I marched across the ante-room and noticed that there were two guards instead of just the one, and Mr. Muscles was was not one of the two. My eyes then went to the door pad to the left. I knew it could be opened with a touch of a palm. Not sure my palm would open the Emperor’s private room, but I could at least do that door chime thing to get his attention. First, I needed to get past his guards.

“I need to speak with the Em––my father,” I said, not halting my stride as I spoke.

“He is retired for the day, and does not wish to be disturbed,” the guard on the right answered.

“It can’t wait,” I growled as I kept moving forward.

I had about four feet to go, and nothing was going to stop me. Certainly not these guards. I sized them up in my mind, feeling pretty confident I could take them. I sent a silent thank you to my dad and his weird obsession with making sure the whole family knew how to take a punch and deliver one too. Though, knowing what I knew about him now, I supposed it all made sense. He was a Protector after all. It had been his job to know how to fight, and he had wanted to make sure his family did too.

“If you wish to speak to the Emperor, then you can schedule an appointment in the morning with his assistant Dur-rele,” the guard from the left spoke up this time.

It was at this point that I threw a look back to see if my own guards would be a problem. They were hanging by the transport alcove clearly not wanting to get involved in whatever it was I was doing. I had to at least give them credit for being smart.

I finally halted my progress. I was now in arms reach of both of the Emperor’s guards. I spread my feet apart and readied to spring forward if necessary. It was one of the first stances my dad had taught me when we’d began our Sunday dojo “family time”. It was what he called the ready to do business posture. Ready to make demands, or ready to fight. The guards at the door stiffened when they saw my stance. I snorted. At least they were starting to get the message.

“Highness, I must insist that you go back to your room. The Emperor will see you tomorrow,” the guard at the left said, reaffirming his position.

I gave them both a glowering look. I wasn’t about to be put off by them, or anyone else. I was done playing nice. I was done doing what I was told.

“We can do this one of two ways. You can either inform my father I wish to see him and let him make that determination himself, or I can go through you, and just ask him myself.”

The two guards looked a little taken back. They then turned to look at each other as if they couldn’t quite believe this was happening. It was at that moment, that I realized maybe this had never happened before. Who in their right mind would be crazy enough to just show up making such demands to the freaking Emperor? I almost laughed. At myself for being so stupidly bold and at the situation in general. But I kept the expression on my face as hard as steel.

Fear tried to rise inside of me, attempting to tell me that maybe this wasn’t a good idea. That maybe I should take their advice and just walk away and see if I could talk to him tomorrow, but the anger inside wasn’t having it. I had been denied too much and been pushed aside time and time again. Enough was enough.

“Option number two it is,” I sunk further into the balls of my feet, picked a target, and threw a low punch.

He didn’t even see it coming. The two guards had been so busy looking at each other and deciding if I was serious or not, that neither of them saw my fist before it was deep into the side of the left guard.

I didn’t wait for them to catch up. Left guard was off balance, literally, from my punch. Next came my knee to left guard’s soft spot, which caused him to double over with something between a grunt and a screech.

Right guard was closing in. I could feel him moving toward me. I turned and spotted his hand moving toward the hostler hidden underneath the slick confides of his long coat. But I was already turning my attention and body to him.

I reached out and grasped the hand going for the gun and latched on to it, keeping him from drawing. I then backed him into the wall right beside the door. We all heard the heavy thud as his back hit. Again, I brought up a fist and punched the side of his face. I did it a couple times just to get my point across. And I couldn’t deny it felt good to be letting out my pent up frustration on someone, even if he wasn’t the one I was really angry at.

At this point, I was aware of movement behind me. Left guard must have recovered himself, because he was coming for more. Right guard was stunned for the moment from my triple punch. I used that to yank his hand off the holster of his gun, with my other hand, I ripped the gun free.

The weapon felt strange in my hand. I had handled guns often in my training with my dad, but none quite like this. I wasn’t even sure what it would do if I pulled the trigger, so when I aimed, I did it a little to the side. A bolt of yellow hissed from the short barrel as I fired. The yellow streak hit the floor inches from left guard’s feet. It was enough to stop the man in his tracks.

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He stood glaring at me. His right hand resting on the hilt of his gun. I glared right back. My gun now aimed at the center of his chest, a silent dare for him to try it.

“That was certainly entertaining. Adar, why don’t you give Fator back his gun, and we can have a talk. That is why you came here isn’t it?”

There was no mistaking the voice of the Emperor coming from behind me. I didn’t even hear the door open. I threw left guard one more hard glare before I turned my head to see my father standing in the open door of his room. He was in a gold dressing gown and had an amused look on his face.

I dropped my arm and let the gun fall to my side. It was then I noticed I was breathing hard from the fight. I took a minute to to catch my breath. I used it to hide the contemplation that had sprung in my mind the moment I had seen the Emperor.

