The carriage passes by a white wall patrolled by imperial guards and stops between two huge marble lions guarding either side of a golden gate. Ten Templars turn their gazes to the door as I open it. I slowly step out while holding Leomi's hand as my minions and her escort gather.

“I am Jessica Freepath, here to meet Emperor Rasaec as asked.” I speak up, forcing myself not to grimace at having to bend my pride so out of curiosity and a sense of self-preservation.

“Who are they?” One of the Templars questions with narrowed eyes while he gazes at Rowland, Nahl, and Idali.

“My mi...” I pause to correct myself because I did promise not to fool around. “Men.”

The temple guard's irises widen and a slight blush takes over his cheeks. It takes me a split moment to understand what misunderstanding my slip of tongue caused.

I don't let it show on my expression, using my forced obliviousness to turn the embarrassment of the situation on others rather than myself. The silence drags on, only broken by Yvonne's repressed chuckle.

“They think you're with them.” She says. I've no doubt my best-friend knows I've caught on to the mix-up yet but is having fun with it.

“They're my men like she's my woman.” I utter with a flat tone.

I point to Idali while staring at the Templar, causing his cheeks to further redden. Leomi squeezes my hand as she steps forward and makes a slight bow to end the temple guard's dilemma.

“Honorary Duchess Leomi Lance.” The temple guard greets. “You may both enter with a single servant.”

“Idali.” I call her.

She walks to my side, looking nervous, while Yvonne falls in step with Leomi. The Temple guards nod and signals his squad to open the gates. The four of us advance to step inside the grounds, I know not how they feel but a flock of butterflies start tearing each other apart in my stomach.

It feels as if a shadow falls before my eyes as I step through the threshold of the Palace grounds. Terrifying sounds echo in my ears, that of blades slicing through flesh, that of bones shattering and gurgling blood.

It takes me a moment and the grasp of Leomi's hand for me to recover, realizing I've frozen after taking a single step. I chase the terror paralyzing me through an effort of will to observe the garden surrounding us.

There are glorious white fountains engraved in golden designs all along the various paths weaving through the vivid green grass. I engage on the road leading straight to the Palace, passing by lion statues.

The scenery is impressive, mostly the dome supported by a dozen marble columns on the roof, but it has little to do with my feeling so small and insignificant.

The Emperor is a being I revered in my youth and for a while during my ordeals until I grew to truly stand on my own. His presence and greatness is unrivaled in the Empire, how could I not feel threatened?

I lay my palm on my broadsword's pommel, only now realizing they let us through without taking our weapons. It's surprising but it isn't as if the Emperor could be threatened even if I brought a damn trebuchet along.

As we make our way without incident, my initial fears abate and my gait stabilizes as my mind turns to the meeting ahead. Emperor Rasaec is, without a single doubt, the most powerful being in the world.

Only the First Queen can compare but she will never leave her Hive which makes her inconsequential in all matters, not to mention the Emperor has leylines to bolster his access.

Were I to recover the full extent of my strength, there would still not be an opportunity for me to challenge this man on my own so I cannot afford to be shaken if I am to speak to him.

We arrive at the gates and stop before the two armored Exemplars guarding it. They watch us silently without moving a muscle, their gazes surveying our every movement.

A few minutes pass before the Exemplars open the gold and white double-doors to allow us inside. The four of us carefully walk into a long hall decorated by paintings of warriors, generals, and temple guards doing battle against all three species.

Servants arranged in two rows bow down to welcome us and a woman in her fifties wearing a deep black outfit. She has dark brown eyes and gray hair with a bearing that wouldn't lose to that of a high Noble.

“I welcome you on behalf of our great Emperor Rasaec.” She utters with a voice devoid of warmth. “Follow me.” She instructs.

We go through the rows of servants, butlers and maids straightening up after our passage to return to their duties. We engage on a large staircase at the end of the hall, climbing to the second floor to enter a hallway filled with old plate armors no doubt worn in battle by heroes of the Empire in ages past.

It takes us an entire five minutes to finally reach our destination, a large door guarded by a full squad of Exemplars in full plate armor. It takes me but a single moment to notice that each of them is wearing a new runic gauntlet on their dominant hands that doesn't match the rest of their gear.

Clearly, E.Vil's prowess convinced the Temple to make some improvements and thus the first to receive these items were the Emperor's personal guard. The old woman commands them to step aside with a single wave of her hand, and astonishingly is obeyed without a moment's hesitation.

We step inside a lobby where four more Exemplars are posted and I feel a distinct disruption field pass through the construct buried in my body. I don't let my expression change but immediately raise my guard.

Yet, the old woman keeps leading us towards the next set of doors while commanding the temple guards to step aside. She knocks on the door and waits a short while without saying anything, as if by habit.

