“Later I’ll be just like daddy!”

“Which means? If you want to get in the military, I won’t teach you Rreico anymore, you know. The Legio art is not meant for killing.”

Or maybe it was too perfect for killing. But how could you justify violence when you could feel what your opponent was feeling?

“Huh?” Lisana’s eyebrows scrunched up, not understanding Nay’s answer.

“Well, dad was the sergeant-general, you know, and…”

“Nah! I mean that I want to go back to Gite and become a teacher like him! I like it when Rinrin makes mistakes and I tell her what she did wrong.”

“Oh.”

“I can hear you, you know.” The duchess of Gite interrupted them.

And was promptly ignored by the two sisters.

“A bit like you know. But you don’t want to take back the school, right?” Lisana asked her big sister.

Nay stopped, shaken. “No, I do love the Legio art, and I love getting stronger, faster, more precise, but I have no wish to become a weapon master.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

“Well, I have a few issues to resolve first but…”

“You mean the Angels. Issues? Yeah, that’s an understatement if I ever heard one.” Trinne interceded.

“…but I am starting to have an idea about that. I’ll tell you when I’m sure.”

Conversation

The seemed that there was another assassination attempt, but Dorico and the accrued vigilance of his police force stopped it before it could even start. Nay would not even have heard about it if she hadn’t been sitting just next to Hyn when the chief of the police force resumed the events very briefly to her, mere minutes before the beginning of the coronation. The ceremony wasn’t happening in the Cathedral, and the whole crowd of nobles, provincial high dignitaries and ecclesiastic, as well as the many employees of the Imperatrix’ chambers were transported with coaches to the back of the Imperatrix’ palace. A scene had been built behind the building reminiscent of a dragon. As the place was meant to hold most of the Empire’s army, it was big enough to hold the population of Leïn, so they could all witness the event. Nay then suffered her most atrocious evening in existence, even though she was standing on the beautiful scene, the mountain Zenith behind her and the setting sun in front.

There were simply too many people. The Cathedral had given her nausea, but here and there, she was regretting her hold over her sixth sense for the first time. It was lucky that there were no more incidents because she would have been completely useless in preventing it. There was an ocean of people. The air was so saturated with different types of emotions, hopes and desires, that she could barely hear or see what was happening a few feet away from her.

The Imperatrix spoke for a long time, but fortunately, didn’t end her speech by asking Nay to sing. Then came the official coronation ceremony. There was no official tradition about it, of course, as it hadn’t happened in a century, and maybe it was because Nay was suffering from her sense overload, but she really thought it had been way too long. The Imperatrix talked again for a long time, then Defin, Garnet even had a few words, then finally Jarl appeared. He was wearing a knights outfit, plaque armour, enchanted all over. He didn’t have any weapons on, obviously, as those would have been useless to him, and he didn’t say anything except a whispered psalm as he knelt in front of his mother. Nay knew that in the times where the Empire was split up in Kingdoms, before the War, sovereigns often wore silver crowns or had special items that were given to them to symbolize their rise to power. But the Imperatrix had never worn any such item, and as such, she had nothing to give her son.

That was why the awaited moment was a simple blessing.

“I bless you, Jarl the Bohemian, now Emperor of the Empire of Ja. You hold the power over our people, but never forget that this power was given to you freely, and that if it ever corrupts you, then it is all of us you corrupt.”

“I will not forget.”

Their voices were carried over by Jarl’s power, and the wind psalm that echoed their words over the gigantic crowd.

The short dialogue over, he rose, his gaze severe, looking at everyone in front of him.

Nay was unable to sense his Rreico, but he seemed nervous to her.

“I am your Emperor.” He claimed.

Hyn knelt. “You are our Emperor.”

Seeing their former sovereign kneel, the Jewels did the same. Then the priests, then the whole crowd knelt. This simple movement, reproduced a hundred thousand times, created a giant cacophony.

Once a semblance of silence came back, Hyn repeated again. “You are our Emperor.”

And this time, everyone echoed her words.

Nay, personally, didn’t say anything. She was trying not to vomit. She was sure it was because of the Rreico around her that she was feeling this bad, but maybe she was being dishonest, and she should have blamed the very exotic things she had eaten beforehand.

