“Another limb already, Dearheart?”

Brightheart looked up from his arm on the table, to see Dierdra striding through the doorway. She was at his side before he could move. Tsking, she probed at the wound. He could feel her magic moving within him.

“It doesn’t hurt, my dear Dierdra. If I didn’t have the evidence before my eyes, I could almost swear I still had my arm.” He waved at the limb with his remaining arm. “I can almost feel it, like the arm is still there.”

Reaching up with a gentle hand, Dierdra turned his head so she could look into his eyes. “You don’t look to be in pain either. Whatever cut your arm off had an extraordinarily keen edge. None of my tools could have done that.”

Brightheart patted her hand. “It was an elven blade. I would have brought it back for you, but the bearer was quite rude, just walking away after making his point.”

“Oh Dearheart. Don’t worry, I can fix this.” She turned to the limb on the table, going over it with both hands. A frown appeared on her lips, and she brought the arm closer, staring intently. Suddenly, she sighed.

“The arm is dead. I can’t reconnect it. I can only graft living flesh to living flesh.” Dierdra paused, a thoughtful look on her face.

Brightheart watched her in silence for a moment, but when she continued to stay silent, he knew she needed a jolt. “My dear Dierdra. What has come to your delightful mind?”

“What? Oh! I was just wondering if there was a way to revive dead flesh. I don’t mean like a resurrection, but a way to control the body after the soul has departed.” She waved a hand. “Oh, not for this, but for other purposes.”

Dierdra hooked her arm with his, carrying the dead limb in the other. “Come. Let’s get that arm replaced. I’ve got a couple of great specimens to choose from.”

“Lead on, my dear.”

* * *

“I had thought to build some type of relationship with the elves, using the half-humans as a bridge. They aren’t quite the abominations that the other races are.”

Brightheart watched Xius stare out the window of the emperor’s council chamber. The man had finally had the good sense to send a summons rather than show up. Lessons could be learned, it seemed.

Sitting alone at the council table, Brightheart clasped his hands together on the table, taking a brief moment to note how the new arm more closely matched his natural skin tone. He would still need to wear gloves though.

“I never truly had hope for the elves. Their isolationist history and reported arrogance were well recorded over the centuries since the founding of Terrace. There was hope that human blood had helped to temper those inclinations, but it’s apparent that our half-brothers are firmly under the elven spell.”

Xius spun away from the window, arms folded across his chest. Suddenly he sighed, seeming to deflate. “At least we didn’t lose an army. You were right to retreat when you did. All the Captains agree on that. This is especially important given the news that Feron has brought.”

“Oh? And what does our dear Unmaker have to report?”

Rage blaze within the emperor’s eyes. “Rebellion.”

Brightheart’s smile slid from his face. “Rebellion? Truly? I thought we had all the dissenters locked away for Feron to play with? What happened?”

“Feron says a group of mages and an unknown number of associates attacked his compound, driving him out and no doubt taking possession of those same dissenters. What’s more, he says they had Majestix aide.”

“They’ve openly attacked the Empire? I thought they were cowering on their lands, tails between their legs, considering their lack of response to our violation of the Accords?”

The glint in Xius’s eyes turned feral. “Oh, no doubt they thought they were being sneaky, the cowards. They sent assassins after Feron. He sent them slinking home, then brought his tower to Terrace, to warn us of the rebellions. He’s already led several raids against the families of the mages he recognized and is working to learn their associates.

“He will burn out the rot before it has time to spread.”

Brightheart felt the heat of pleasure at hearing such an immediate response to such devastating news. Those who fought against the good of humanity would burn, as they deserved. He reached up to run a finger over the cheek of his mask, where the burn scars were hidden. Yes, fire was definitely the appropriate response.

“Have you given thought to the official response to the attack?”

Xius nodded with a grim grin. “I spoke with the council before calling for you. First thing is that we do not mention the attack on Feron’s compound. People don’t need to know that we lost something of importance. Instead, we tell the people what we’ve been telling them all along. That the Majestix are the ones who cleared out those settlements, slaying every man, woman, and child who would not deny the Empire.”