“My Emperor, Dame Jessica Freepath and her fiancee the honorary Duchess Leomi Lance of Izla Meria are here as by your summons.” She says. I notice her expression tense by just the slightest amount as she awaits an answer.

“Hrm.” This grunt of ascent startles me as it has to have come from the Emperor.

The woman scowls just a bit in disapproval while also glancing down, showing a tiny bit of... not guilt but an emotion close to it, perhaps regret at the failure of following an instruction.

I purse my lips to conceal my smile at the woman's interesting reaction to this response. At least, this helps me manage my anger at being 'summoned'. Just as she reached for the handle of the door, the Emperor speaks again.

“Had I not told you to invite Jessica Freepath, Shayle?” Rasaec questions with an absentminded tone, causing her to freeze.

“My Emperor, these matters...” She starts to respond.

“We are in private.” He impatiently cuts her off, apparently having had that kind of argument so many times before he can predict her words before she says them. “Now that I am certain you heard me correctly, then you may invite them inside right this instant.”

Shayle closes her eyes, unmistakably to repress her anger, and takes an entire two minutes to herself before opening them again as she turns to us. Her relationship with the Emperor is most definitely not that of a mere subordinate if she can unhesitantly delay a direct order to act immediately.

“You are now cordially invited to join the great Emperor Rasaec, sovereign of a millennia, inside his war-study.” The old woman utters without a hint of said cordiality to her tone as she makes the faintest of bows.

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She turns and opens the doors for us to enter. Inside the room is a man sitting on a couch atop extravagant red velvet pillows, he has bright green eyes and deep black hair.

His build is neither impressive nor disappointing but has muscles consequent enough to be those of a warrior, his height on the other hand is startlingly average as I estimate him to be a mere few centimeters taller than me.

He is wearing a golden circlet of laurels, golden bracers, and a white toga tightly held against his chest by a purple band of cloth. The Emperor is looking down at a low table with high borders concealing what rests upon it.

Finding it curious that the man who insisted on merely inviting us in despite having no need to do so considering his power is more interested in this than us, I decide to take a peek but the angle doesn't allow me to and all I catch are golden lights reflected on the table from the morning sun.

As I walk inside, I inspect Rasaec closer because the slightest detail could matter. I quickly notice that his hair are disheveled and that there are signs of fatigue around his eyes which could mean he lacks sleep, which is stunning considering who he is. It could mean he is hard working... or frivolous.

“My Emperor.” Leomi says with a firm tone.

“My Emperor.” Idali speaks up with a shiver to her voice.

“My Emperor.” Yvonne discreetly greets.

“Emperor.” I utter between grit teeth as the three drop to a knee, unable to bring myself to do the same and unwilling to even look straight at Lance as she does.

My fiancee redeems herself completely in my eyes because, the instant she understands what I've done, she stops the bend of her knee short of touching the carpet and carefully rises back up while our other two companions finish kneeling.

“Rise, there is no nee...” Rasaec suddenly pauses with his hand in the middle of gesturing us to stand back up.

The Emperor slowly lifts his chin to look at me. Leomi trembles, most definitely from a wave of fear for my life after this act of open defiance. Yvonne tenses but her body language lacks any surprise. Idali loudly swallows her saliva and appears to be in complete disbelief.

“Insolence!” Shayle exclaims from behind us.

Her expletive is accompanied by armors clinking as the Exemplars in the hall prepare to draw their weapons. The Emperor's head finally levels and his eyes find mine. On his lips is a thin inscrutable smile which could either be taken as sharp or gentle depending on the angle of the light.

“Is it?” Rasaec quietly questions her, the two words enough to reestablish complete silence. “I find it understandable they would hold doubts, especially the one who has suffered most.”

“Still.” Shayle insists with a tone that could cut through steel.

“Rise.” The Emperor commands Idali and Yvonne while also briefly glancing to Lance who stood back up. “Speak, what is it you wish of me?” He tells me.

A terrorized scream bellows at the back of my mind, causing my hand to tremble over the pommel of my broadswords. For a brief moment I consider killing the Emperor, leading my eyes to scour our surroundings to ascertain distance and obstacles.

Shayle's stance does not shift in the least, I would have caught the noise, but I can distinguish the fact she's entered a state of alertness merely from the sound of her breath. I suppress the shaking of my fingers by squeezing the pommel of my longest blade.

“A frank discussion.” I simply respond as answers are all I am fit to obtain at the moment. Shayle grits her teeth, producing an audible sound. “I want to know of the events that led to the Rykz invading Izla Meria.” I add.

“Hm.” Rasaec ponders. “What I can say, I will. What I cannot, I will not.” He tells me with the slightest of corner smiles. “But that is a complex subject.”

“Why?” I simply question, wondering as a bout of laughter shakes my mind whether the Emperor will know what it is I am asking.

