Chapter twenty

With a pounding headache Empress Cassiopeia was ready for the fifth and finally last wedding.

The last one was the most dreaded for her. She feared the groom as much as the reaction of the other nobles. Although most knew already, she had no time to test the waters in high society. Uncle for her, being a lady came second to her duties as sole ruler of the Empire.

Her brother walked her to the altar, the groom gave her his mohar, they performed the ritual and paraded through the capital city.

His mohar was a shiny golden necklace. He stated that the pendant, a ruby, would be able to grant her new life, were she slain. She sighed, knowing that it was a gift many would frown upon and cast aside as a fake.

The fifth ring sat heavily on her finger. The obsidian embedded in it was a reminder of his raven eyes. The horns that came from his forehead were bent and did a loop, only to finish pointing to his back. They were covered in a black veil, as to not remark his inhuman nature.

Although his aura was intimidating, it resembled princess Reunah's. Soft and refreshing. Ethereal.

The people of the capital city did not recognise him as an outsider, not that they would recognise an half elf anyway.

The atmosphere at the final banquet was tense, and he was not the most skilled dancer, so he stepped on her feet a couple of times. She let it go, understandings the honest mistake. Lord Wolfgang's dances the day before had set unrealistic standards in the Empress' head.

The wedding night soon came. She had drank three calming teas by the time he knocked on her door.

She had a bad feeling about it. Her stomach clenched and she had to hold it so as not to vomit.

What was that overwhelming feeling that came over her?

She somehow regained her composure, aware of the man waiting behind the closed doors. He must have been reading her mind, because he did not knock any further.

Eyrynnhv Anástir was his name. She remembered.

"Come in."

She regretted her command the moment the man opened the door. An ominous aura descended upon the room, and her legs trembled. She was feeling that sensation from before a thousand times amplified. Were she not petrified, she would have collapsed to the ground. The Empress soon realised what she was feeling.

Terror. Pure, raw terror.

"Greetings, Your Imperial Highness." He said, carefully closing the door behind himself.

She just stared him with wide eyes. Had he always felt so dangerous?

Was that how she should react to danger? By standing still, hoping he doesn't see her?

The ethereal glow emanating from his figure made him look like a being of a different matter.

"Kill me." She stated.

"Your Highness?"

"That is why you're here, is it not?" Her voice trembled, and she had to steady herself for a moment, yet she did not stop talking, "kill me."

"I think I fail to comprehend Your reasoning."

"We are alone. You have the whole night before someone notices my corpse to escape with your people. That is why you're here."

She took his hand. His skin was burning, not like fire, but like ice. It was so piercing cold that it physically hurt her fingers to even touch it.

Bringing his fingers around her neck, she grimaced, "kill me now that I am allowing you, or regret it forever."

He hastily retracted his hand. "I have a dagger. I do not like murdering with my hands." She waited.

He unsheathed the blade and in a swift motion the cold metal was against her neck, barely scraping it.

"You said that You wish peace between our people."

"That, I do."

"How do You think You will achieve it?"

"I plan to murder your current sovereign and the first Prince. Princess Reunah will take their place, and with Her I will be able to reach a favourable accord for both parties."

"So treason."

"Yes."

"Do you trust our Princess?"

"Yes."

"Why do You fear me then?"

"You are not Princess Reunah."

"That is evident."

"Your aura, I can feel it ripping the flesh off my bones. I can feel your claws around my mind."

"You can feel my aura?"

"I can feel all the auras of beings that belong to mother nature."

"My aura has never changed."

"Then how do you explain this shift?"

"The Princess' aura must have sovrasted mine. She is the most powerful healer our world has ever welcomed, after all. Her aura exudes what her soul is made of."

"Then why is your soul so corrupted?" She asked.

"You are now Empress of the nation. That makes You the person in charge here, is that correct?" He ignored her question.

"It is correct, yes."

"Were we weaker, how would You have dealt with us?"

"I would have exterminated you."

"What about the children?"

"One by one would follow the same fate as the parents. Children could want to avenge the parents."

His grasp tightened on the dagger, pushing it slightly towards her neck. She did not flinch, not even when blood trickled down onto her lingerie.

"What is it that your heart desires the most?" He asked, staring at her eyes with a fury she had felt once before. Those were the same eyes her father made when she manifested the gift. The same eyes that secluded her into that far wing of the palace.

She did not tremble. The child that was sent away had long ago perished.

"Power. Wealth. Fame. Glory."

He lowered his dagger. "Why would You give up on Your life like this then?"

"I wanted to see where your loyalty lied. Were it in your sovereign, I would not be breathing right now."

"We are equal right now. My people and Your people. What will happen if the power dynamics shift?"

"Were you to be weaker, we would crush you."

"Were we to be stronger?"

"That is an option not contemplated.".

"How so?"

"I plan to include in the treaties a census."

"I know not that word."

"It is a list of people, half elves, in your case. Official records kept by the palace."

"How would that prevent us from getting stronger?"

"Population control. I plan to impose a fixed number of inhabitants of the sacred forest, so that your people cannot grow in number."

"That's-"

"The only way to ensure the safety of my nation."

"Princess Reunah would never accept such a condition. We would never accept such a condition."

"You will."

"We won't."

"It is not with a soldier that I should discuss politics."

"I am a follower of the Princess, and I also am her right hand and dearest consultant. That is not the position of a mere soldier."

"Not anymore."

"What?"

She elegantly pushed herself on her toes to get closer to his ear, and like the serpent in Eva's ears, she whispered her curse.

"You were sold to me, abandoned here. You are not hers anymore. You are mine as a token of appreciation for my friendship. You are not a subject of the sacred forest anymore. You are the consort of the Empress of Saol."

She gracefully let her fingers trail over his, before taking the dagger from his trembling hands.

"So be careful," she raised the weapon to his neck, "because if you don't strike, I will."

Writer's corner

I hope you enjoyed tonight's episode^^

Humbly begging for some ideas for developing the story and characters

instagram @/shrimps.peace