The Emperor's palace was as impractical as the city in which it had been built. Four flat silo-shaped towers in a long row, connected by a single long hall with a vaulted roof. The throne was at the very end of the great hall, shining like a beacon because of clever skylights and clerestory windows which conspired to focus the sunlight. The first three towers were each dedicated to one of the three branches of the Triumvirate, starting with the banks, followed by the oculomancers, and finally the Heritors. The fourth tower served as the private quarters for the imperial family. The interior of each tower was almost completely hollow, lined on the inside with balconies on both sides. In each tower much of the empty space was occupied by a single massive imperial banner: a silver-white wolf against a navy background.

As soon as Kiera stepped into the building, she was accosted by a gaggle of old maids and escorted away to the Heritor's tower. A huge suite had been allocated exclusively for her. Once inside, the maids stripped her down to her smallclothes to measure the dimensions of her body, and within a few hours they returned with an elaborate gown salvaged from the imperial family collection. By evening she was bathed and dressed up and burdened with enough of the Emperor's gold and jewels to reliably serve as a ship's ballast. Two burly men and a palanquin were required to carry her down to the council chambers to meet with the Emperor.

The council took place in a library with an open balcony which overlooked the empty throne. When Kiera arrived, she found Sir Zachary and Fredrick Mason waiting within. Emperor Corrin Varelion arrived shortly afterwards, flanked by his sister Sasha as well as Lucia Aden. The Emperor wore a rather modest dark suit, not dissimilar to Fredrick's garb, though perhaps with more military decorations. Lucia Aden wore an extraordinarily bright red robe under a full-body mesh of black silk studded with rubies. Sasha wore Dame Varelion's iridescent blue-green scale armor.

The last to arrive was the Eyes of Empire. The oculomancer sulked through the room with her face obscured behind her black hood. She twisted her chair slightly before taking her seat to the right of Corrin, facing him.

"Excellent," Corrin said. "Let us begin."

"Should we not wait for the others?" the Eyes of Empire asked.

"There are no others. Those gathered here are sufficient for the matters we have to discuss. Kiera, you can still use ethermancy, is that correct?"

"Yes," Kiera replied.

"If that is the case," Fredrick said, "then I would like to address the security concern of inviting Kiera to this meeting. My Emperor, if she is the only one who can use ethermancy, then your life may be in danger."

"Kiera?" Sasha asked. "A security concern?" She chuckled.

"I am not concerned," Lucia added helpfully.

"I am sorry, I just met her this morning, and I am not familiar with her character."

"Our oculomancer could just ask her," Sasha observed. "Brother, have you noticed? The Eyes of Empire refuses to look at poor Kiera."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"I have noticed," Corrin agreed. "Would you please tell us why?"

"I don't want to be a part of this," the oculomancer said.

"As you like. It changes nothing. My sister was kidnapped, and there is no question about whether we should declare war on the Theocracy. The question I hope to answer in this meeting is how we are going to prosecute this war. And Kiera, you may end up being a load-bearing structure in our war strategy."

I don't want people to die because of me, Kiera thought.

"If we are going to invade the Theocracy, then we will need a skilled commander. King Sullivan Blaine, the Blade of Empire, is obviously the best choice. However, King Sullivan has always operated in an environment where ethermancy plays a central role in the outcome of battles. There is another option: King Vash of Vjiskald. He has operated in Tiamir for two decades, holding the line against encroachment from Andomei. In this long struggle, there have been very few instances where ethermancy was used on either side.

"I believe that we should appoint King Vash to lead our armies. Starting at White Chasm in the west, he will march his forces through Lyn into the Theocracy, with Kiera at the center of the formation. At the same time, Sullivan Blaine will lead the armies of Cloudsea to the far east, to scale the high cliffs protecting the Renna Basin using ethermancy. The Cloudsea ethermancers will soften them up, and then King Vash will smash them to pieces when their ethermancy fails."

He was very animated as he spoke, which Kiera found appalling. Does he not understand how many people will die?

"A sound strategy, brother," Sasha said. "However, it heavily depends on Kiera's cooperation."

"She will do as I command," Corrin said.

Seven hundred and fifty souls. Is that not worth something? I healed seven hundred and fifty men who would have died.

"The Blaine family swore oaths of service to our house decades ago," Corrin continued.

"I don't want people to die because of me," Kiera said.

"If I command you to use your power to attack the enemy, I would expect and tolerate no hesitation."

She saw soldiers on a battlefield, their faces locked in horror as wave after wave of frost passed through their bodies, freezing them from the inside out. They shattered, their blood and muscles and bones and organs disintegrating into gory piles. She saw this in her mind as she had seen it once before, and she screamed.

"I am Heritor!" Kiera bellowed.

"And... here it comes," Lucia drawled.

"I am the Emperor!" Corrin said.

"I don't care what petty title you have given yourself!" Kiera snapped. "Are the Heritors not equal to the oculomancers?"

She stood up and stomped across the room toward the Eyes of Empire. She pulled the hood down. The oculomancer's shining purple eyes filled with shock. Kiera grabbed the oculomancer by the jawbones and forced her to look. The oculomancer flinched. Kiera saw horror and pain.

"What do you see?" Kiera demanded.

"It's like staring into the sun," the oculomancer said. "It hurts."

Suddenly Kiera felt shame at having caused pain to the poor woman. Corrin was trembling. Fredrick Mason looked concerned, Sir Zachary looked exhausted, and Sasha was smiling, looking at Kiera with anticipation.

"I am Heritor," Kiera repeated, "and I have rights. I will stand before the Elder Saint herself and I will demand an explanation. I have a right to know my own fate."

"She will kill you," the Eyes of Empire said.

"Then I will die. And I will die a proud Heritor and a Princess of Cloudsea. And after I am dead nobody will ever be able to command me to kill ever again."

"I will go with her," Sasha announced. "I too will confront the Elder Saint, and I will demand support in our war against the Theocracy."

"Is that really what you want?" the Eyes of Empire asked. "Both of you?"

"Yes," Kiera said. "It's about time I have answers."

"Yes," Sasha agreed. "Renna's abomination of a religion should not be allowed to exist."

"Very well," the oculomancer said. "I will make arrangements for a flight to Spire Annatiki. Don't say I didn't warn you."