I was on my way to meet my future husband.
Sometimes, I hated my father. Despite being the only person who could say no to him, there were times when I could not. A marriage of state was one such time.
The Crow, my ‘betrothed’, could be considered attractive in his own way. I did not fall for the Karassian beast's animal magnetism. His fine avian features seemed delicate, cunning and sly. We didn’t call him a crow for nothing.
I tried not to glower too much.
“You look impeccable, your majesty.” Auria, my ever-present handmaiden, bodyguard, confidant and spy for my father, told me as she touched up the ridiculous ceremonial garb I had to wear.
It was ridiculous. I was a Level 89 Moonblade Assassin and Hier to the Imperial Throne, Daughter of Emperor Raxemius Janar. Yet when Raxemius, Holder of the Writ of Justice, Pinnacle of the Hunter’s Throne, Defender of the Empire, the Eternal, commanded with the full authority of his position even, I had to bow to his wishes.
Today was a day I had known was coming and had grown up fearing: the day I would marry for politics. Like most normal people, I had grown up with a secret dream of the day I would marry someone I could love.
Unfortunately, the command of the Emperor and the needs of the Empire outweighed the needs and wants of his only child.
I was with the Imperial Legion's Third Cohort, who were at least all Elite Legionnaires. I was confident that not much would get past us, as some of them would give me a run for my money if we ever had a duel.
Not that anyone knew. To most, I was Raechina Janar, Imperial Princess and spoilt brat. It was a façade I had cultured so people would underestimate me.
I had no idea what my father was thinking, betrothing me to the son of our sworn enemies. I was not even aware that he had spoken to the Karassian Warlord. Peace would be hard after the long and bitter war between our empires. I know he wanted peace, but selling me like a prized pig was not something I was happy with or confident would work.
People in the Empire were already unhappy that I was 22 and unmarried. It was almost scandalous. While I was the only Heir, the Empire was vulnerable. This would also be a kick in the guts to all my rejected suitors. There were quite a few of those.
Damn politics.
Goddam why? Raxemius would live forever. He was a Tier 5 monster. No one could threaten his power. While he held the Hunter's Throne, the Empire would never fail. The Writ of Justice ensured that he could keep it together. Yet he was falling into the cliche marrying the fighting rulers' only children to bring peace.
There was zero chance of finding love with the Karassian monster. The Crow had spilt too much blood during our drawn-out war. At least I could respect his fighting prowess. Maybe I shouldn't have been so picky with the suitable suitors from the Empire.
Shit, there had been plenty of suitors and opportunities. Still, despite my father's wishes, I was not a broodmare, and I would not marry the Crow. While I would not sabotage the wishes of the Emperor, I would not hesitate to be offended and stop this entire farce. It was a sham marriage, and he knew it. The bastard didn’t even have the decency to see me off.
Sometimes, I hated him and despised his apathy towards me.
There was nothing I could do despite my complaints, short of breaking my Oath and failing in my Duty to the Empire. They were goddamn System attributes.
Oath to the Empire:
You have sworn an Imperial Oath to uphold the Empire's honour, protect the Empire from threats within and without, and keep the Imperial Secrets. This Oath is not enforceable but has negative Karmic consequences the further from it you reach.
As if that was not bad enough, my duty just reinforced it and made me a slave to the will of the emperor.
Imperial Duty to the Empire:
Your Imperial position grants you much power, prestige, and wealth. With this position comes DUTY. As a direct descendant of the current Emperor, you must uphold your Oath to the Empire and act on the Will of the Emperor.
My only concession, which I think everyone seemed happy about, was that the entire sham would be kept quiet until we agreed on the date and logistics. Now was just a meeting for the two future love birds.
Our travel arrangements were top secret, Tier 5 enforced by the system. Not many people could afford to buy the information, so we were fairly confident in the security of the arrangements.
