Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

I would be a fool if I did not yet understand the insinuation of my brother, despite his slightly frantic state.

The eastern princess had been indeed sending my brother, and her fiancée, subtle hints that become fairly obvious once you administer a bit more sharp eyed scrutiny and then fill in some of the blank spots with the relevant information.

For then it becomes fairly obvious that the eastern princess was speaking in metaphor. Wherein the usage of the word Monkshood, or Wolfsbane; a plant famed for it’s capacity to bring down the most wild of wolves and her efforts in supposedly aiding her father in the planting of them in the imperial gardens, was mostly likely to have been in fact referencing her helping her father in raising new cohorts of loyalist courtiers within the Silver Court against the ravenous ’wolves’ who’ve finally barred their fangs without shame at their former masters.

I can feel it in their eyes that never leave my side.

This most cryptic of lines in her second to last letter, the one that sparked this whole series of events till this very moment in time, now made perfect sense.

She was under surveillance, and could no longer even trust the servants around her.

But the most disconcerting thing remained the realization that Ziyi, the most precious princess of the east and fiancée to none other than my own brother, the first prince of the Eclipse Empire, was forced to write increasingly cold and dispassionate missives, with scattered and sparse encrypted letters in between, all in the hope of possibly having her betrothed notice her current crisis without her enemies getting wise to her efforts.

Which could again mean only one thing; blood was being spilt in every corner of the once pristine Silver Court, and those still loyal to the imperial family were the ones currently shedding the most blood.

And this caused another mystery I’d been wrestling with for the past few months, which was Tianlan’s absurd war strategies he’d been enacting, to suddenly grow clear in my mind.

’If he even lost control of his own ancestral home, then what manner of rat den has become of the rest of his empire? No wonder he’d sent his own Moon Touched Legion against the paltry forces of Kusuri and Ulgan. They were probably the last of his armies that he has complete faith in, and whose fealty he did not have to constantly fret over. Which is also why he denied proper aid to Jeong. He had no more forces he could reliably count on to not be acting for the interests of his foes!’ My thoughts continued to spiral, until another memory returned to me.

’Wait! The one hundred thousand mercenaries Maximillian told me about! They remain within the Yue Dynasty. Scattered yet poised for action. If they were truly the private army of his opposition, then why do they remain silent even now? Could Tianlan have done something to prevent their usage? Or maybe they are waiting for something? But what? And if so, then who’s hand is it that still holds their leash? Who could be the hidden master of such a large, divided, supposedly unruly and expensive army? The crafty minister of the right? The radical minister of the left? One of the three tenth rank masters of the east? Or another force entirely? Maybe the ones who were behind the recent resurgence of the Essence of Achlys? Anything is possible with so little information currently in our hands! I must...’

"I’m such an idiot!" My brother shouted then, yanking me from my thoughts. "I should’ve thought something was wrong back then, but I just glossed over it, because I thought she was just taking up a new hobby to distract herself from the current ills of her nation. How much did it hurt her when she read my next letter, encouraging her to continue her new hobby! I must’ve looked to her like a complete imbecile!"

"Calm yourself for a moment brother..." I began to speak, wanting to ease the mind and heart of my brother, who looked ready to explode any minute now, but it seemed my words were all but mute to him then.

"Brother something must have happened! Recently as well! Or why else would she feel compelled to write that the wolfsbane she and her father had been planting recently had been withering! You must have the Shade Corps investigate...this matter...?" He stopped his desperate ramblings, noticing the peculiarity of our expressions.

For Eve, Isaac and I all looked to one another then, remembering what we had been discussing just moments before his arrival. For he was absolutely right. The wilted wolfsbane she mentioned in her letter, they were undoubtedly the ten servants who’d been exiled for dereliction of duty. The same ones the Shade Corps can no longer find.

Dead. We were slightly apprehensive of fully adopting this theory before we do more to fully grasp the truth of the matter, but now we were certain. And these fallen ten, among them the Head Maid of the Silver Court, were undoubtedly part of the emperor’s losing faction within the Silver Court of the east.

’His enemies are already able to make the Head Maid of the Silver court disappear? A woman with such an elevated position of honour and power that even kings and lords of mighty realms would not easily dare to slight her. This is undoubtedly a true disaster.’

"Brother what?!" Nizam asked loudly, prompting us to quickly reveal to him the news as well. And when we finished, his face became as pale as milk.

"Brother we must act!" Nizam wailed, his emerald eyes burning with a desperation I had hoped not to see once more in this lifetime.

"And so we will." I proclaimed, rising from my seat, as Eve agilely slipped from my lap and appeared next to her wardrobe, already pulling a more suitable attire for the long night ahead.

"I will gather the council my liege." Isaac said, before he vanished from the room.

"Nizam you will join us as well... And clean yourself up." I said.

"Yes!"

***

My order brought pandemonium into the silent palace. Once peacefully asleep ministers were now rushing shabby haired and bleary eyed into the Council Chamber. The mumbling echoes of their curses and woeful lamentations trailing behind them like disgruntled and weary shadows.

