The Immortal Emperor Returns to Work the Museum Night Shift novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Throne
He wore the rented tuxedo to the throne, and nothing under it but the shirt.
It was Thursday night at midnight, and the rental shop had sent the jacket home that afternoon with the sleeves pinned.
Sam stood in the doorway of the Tessarine period room in black trousers and a white dress shirt with the collar open.
The black bow tie hung undone round his neck.
His feet were bare on the parquet.
I stood in front of him in a pair of round tortoiseshell glasses and a pair of white cotton gloves, and nothing else.
I had put the glasses on for him.
I had put on the gloves because I could.
The room has a rope across the door and a velvet-lined lamp that makes everything gold.
In the middle of it, on a low dais, stands the replica throne.
It is carved walnut with a high back and a seat the color of old wine.
A brass plaque on the arm says REPLICA, c. 1925, AFTER A MOSAIC.
The Harcourt gives school groups ten minutes beside it, and children are allowed to sit in it for photographs.
Sam had walked past it every night for six weeks, and he had never once looked at it directly.
"Take off the rope," I said.
He unhooked the cord from the post and laid it on the floor.
"Walk to the dais."
He walked.
At the first step he stopped.
His hands had curled into fists at his sides.
"I have not sat on one since the year of the fall," he said. "I do not want to."
"I know."
"I have been a good deal happier standing."
"I know. That's not what I asked."
I walked round him, slowly, in my gloves, and I stood on the dais by the arm of the walnut chair.
I put my gloved hand on the back of it.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Immortal Emperor Returns to Work the Museum Night Shift are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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