The Echos of longing

The cold Emperor

"So you never cared for me. All you were doing is duty. Duty of being an Emperor. The Emperor. And I thought you felt something for me" she said looking at the man on throne.

But he had long lost his life. All that lied on the throne was a dead body,devoid of life. Who would answer her?

Flashback..

"Meenakshi..Stop running dear. And finish your milk. Otherwise it would get rotten"screamed her attending servant as she ran along the corridors of the palace.

Small child,with eyes like cat,as her ears perked up and tails,quite beautiful,white as snow,in her black little dress ran and stopped as she met someone few years older to her stand. She giggled and jumped on that person,only to be flunged down.

"How beautiful"her heart wishpered as she looked at the fading sight of Sundaran,her fiance. Of course she was quite powerful,as the only princess,and had asked her father to make the arrangements for the wedding.

Somewhere someone else stood waiting for the young boy,barely did his tail had any length. His ears were almost humans. He was literally the worst kind of cat man seen. But Meenakshi liked him. So her father had arranged it. And it made the man raise his head and walk like a peacock forgetting that he was just a cat man. Not to mention he would not have been allowed inside the palace where royals of cat clans resided. He would not even be standing in the same space as rest. Because his father was a traitor.

Years were moving and young Meenakshi was growing up. With a sweet personality. She was naughty to extreme. Did things behind her father's back.

But something happened.  Her father suddenly got sick. And Sundaran took the chance of it. He started to impose himself in the palace.  But before it could start going out of hands,her father went to somewhere.

And after his return,he declared that his kingdom is now a part of a dynasty. There were legends about thar dynasty. No one had ever seen the face of the Emperor till then. But it was a fact,to build a dynasty,in a place where wild beast men ruled,the man wad quite a beast. He had almost conquered all the beast kingdoms in few years. Left the smaller ones to their willingness. One of which was the cat kingdom..

After the declaration,Sundaran broke off his engagement with Meenakshi. 

The little princess of the kingdom walked into the room of her father and cried her heart out,asking her father to bring him back. To which for the first time he did not react. He coldly told her,she was going to be the bride of the Emperor. 

She left,cursing her father. But nothing worked. Soon she found herself in the palace. That seemed lonely,cold. She was escorted to her chambers. It had everything she had in her home,to the finest Quality. From the colours of her dress to her shoes. Every tiny thing of her were to her preference. But she.

Her anger,it made things hard. First she almost started a wild fire in the palace,where there were not many servants. But luckily it was raining somehow.(luckily yeah). But all the clothes,all the shoes,everything was burnt. Then she just used the things she had with her.

But not a word was heard. She used quite few locks to lock the doors to her chambers. But there was not even a single knock during nights. Except the servants she brought with her from her home,there was no one. Some came to clean,to cook and to take care of things. But they seemed to disappear soon.

She lied with her friends and wondered where was this so called Emperor.  Even started painting. A weird man,with big moustache,pot belly and whatnot. Not knowing somewhere someone sat,laughing at that.

Finally one day,she called a servant and asked her about the Emperor. Only to find out. He was in the palace every night. But he lived in a different wing. He never interfered in her life.

And it started the beginning of the end. From walking inside his room,to destroying everything. From disturbing his meetings with vessels and ministers to whatever she could come up with. It started without an end.

He had an expressionless face and wore a mask. Covering half of his face. No one had ever seen him take it off.

One day when her father came to meet him,Meenakshi decided something drastic. She knew she was special.  Her tail,her ears. They were different even from her father,grandfather. It was said,she had been the incarnation of the ancestor of their clan. The cat fur,if used right was no less dangerous than poison for a human. Yes. She had discovered it. He was a human. Human means,he was not a superior race. He was just a human. Weak,fragile.

She heard the discussion between her father and him as they talked about how it was their plan to keep Sundaran away from Meenakshi.  May be what she heard was just a Part of the discussion. If she had stayed,she would have found out many things.

And slowly things shifted. From her smiling at him to talking to him. He was still as cold as ever. But he never showed any aggressive behavior towards her. Her cooking for him,to spending hours in his study.

Finally it caught up. He started to fall sick. But never called a doctor. He just smiled.

The cold Emperor smiled looking at the rashes that came on his body.

And she smiled looking at the plan that worked. Finally the day she confronted him came. He sat weakly leaning on the throne as she came. After some meetings ended. And he left.

After his end,her Sundaran was back,but married with few kids. To claim the rightful Emperor. She helped him win the loyals of the old. But in the end,the journey ended with her loosing her tail and ears for the newborn child of the so called Emperor. 

In the end journey,when she lied on the cold floor of the library,now devoid of any books,she could see him move. Sit on the lone chair,pick up the quill and write documents,correct some.

And somehow in the end moment,she could still feel the familiar fragrance of sandalwood that he always had. No matter who applied it,she knew it was something meant for him. It felt like he was holding her close,as her body shuddered with pain. The bleeding after loosing her tail was the reason she was loosing her life.

"Donot be so silly next time. Hate me all you want. But donot fall for the sick twisted people atleast. Please cherish yourself,okay"she could hear his breath,his gentle voice in her ear as she felt him pull her closer to himself. If she was not at the end of her life,she would have seen,he was always there. With her. But her pain,her heart break,it made her never look at things.