The smile returned to Brightheart’s lips. “That does play nicely with what my Speakers have been saying all along.”

“Doesn’t it just?”

There was a moment of companionable silence as they both reveled in the details of a well-formed plan. Eventually, Xius reached into his robes and withdrew a scroll. Brightheart recognized it as the one containing the Empress suggestions and his commentary on them.

“One other thing the council recommended, and I agree, is moving up the plan to find an Empress. They read over your comments. The one that intrigued everyone was your suggestions about my cousin, Alaina.”

Brightheart leaned back in his chair, resting his clasped hands on his lap. “My dear Xius, whoever originally suggested Alaina was truly inspired. She is already beloved of the people, even after her social projects were shut down. Even the nobility adore her.

It’s not as if you are looking for love in your Empress. She is to be a symbol, nothing more. You already have your favorites to take care of your needs, and you can easily adopt to secure an heir.”

Brightheart paused a moment before adding, “Perhaps the child of your other cousin? That would keep things neatly in the family.”

Xius gave Brightheart a level stare for several moments. Slowly a smile grew across his lips. You know, hearing it from you helps more than just reading your notes. I especially like the part about adopting an heir. That would allow me to focus on training rather than parentings itself.”

“When do you plan on telling her the good news?”

“I’ll have a messenger sent to her home later today.”

“I’d say that overall, this deserves a drink. Shall we away to your lounge?”

“Let us away.”

* * *

Annamarie watched as Alaina took the message from one of her own household servants who was in the know, thanked him, then glided back into the room while reading the message. The play of emotions on her face was truly fascinating.

“My cousin is insane!”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you!” Annamarie threw up her hands in mock exasperation.

An indelicate snort escaped her friend. “I’ve never really denied the point, you know.”

Annamarie nodded with a grin. “True. Now give. What has your cousin done to ruffle your feathers?”

Alaina scowled at the message, then crumpled it up and glared at it. “It seems our dear Emperor has decided that I am to wed.”

Annamarie blinked at the vehemence in Alaina’s voice. “Um, given the nature of the story we’ve given out as a reason for your being here, that isn’t an unreasonable request.” A sideways grin grew on her face. “Besides, I thought you were growing rather close to our archery master.”

That managed to startle a giggle from Alaina. “While Donalt is a perfectly acceptable gentleman, he’s at least half again my age. Not that his age seems to have affected his physique at all.”

Annamarie pointed an accusing finger at her friend. “Hah! I knew you weren’t as unaffected as you pretended. Not all of the swat was from the workouts he put you through.” Her grin grew wicked. “Or were the workouts more vigorous than you expected?”

Was that a hint of a blush? Alaina looked like she was trying unsuccessfully to scowl, though the corners of her lips kept twitching upwards. “Considering the reasoning for my constant visit, I figured a certain degree of reality in my efforts was necessary.” She cut herself off with a huff before continuing with a much less happy expression.

“Anyway, were my cousin just pushing for my marriage to a man I was supposedly courting, that I could accept. Instead, our crazy Emperor plans to make me Empress as his bride.”

“Wait, what? You’re cousins!”

Alaina returned to glaring at the wadded missive in her hands, then slowly started tearing it to shreds. “He says he’ll explain more when we meet to confirm details, but the brief reasoning is that it’s to be a platonic marriage. We’ll adopt an heir when we’re ready.”

Annamarie knew her mouth was hanging open and forced it to close. After a moment to process, she said, “Are you serious? Is he serious? What is he thinking?”

Alaina shook her head. “There is no way Xius came up with this on his own. No doubt his slippery friend is behind this. The reasoning and planning sounds like him. Plus, he never forgave me for rejecting his suite when we were all younger.”

“Do you think they suspect your involvement in the rebellion?”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Alaina shook her head again. “Our dear Emperor doesn’t do subtle. Especially not that crazed mage of his. How many homes have already been burned down? At least the warnings got a lot of them out in time.”

