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three

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He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed along each knuckle.

My cheeks warmed.

I had never had someone so close touching me with such tenderness.

The proximity was comforting.

“Your music has invigorated me, and I know it will do the same for Sacer’s people. We shall be the envy of all the lands. Royalty will travel from the seven realms to hear you sing. Sacer’s great treasure.”

His gratitude was infectious.

My chest lifted.

“That is kind of you to offer, great Emperor, but I must return home to the Caprificus Forest.”

I missed my home, even though it had been lonely.

Everything here in the palace was so large and vast, illuminated in bright fancy lights.

There was no blanket of leaves to be my comfort.

No quiet spot to be alone with my thoughts.

“Who waits for you there?” The Emperor asked before turning his attention to his guards.

“We shall bring them here at once as honored guests of our beloved splendor.”

My tail dragged against the woodgrain.

“Well, no one. It’s just that ...”

“No one?” The Emperor said, shock coating his tone.

“Such a shame for a stunning creature as yourself.” He stepped back, eyes following the sway of my tail plumes before tracing up my feathers along my hips and chest to finally land on my face.

“Stay, and every morning you shall wake us with your beautiful music and each night you shall serenade our banquet hall. You will want for nothing. Anything you could ever ask for will be provided for you. Jewels? Rich finery? Delicate truffles from across the sea? What do you wish for, my sweet splendor? They do not call me the most generous Emperor in the realms without reason.”

“That is so thoughtful but I really have no need for such extravagant things.” I thought back to the necklace I’d been offered, one I’d refused and told the guard to gift to his beloved instead.

The Emperor sighed.

“Well at least come to a banquet in your honor tonight. I have a gift en route, just in case you needed some convincing. Allow me to persuade you.”

“Very well,” I replied, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

So the guards led me back to the guest chamber, where a gown already awaited me for the feast.

A few hours later the banquet began.

I attended in the gown left for me, feathers smooshed beneath the thick silk with lace embellishments.

When I arrived, I was brought up to the front of the room, situated atop a small platform in the corner, closest to the Emperor and Empress.

One melody and then another, I crooned for them.

The Emperor was pleased, a jaunt in his steps as he danced and invited various courtiers to join him.

He never asked the Empress, though, her attention solely on the conversations with the various councilmen seated near the head of the table.

Conversations of diplomacy, trade, and education were exchanged, her eyes rapt with curiosity and interest.

I sang for an hour, until my throat was hoarse and I asked for water, the Emperor waving over a servant to bring me some.

I sipped it greedily as the Emperor dismissed his guests and bid his wife goodnight.

A velvet-clad courtier winked at him before she left with her husband, who, from listening in on his conversation with the Empress over dinner, was a clever inventor and councilman.

They were the last guests to turn in.

The Emperor licked his lips, watching her with the same hunger I’d seen wild wolves have as they skulked the forest late at night.

Coming back to his senses, he nodded to his guards before holding out his arm, waiting for me to take it.

“It’s time for that gift I promised.”

I couldn’t help the giddiness that bubbled up at this.

I’d never received a gift, unless you counted the baskets the nymphs had left me between their travels.

Resting my palm gently atop the back of his hand, he led me toward the door, one of his guards holding it open for us.

My bare feet brushed the cold tiled floor, mural after mural passing by, so many of them depicting the Emperor next to me, until we came to a beveled glass double door that reached up two levels.

A guard walked over to our right and pressed a large circular button, the entrance before us opening with a groan that echoed down the long corridor we’d just traversed.

A long golden marble path lay ahead, leading straight to?—

“See, am I not most generous?”

My eyes went wide, the thud of my heart booming much louder than the weak rap, rap, rap , blotting it away with the rapid pulse in my ears.

Before us, its trunk reaching halfway to the ceiling was a fig tree coated in thick glossy paint with leaves hanging heavy from the weight of it, each one tipped in golden paint.

“Isn’t it magnificent? Don’t you see, you’ll have a beautiful life here. I wanted you to feel at home, so I brought your home to you.”

Not just any fig tree.

My tree.

A sour stone dropped into my stomach, acid rising up my still raw throat.

“They worked tirelessly to get it prepared for you.”

My feet skidded against the tiled floor until they bumped into a chopped root embedded into the tree’s gilded base.

The crevices and veins of the bark were marbled in streaks of blue and gold and the few figs shimmered down at me, coated in glitter.

So plump and juicy, forever held in time, unable to be savored.

The Emperor’s proud voice vibrated off the glass walls.

Benches and other painted plants in gilded pots lined the space surrounding the new tree at its center.

“Want a grove of trees, your own forest? I will build you one within these walls. Whatever you wish.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.” My voice was still frail from the canthymn, the faint rap, rap, rap constant beneath the stuttering of my own heartbeat.

He came around and cradled my chin to face him.

“Say you’ll stay.”

We both knew it wasn’t a question.

I couldn’t get out the words, only nodded in agreement, swallowing down my sobs until the door closed behind him for the night.