After summarizing their experience at the temple to Ambassador Miguel late at night, they all decided to see the Emperor the next morning. Miguel was eager to send another letter to Lord Chancellor Quince with the update and to request his presence at the meeting as well. He seemed to think he would be needed again. Lwain decided he would go home after they left, having been heavily traumatized. Yarro couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Just a normal guy that got caught up in this mess. Later that night, one of the servants came and said Emperor Sopros had information for them and to meet with him in the morning. Perfect.

The group woke up early and met up with the Lord Chancellor before the meeting. Just one glance at Kael had him frowning. “Soldier Kael, I can feel your seething anger from a mile away. Rein it in, and do not, under any circumstances, open your mouth,” he warned. Yarro gently folded his hand over the Kael’s hand. It wasn’t until then that Kael took a deep breath and finally relaxed his shoulders just a smidge.

With that, they went into the throne room together.

“Welcome, welcome!” Emperor Sopros stood from his throne to greet them with open arms. “I have good news, and bad n--”

“What in all the stars was that at the temple?” Kael stomped up to the Emperor ahead of the rest. Sopros stopped in his tracks and lowered his arms, confused. Yarro sighed, and out of the corner of his eye he could see both the ambassador facepalming and the Lord Chancellor glaring. So much for reining in the anger.

“Whatever do you mean? The origin of the deities and our capital? All true, I’m afraid. Those poor de-”

“Cut the crap! I mean the ambush!”

“Ambush?"

Lord Chancellor Quince quickly stepped up and shoved Kael out of the way. “Silence!” he whispered loudly before turning back to the Emperor. “What he means is, at the temple they encountered King Wen’s private soldiers that attacked them. Some had disguised themselves as part of the religious group you had recommended and some that had followed them through the forests. It seems an impossible coincidence, that is all,” he hurriedly said.

Emperor Sorpros crossed his arms and scrunched his eyebrows. He stared at Kael hard for a while before his eyes turned to Yarro. There, he was met with caution and slight anger. “If I was planning on killing you, then I wouldn’t have been searching for Seila, would I? And I wouldn’t have called you back.”

“Unless you were planning on killing us here,” Kael said. Yarro quickly clamped a hand over Kael’s mouth. They both glared at each other, but eventually Kael got the message. Hopefully…

“Please forgive him,” Ambassador Miguel said. “He has a nasty temper that we’re trying to fix. Our apologies.”

Emperor Sopros frowned. “Do you see anyone else here, besides Descre? I wouldn’t order a hit on you even if I wanted to.”

“Once word got out of it, there would have been riots on the streets until they beheaded him,” Descre butt in from the side of the throne. He seemed sleepy and uninterested in the conversation. So why he was contributing to it, Yarro didn’t know.

“And I very. Much. Like. Living.” Emperor Sopros sighed, and rubbed his eyes. It was a while before he spoke again. When he opened his eyes, they were still clearly tired but any anger he had before was gone. “The good news is, I have found Seila in an empty shed in the middle of my city. Bad news is that it seems your King has kidnapped the child and is holding her hostage. Thus, I cannot interfere in a strictly Listhuanian affair without inciting the war further.”

“It was King Wen who kidnapped Seila?” Yarro stared in disbelief.

“Well, I’m sure he didn’t commit the act itself, but I'm sure he ordered it,” Sopros said with a sip of his tea.

Ambassador Miguel picked up his jaw from the floor. “Please forgive us for asking for proof. Our King wouldn’t take the Secretary of State’s daughter. They’ve known each other for the longest time.”

Yarro glanced at Lord Chancellor Quince. For a position so close to the Queen, he would have been more familiar with the King than any of them. Yet he was the one who looked most distraught.

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Kael scoffed and crossed his arms. “Someone trying to kill a Demideity would have no qualms against kidnapping a child.”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you that, as I don’t have it. Descre will give you the direct address, then I want you to leave. You are no longer welcome in my country,” He glared at Kael before turning his gaze to Yarro. “After you retrieve Seila, I never want to see you two again. If not for the Fire Deity I would have kicked you out already.”

Lord Chancellor Quince finally recovered and bowed slightly to the Emperor. “Thank you for the information. We will put it to good use and get out of your hair immediately,” he spoke through gritted teeth. He seemed in disbelief still, or possibly angry that Kael got them banned from an entire country. Hard to say. it could be both reasons, actually.