And the Emperor’s following announcement definitely didn’t make her feel any better.

“People of Ja. We are at war.”

The coming of the new Emperor meant even less time to rest for the Legio.

Her usual calm evenings were now spent in the Emperor’s chambers, previously the Imperatrix’, to discuss the next step of operations. Hyn had voluntarily given away her chambers, and had taken a new one not far from Nay and Trinne’s rooms.

Trinne had been chosen as an Imperial advisor, to no one’s surprise considering how often she and Jarl had been conversing before, and because the duchess required Nay to be present with her, there was the girl with cloudy eyes, in the room where everyone spoke about politics and military tactics. What was surprising to Nay though, was that she was actually often spoken to, Jarl especially asking for her opinion.

At the start of the very first reunion, Jarl spoke to her as soon as pleasantries had been done.

“Nay, I did not have the occasion to thank you.” The Emperor was wearing his usual enchanted robes, these particular ones green in colour, and was obviously not wearing any footwear. The only time where Nay had seen him wear anything on his feet, was during the coronation, and according to Trinne, that was because the plate greaves had no soles.

“Emperor?” She asked respectfully. She wasn’t even sitting around the reunion table, standing guard behind Trinne. Hyn was there, of course, to the right of her son, as well as Garnet, Valentin Kassior, a middle-aged nobleman who was Jarl’s childhood friend, the archbishop Defin, always him to the Legio’s chagrin, and finally Sapphire, who like Nay, was standing behind the table, and was currently offering everyone beverages and appetizers. Nay had no idea why she was still acting like a servant, when everyone in the room knew exactly who she was and what she was capable of.

“You saved my mother, and uncovered a new type of Carradin enchantment we had never heard about before. I foolishly thought that they would not try anything against her the day where she gave up her power, but that is a mistake that almost cost me dearly. To begin my reign with such an event would have been the worst possible start for my reign, and would have made everyone question my legitimacy. The Empire owes you, but I, on a personal note, owe you much more. If you have anything you wish, that I can give you without using the power of the Emperor, ask and I shall provide.”

“Oh.” Nay blinked, taken aback. “It was my job, I don’t believe…” The Legio stopped. Trinne was clenching at her knee from behind, not turning and hidden from view underneath the table. The Legio read her Rreico. Apparently, Nay should not refuse.

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“Nay?” The Emperor asked.

“Oh, well…could I get an enchanted sword and dagger then?”

“Yes, of course. With the upcoming war and your abilities, this is a most excellent demand. But I have to ask, what about your power? Can you even use enchantments?”

“Erm…I believe so? I can use the heated water of the chambers, and…ah, the Cathedral’s enchantments didn’t work on me.”

“Defin?” The Emperor turned towards the archbishop.

“Yes, yes, it is a question we asked ourselves, but we wanted to focus on the basics and appropriate security measures before experimenting. We are currently trying to teach her to control her miraculous power, but it is true it won’t cost us much time to see if enchantments work with her or not. After all, she has been living here for a year, a place covered in miraculous runes, and there have been no incidents. To say the truth, her simple presence here seems to have beneficial effects on our enchantments. Since she came here, I stopped sending enchanting priests to recharge the written miracles, as they became unneeded.”

Nay’s eyebrows rose. This was the first time she was hearing about that. Trinne as well, seemed surprised.

“Why not mention this before?” The redhead asked.

“Everything pertaining to Nay and the love of Trayx on her needs to be as confidential as possible, and we know that Nay does not hide things from you, duchess. You would not have been going to the Imperial library to read all the books on a certain subject if that wasn’t the case. We didn’t judge it necessary to share all our theories and observations unless we felt it was pertinent to share them. This is such a moment, I believe.”

Trinne shut up. Nay grimaced, hearing the cogs turning in her friend’s head, already preparing for a way to get back at the archbishop in the future.

“Very well, and even if she can’t use our best Patrex enchantments, we will still provide Nay with the best normal weapons we can produce. I shall make a demand to the Zenith forges.”

Nay’s eyes popped wide open, instantly forgetting that aspects of her power had been hidden from her for months. The forges of Zenith was the most respected guild of smiths in Leïn, and probably in the world. No one came close to their products, and no one could pay for their services. Every piece sold by them was a custom-made order, and they accepted those only when they wanted. Nay had heard that some of them were Touched, and the rumour even told that they were using the power of the mountain itself to fuel their forge.

