Taming His Heart

"Nay..." Was the scream of a maiden heard.

"You are getting married to him and that's final, else you cease to be my child." A man thundered and the maiden ran out of the cottage, weeping.

"Ye will not allow my daughter to get married to that scoundrel." The maiden's mother said.

"There's nothing I can do, my hands are tied." The man said and sighed.

"It should have been Vanessa, but the emperor insisted on Melissa."

"She is younger than Vanessa."

"I have no other options. If I doona do his bidding, he will kill us.

**********

Melissa ran out of the cottage to the farm, where she sat on the grasses, weeping. How can her father do this to her? The emperor was known for his ruthlessness. News had it that he treated his wives like some piece of trash, he even disregarded his mother. That was not the kind of husband Melissa envisioned.

"Why did he choose me? Why not my sister?" She thought.

Her mind drifted to what happened a month ago when the emperor came visiting to inspect some things. Women were told not to come out because the emperor was arriving. Being the curious and strong-headed type, she sneaked out of the cottage while her mother and sister were threshing corn, she dressed in her father's robes. She wanted to see the emperor whom they tagged ruthless and cruel.

The emperor's carriage arrived and they all bowed as he approached, except her. She stood upright, not bowing because she wanted to catch a glimpse of him. The carriage stopped and the emperor looked... No glared at her, his forehead crinkled and his eyes were stone cold. Although he was glaring at her, she refused to look away, so they kept glaring at each other, the carriage continued and she heaved a sigh of relief. She didn't know she had been holding her breath for such a long time and she touched her chest which was palpitating quickly. What amazed her was that he didna do anything to her even though she disobeyed his orders.

'Was he that bad as they said?' she thought.

***************

The D-day was few days to go and the village was buzzing with excitement and activities to prepare for the coming of the emperor.

Melissa's friends were jealous of her and she wondered why.

Melissa's heart ached and she decided to take a walk to the river.

Since it was mid-day and people were working, she decided to swim. She pulled off her gown and was stark naked, then she walked into the river and swam, enjoying the coolness of the water.

She was still in the water when she heard footsteps, she looked only to see a man, fully muscled and bare-chested.

"I need some privacy, I want to bathe."

"Who are you to say that?" She shouted back, " I was the first to come here, so get lost."

He glared at her and pulled off his trousers, and she quickly looked away.

"Gross," she thought, "how dare he?"

She heard a splash and saw that he was already in the water, he was holding a bottle of wine and a golden cup.

"He must be wealthy," she thought, staring at him as he gulped it down in quick successions. He threw the cup away and drank straight from the bottle.

Just then, he turned to her, scowling.

"What are ye still doing here? Ye are bathing with me, how dare you? Do you know who I am?" He ranted.

"It must be the alcohol," she thought.

She wanted to talk back at him, but decided against it when she remembered the proverb her mother always say, silence is the best answer for a fool.

"Am I not talking to you?" He asked but she was lost in thoughts. His face looked familiar, but she didn't know where she met him.

"I bet I have to use this," 

Before she could realize what was happening, he dragged her by the hair and pulled her to the riverbank while she screamed.

"What are you doing?" She asked but he ignored her and made her lay face-upwards. He made to enter inside her, but she kicked him in the groin, took her gown, and ran away.

"I'll deal with you," she heard him say.

**********************

The D-day arrived, there were many musicians and dancers. People from other kingdoms were present.

Melissa was dressed as a queen and she looked breath-taking.

The arrival of the emperor was announced and everyone bowed. Melissa looked, only to realize that it was the man whom she had kicked in the groin. Her eyes bulged out in shock. The emperor was shocked too, but covered it up, looking stone-cold as usual.

The event had ended and the emperor ordered that Melissa be bundled into the carriage. She fought off the two guards that wanted to carry the emperor's orders and hit them both in the groin.

"I will not be treated like a prisoner, I am your wife." She spat and the emperor withdrew his orders.

Everyone present was surprised at the courage Melissa showed.

********************

The other wives of the emperor made life unbearable for Melissa because they were jealous of her.

What surprised her most was that she had not consummated the marriage with the emperor, and had not set her eyes on him because he didn't call on her.

She now knew the reason why the emperor married again, he didn't have an heir.

War broke out between Constantine's empire and a neighboring kingdom whose King was powerful and greedy. He wanted the empire for himself.

The enemy's army was vast as he collided with other powerful kings.

Constantine was burning with rage when he realized that his first wife betrayed him. That was why he didn't trust women, they were nothing but traitors.

All the men were called to partake in the war.

The fight had gone on for a long time, Constantine's men fell, there were few left.

Meanwhile, Melissa was worried, she sneaked out of the castle, to the battleground only to see that there were only a few men left. She had to do something.

She gathered all the women for a plan. Her senior wives scoffed and ignored her.

The women prepared hot oil and some acid that would be used on the enemies. It was night so they all left without being noticed. They poured it on the enemy.

Constantine was surprised that the enemies were dying, they were all killed.

He was shocked when he saw that it was the women's handwork, led by Melissa.

 It had been long he set his eyes on her.

He scolded them for risking their lives, but deep inside him, he rejoiced.

Melissa, angry that the emperor was unappreciative, went back to the castle while the other women stayed back to count the corpses.

Cries were heard as women saw their husband's corpses.

Constantine felt pity for them.

When they went back to the castle, Constantine was shocked to see all his wives and daughters dead, Melissa's corpse was not found, meaning she was alive but may be kidnapped.

He and his remaining knights went to the enemy's camp and killed everyone they saw. The king, his enemy, took him by surprise and had a sword on his neck.

"Surrender, or your head will be cut off."

Constantine was still contemplating when the king fell. Surprised, he looked back to see his mother, but someone had an arrow pointed at her.

"Mother," he called warning her to dodge, but she was lost in thought as she was shocked.

He just called her mother.

A poisoned arrow was shot at her and she died immediately. Constantine had the person killed.

Melissa was brought and she was only covered with a piece of cloth. His men explained that they found her naked. They were on their way back when an explosion occurred, it was a narrow escape.

**************

Melissa was in the kitchen, cooking when Constantine entered, she was shocked. He kissed her right in front of the other workers, carried her to the room and they were both naked. He was about to enter her when he remembered that the king told him he raped her. He asked her if it was true, but she denied it. He also remembered that she had been drugged.

All the same, he entered her without warning and she gasped, he then felt something trickle. He touched it only to see that it was blood.

"Y... You are a virgin?" He asked, shocked and she nodded frantically.

They professed their love for each other.

Months later, she gave birth to twins, a boy, and a girl. That made the king love her more.

"What should we name them?" Melissa asked.

"Constantine and Melissa." The emperor answered and kissed her.

He sent money to her family and they became wealthy.

      *****The End*****