Emperor Kilthane Rychart called Commander Liam Donal before him. In his hand, he held a scroll from the Imperial Prosecutor. The seal was broken and the parchment was gripped tightly in a fist that was nearly white. The Emperor’s eyes flashed fire. Liam Donal had never seen that look in his Emperor’s eyes, but he could guess at its meaning.
“You summoned me, Your Majesty?” He bowed low.
“Yes, Liam. I need you to do me a favor.” His voice was low and hard, as if he was struggling to keep it firmly in check.
“You have but to command, Your Majesty, and if it is within my power, it shall be done.” Liam fervently hoped that whatever he was about to be ordered to do was within his power. And that he could comply with the order with the minimum loss of life.
Liam was a lifelong soldier. In his time he had found there were two schools of thought about a soldier’s duty. Some held it was a soldier’s duty to die for his Empire or Kingdom. Others believed that it was a soldier’s duty to live for it. He was firmly in the latter camp. If ordered, he would send men to kill and men to die. But he preferred to rely on the threat of force, rather than its application. He had a strong sense that his preferences were to be damned in this instance.
“I have been informed,” the Emperor replied, “that the vicious attack on me and my family was orchestrated by the desert folk. I want you to find out who did it and why. I want answers. And I don’t care what you have to do to get them.”
Liam nodded. “Very well, sir. I will order the local constabulary here in Maruth to round up the desert people for questioning. I’ll have them interviewed under Oath here at the palace.”
“Under Oath?” the Emperor scoffed. “Liam, the magicians who administer the Oath are desert men themselves!”
“I am aware of this, Your Majesty. Certainly you’re not suggesting that they might be derelict in their duty—“
“I am suggesting,” the Emperor spat, cutting him off, “that the desert people hold more to their own kind than in their loyalty to the Empire. They have no need to pay heed to us, because their kind are autonomous from the Empire. No, Commander Donal. I believe there is more to this than the actions of one desert man. I will not trust in the interrogations of their own kind. No, I think something else is in order.”
“And what would that be, Your Majesty?” Liam asked.
“Send them to my cousin, Laris, on his
“Very well, Your Majesty,” Liam said. He wasn’t sure about the legal niceties, but it wasn’t his job to be concerned with those. He had an order from his Emperor and he would carry it out. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes, Liam, there is. Once you’ve finished rounding up the desert men in the 11 kingdoms that make up the Empire, I think it’s time we expanded a bit. We need to finish what my ancestors started. I want you to take the army and your griffins and invade Yometh Robak and Kolam Robak.”
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