The significant complications to our travel were the war and the void. If people knew the war was ending, it would have had economic and social impacts throughout the empire, and wars made money for wealthy people. Wars drove production, and they made sentiment easy to manipulate. The Plebians had already mustered more support in the Senate against the Patricians. Yet, they profited just as much as the Legion. Any time a war erupted, the wealthy seemed to make more money. And when you stopped people earning credits, they got upset.
This war had been going on so long, and many still saw it as an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and to destroy the Karassian hive mind, Prism. Managing the transition to peace was something that the Emperor would have to address. The social impacts would come about because it would reduce the drive for people to get stronger. Conflict builds strength, and the System needs strength; we need strength to fight against the chaos of the void. I was not sure how the old bastard would manage that.
BUG: Calm, Raechina, this state of nerves is not becoming
Shut it, Bug.
BUG: You know Tasar would not be happy with the lack …
That crazy bastard, I trusted him only because he was crazy enough to stand up to my father. He is mostly insane, you know.
BUG: But he does get results. He trained you under your father's nose and got you a great class. Get ready. We are coming out of the portal. This neutral planet could be dangerous. Tier 3 and 4 Void incursions have been reported. If you must step in, then secrecy will be out the door.
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I sighed. It would be good to cut loose. As a Tier 5 being, I did not get much chance to really cut loose. Even a Tier 5 void incursion would hardly challenge me at the moment. I'd need to visit a correctly set up dungeon or even jaunt into Deep Void Space to get some severe experience now. That’s not to say that I could be careless. There were skills, magic and technology that could counter me if someone paid enough credits. Still, the number of people in the Empire who could afford that were all accounted for. But all things were possible with enough time and money.
I had an argument with my father. He wanted a full complement of the First Cohort, while I was happy with the smaller and more agile Third Cohort.
It was one of the first times I had yelled at him since I was ten.
"If I can't be alone with him now, how am I ever going to be alone with him in the future. Do you want peace? We need to start to trust. I will not meet my future husband hiding behind an army. He needs to see me with respect, not as a fearful bride."
That shut even the mighty Raxemius up. We needed to start somewhere if we ever wanted peace. We needed peace to face the increasing Void Incursions. We needed peace so we could stop living in fear. If I was being forced into my duty, I would do it on my terms.
The negotiations had been extensive and drawn out. Funny that with the lack of trust between both parties, neither trusting each other or any third party.
In the end, both parties agreed to meet with two bodyguards to exchange betrothal gifts and sign the first stage of the peace treaty. The next meeting would be much more public.
The Guard Commander, the Tesserarius, entered and thumped his fist over his chest. He did that no matter how many times I told him it annoyed me. It irritated me I didn’t know his name, despite Bug and my high Mind Stat.
"Your Highness, we are coming up on our rendezvous. We will need to teleport to the city to meet the Crow. You are allowed two honour guards; he has the same restrictions."
"You and who else? The Optio? She will guard your back while you guard mine. While I am a powerful fighter, I am more of a negotiator and politician nowadays."
He saluted again and went to make the arrangements.
It didn’t take long to teleport to the planet's surface, where we saw the Crow, my future husband.
I looked over at The Crow. Despite being a powerful fighter, he was relatively attractive. He had the muscle that showed his Human heritage with the grace and elegance of the Avian influence of his splicing. I had a bad feeling about this.
I nodded while the bastard looked me up and down smugly.
His two bodyguards stood behind him, not even looking at us.
My bodyguards responded that everything was ok.
I stepped forward towards him.
Everything slowed.
SYSTEM: Peace Negotiation Protocols enabled.
All active and passive Combat skills are disabled.
Detected: Teleportation Lock (Mythical).
SYSTEM: Peace Negotiation Protocols disabled.
All active and passive Combat skills are enabled.
Shit, that meant that it was a trap.
Fucking trust.
Luckily, despite my strong words, I had paid some attention to my father, and we had a plan for something like this. The entire Third Cohort were ready and waiting for the signal, either active or if my passive sensors went dark.
The Tesserarius moved behind me and whispered, “Sorry.” as he slammed an autoinjector into my back.
