Chapter Four

City of Vlallas

(Thane)

Emperor Thane Rysling sat behind his newly acquired desk, taking in the mountain of paperwork piled up. It had only been a few short weeks since his father's death and already he was feeling the stress of being the ruler of Vlallas. Thane's social life was put on hold, probably indefinitely, and he was having a hard time distinguishing between what was proper of an Emperor and was not. The thing he was most afraid of was losing himself to the title and his fears were proving to be true. Running a calloused hand over his face, he sighed, slouched in his chair slightly.

"Oh dear, did your tutors neglect to teach you proper sitting etiquette?" his mother scolded him softly walking into his chambers without knocking.

"Hello to you to Mother, what brings you to my office so early in the morning?" he asked smiling.

Natira walked about the room, inspecting it here and there, choosing her worlds wisely. Thane could see the cunning look in her eye from where he sat, the old woman was up to something, that much was obvious he knew his mother all too well. Thane waited on her to speak, she fluffed out the curtains, and sighed. "These things look so drab in comparison with the rest of the chamber, do they not?" she asked.

"Mother." Thane stated, his impatience growing.

"Oh alright," she grumbled, walking over she took a seat opposite him, looking at him from across his desk. "I have heard that you have not visited the Harem yet."

Thane let out and uncomfortable huff, "What business is that of yours?" he asked.

Natira's eyes narrowed at her son, "As mother empress, it is my job to over see the ladies of the harem, to have them prepared for your attentions. You need to take at least one wife my son."

"I have just become Emperor mother and you already see me married off?" he asked raising a brow in her direction.

His mother blinked at him innocently, "You need an heir my dear." She replied smiling sweetly.

Thane was not convinced, "Plan on me dying any time soon?" he asked teasingly.

Natira's eyes widened, "Do not speak like that Thane!" she scolded him, then pouted prettily, "As Emperor it is your job to visit a few of the ladies of the harem, marry at least one, produce a strong lineage. You need an heir to leave everything to."

Thane rolled his eyes, "Yes, and when I am old and fat, I will worry about all that. Right now, as you can see, I have a mountain of work in front of me, that has been keeping me extremely busy. I have not been able to think of anything else, let alone paying attention to a woman." He admitted stretching out his legs under the desk.

Huffing out a sigh, his mother crossed her arms over her chest, "Thane please stop being so stubborn. You are a man in his prime, you need to have sex, and you better be at the harem when you scratch those said urges. There is a reason it is there; it would be in your best interest to use what is available to you."

"That harem is not mine mother, it was fathers, so forgive me if I do not feel like having sex with his favorite women."

"So that is what all this is about? Well how about we send Jubal to the auction block today and fetch you a new lady?" she asked.

Thane reached over and gathered a paper from the stack, "If I want a new lady mother than I will find one myself, I do not need anyone to do my…dirty work." he said with slight amusement.

"of course, of course…" she trailed off, and stood up to take her leave.

"Mother." He warned.

She held up her hands, "I heard you son," she smiled way to innocently, before turning around and exiting through the door.

Thane let out a breath, what was he going to do with that woman? He knew for a fact that she was going to do whatever the hell that she wanted to with or without his permission. His mother only did want she thought was best and now what was best was apparently getting him laid. The thought of his mother having a hand in who he slept with kind of grossed him out, but tradition was tradition, and who was he to mess with things that were as old as time itself?

Natira exited her son's chambers and found Jubal standing guard over the harem. "Jubal will you be a dear and go to the auction block this evening?" she asked him sweetly, "Find my son something new, something fresh, and exotic. You know better than anyone what kind of woman would tickle his fancy. We need to give him some proper motivation." She said happily.

Jubal starred at her curiously, "Did you ask his highness about this grand task you are settling me with?" he asked.

"Of course, he thinks it is a great idea, seeing as he is so busy right now." She stated, Natira could tell that Jubal did not believe a word that came out of her mouth, but he nodded anyway.

"Yes, mother empress." He put his fist to his chest and have a curt bow.

Natira smiled softly to herself, "A mothers work is never done."