Annamarie walked over to take Alaina’s hands in her own. “Don't you worry. We won’t let your crazy cousin take you away. We’ve all been preparing to leave if things heated up in the city. I’ll say burning out families was enough heat. Dallon has already started sneaking the non-warriors out of the city. We’ll be joining them in a couple of days. You can delay that long, can’t you?”

Alaina nodded, her eyes glinting with a ferocious light. “Of course I can. I think it’s time for dear Donal to make his intentions official. He and I can send a missive informing the Emperor of our intentions.”

Annamarie gave Alaina’s hands a squeeze, smiling. “That’s positively delicious. We could even publicly publish them, so he can’t do anything without making a scene!”

Another giggle escaped from Alaina. “This is why you’re my best friend.”

“Good. Now let’s go inform Dallon. I’m sure he’ll have some more suggestions for us.”

* * *

Marcus stepped lighting into the cave, a mage globe floating behind him. He hadn’t heard from Hanna and this was the last place they’d agreed to meet up if they couldn’t leave Terrace together. Suddenly he could make out the sound of crying and he rushed deeper into the cave.

Hanna sat in the middle of the area he’d prepared as an emergency shelter. She had her knees up, arms wrapped around them and her head resting on her knees. Her braid, usually so neat, was a chaotic mess of escaped tendrils.

Instantly he teleported to her side, arms wrapping around her and holding her tight. He said nothing, just held her. At some point she turned her head to press her face against his chest and her arms had somehow made their way around him.

There was the sound of grinding rock and then another weight settled around them both. For once, he felt no anxiety with Akara’s touch, letting the elemental help Hanna deal with whatever it was that had her in tears.

Some indeterminable time later, Hanna’s crying faded to sniffles then vanished altogether. Her arms tightened around him, earning her a grunt, though she didn’t loosen her grip. Marcus focused on shallow breaths, then tilted his head down to kiss the top of her head.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Hanna shook her head against his chest, then murmured, “Sorry about the cave.”

Marcus finally looked around. He’d been a little distracted when he arrived and now took the time to check things out.

Everything was destroyed. The boxes of supplies had been smashed, their contents strewn around. Even the chairs and the table had been shattered to kindling, scattered like straw around the cave. Even the walls showed signs of abuse, cracks running in waves from floor to ceiling.

“It’s just stuff and a cave we were going to leave behind anyway. None of this stuff matters. Everything here can be replaced.”

Hanna sniffled. “Not everything.” There was such abject misery in her voice that he felt his own heart breaking.

“What happened, love?”

“He killed them. He killed my parents.” She choked up for a moment before continuing. “Guards came in while I was trying to convince them to leave. They stabbed Daddy and then Mommy.” Her hands bunched the back of his robes, threatening to tear the fabric. “I saw him just as I was teleporting out.”

The sadness had bled from Hanna’s voice with that last sentence, replaced with a rage that seemed to blaze through the cave. Even Akara vibrated where she was wrapped around them.

“Feron was standing in the doorway, glaring at me. I know he was the one who ordered my parents killed. There was no attempt to bring them in for questioning. I don’t even know if my siblings are alive, as they weren’t home.”

Hanna drew back slightly, shifting to rest her forehead against his. Her eyes were glacial, a cold hatred that burned and smoldered. “I’m going to kill him.”

This was a side of Hanna that Marucs had never seen and he realized he wished he’d never had to. Yet this was also a part of the woman who had become an integral part of his life. For all her hatred, he could feel the pain that lurked beneath.

“Then we’ll do it together. We’ll find a way to strip him of his magic, the only thing he truly cares about. And when all his smug superiority has been wiped away, you can cave in his head.”

“Oh Marcus.” She released her grip on his back, moved her hands to his chest, and dragged him into a searing kiss. He was feeling lightheaded when she finally drew back and gazed into his eyes. Rage still swam in the depths of her eyes, but it was overshadowed by determination.

