Chapter 6
November 1st, 1998
It was the first of the month, a chilly day that conveniently fell on a Sunday, meaning no morning meetings to attend. Hadrian had woken up feeling warm despite the weather outside. His stomach filled with the fuzzy feeling he had felt ever since the Emperor had offered him a dance, it was a dizzying sort of feeling.
He had a content smile on his lips for most of the morning, his maids clearly picking up on his good mood. Elowen had been smiling and teasing him as they prepared him for the day, casting on various heating charms as he wished to go for some fresh air.
In the end he opted to take a short walk, Elowen and Amara beside him, and then went to one of the pavilions closest to the rose garden. It was a beautiful place, roses of all colors bloomed around it, the white and red ones admittedly his favorites. He took one in hand, careful not to cut himself with one of its thorns, and smelt its fragrance, settling down in a cushioned chair.
Elowen and Amara made their way to stand behind him, one of them offering him a teacup with jasmine tea already brewed. It was such a serene moment he felt he could relax in it, until he felt the presence of two other people suddenly arrive.
Looking over to where the primary and fifth Imperial Concubines now stood, Hadrian got up from his place to properly greet them.
“Primary Imperial Concubine Draven Slytherin-Duskbane, Fifth Imperial Concubine Priscilla Slytherin-Aldridge.” He bowed.
The primary Imperial Concubine gave a slight nod and a wave of his hand, signaling for him to rise. Hadrian did so, reluctantly looking up to the man’s eyes. He wasn’t sure what to make of them yet, as he hadn’t had much time to dissect whether they were going to be a problem.
They both looked regal in their yellow silk robes, Priscilla had proven to be one to use honeyed words to make herself appear approachable, she had a brilliant smile on her face now but it had absolutely no warmth. Unlike Priscilla, Draven never bothered with pretense, and in comparison to the other’s falsities, he instead showed his disdain freely in the way he regarded Hadrian as something unpleasant.
“Oh please, call us sister and brother, we shouldn’t be so formal. Would you please join us for some tea?” Priscilla said sweetly, her smile never faltering, and never becoming any less fake.
Hadrian gave a smile of his own, as fake as hers, and nodded in response telling her they may also be informal if they wished.
They sat in the pavilion for some time, sipping tea and making a small comment occasionally, but mostly they just kept to their own devices until the woman decided to initiate talk.
“Brother Hadrian, last night's ball was certainly a spectacle.” She said conversationally.
Something in Draven’s eyes shifted as he seemed to catch up on something unspoken, his eyes coming to look directly at Hadrian’s. “Yes sister, it was quite the night, wouldn’t you agree brother?”
Hadrian couldn’t tell what he liked less, their tone or the way they held his gaze as if prompting a certain reaction from him. He decided to answer their question unassumingly and see where they were going with this.
“It was a splendid night, I quite enjoyed it, it was well planned.”
He couldn’t tell if the response had been anything close to what they expected or wanted, but he stayed quiet waiting for them to continue.
Priscilla smiled a bit more sharply, but keeping her voice syrupy sweet she said, “It indeed was, some took good advantage of the occasion.”
At this, Hadrian wasn’t sure how to answer, surely this would end up with a comment about how the Emperor had asked for a dance with him, even as the man hadn’t danced with any other the entire evening.
He tried to keep his expression neutral as he responded. “Whatever would you mean sister?” He was going to play naive if they weren’t going to be direct with him, he had been in a good enough mood before, but his good spirits soured with every minute he spent in their suffocating presence.
“Well, it's just to say that some drew certain attentions, that’s all.” The woman said, pausing to give him a glance from the edge of her teacup. “I would say brother, you looked rather stunning last night, even if the dress was a bit…bold.”
“Bold sister? How so?”
At this Draven piped up, inserting himself in the conversation with ease. “Oh yes, it was a rather bold choice of attire, almost like a statement.” The man said slowly.
“Statement?”
“You don’t agree? My you seemed to have drawn many eyes, specifically those of the Emperor.” The man continued on, unperturbed.
Hadrian felt something begin to simmer in his chest, they seemed to be probing and poking him for a response, accusation clear in their tone and the way they looked at him with veiled disgust.