The Legio was so excited that she was trembling. “Oh, thanks.” She said with a weak voice.

Jarl made a simple gesture to signify it was nothing, then continued with a smile.

“On another subject, Darae, I believe I will need a group like the Jewels, but their allegiances go to my mother first, and I have no desire to change that. Until I have something similar though, I will need to use your services…” He gave a glance at Sapphire. “…most likely for some time, but if you don’t mind, I want a similar group under my direct orders.”

“Only women as well?” Hyn interrupted him.

The Emperor grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, mother, I didn’t suddenly grow the desire to get myself a harem. It will be a competence-based decision. Valentin found a few interesting prospects already. Nay, could you teach them the basics of fighting and duelling? I’m not asking you to make them experts, just enough for them to get out of a bad spot if they ever found themselves in one.”

“I could try and…”

“You are not asking her to train new Legios, right?” Trinne interrupted her.

The Emperor gave a reassuring smile. “No, duchess. The Legio art is obviously very intriguing, but I know their traditions, and I won’t ask our Master Legio to break those. I know that the former sergeant-general was teaching basic fighting methods to young kids, to you, duchess, if I’m not wrong, and Garnet told me there would be no better teacher for my personal Jewels than N…I really need to find a better name for them.”

Nay grimaced in trying not to laugh.

She bowed deeply, hiding the expression. “I serve the Empire.”

“Good, very good. You will obviously gain a raise for your additional work. You will also need to descent to the barracks, an Imperial guard will accompany you there every morning.”

“Could I bring my sister?”

“I see no issues with that.”

Nay nodded, satisfied, and that subject over, Jarl switched to how the Touched would need to be deployed in future skirmishes.

This is how the already quite full days of Nay were getting even fuller. She still taught the Rreico to Trinne and Lisana in the early morning, but then left for the barracks instead of helping in the kitchen. She was quite sad about that, but she knew that with the upcoming war, it was a necessary sacrifice. She then returned to the chambers for her magic/miracle lessons, and in the evening participated in the political reunions in the Emperor’s chambers.

Over the weeks, she got used to the political and military discussions, which meant that she wasn’t falling asleep standing.

Over that time, she met most of the prominent figures of Leïn, some being invited more than others, and the more pressing issue discussed with all of them was one she cared about. Everyone reported the growth of the Carradin flotilla, and how their initial target would be without a doubt the Western plains. The reports indicated the landing for the start of the next year, and despite the finished railway system between Leïn and Gite, the easter railroad was stagnating. The work being blocked in the Hymere jungle. This meant that a large part of the army could not be mobilized, especially problematic was the impossibility of bringing the Tertia cavalry. The monstrous animals were tamed by only one clan in the freezing desert of the east, and that clan refused to cross the Hymere with their troops. Nay hadn’t met any members of the tribe yet, the main thing she knew about them was that they were Ra’fa’s family. But her mother did not want to talk about them. What all of this meant, unfortunately, is that the war was far from being won. It was quite unlikely that the Carradins would reach Leïn, but Gite, in its current weakened state, would never hold against the initial wave of invaders.

The Emperor often question her and Trinne about how they could improve the defences in the coastal city, but neither woman had any solution to give. Nay could hear the machinery churning in her friend’s skull, but if she had an idea, the duchess wasn’t sharing them with the assembly.

Nay began the training of the new recruits for the Emperor, ten or so teenagers twelve to fifteen years old, and while it had been hard at first, the teenagers overtly disrespecting her, she adapted quickly. It was also a good opportunity for Lisana, who had never fought against someone other than Nay, Trinne or Marke. She was unable to beat the teenagers twice her size, most of them having been trained in the past, and it was annoying her quite heavily.

“That’s because I and Trinne never try to just overpower you. We want you to learn techniques, that you will be able to use later. But this is good training, fighting against bigger and stronger opponents is something you need to experience. As you are a girl, this will happen often, and you need to be used to it.”

“But you beat a Virnyl guard three times your height, and you were the same age I was!”

“I took him by surprise, he was underestimating me a lot.”

“Well, I’m little. Why is no one underestimating me?”