Bug, send …
SYSTEM: INTERFACE TEMPORAL VORTEX DETECTED.
BUG: Raechina, I don't know if I can stop this. I am fighting something that has been … we have been betrayed. I am sorry. There is a chaos…
SYSTEM: Forced AI Extraction.
Bug?
SYSTEM INTERFACE REBOOTING.
Pain. My mind was fracturing as my System Interface went offline for the first time.
I started to move. We were in trouble. With a Mythical Teleportation Lock, we had to rely on the Third Legion breaking through before we could count on reinforcements.
The gravity spiked from close to Empire Standard to almost fifty times the level. I managed to brace myself, but my two legion bodyguards didn’t fare well. My Optio was turned into a paste on the ground as her Tier 3 body could not handle the pressure. The traitor, Tesserarius, crumpled despite his bulk and strength and lay unmoving on the ground. I felt a quick sense of justice as my betrayer was shown how much he meant to his allies. The blood dribbling from his nose and the vacant look in his eyes indicated some permanent damage.
I staggered as the gravity increased, stepping forward.
REBOOTED
CONNECT TO EMPIRE SYSTEM …
Backing up to Local System
Shit. The last message kept flashing. I was running off my internal nanites now. It was not too bad. At Tier 5, they would power me for quite some time as long as I could supply the energy.
I stood straighter. I refused to go down without a fight.
Cloak of Midnight Shadows
Strength of the Empire
Aura of Calm
Moonlight Escapade
I spammed some skills, hiding, boosting and trying to move. The gravity stayed high, and I could feel the increased energy expenditure from the skill used to combat the extra gravity. It would not last long, but I was burning extra stamina and energy to stay hidden and upright.
All Karmic Fields have been suppressed.
Shit. How? My Karmic skills were some of my most potent. In a straight fight, I was devastating, particularly from ambush or a hidden position. I would never beat someone of my tier and level who was a straight fighter, but given time, planning and room to move, I would dominate. If they could pin me down, and at Tier 5, I could not be pinned down for long, I would struggle.
SYSTEM: Peace Negotiation Protocols enabled.
All active and passive Combat skills are disabled.
Shit. How were they doing this? Being Tier 5, I should have been immune to most effects, and as soon as I was attacked, the Peace Negotiations should have been cancelled.
It had been less than three seconds since I stepped off the teleporter, and I was still standing but could not find a target.
I was no longer hidden or protected.
The Crow stepped out of nowhere.
"Why?" I asked buying time as I was working on a plan.
He spat out, "Our fathers are weak. To want peace with an inferior race. It is an affront. Humans are weak and disgusting."
He pointed at my bodyguards, “Do you want to know what he sold you out for?” The Crow asked with a sneer.
While he was talking, I felt pain for the first time in a very long time. It was not a sharp pain but a deep whole being burn as I felt my mana channels overload.
The pain increased. I stumbled but kept standing.
I felt weaker than I should have.
Chaos Poison.
Energy Leech.
Mana Corruption.
Mythical: Forceed De-Integration. You are now Tier 3 (5). Insufficient Energy to Maintain Tier
"Princess, you are in a predicament. We need you alive, but we cannot have you empowered. Soon, your mana will overload, and you will cease with no energy to restore your body."
My energy was dropping rapidly, but I had enough reserves for now. I could still not move fast or far, as the gravity remained too high. My mana channels were on fire as some corruption seared through them. I was struggling to suppress the pain or even move.
"Killing me with poison, doesn’t that go against your honour and culture?"
He laughed. "We will not kill you, just incapacitate you. The honour comes from trapping your father and removing him from the board. When a warrior cannot beat an opponent in a fight, what does honour mean when they write the history and take the glory of a win?"
I felt my vision going dark at the edges as I strained to keep coherent against the pain.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Sleep."
I struggled against his willpower.
I saw him remove a stasis coffin from his spatial storage.
"Sleep" he commanded.