I will never forget the screams. Thousands died that day and yet...we won. It must all have been to some purpose. Still I would rather be back on that battlefield; at least there...I knew who my enemies were. In this hall, of gilded marble and silken tapestries, stands the might of the empire, hundreds of Dukes, Counts, and Barons. All of them reveling in the end of the Civil War and the ascension of Kalein. Kalein the Fourth Emperor of Valdia, Grand-Duke of Casten, Master of the Northern Marches. He sits on the Ivory Throne, his face split into an arrogant grin, his blonde hair tied back, and the Ivory Crown upon his brow. His red robe of state wrapped around his broad shoulders. After five years and the deaths of all his brothers, he had won.
I am Gaston, Grand-Duke of Galorian; friend and ally to the Emperor. The smell of red wine fills the hall, and yet I do not partake. All the red in the room reminds me too much of blood.
"Your Grace?" I turn. Kalein's fat chancellor stands before me, an uncertain look upon his face, his rich robes crumpling as he rubs his hands nervously against them, and his bald head sweating profusely. "Your Grace, forgive me. The emperor, long may he rule;" his hands rub faster and faster against the sides of his rich red robes, irritating me more and more "Requests that you join him tomorrow for breakfast so you may discuss the needs of the Empire." I nod
"Please inform the emperor I will be happy to join him." He bobs his head, and bows. I turn away, disgusted by the man's servile attitude. He always was a slippery one. I leave the hall, past the drunken nobles, and countless servants plying them with wine. The breakfast tomorrow is all the excuse I need to leave. I walk past the heavy golden doors; such an obscene display of wealth. I travel through halls covered in riches, past overdressed fools who had never in their life been near a battlefield. Finally, I reached empty halls where my chambers lay. Guards, dressed in the black and red of my house stood outside the door. I walked into my chambers. The dining hall, sheathed in marble, where two of my guards stood on duty. through the dining hall I marched. I reached my chambers. Upon the marble floor rested a tiger skin. The walls held dozens of weapons prominently on display. I shed my robes, placed my sword at the side of my bed, and then fell into sleep.
A loud crash awakened me. Blood pulled at the foot of my bed, my loyal guards dead. I rolled, slamming into the floor as a blade whistled through the air above my head. I grabbed my sword, the metal cold against my hands. The assassin moved towards me, a lithe tiger waiting to strike. Twin daggers held easily in his hands. He slashed at my eyes, and I barely got my sword raised. I blocked and parried as he continued to charge me, the metal of my sword grating against his blades, my hands slick with sweat. Where were my other guards?
I was tiring, but so was the assassin. He came in with both blades, aimed at my head; I made an all or nothing lunge, and pierced him through the heart. I slid him off my sword, and turned towards the door to my dining hall. I opened the door and entered a charnel house. The smell of blood assaulted me. The walls covered in blood, my guards and servants, and black robed assassins dead on the floor. Through the window, I saw the blood red sun rising. I ran out of my chambers. I had to reach Kalein. As I left my chambers and entered the hall, I saw bodies littering the floor, blood pooling everywhere. I rushed through halls bedecked in gold, ivory, and blood; racing towards the Emperor's chambers.
As I reached his chambers, I saw the Imperial Guards outside in numbers. They bowed, and waved me in. Kalein sat at a table prepared for breakfast. His robes of state thrown lazily across his shoulders; the Ivory Crown upon his brow. The chancellor stood at his elbow.
"Gaston!;" A grin split his face "I told this fool of a chancellor that the troubles of the night would not delay you! I hope that idiotic assassin wasn't too much trouble. Sit down, sit down." He waved me into an empty chair. I stood there; my face blank of all emotion, my sword hand going numb. Kalein laughed as a cool morning breeze blew in through the window. "You will be glad to know, that we no longer have to deal with any of those fools who supported me with empty promises and false loyalty. The wine was exceptionally good last night, no?" His grin turned sadistic. "Of course there were others, like you, who did not partake;" He closed his eyes and nodded "Thus other methods had to be employed. But you are not sitting? Sit down, my friend;" He leaned back in his chair "Come break your fast with me."
I moved as in a daze and sat in the chair across from Kalein, the hard wood uncomfortable beneath me. He was eating his food with a savage pleasure. I sat woodenly and unmoving. How could he have done this? Why had he done this?
"Gaston, we have much to do. I have already ordered the army out to ensure there are no unnecessary overreactions to the events of the night." He bit into an apple, the juice sliding down his face.
I stared at him. My voice breaking "Why Kalein?"
He stopped eating, wiping his hand lazily across his face. He leans back further in his chair, that arrogant grin returning to his face. "Why, Gaston? It's simple. I was my father's heir, and yet that did not stop my;" His face twisted in disgust "Dear brothers from challenging me." His eyes burned with a violent rage. "They were all scheming, traitorous fools. Half the nobles of the kingdom supported them, and the others stood on the sides doing nothing!" He shot to his feet toppling his chair and chancellor at the same time. "Why!? Because all of them were traitors! There was not a one of them I could trust!" He began pacing the length of the table, his arms flailing as he spoke. "Why?! Because I am the Ivory Emperor and I have passed judgement!"
He stopped in front of me. His arrogant grin returning yet again. "You are the only one I trust. But I had to know you were capable of surviving anything. I do apologize for the disruption of your sleep but it was necessary. I had to know that you could survive anything Besides;" He tossed his head grinning companionably at me. "I knew they wouldn't give you much trouble." He held out his hand. "Come old friend, let us rebuild the empire." His eyes shone with an intense light.
My sword was still in my hand; its grip slick with sweat. I looked into Kalein's eyes and smiled, as tears rolled down my face. "Goodbye, Kalein." My sword rose and Kalein's arms rose, trying to block me. He was not quick enough. My sword pierced His eyes looked at me with betrayal and sorrow, his hands clutching uselessly at the sword. The guards stood, disbelief writ large upon their faces. One moved. Kalein fell, taking my sword with him.
I felt the guard's spear pierce my back, and grunted. Blood flowed down my back, as I saw Kalein fall, his eyes losing their intense light. Another spear joined the first. I slumped against the table, oversetting a wine jug. It spread across the floor, mingling with the blood. My sight dimmed, I could not tell what was wine, and what was blood. I heard the screams, I felt the rush of battle. I saw the faces of the dead; Kalein's brothers foremost amongst them. They welcomed me.
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