“Come on. We have a rebellion to organize and a mage to kill!”

* * *

“They’re finally on their way.”

Annamarie looked over from where she and Dallon were standing on the crenelated roof of their home. Alaina was standing with one hand on a crenellation next to a dark brown falcon, a missive strip in her other hand. The falcon tilted its head to regard Annamarie with a keenly intelligent eye, then launched itself into the air, winging towards the palace.

“It’s about time. I was starting to think we hadn’t properly motivated your cousin.”

The corner of Alaina’s lips curved slightly. “Cousin Xius isn’t always the quickest thinker. He usually left that to his best friend, Brightheart.” Her smile was short lived. “They’re both coming, along with an entire contingent of guards. No mages though. Guess we don’t warrant that type of response.”

Dallan had one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, eyes watching the street. “The mages are dealing with whatever damage Typhonus was able to deal to the teleportation network before leaving. He told me our crystals are the last ones that will work in the city.”

Annamarie grinned. “I knew I liked that little guy.” Moving over to stand next to her husband, she shifted her hips, testing the weight and set of her swords. “Are you sure I can’t par down the guard before we leave? That would mean less to deal with later.”

Dallon reached over with his free hand and drew hers to his lips. “No, my dear. Neither of us will wet our blades this day. That day is for the future. Today is for sending a different type of message. One centered on your friend.”

Annamarie smiled fondly at Dallon, then turned to Alaina. “See what I put up with because of you? No killing.” She pretended to pout.

Alaina rolled her eyes. “How is it you are able to act like that at your age? I’ve been corrupted. I used to be a lady of nobility, respected and admired.”

Annamarie scoffed. “Lusted after, you mean. I remember the types of dresses you wore to those galas of yours.”

“And who was it wearing the tight, black dress standing beside me?”

Dallan gave Annamarie’s hand a squeeze. “Ladies. We have guests.”

Returning her attention to the street, Annamarie saw the ranks of guardsmen trooping towards the house. They did look impressive in their matching shiny armor. How much practice did it take to march in step like that?

There was a small, cleared area surrounding the two robed men, one in blinding white, the other in an elaborate outfit that seemed to change color with each step. A new type of chameleon cloth? Spendy.

“Your cousin sure can dress up.”

“Hush. This is my show now.”

Annamarie grinned, then nodded, urging her husband to take a step back, then watched Alaina work.

Alaina stood straight backed, her regal gaze turned down to regard the guards forming up below. Her eyes turned to her cousin and a frown graced her lips.

“That is close enough, cousin. I’ve already rejected your proposal. This unseemly display is beneath you.” Her voice easily carried through the air, no doubt the result of her noble training.

The Imperial Guard stomped to a halt. The white robed figure turned a masked gaze up towards Alaina. His own trained voice boomed out. “Lady Alaina. You have been accused of treason against the Empire and against your Emperor, Xius the First.”

Alaina tossed her hair and laughed. “Treason, is it? Against an Empire that has slain its own people? Kidnapped them off the streets and imprisoned them to be experimented on by an insane mage? If that is your Empire, then I gladly rebel and call on all people of the Empire to join me.”

Brightheart’s voice cut in. “That is quite enough. You are condemned by your own words. You are in rebellion against the Empire. It is with a sad heart that your cousin must order you brought before him in judgment. He had hoped to have you at his side.”

“There is no room at his side with you already whispering in his ear. I aim to fix that.” Alaina reached down and snatched up her bow, an arrow seeming to materialize in place.

Down below, guards leaped to put their armored bodies in front of the Emperor. There was a twang and the arrow cut through the air.

Deep into the Speaker’s chest.

“Long live the Rebellion!” Alaina grabbed her teleportation crystal, Annamarie and Dallon doing likewise.

When the three appeared outside the city in the midst of a group preparing to leave, Annamarie turned to glare at her friend. “How come you got to kill someone but I didn’t?”