Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Please follow me and I will announce you, Your Majesty,” she said to Shadout. Then she strode into the throne room where the Rainbow Empress was already seated on her crystal throne, looking absolutely gorgeous and otherworldly in the golden light coming down from above. It lit up her multicolored hair like a nimbus around her head and made her swirling rainbow eyes seem to glow. This time she was wearing the white leather bustier I had seen on her in a previous vision and it really did a lot to show off her breasts.
“His Highness, Emperor Shadout the Twenty-second and one half,” Thallia called. “Ruler of the Male side of Tangella Alpha-Prime. Who will vouch for this male?”
I had been expecting this and was about to vouch for the Emperor when, to my surprise, the Rainbow Empress spoke up.
“I will vouch for him myself!” she declared, giving the Emperor an intense look. “For I have been longing to meet him and I am glad he is here at last to fulfill the desires of both our hearts.”
Such direct language might have scared a human guy off, but Shadout seemed to like it. He strode forward, down the curving golden path and this time the cleansing waters didn’t appear. Either the Empress didn’t think he needed cleansing, or maybe it was just that she was so eager to meet the man of her dreams, she had decided to forego this bit of protocol.
All eyes were on the Emperor as he approached the crystal throne. He towered over everyone in the room and his black hair, piercing black eyes, and the deep purple of his skin contrasted sharply with the pastel rainbow tones of the Empress’s hair and eyes and her pale lavender skin tones. And yet, despite their contrasts or maybe because of them, you could plainly see that these two belonged together.
I was holding my breath as the Emperor got to the seventh step of the dais. Would he pause and bow the way he was supposed to? I shot Rylee a glance and saw that she was nibbling her lower lip with nervous tension.
A silence fell over the throne room as we all waited to see what the Emperor would do. And then, just as it seemed like he wasn’t going to bow, he went down to one knee—moving very gracefully for a man who was over ten feet tall, I thought.
“Empress Shalaya the Twenty-second and one half,” he said, just as he had in my vision. “I am your missing half. Will you join with me and try to make our people whole again?”
The Empress rose and held out her hands to him.
“Emperor Shadout Twenty-second and one half, long have I dreamed of this day,” she said in her low, feminine voice. “Please rise and come to me—I will be pleased to join with you. More than pleased.”
The Emperor rose and stepped up to join her on the dais and the two of them took each other’s hands and stared into each other’s eyes. The Emperor was so tall he made even the eight-foot tall Empress look short and it was clear that they were already smitten with each other.
Then the Rainbow Empress got a worried look on her face.
“We are together…and yet not,” she said.
“I feel it too. There is a Rift between us,” the Emperor agreed.
I frowned as I watched them—they were like two pieces of the same puzzle that almost fit together, but not quite.
“I think that’s your cue, baby,” I heard one of Rylee’s husbands murmur to her.
“Right.” Rylee bustled forward, through the throne room, and came to a stop on the seventh step of the crystal dais. Looking up, she said, “Your Majesties, may I offer you my services? I am a La-ti-zal and a Binder.”
“Oh, yes—a Binder! That is what we need!” the Rainbow Empress exclaimed.
“Yes, do come up, Binder,” the Emperor said, nodding in agreement.
“Thank you.” Rylee gracefully ascended the stairs and came to the top of the crystal dais. Standing before the Emperor and Empress, she reached up and placed her much smaller hands over theirs, which were still clasped together. “By the power of the Goddess Empress and the Goddess of Mercy, who inhabits and indwells her, I now pronounce the two of you Joined,” she said loudly and clearly. “Long may your love reign as your people reunite!”
At first nothing happened. Then a low gasp ran through the room. After a moment, I saw why.
Both the Emperor and the Empress were changing.
I don’t mean their faces were melting or anything like that—I’m talking about the colors of their hair, skin, and eyes.
Emperor Shadout, as I have said before, had dark purple skin that looked like it had been swirled with black. Now, as we all watched, the midnight stain was washed away, leaving a pure, royal purple in its place.