The silence was unbearable and seemed to last an eternity. She could feel his eyes on her and dared not to look up, fearing she would have her eyes carved out as punishment. Sajedene wasn't normally this scared of another human being, but the Emperor had always been portrayed to her and her people as the main antagonist of every bedtime story. If you didn't obey your father, Daishoga would come into your dreams and never let you wake up again. If you didn't wake up every day thankful for what you had, Daishoga would come and take every person you loved and kill them. And so on and so forth. Sajedene was not afraid of the wrath of her father, but instead the shadows in the corners of her room, the monster underneath her bed and the demon that snuck into her dreams to haunt her and give her nightmares.<br/><br/>She heard him walk a few steps and then open the window. The cool breeze caused her to shiver slightly at the memory of her four day journey from Vaandom. Like always, she hadn't really though her decision through, had she? Far too often Sajedene felt like she was guided by her emotions instead of raw logic and now this bad habit had got her into what could be a huge, terrible predicament. Daishoga spoke then and tore her away from her thoughts. She was surprised at his words and hardly believed that a man like him was speaking of his dead mother with such affection. Surely he couldn't have killed her if he had loved her? Sajedene cautiously raised her eyes now that he wasn't facing her and managed to get he first good look at him. There was something slightly otherwordly about him, however he look particularly frightening. He was unique.<br/><br/>And then he turned around, catching her off guard. Her gaze quickly dropped back to the floor and she tensed slightly when realizing that his footsteps were coming closer and closer. Before she knew it, he was right there, right in front of her, on his knees. All he knew about her was that she was supposedly a peasant and yet he chose to be on his knees, on the same level as a farmer's girl. Although, even if he had known who she really was, things wouldn't have been much different. As he reached to touch her, she flinched slightly, wondering if there was such a thing as killing someone with a single touch. Nonetheless, he tilted her chin up so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes when he spoke and told her not to fear him.<br/><br/>Her heart was filled with mixed emotions. On one hand she was surprised to hear such words, to have him treat her in such a gentle manner. He had no reason to do that and yet he consciously chose not to kill her, hurt her or torture her. Maybe... maybe all those stories weren't all that true. She could see past the cold blue of his eyes and realized that there had to be more to him, that he had a point when saying people feared whatever they failed to understand. Where Sajedene came from, people displaying powerful magic faced an immense amount of suspicion and were generally looked down upon. And so, on the other hand, she wasn't sure if she could fully trust Daishoga, after all those stories and rumors that were whispered after nightfall.<br/><br/>"I... will do my best to remember that, your Highness." Sajedene replied. His hand reached to caress her cheek, causing her heart to skip a beat. It reminded him of Maleiek in a painful manner and what made it even worse was that it was the Emperor. But there was something comforting in the way he had just touched her.<br/><br/>These positive thoughts were soon to be suppressed. A knock on the door caused her to look back down and remember just how risky her situation was. She listened to a short conversation ensue between who she assumed was a guard and Daishoga. 'Whore'. Her father would probably agree to that if he ever found out she had given herself to a mere farmer's son. Sajedene couldn't care less about the insult thrown at her, but the Emperor on the other hand... Was he actually standing up for her? She looked over her shoulder to the guard to see his reaction, only to realize he was floating mid-air with blood gurgling out of his mouth.<br/><br/>What devilry was this..?!<br/><br/>Wide-eyed and absolutely terrified, she watched as the guard then flopped on the floor like a dead fish, all this by one wave of hand from Daishoga. She broke out in cold sweat, having rarely witnessed so much blood at once and in such an unnatural way. The room was suddenly very hot and small around her and she realized that compared to the man sitting in front of her, she was but a mere flower petal that he could crush at any point should she say or do something wrong. How easily he had killed the guard! Daishoga had hardly blinked an eye and seemed unphased by what he had just done. She fought back her nausea and looked away as the mess was cleaned in a rather routine-like manner. Did this happen every day? Was this normal? Sajedene couldn't help but to turn her gaze back to the Emperor who was now smiling at her.<br/><br/>"I... Yes, that is my name." She blurted, trying to act just as normal as him about the situation. "Sage. At your service, your Highness. Unfortunately... I've never worked as a servant. Perhaps your Highness would be... uh, kind enough to enlighten me on my upcoming duties?"