“Don’t thank me. It was Descre who got the information. He’s just outside the door.” Yarro didn’t even notice when the concubine had left. Emperor Sopros waved his hand and ignored them from that point on. The conversation had clearly ended and his attention was elsewhere.

“Great fucking job, Kael. You offended the Emperor and now we got kicked out of the entire damn country.” Yarro whispered rather loudly to him.

“Or, he really was trying to get us killed and is upset we survived,” Kael whispered back just as loudly

“Quiet, both of you,” Lord Chancellor Quince said and shoved Kael once more to keep him moving. Outside the door, Descre casually leaned on a pillar. “Greetings, sir. You have the address for the missing Listhuanian child?”

“Indeed. She’s actually in the shed behind the Listhuanian Embassy. I trust you know where that is?” Ambassador Miguel and the Lord Chancellor nodded. Dsecre nodded in return, then suddenly leaned in. “Good. And between us, Sopros would have never made an agreement with your King out of pride. But the man made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. And as his second, I’m the one who has to make the hard choices to ensure our country lives on. I knew you would survive, and I’m glad you did, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

Kael gasped and tried to lunge at Descre in rage. Yarro jumped and had to hold him back, and with the help of Lord Chancellor Quince, they were able to drag him back down the steps and away from the palace. Ambassador Miguel bowed deeply to Descre. “Thank you for telling us.”

Once they were all far enough away from them, Kael let out a frustrated yell. Yarro let go of the man as he kicked up some dirt and huge chunks of rocks went flying out a few yards. “Does he think we’re imbeciles? The nerve of that man!”

Kael stomped around some more, silently fuming and kicked up more dirt and rocks back and forth. Yarro wasn’t used to his level of power from him. It kind of scared him, but he only had to remind himself he was probably much more powerful than Kael and could easily restrain him should it come to that. He took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. “But what could King Wen possibly offer that they couldn’t deny?”

“There is nothing he can offer, because he has no authority to enact it,” Ambassador Miguel said. His face looked like he had just eaten something sour.

“Whatever it is, Queen Illa would never allow a deal like this in the first place. She hates the Obrarians too much and any deal would have to be well hidden to not reach her ears,” Lord Chancellor added. “I will have to notify her of this at once.”

“Then there are definitely others close to her involved in this plot. The Lord Treasurer looked quite suspicious in the last meeting me and Kael had with the council.” Yarro sighed and glanced back in the direction Descre left. “It seems even in a land blessed by the Deities, corruption is still rampant. I will have to deal with him after the King, I suppose.”

“You have no right. This isn’t your country. You cannot impose your will here against Emperor Sopros’ plaything,” Lord Chancellor Quince said.

Yarro looked at his left hand. A warmth blossomed in his palm, threatening to break free and turn into a full fledged flame. He could feel his own anger and passion coursing through his body, desperate to respond physically and burst into flames. He closed his hand and eyes and took a deep breath. The Deities did ask for corruption only in this country. And he wanted to fix Dawic. But he also wanted revenge for being a pawn of country politics. Revenge for Dawic. What to do, what to do?

The Ambassador looked to Yarro. The silence stretched eons. Perhaps a bit too long, before finally he spoke up. “You have a lot of work to get through, if that’s the path you choose.”

Yarro shook his head. He didn’t choose this path. The safety of his own town should come first before any foreign affairs. His eyes trained on Kael. The man was finally beginning to wind down. Still methodically hurling rocks with his bare hands. “My home is in Listhua.”

“Right. Well, I'm afraid must swiftly depart and let Queen Illa know of the situation here. I’m told there is an urgent situation developing in Rylin so I urge you and Kael to return as quickly as you can once you’ve retrieved Seila. You must leave immediately. Ambassador Miguel, I leave such affairs to you.” They both nodded at each other and the Lord Chancellor left in a rush.

Yarro stepped beside Kael and placed a hand on his shoulder. One calming look and the man was able to drop the rage in a huff.

Kael turned his head away. “He disrespects you.”

“I know.”

“It is unholy.”

“I know.”

“And why do you disrespect yourself? Are you not mad?” Kael swiped Yarro’s hand off his shoulder.

“I am mad. It’s keeping all of my energy to not burst into flames right this moment. But I know it isn’t worth it. So thank you for caring about me. But first, Seila.”

Kael closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths to calm himself. “Right, Seila. Where is the embassy?”

“Follow me,” Ambassador Miguel said.