All of them were like this, bar a mere two. Darius and Valdour.

"Excellent work my young prince." Darius proclaimed as soon as he entered and took his seat beside him, patting his shoulder as he did with well deserved appreciation.

Nizam did not answer. Ordinarily he would’ve been over the moon at such words, but his mind could not allow him the brief respite to even enjoy it. He was beyond anxious at the moment, his mind already rushing through the desert dunes, and into the eastern lands.

I entered then, just as they finished briefing everyone of the situation at hand, with my Eve to my side, as they all rose in greeting, before I then sat with her at the head of the table, looking particularly grim-faced this evening.

"Brother. Time is of the essence. We must intervene" Nizam immediately said, throwing all decorum to the wind. Yet none bothered to correct him.

I raised my hand in a calming gesture, before I looked to my most astute advisor. "Darius."

"I concur with his highness, my liege." He immediately replied. "The known is forever the better of the unknown. Regardless of all else, even his highness’ betrothal to their royal house, The Yue Dynasty and it’s rulers have been our neighbours for millennia. We know their habits, their strengths, their weaknesses. Their virtues and their vices. Everything. But this new entity is a complete mystery to us for now. We know not their objectives. Their limits. Not even their leaders. They could become our greatest allies or most bitter enemies, but in my age I’ve come to know better than to take such a gamble when we are so blind."

The rest of the council immediately concurred, agreeing wholeheartedly with the Grand Vizier.

"We’ve come to a consensus." I nodded, silencing them. "But now the question remains. How do we act?"

The first to speak were the three aides left behind by Hamilcar to see to his duties in his place. "My emperor, much of our military is already southbound, so a change of plans now might be ill-advised."

"Rest assured gentlemen, I have little thought of demolishing months worth of effort for the eastern empire." I said to them, as they exhaled in relief.

They had worked undeniably hard for the newest southern campaign after all.

"Sire, I believe a more subtle approach is the wisest choice this time." Darius then interjected. "We can lend the Shade Corps’ power to the eastern emperor. After all, his primary war at the moment does not seem one that would benefit more from anything else."

"How many operatives do we have within the Yue Dynasty’s borders Commander?" I half turned to Isaac, who was standing a step behind me.

"One thousand thirty three, my liege. With many more informants as well." He replied.

A considerable force. One that could even sway the mire currently bogging them down. But I would not offer them all, as that would leave us utterly blind to the other happenings in that newest theatre of the world.

’Two hundred should do.’ I had just thought, when Nizam spoke up.

"Brother, I want to take part in this as well."

"Absolutely not." I instantly replied, knowing what he meant by taking part in it.

"But brother..."

"No Nizam, and that is final. You can trust the Shade Corps will handle it to the best of their considerable abilities." I declared with finality, yet for the first time, he did not heed my command.

"Brother, please allow me this!" He pleaded, rising from his seat.

I stared at him for a second. "Tell me brother, what do you know of espionage? Of infiltration? What do you know of the east beyond the contents of your books?"

"...Nothing." He muttered, lowering his head.

"Exactly, so..." I began smiling, happy that he saw reason, when another voice cut through mine.

"I will go with him." My Eve said.

"What?!" I roared out, my tone one of complete incomprehension. Yet all I needed was but a look into her eyes, even when covered, and I understood it all.

Part of it was her appreciation and fondness for the little princess she met in the Banquet. A collectors greed for her unripened talent. But the majority of it was her belief that it is Nizam’s right to make certain his beloved is well when such danger was a foot.

After all, she and I would move heaven and earth for each other, so why deny him the same.

"Leave us." I commanded, with a voice as though plunged in arctic water. And they all scampered out without a whisper of complaint.

"Why do you disagree?" She asked, turning to face me.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I replied incredulously.

"This is not the same." She said.

"How is it not?!" And I yelled, my eyes flaring unintentionally with onyx fire threaded with silver.

There was a moment of silence then, before she simply asked. "Do you trust me?"

"...Of course I do." I replied.

"...This is the first time you’ve lied to me in... I can’t even remember how long." She said, her tone suddenly frost bitten.

She’s hurt. I hurt her. I know I did. I wounded her pride. And admitted to her something I hoped to never reveal. Yet rage. Rage was bubbling through me now like little before.

Words. Angry, hateful, barbed words were constantly appearing in my mind.

’How could you blame me for this?! What has trusting you before wrought me?! A life of misery and heartache?! Of pain and madness?! Of unendurable loneliness and hate?! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate for everything that was not you! Hate for everything that took you and everything I ever cherished away from me! Hate for every smile and laugh and passing moment of joy in a world where you were rendered to a lifeless corpse for the worms to feast on?! Is that what you blame me for?!’

I had to bite my tongue to not allow them passage, or else I feared they fly out of me without my consent, but then I felt her palms on either side of my face, forcing me to meet her unseeing eyes.

"Speak to me. Let me in." She spoke softly, yet firmly. Commanding rather than asking, yet silence was all my tongue seemed capable of now. But it didn’t matter, for words were never a necessity between us anyway.

"When did you become so broken my love?"