Read Online Empress Aurora Trilogy Quest For the Kingdom Parts I, II, and III Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set) by L. M. Roth - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: L. M. Roth
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other then, knew each other quite
well. My father was esteemed by the Emperor Beatus, her father, and I was one
of the young men he favored for his daughter’s hand.”
Valerius
paused and glanced questioningly at Marcus, who was astonished at his father’s
revelation.
“You, but, my
mother,” Marcus blurted.
“I had not yet
met your mother. And at the time I did find Aurora beautiful and
charming, always light-hearted and quick to laugh. We spent many hours in one
another’s company; walks in the woods where Aurora seemed as free as a spirit
of air come to grace this plodding earth, in moonlit courtyards where her
beauty seemed to eclipse the loveliness of the stars, and at formal banquets
which were but a setting for her glory, like a jewel set in a crown. Oh, yes,
you see her now and she is an aging woman, but in the glory of her youth she
was as radiant as the dawn.
“Yes, I
courted her, knowing that if I won her I would be elevated to the highest
position in the land: the Emperor’s son-in-law, and the husband of the future
Empress. Yet, there was that about her which I found disturbing, not appealing
in a wife, and that boded ill for the future. Aurora had a greedy love of
gifts, almost like a little girl who wanted what she wanted and must have it at
once . And woe to the person who possessed what she must have and was loath
to give it up!
“I remember an
occasion of a military parade when the Emperor honored a legion just returned
from a great victory in the Rebellion of Secelia. The whole of the city turned
out to greet them. One of the horses, a black steed with a coat like satin
belonging to one of the soldiers caught Aurora’s eye. How she wanted that
horse! She ordered the solder to give it to her. He respectfully refused,
saying that he and that horse had been through many battles together and he
depended on him as he would a trusted friend.
“No one, but no one, ever said “no” to Aurora. Without her father’s knowledge she dispatched
four of her trusted men servants to the soldier’s villa. There they bound him,
took him to his stables and whipped him until his back ran with blood. Then
they seized the horse and took it to Aurora.
“Yes, Aurora
had a temper! She could be as giddy as a little girl one moment, then the
laughter would vanish and rage erupted as violently as a summer thunderstorm
explodes in the mountains. I was troubled by these traits, and held back from
promising any commitment.
“And then one
day, I met your mother, and in her I found all the gentleness and generosity of
spirit that Aurora so sorely lacked. Honoria was so sweet, so selfless, that I
knew without any doubt that in this woman lay my future happiness. By the very
excellence of her nature she exposed all that was false in Aurora.
“Beautiful?
Yes, but only on the surface, no deeper. It was merely a veneer. To contrast
Aurora with Honoria was to compare fool’s gold to the genuine object. No one
who has seen the deep gleam of real gold could ever again be deceived by the
shallow glitter of the counterfeit.”
Here Valerius
paused and shut his eyes as if in remembered rapture of his long ago courtship.
Marcus waited for him to continue. When it appeared as though Valerius were
lost in reverie, he gently nudged him.
“What happened
then, Father?”
“When I
announced the news of my betrothal to Honoria, it unleashed all the mad fury of
which Aurora was capable. Oh, publicly she played the perfect lady, affecting
indifference and even feigning friendly congratulations to Honoria. But
privately, when she begged an audience with me alone, she was a whirlwind of
wrath, striking out at me, throwing any object that was near at hand. She
shrieked at me, saying I was a scoundrel, that I made a fool of her and
insulted the dignity of the Imperial family. She would remember this, she would
not be mocked.
“I emerged
from that interview a shaken man, but grateful for my narrow escape. For to be
hated by Aurora
well. My father was esteemed by the Emperor Beatus, her father, and I was one
of the young men he favored for his daughter’s hand.”
Valerius
paused and glanced questioningly at Marcus, who was astonished at his father’s
revelation.
“You, but, my
mother,” Marcus blurted.
“I had not yet
met your mother. And at the time I did find Aurora beautiful and
charming, always light-hearted and quick to laugh. We spent many hours in one
another’s company; walks in the woods where Aurora seemed as free as a spirit
of air come to grace this plodding earth, in moonlit courtyards where her
beauty seemed to eclipse the loveliness of the stars, and at formal banquets
which were but a setting for her glory, like a jewel set in a crown. Oh, yes,
you see her now and she is an aging woman, but in the glory of her youth she
was as radiant as the dawn.
“Yes, I
courted her, knowing that if I won her I would be elevated to the highest
position in the land: the Emperor’s son-in-law, and the husband of the future
Empress. Yet, there was that about her which I found disturbing, not appealing
in a wife, and that boded ill for the future. Aurora had a greedy love of
gifts, almost like a little girl who wanted what she wanted and must have it at
once . And woe to the person who possessed what she must have and was loath
to give it up!
“I remember an
occasion of a military parade when the Emperor honored a legion just returned
from a great victory in the Rebellion of Secelia. The whole of the city turned
out to greet them. One of the horses, a black steed with a coat like satin
belonging to one of the soldiers caught Aurora’s eye. How she wanted that
horse! She ordered the solder to give it to her. He respectfully refused,
saying that he and that horse had been through many battles together and he
depended on him as he would a trusted friend.
“No one, but no one, ever said “no” to Aurora. Without her father’s knowledge she dispatched
four of her trusted men servants to the soldier’s villa. There they bound him,
took him to his stables and whipped him until his back ran with blood. Then
they seized the horse and took it to Aurora.
“Yes, Aurora
had a temper! She could be as giddy as a little girl one moment, then the
laughter would vanish and rage erupted as violently as a summer thunderstorm
explodes in the mountains. I was troubled by these traits, and held back from
promising any commitment.
“And then one
day, I met your mother, and in her I found all the gentleness and generosity of
spirit that Aurora so sorely lacked. Honoria was so sweet, so selfless, that I
knew without any doubt that in this woman lay my future happiness. By the very
excellence of her nature she exposed all that was false in Aurora.
“Beautiful?
Yes, but only on the surface, no deeper. It was merely a veneer. To contrast
Aurora with Honoria was to compare fool’s gold to the genuine object. No one
who has seen the deep gleam of real gold could ever again be deceived by the
shallow glitter of the counterfeit.”
Here Valerius
paused and shut his eyes as if in remembered rapture of his long ago courtship.
Marcus waited for him to continue. When it appeared as though Valerius were
lost in reverie, he gently nudged him.
“What happened
then, Father?”
“When I
announced the news of my betrothal to Honoria, it unleashed all the mad fury of
which Aurora was capable. Oh, publicly she played the perfect lady, affecting
indifference and even feigning friendly congratulations to Honoria. But
privately, when she begged an audience with me alone, she was a whirlwind of
wrath, striking out at me, throwing any object that was near at hand. She
shrieked at me, saying I was a scoundrel, that I made a fool of her and
insulted the dignity of the Imperial family. She would remember this, she would
not be mocked.
“I emerged
from that interview a shaken man, but grateful for my narrow escape. For to be
hated by Aurora
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