“Because you wanted to show off and jungled with your daggers in front of everyone. No one was going to underestimate after that.”

“Biach.”

Nay flicked her finger on Lisana’s forehead.

“Aouch!”

“Language.”

“But you’re the one saying it all…Sorry big sis.” Lisana, like Nay in the past, was learning that sometimes, the best way to avoid getting your Master Legio angry with you, was just to shut up.

The most important event at the start of the summer season was the day where they experimented on the relation between Nay’s power and enchantments. As usual, Defin, but this time also the Imperatrix, and the Legio, were in the chapel. The cloudy eyed woman was holding back her disgust at the near box haunted by death, and was listening to Defin’s explanation of the runes.

“This series of runes…” He showed a piece of cloth covered in unreadable lines. “Is supposed to melt swords and other metal weapons if they are visible, and this rune here, just next to it, responds to violent emotions. The rune between those two is a linking rune. The whole set is a common protection in the Chambers and the Cathedral. They need to be recharged regularly, and obviously can’t prevent anyone from misusing a miracle for example. There are also ways to circumvent them. We know these particular enchantments have no effect on you. Now, can you bring your hand closer to it? Slowly, if you please. The three of us have a way to see your miraculous power at work, and if anything dangerous seems to happen, please remove your hand immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Just a moment. Oh Trayx, show me the truth of this world.” Psalms could be categorized into three families. The short chants, with a simple effect, the long chants, for more complex effects like the one with the Conqueror’s door, and linking chants, mixing different short or long psalms, extending or creating new effects.

His short chant sung, Defin spoke again. “You can start.”

Nay approached her hand from the enchantment. She could see the strange Rreico coming from the piece of fabric growing. It was expanding progressively, not looking menacing. She stopped when her hand was almost touching the runes.

“Intriguing. Imperatrix, I mean, miss Hyn?” Defin asked.

“I do not see why she could not touch the enchantment, nothing abnormal seems to be happening.”

“Nay?”

“I feel nothing weird.” The Legio answered in turn.

“You may go on then.”

She brought her hand on the enchantment, growing again for a bit, before stopping and stagnating.

“Extraordinary. Miss Hyn, do you see…?” Defin exclaimed.

“I see, I see. It seems as though Nay does not cancel the enchantment with her power, but at the same time the enchantment has no effect on her at all, even if as overly charged as it currently is.”

Nay didn’t feel the same thing as they were. “I feel some sort of link though, it’s like a…river? Between me and the fabric.”

“Ah, what you’re feeling is the link used to charge the rune. If the enchantment had any effect on you, we should see its miraculous power on you.”

“But…I’m not having any violent thoughts though? Isn’t it normal that the rune isn’t activating then?”

“Not if you’re touching all the runes directly. Look.” Hyn explained. Nay removed her hand, and Hyn replaced it with hers.

The Rreico from the enchantment immediately grew over Hyn’s. But as the most beautiful women in the Empire wasn’t wearing anything metallic, nothing visibly happened. Despite that, Nay understood the difference immediately.

“That is good news then. While Patrex enchantments will not affect you, they shall be set on your weapons, not on your body. There should be no problems in that case.” Defin nodded.

Nay did her best not to shout in joy. Some of the best weapons in the continent, only for her!

“We will still need to be careful that the enchantments do not grow too powerful in her presence. But she’ll have to discuss that with Vorcan himself. I will make an appointment with him. And Nay, don’t get too happy now, if Vorcan refuses to forge you a weapon, he won’t forge you one. Whether I’m the one…whether the Emperor himself commands him to will not change that.”

Nay nodded, suddenly worried. Vorcan was the head smith of the Zenith forges, and to say he had a bad reputation was an understatement. She feared she would be rejected on the basis that she didn’t look like a powerful warrior. The last sword that Vorcan had forged himself well…it had been Muramasa itself, and Nay knew that she wasn’t at the Commandare’s level yet, and she very much doubted she would ever reach that level.

“Good, this is done now, so I propose we continue with our usual training. Nay, the psalm if you please.”

The Legio sighed. “Are you staying this time?” She asked Hyn, who apparently wasn’t leaving.

“I’m not on a tight schedule today.” The raven-haired woman smiled.

Nay sighed again. More to witness her failure.