“I hadn’t realized, brother, sister.” He kept his composure, eyes returning to his teacup as he picked up to sip.
he would not allow them the satisfaction of seeing him affected.
Priscilla paused at his response, as if expecting a different reaction, but she smiled again and continued talking, “There is no need for defense, we were simply noting how the Emperor seemed quite taken with you last night brother, although I dare say, the way the others looked at you and your body…” she trailed off.
“Indeed, it makes the choice of dress seem a bit inappropriate, seeming as there were so many important people in attendance.” Draven continued.
Inappropriate? It wasn’t nearly as showy or revealing as some of the other concubines had worn. How dare they accuse him of being inappropriate for simply dressing as the event demanded?
He kept the biting words that wanted to spill from his mouth though, “It wasn’t my intention to seem so, brother, I was merely adhering to the demand of the occasion.”
The two other concubines looked at each other briefly, Priscilla once more offering a smile. “Of course brother, you did quite the fantastic job at that. We simply advise that you are careful, attention might feel elating but it’s dangerous when it lingers in a place too long.”
He felt the veiled threat as sharp as they meant it, but he showed no signs of it unsettling him in the slightest. He simply kept neutral and then gave a nod, a honeyed smile of his own curving his lips.
“I shall heed your advice sister, brother.”
-
The next 26 hours were spent in a grand palace drowned in the pained cries of a woman in labor. Consort Ophelia’s water had broken during tea in her gardens, everything had gone in frenzy as the healers were summoned and every concubine was ordered in the palace to await the birth of the Imperial child.
The flame that burned with the mother’s life was still blazing even if not as brightly as it did before. The agitation as they waited in anticipation was almost palpable. Hadrian shifted in his kneeled position. Even with the cushions under them it was tiring to keep like this, the consorts being the only ones who were always excused from the usual tradition.
There were some quiet murmurs, but no outbursts or big commotions. It was almost eerie in a way, as if they had expected that this anticipated moment would have broken down a dam. Hadrian certainly expected there would be some sort of dramatic reaction from some concubines, moments like this always prompted restlessness.
But as they waited outside the delivery room, there was but the quiet hum of hushed conversation. The Emperor stood just outside the doors, foot tapping against the polished floor. The man looked tired, but he stayed the entirety of the birth despite it.
Then they heard one cry unlike all the others they heard during the birth, one single last scream before it erupted into the wails of a baby. All of them waited with bated breaths.
“Your Majesty, you may all enter.” One of the maids said bowing down lowly and opening the door wide for them to go in.
They all stood, the thrum of anticipation filling all of them. And the Emperor waited for no further word before he went in.
Inside the room there were the quiet cries of a baby, the consort propped up by pillows as she was handed her newborn child. She looked exhausted, face beaded with sweat and tears, but a self satisfied smile and look in her face. The consort drew herself a little straighter as she saw them approach, suddenly not seeming as vulnerable as she was in this moment.
One of the other maids bowed low before the bed, the Emperor standing beside it looking down at the woman who held his new child.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, congratulations on the birth of your daughter the fourteenth Princess. May your new child be as powerful and grand as Your Majesty.”
And there they were, the sighs of relief at hearing that first sentence. A daughter, a princess. Not a son.
It seemed strange to Hadrian, the way they all were a little less tense from simply hearing those words, but this was still an imperial child, a princess of the empire. At least, the others thought, Ophelia hadn’t given birth to yet another son.
“What will be the name of our daughter, Your Majesty?” Ophelia asked, her eyes softer when she looked upon the bundle in her arms, voice raspy from all the screaming but still full of satisfaction.
The Emperor reached to take the baby in his own arms, unsettling the little princess for a moment before she went back to softly dozing as he rocked her back and forth.
Hadrian stared in awed, at the way the man held the small girl so gently. He looked so different in this moment than he usually did, not a powerful Emperor, not the conqueror of the world, but a father. A very proud father who held his baby close and pressed a chaste kiss to the head full of blonde hair.
Then after some time, he spoke, addressing all in the room. “I have chosen the name Adelina for my new daughter, it comes from German and Latin origins. It represents grace and nobility, as I hope my daughter will grow up to be a graceful woman.”
