9 Negotiations

"Empress, I've brought him," announced Irox behind an intricately adorned door. I was slightly taken aback by this statement, I thought I was going to be discussing formalities with him, but instead, it was with the Empress?

So this was a matriarchal society, one where the female possessed more power than the male. That meant that Asthia was directly in line to become the Empress of Lares? Unless she had siblings, but I never remembered her mentioning any. The reality of whom I had become close friends with was slowly setting in, and so was my situation.

"Let him in," she said, her voice almost seemed to be directly connected to my head as I was able to pick up every vowel and consonant from her sentence, her speech impeccable. Irox looked at me, urging me to enter.

I opened the door delicately, afraid the golden lines traced within the white door might fall off at any moment.

I entered a massive living room with couches spread all around for a variety of guests, tables meticulously placed to accommodate all the available seats. The color of white and red dominated the scene, but not enough to overpower the room. It truly was just a beautiful room.

Up ahead was a figure with similar robes to Irox. They were standing on the massive balcony that was connected to the room through an open circular arch, overlooking the setting sun. Glistening long white hair shone from the rays, the color exactly the same as Asthia's hair. A slightly larger 'crown' was sitting around the top of their head, clearly more significant than the one Irox had.

The Empress turned to face me, her cyan blue eyes looking at me elegantly. How did Asthia end up with red eyes? None of her parents had that kind of vibrant ruby red, maybe it was unique to her.

"Welcome, Jay, I am Selena, Empress of Lares, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said calmly.

"Thank you," I answered. I could tell this conversation was going to determine many outcomes in the future, and we were both trying to gain an upper hand in the vocal battle about to commence. This woman was everything but dumb, she knew exactly what to say, and how to say it.

There was no need for small talk, no need for a fake warmth between the two of us. We both immediately saw that the person standing in front of us was more than met the eye. I was slightly surprised that she didn't even flinch at the age of the person in front of her, did she know anything about me?

"I thank you for saving Asthia, we were all very worried," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"It's fine, but I believe somebody within your kingdom was responsible," I answered truthfully, there was no need to soften any type of information. Selena merely crossed her arms pensively.

"As do I, but I'm not sure what can be done about it. For now, we will pretend we know nothing, and maybe the culprit will involuntarily show themselves."

"And what will you do about Asthia?" I asked, conflicted about the situation at hand, and how easily it could be reproduced.

"We will assign her a knight, and she will undergo a ceremony where she will create a link between herself and the individual, this will guarantee her safety at all times," explained Selena, calmly.

I didn't know about their practices here, but the thought of a personal knight was more than satisfactory for me. As long as he was a respectably powerful fighter, she would have nothing to worry about.

"As for you, Jay Cadmium, I would like to offer my thanks in a more profound way. You did save my daughter after all," she said, a small smile appearing on her face which seemed to illuminate her entire figure.

I didn't know how to answer her, so I just stayed there, eyes locked on the empress. She realized I was stuck and quickly explained what I was unsure of.

"You are more than welcome here as a guest of honor. It may be difficult for a lot of our kind to adapt to the presence of humans, but it's about time we move on from past conflicts. There is also much I would like to discuss with you."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," I responded earnestly.

"Is there anything you want on top of that?" she asked, offering an additional reward.

Most people are quick to refuse offers such as these, but the most effective choice would be to take advantage of them. I thought about it, what did I currently want in Auroria? I smiled as the answer came to me within seconds.

"I want to become a binder," I answered.

Selena smiled, almost like she was awaiting that answer. She could've easily sensed that I had awakened considering her overwhelming power that was sipping through her body. I had no idea about any of her attunements, she was on another level, and rightfully so considering she was the Empress of an entire nation.

"Very well. As thanks for saving my daughter, I will teach you myself."

Even with mental preparation and awareness, her statement still shocked me. I could tell there was an ulterior motive to this whole thing, but I would capitalize on this. I didn't know how powerful Selena was compared to other rulers and emperors, but considering I was already pretty close with Asthia, I didn't expect her mother to be much different.

I mean, I was already dealing with two scary women in my life, what would one extra one do?