The room was lavishly decorated, with glamorous paintings, exotic carpets, ostentatious embroideries, and shiny chandeliers.

Against the far wall, a woman sat behind a desk. Bregg instantly recognized her.

The five priests left through the same door they had come in. They closed it behind them, leaving him alone with the High Noort.

He glanced around, examining the decor.

“It’s a bit much, I know.”

Bregg turned toward the desk. The woman was now looking straight at him, her expression as stern as it had seemed during the meeting.

“I would have preferred something more solemn,” she continued, “but my predecessors were conceited fools who loved to flaunt their wealth.”

“You deposed the previous Noort.”

The words had come unbidden. He grunted at his stupidity, but the harm was done. So he waited to see her reaction.

The woman tilted her head, studying him thoughtfully.

“Yes,” she finally admitted. “I did. He had outlived his purpose. Just like his entire line had outlived its purpose. They had lost the way. They had forgotten the teachings of Saan. Were we to endure decades more of wrongdoings?”

Under different circumstances, he might have argued that by her actions she had committed much worse grievances, but he needed her. It would not have been wise to antagonize her.

Ihni Salini rose from her chair and walked slowly toward him, all the while waving around her.

“They displayed their ineptitude for all to see. It was sickening. All this will be taken down.” She stopped in front of him. “But I’m guessing you have no interest in such matters... Do you, Colonel?”

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“You know what I am offering, and I am here. I can only assume you are interested.”

“Not necessarily.” She walked past him and stopped at a small table with bottles and glasses. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Suit yourself.” She poured herself a drink, then walked over to a chair and gestured to another across from hers. “Please, have a seat.”

He walked over and sat after she did.

“What do you mean by ‘not necessarily’?” he asked.

She took a sip from her drink.

“Tell me, Colonel, what is it that you want in exchange for this information?”

“I want to see the Imperium crushed.”

She quirked a brow. “Is that all?”

“The information I would provide would allow you to destroy it. I have access to all of the army’s secret data, the locations of its military bases, the weak spots in its defenses, the—”

“I have a problem, Colonel.”

He paused, a frown on his face.

“A problem?”

“Why would I trust any information you provided?”

He had expected this. It would have surprised him had she not asked.

Whether she believed him or not was another matter.

“I am a man of my word,” he stated proudly. “I’ve been wronged by the Emperor and thus seek revenge. I am no spy. It would be folly for me to try anything against you. I have come alone and unarmed. My fleet is destroyed. I am completely at your mercy. All I want is for the Emperor to pay what he did to me.”

“And for that, you would have the entire Imperium destroyed?”

“They destroyed me!” he spat out. “Why would I not destroy them?”

The woman sighed as she made the liquid roll gently in her glass.

“In other words,” she said, “you are asking me to trust a man who would betray his own people.”

He jumped to his feet, fists clenched.

“I am not betraying my people. The Imperium betrayed me.”

She stared at him, without a word, until he got a hold of himself and sat back down.

“If what you say is true,” she said, “I must hear more to decide.”

“More?”

She nodded. “Tell me this, Colonel: why do you feel like the Imperium betrayed you?”

Bregg stared at the High Noort.

This was a question he had not expected.

He could lie to her, of course, but he suspected she would sense it. Besides, he had never been a good liar.

Bregg looked away and stared at a window. Through it, he could see the city and mountains in the distance. It was a peaceful view, though his mind was anything but.

The woman waited quietly.

After a moment, he turned to look at her again.

And he told her his story.