Ophelia smiled even more triumphant then, and everyone else started giving their congratulations, and wishing the best to the mother and her princess.
“What about you my consort, have you thought of a middle name for our daughter?” The man questioned, shifting the baby in his arms.
“Yes Your Majesty, I have decided on the name Leora, like my grandmother. It is also a name that symbolizes light, wisdom, and grace.” Ophelia said proudly, her eyes never leaving the Emperor.
“Adelina Leora Slytherin.” He declared.
After sometime they were all ushered out, all formalities done, and they were all ready to return to their own palaces to rest. But as they left the Consort’s palace, Hadrian noticed the tight jaw of his aunt Bellatrix, and the way his Uncle was trying to calm her down, looking around he could see the similar expressions of other concubines.
The next morning meeting would be filled with tension.
-
November 3rd, 1998
Hadrian woke up feeling a bit sick, he had a fever and was tired out, drained of energy. He tried getting up to get ready for the morning meeting, but his body simply wouldn’t let him. A dull and unrelenting ache in his limbs, his throat feeling raw and making it hard to swallow.
He pushed himself up against the headboard with help from Elowen, the room blurring for a moment before steadying.
“Master, does it hurt anywhere?” She asked, pressing a hand against his feverish forehead. Hadrian tried to shake his head no, but even the effort of doing so made him dizzy.
It was strange. He had been perfectly healthy the day before, and had gone to bed with no signs of illness. And yet now, his stomach churned unpleasantly, his skin feeling clammy despite the bit of cool air that drifted through the window.
Hadrian allowed Elowen to call for a healer; he had wanted to dismiss the idea, insisting he would feel better soon. But he couldn’t shake off the sensation of unease, urging him to listen to what his body was trying to tell him.
As he waited for a healer to be sent, he retraced his steps from yesterday, had anything happened out of the ordinary? He had eaten his usual meals, and drank nothing that could’ve caused it.
But there had been the tea.
The tea he had shared with Draven and Priscilla, he recalled the unsavory interaction with their antagonism and condescending words.
But there hadn’t been anything amiss with the tea, no visible signs of tampering. Even so, the doubt gnawed at him.
Finally there was a soft knock at the door, and when it opened again the healer stepped in.
It was the same healer as the selection, and Hadrian felt a bit disoriented at seeing her here. Had she been assigned as his healer because she knew his scores?
She bowed respectfully before approaching him at the bed. “I was informed that your Lordship’s not feeling well.”
Hadrian thought to mention he hadn’t expected her to work within the citadel, but instead he nodded and murmured, “My body aches, I woke up like this.”
She hummed in thought, then she took out her wand and started to cast simple spells to dissect his health. Her brows furrowed momentarily, but she said nothing. Something about the way she moved made Hadrian uneasy.
After a few moments she pulled back, she took a scroll and began to read it.
“There is nothing visibly wrong, My lord.” She began slowly, “Your pulse is steady, a bit weak but not concerning.”
Hadrian frowned. “Then why I’m I feeling like this?”
Healer Lucia hesitated for a fraction of a second.
She looked at Elowen wearily, but eventually decided to ask.“Has your lordship spent the night with His Majesty?” She looked down at a scroll in her hand.
Hadrian flushed but shook his head.
“Not morning sickness then. I’m uncertain as to what the issue is, My lord.” She finally replied, “Perhaps you are merely exhausted, the change in weather can also play a factor in your sudden illness. I will recommend rest, and some potions to help with the pain.”
Hadrian wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t truly believe what the healer said to be true. It wasn’t just the suddenness of the sickness, but the way she spoke and acted.
His lips parted, but he didn’t voice any of this. Not yet.
Instead he inclined his head. “Very well, thank you Healer Lucia.”
The healer bowed once more, turning to leave. Hadrian and Elowen not taking their eyes off her retreating form.
As the door closed behind her, he exhaled slowly, trying to calm the unease he still felt.
Staying in bed was the best he could do for now, even if he wanted to get up and find some other way to know what was wrong.
He wouldn’t let it consume him though, and when his friends sent a request to meet him at the Noble’s palace he accepted it.
“You look awful,” Cedric said, ever the charmer, sitting down by the foot of his bed.