He was right there. All I had to do was swing that gun around and put a bolt right into him. The problem was, I didn’t know if it would kill him. Did it matter? Whether he died or not, I would land myself in a lot of trouble. And even though I was still fuming mad, I realized that deep down I didn’t have it in me to shoot this man––my father, or anyone else for that matter.

It also didn’t escape my notice that as soon as the Emperor had come to the door, my own guards had crossed the corridor and now waited within easy reach of me. Both of their hands were suspiciously close to their sides right near their gun holsters. I might get a shot in, but they would too––both of them, probably at the same time.

I felt a little betrayed at that. They were supposed to be my guards after all, but it made me realize a bigger truth. I was just a visitor in the Emperor’s palace. No one was on my side here, not even the men guarding me. That deflated my bravo rather quickly, and as I gave a slow exhale to steady my breathing, I tossed the gun to right guard now standing off to the side. He snatched it and quickly slipped it back into his holster, but he did it glaring at me the whole time.

I’m pretty sure I had just made a few more enemies this evening. I shrugged. What was new? I seemed to be accumulating a long list already.

The Emperor had stepped away from the door, allowing me passage. I strolled through still trying to settle myself from the brief, but violent confrontation.

It took me a moment for me to notice the room around me. It was as grand and spacious as his office, but also surprisingly sparse. I spied a large bed clear across the room that dwarfed even my own. The covers were thrown back, so I must have literally gotten the Emperor up from his bed. That gave me a satisfied feeling as I continued into the room.

I stopped at the lounging area that was much like the one in my room, but I restrained from sitting down. Instead, I turned to the only other man in the room, the guards were still outside. The Emperor stood near the door, now closed, eyeing me with an appraising look.

“That was quite a display. Who taught you how to do that?” He asked.

“Who do you think?” I scoffed back.

The Emperor nodded as if settling something within himself, and then moved toward a low counter to the side of the room. I could see much of it was covered in colored bottles of varying sizes.

“Would you like a refreshment?” The Emperor said as he pulled two fluted glassed off a shelf underneath the counter, chose a bright red bottle, and filled each glass without waiting for my response. He then crossed the space between us, giving me one of the now filled fluted glasses.

I took it not knowing what else to do. I watched the other man as he took a long drink from the glass. He then looked to me with a satisfied smile.

“It’s quite good. One of Ky-mara’s best wines. Made from the tereick fruit in their underwater orchards.”

I looked down at the bright red liquid in the glass more than a little curious. I had wondered if Ethia had any sort of libations. This was the first I was seeing of it. I certainly missed having a drink, so I decided to give it a try.

It was smooth and had a bitter sweetness to it, but a sharp flavor I had never tasted before. The best part though was the warmth I felt as it hit my stomach. It was instant and immense, and I knew that only drinking one glass would probably be close to maybe three beers back on Earth. I eyed the glass with new appreciation and a little wariness. I had to be very careful with this stuff.

“It is good. Where can I get some of this?” I asked in spite of the anger still rolling inside like lightning ready to strike at a moments notice.

“I will have a few bottles sent to your room.” The Emperor moved to the sitting area. He sat down as regally as any man in a dressing gown could do, and then he motioned for me to sit across from him. “Have a seat and tell me what is on your mind, son. It must be important for it being so late.”

I finally sat down, holding on to my wine and realizing my anger was starting to seep away. I didn’t know if it was from the exertion I had put into the impromptu fight with the Emperor’s guards, or maybe it was the fire of the wine, but I was quickly losing the hardness I had when I first set out in the gardens to confront my father.

I grappled for the words I wanted to say, that only a short time ago had been ready and eager to be heard, but now they seemed flat and insufficient. I sat frustrated at myself for flaking out before I even had a chance to say anything. I also felt a little embarrassed realizing that maybe this really could have waited until morning, but I had been too upset to slow down to think things through.

“You are upset with me and with all that’s been put upon you in such a short time,” the Emperor replied for me.

I looked up sharply. “I really hate it when you do that.”

The other man smiled like a cheshire cat. “That’s kind of the point. It’s always important to keep the upper hand in any conversation. The best way to do that is to keep the other person off guard.”

I blinked at the other man flabbergasted by his attitude and words. Really? I was angry enough to get in a fight with his own guards right outside his bedroom, and all he wanted to do was make sure he had the upper hand in our conversation, and then he even had the nerve to use it as a teaching moment?

I looked at the drink in my hand with new appreciation as my mind started to grab a hold of the way the Emperor thought. He hadn’t tried to be nice in offering it like I first assumed. The drink was a distraction to keep me off my game. It was like lightening had stuck, jolting me into a sudden realization.

Had that been what my birth father had been doing the entire time? The conversation in his office that left me thinking we had made a connection? Breakfast this morning where he artfully dodged my real questions and left me feeling like I actually wanted to learn more about my Perception Dome-ni? Was all this just a game to him?