for all she cared. None of them deserved a second thought from her and one day she would repay them for what they had done to her. For this moment at least she would live in the present and take the small things that she could day by day.
The untended garden wept with such sadness, to have such a wide variety of exotic plants, they were not being tended to the way they needed. Ugly weeds sprouted around them; some vines had wrapped their vicious webs in their precious life sources. Celeste pitied them and went to her knees, no stranger to hard work, she busied herself with tending to the helpless things. As an Emperor you would think the man would a gardener to attend to such trivial things as pulling weeds, spraying pesticide, even watering. Some of the shrubs were starting to look a little brown. Irritation began to set in now, chasing whatever lingering sadness she had been feeling away, she would focus all her energy in making this man her number one enemy for the time. It was better to have some to be angry at that she could actually speak with, whenever she seen him again. Now that he had a harem full of new women, that might be longer than she had originally thought, why would be purchase so many of them when he had a whole slew of them that he never touched? Was he a collector of women, he just liked having them around to show off? Nothing about this place made much sense to her.
People hated her without even getting to know her first, Celeste took a deep breath, she would just hate them all back. There was no reason to pretend to be nice, if they were not even going to attempt to be cordial with her. With each weed she plucked from the either she pictured every nasty girl that had sneered her way and when she tugged at the vine, she envisioned the Emperor's handsome face. Damn them all. Celeste did not want to be here any more than they wanted her here, if she had a choice, she would have left fifty times over. Being here against her will held no merit for her, if she had been a different person, a beautiful princess maybe things would be different. There would be no bars to cage her in, the palace walls were like one big reminder that she was little more than a prisoner. Fancy clothes made little difference when your title was a sex slave, she cringed at her thoughts, the moment she started thinking of herself as a slave is when she was no longer herself. No, she was still Celeste Morgan, and she was her own person. This was just a little hiccup, she would be stronger because of this experience, and that was all there was to it. With silent resolve, she got so lost in herself and what she was doing that she did not hear the approaching footsteps.
"Hello little firefly," came the rumble behind her.
Celeste noticed the shadow that now loomed over her and rolled her eyes towards the sky before turning to meet the brilliant gaze of none other than the Emperor himself. "Why do you insist on calling me that?" she snapped.
The man had the nerve to smile, "The moment I seen you, I thought the light that you emitted from within, reminded me of a firefly. Did you know, most fireflies emit said light, to attract a mate…or prey?" his eyes twinkled under the sun.
"Prey sounds more like it," she muttered hunching her shoulders, "While you are here, I have a bone to pick with you."
Celeste took a surprised breath in when the Emperor knelt next to her in the dirt, "Already?" he asked amusement laced his voice.
"Don't get cute," she cut him a side glance, "See all these weeds and vines growing in this garden, it is killing all your beautiful flowers. They infect everything and steals their nutrients, why has it not been attended to properly?"
The Emperor peered at the flower bed, dark brows scrunched over the narrow bridge of his nose, "I'm not entirely sure, I have not been in position of power long, I'm afraid hiring a gardener has not been on my list of priorities of late."
Celeste instantly felt a pain of sympathy shoot through her. Yes, she had been told his father had recently passed, how insensitive could she be? Even if the man had purchased her from an auction block, he was not the person that had put her on there, he had saved her from the clutches of so many sick men. "I apologize, and I am deeply sorry for your loss." She looked down at her soil covered hands, "I-I know how it feels to lose one's parent or in my case parents. It's hard but it will get easier." She bit her bottom lip hard, unwanted tears at the memories of her parents surfaced. The last thing she wanted to do was been seen crying in front of such a powerful man, she wanted no pity from him, he had more than enough reasons to pity her as it was.
A large rough hand gripped her chin, bringing it up so that her eyes met his, he stared at her for a long moment in silence. "Thank you," he said softly, and she could tell that he really meant it. He was thanking her for offering up her sympathy but also for giving him a little information into her past.
"Your welcome, your highness." She said quietly.
Overhead came the chirping of birds and Celeste closed her eyes, taking in the serenity around her, "Call me Thane," he implored, before she had the chance to tell him she would do no such thing, he was standing. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
Celeste blinked in confusion at the invitation, "Are you asking me or is this one of those things that is posed as a question, but I can't really refuse?"
Thane laughed heartily, "It is a question that you can of course refuse if you desire."
Chewing on the inside of her cheek for a moment she nodded, "Alright," she nodded.
"Great, I'll send for you around six o'clock," he stated turning to leave, then he stopped, and she caught her breath, "I'll have someone bring you a pair of gloves, you can tell them whatever else you might need. The garden is yours to tend to as you see fit."
Celeste felt a moment of panic, hers? She had never had something of her very own before, and this man had just so casually given her something that she had always wanted. Looking at the garden, her mind started buzzing at all the possibilities it held.