Hadrian rolled his eyes jokingly, finding the notion gave him a slight headache. “Good to see you as well, Cedric.”
The man smiled, but his face was still tinged with concern. Luna made her way over to him as well, sitting beside him, Cho taking a seat that was drawn for her at the right side of his bed.
“Cedric is right Harry, you don’t look too well.” Cho said, a frown on her delicate features.
Hadrian nodded. “The healer was just here. She said there is nothing wrong.”
Cedric scoffed, giving him an incredulous look. “You look like you are on your deathbed, and she expects you to believe there isn’t anything wrong?”
Hadrian’s mind went once again to the exchange he had the previous day. He hadn’t thought much of it afterwards, but now his mind lingered on the tea he drank.
“Something doesn’t seem right,” Cho said quietly, thinking. “You were fine yesterday.”
She looked at Hadrian and somehow managed to guess what he was thinking. “You think somebody did this to you?”
Hadrian shook his head, “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” But even as he said it, he was still fixed on the chance that perhaps it was true.
They fell into silence for a moment, before Luna spoke her first words in the conversation. “Then we will stay with you, and if anything happens and it gets worse we tell the Emperor.”
He felt like protesting, but it would’ve done no good. His friends were always the protective type, more so when he was clearly not at his best. And somehow it relieved him.
“Alright,” he agreed, “But let’s not scalete anything, at least not yet.”
They all nodded, but their expressions remained troubled. Whether this was a natural ailment or had been orchestrated, they intended to find out the truth.
-
Ophelia gazed at the lit up lanterns in her garden, sitting by a window with her babe in her arms. She had allowed Aurelia and Patricia to visit for tea, having not attended the morning meeting because she had just given birth the day before.
The two women were more than happy to comply, eagerly telling her every bit of interesting information they thought might please her to know.
She had others wanting to visit, fawning concubines eager to make alliances with her, eunuchs bringing gifts on behalf of houses that wished to convey their congratulations on her third child.
If only they knew she had just begun. They hadn’t yet seen the true extent of her potential.
A princess was a valuable addition, even if she was not a son. Many didn’t understand, it wasn’t simply about the gender or the baby itself, but the influence that came with being mother to an Imperial child.
Aurelia and Katherine sat across from her, sipping their tea and chatting. Katherine had brought along her own daughter the 12th Princess, but the three year old girl had gone to another room where she could play freely with her younger brother, avidly watched by careful maids.
“Felix’s ceremony was postponed, Sister.” Aurelia spoke after taking a bite of a scone. “Apparently he hasn’t been feeling well, his pregnancy must be giving him trouble.”
Ophelia hummed, though she did not deign to comment. Felix was of little importance to her, or at least as of now. His promotion of course, had caused and will continue to cause ripples for sometime, but that was the nature of the harem. A ladder meant to be climbed.
“Hadrian,” Katherine mused, and that name immediately caught Ophelia’s interest. “Was noticeably absent from the morning meeting.”
“Oh yes, he has also been unwell I heard.” Aurelia nodded, sipping her tea.
Ophelia’s fingers tapped idly against her armrest. “He has?” She said, but it wasn’t much of a question at all. She had known this already, having sent a maid to report back to her about the meeting, just in case Aurelia and Katherine left any important parts out.
Ophelia had to admit, the man was certainly an interesting presence. She had no personal stakes for him yet, but she was not in the habit of ignoring interesting things.
Aurelia sighed, swirling the tea in her cup. “It would be a shame if he were to fall before his time.”
Katherine smirked. “Oh but I don’t believe he will, sister, he seems like a formidable man. Certainly one that has captured the Emperor’s attention, at least.”
That was another thing Ophelia had observed. The Emperor’s interest was a double edged sword, favor could raise you to the top, but it could also make you the target of dangerous eyes. It was not a thing for the weak, that much was clear.
Ophelia leaned back, rocking her baby in her arms, the girl contently dozing off. She wasn’t one to rush into anything without careful thought. But Hadrian was one to watch, he could be of great value to her, and if so then she wished to secure him with her sooner rather than later.
This life was a game to play, and understanding the pieces was the first step to mastering the game.