Rasaec's traits fall and his spring-green irises narrow but something tells me that this heavy expression isn't directed at me. The Emperor takes his time, in fact he takes so long my thigh begins aching.

I make my way to a chair located at a diagonal from the Emperor, taking care not to limp. I notice, as I walk, that Rasaec's eyes don't leave me. He does not even react to what I can only assume to be disrespect on my part.

“You won't kneel but you wish to sit?!” Shayle explodes.

I ignore her for now as the full extent of my insanity has been brought to bear on the Emperor, noticing that his gaze follows the very slow movements of my leg as I take a seat. I wouldn't have believed the Emperor would be as observant as I am before this but I can tell he has seen through my attempt to conceal my burn injury.

“I'm a veteran after all.” I humorously remark to the elder woman.

“Tss, tss, tss.” Rasaec's laughter escapes from between his closed lips yet his smile still doesn't reach his eyes. “Do you know of the effort it took to establish this Empire?” He asks almost casually.

“I couldn't begin to imagine.” I simply respond as I incline my head to the side in a questioning manner.

“I do not speak of uniting the human Kingdoms, I speak of the blood spilled in ages past to ensure humans would no longer be treated as livestock by the Rykz.” He says.

I freeze as his words hit me but it does not last long as my smile widens into a grin. Shock passes through Shayle's expression but Rasaec's doesn't shift in any way at my reaction which no human, much less the Emperor, would normally be able to brush off.

“All beings are but meat.” I affirm with a cold tone. “What difference is there between that and slavery? And do the Lisilese not devour us still?” I question. “Either way, I do not see the relevance of this past to the present.”

“I am establishing on what basis is built the relationship between the Rykz Hives united under the First Queen and the Empire of humanity united under my rule.” Rasaec tells me with a patient tone in which I find no trade of condescension. “The strength of our armies is all that prevents the Rykz from dictating the lives and deaths of millions.”

“Mhm.” I quietly exhale, encouraging him to make his point as I absently tap the armrest.

“I took one of their Princesses, so what? She was carved up like a chunk of meat and bones, so what?” Rasaec calmly questions without much emotion to his voice.

“My Emperor, you didn't intend this.” Shayle cuts in.

“Would their troops stop assaulting our borders if I didn't? This act of mine received a harsher response than anticipated? Good!” He forcefully exclaims, surprising me. “Pulling more of their forces into a war we prepared for when we still hold the advantage of neutralizing their pheromones is a victory but, even if we had not this trick, even if Izla Meria's population was slaughtered, it is worth it to attract more Princesses sent to the front-lines.” He asserts unapologetically. “The death of every single one of these beings is worth far more than that of five thousand humans each.”

A chill goes through my back and I suck in a breath of cold air at the cruel calculation and conviction expressed by the Emperor. Yet, despite this emotion, the man's eyes remain as placid as the surface of a lake.

“The truth is that there were many reasons behind what was done, not the least of which being this fear the Rykz will now hold towards challenging the Empire.” Rasaec explains. “It is an ugly thing, war, but necessity is supreme.”

“I understand your decision, my Emperor.” I say with a short laugh, stunning all in the room including this most powerful man whose eyes widen. “I shan't kneel, nor bow, but acknowledge you I must.” Pride, I told Leomi, and to prove the strength of mine I shan't let my knee touch the ground for any other than those I truly love.

“Why?” He asks me with a scowl of incomprehension. “What I know about you tells me you should hate me over this.”

“Oh? Am I to destroy you then?” I ask, my voice distorting as Liz takes a peek only to fade away in disdain. Shayle tenses but resigns herself not to react. The image of my father dying under a rain of arrows, a scene I didn't truly witness, flashes before my eyes. It takes me a moment to rein my madness in. “Believe me, if I could, I would seriously consider it.” I utter while gripping hard at the pommel of my sword. “But I've neither the ability nor the right.” I've said too much.

“Why is that?” Rasaec questions with interest.

“I owe you a lot.” I reply offhandedly as I've still a request to make.

“You're not being entirely truthful, are you?” The Emperor says.

“It is, in a way.” I explain with a shrug.

“Speak clearly, as I have, I don't believe there is any need for riddles between us after you've so plainly expressed yourself.” The man encourages, making me even more suspicious of whether his attitude and my emotions have led me to entrap myself.

“I owe humanity, not you.” I spell it out, opting to divert the subject to less dangerous waters like my disloyalty. The left corner of my lips stirs into a mad smirk.

“My Emperor.” Leomi intervenes with a grave voice. “Do you have concrete proof that your decision to capture Princess Cetyz of the Silver Hive benefited the Empire?”

Rasaec's traits don't waver at this questioning. I find myself impressed in spite of everything that an Emperor ruling over seven million humans shows not a sign of anger at being so openly doubted by two of his worst subjects.

“Step forth and witness the results yourself.” He invites us with a wave of his hand towards the odd low table set before him.