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The Ascian Emet-Selch was no stranger to attempts on his life. Some of them had even succeeded in the past. Not that it mattered. He would simply take another, less damaged body and return, no worse for wear. Of course, if there were too many witnesses, that would be inconvenient to his plans. Having someone watch him die and then walk back into the same room with his own dead body on the floor was a good power play, but only when he didn’t have an identity he needed to maintain.
And unfortunately for everyone in the room with him that day, he very much wanted to maintain his identity as Solus zos Galvus, Emperor of Garlemald.
There were corpses strewn all across the floor of the throne room. His clothes were a bloody mess. He lowered his hand, the hand shifting from with gray skin and golden claws to a typical human one again, though now sans one glove. His eyes lost their glow, and the spectral shadowy limbs, like monstrous wings, faded away behind him.
Such fools. Why did they all have to come at him at once? Now there would be so much more to clean up and dispose of. And people would certainly ask questions about the deaths of some of these folk. If only he knew how to erase memories, such bloodshed would be unnecessary. But such magicks were always considered distasteful and highly regulated back in the Unsundered world, especially after an incident that made the news involving a familiar in Elpis that had wiped a several days of memory from everyone for several malms over and created such a huge amount of headaches and paperwork for all that the practice was banned. Good riddance, had been his response. If it made him a monster to kill rather than know the forbidden art of memory manipulation, then a monster he would be. He was several thousand years past caring. The dead could keep their secrets.
But there was one soul still alive in the room. One soul that should not have been there. But one he chose to preserve all the same. Up in the rafters, in a spot no other guards knew how to access, she lurked in the shadows, rifle loaded and trained on him.
Calpurnia yae Galvus, his wife of over 20 years.
“I know you’re there, Calpurnia,” he said, not turning to look at where he knew she perched. “Thank you for your assistance and protection this evening. You did a splendid job taking quite a few of my would-be assassins out. Unfortunately, there were simply too many for you to handle alone, and it would appear that my personal guards were in on this plot. Pity.”
The hall was silent.
“Now please come down from there, would you? We have much to discuss.”
Still no answer came.
“Cali…” he called in a teasing voice that clashed against the tension in the room. “Don’t be difficult, now.” He opened a black portal in front of himself and stepped into it, only for the other portal to appear right next to her on her sniper perch as she was pulled through the portal with a shriek. Solus quickly let go of her once she was safely on the ground level with him, as she tried to kick and elbow her way free of his grasp, and he was in no mood to fight.
She quickly righted herself and pointed her rifle at him. It was not her usual calm shooting pose though. She trembled in a way he hadn’t seen the veteran gunner do in all their time in the Garlean military together. Her already pale skin was blanched even lighter, white fingers gripping her favorite prized rifle, the one he’d gifted her himself, like her life depended on it. It was not made for close quarters shooting, but it was all she had on her. She was never one for gunblades, but the bayonet on the end still gave him pause. Being stabbed would be painful and annoying after an already tiring day.
“You. Who are you? What are you?” she asked in a low voice.
“Would you put that thing down? We both know it won’t be of any use here.” There was an edge of danger the way his voice lowered at the end of his statement.
“Answer me first,” The Empress replied. “You are not my husband. Who are you? A voidsent?”
He sighed. “Is that what you think this is? I can assure you, for better or worse, that I am indeed Solus zos Galvus.”
“You lie!” she growled, malice growing in her voice and eyes to match the fear already present. “Where is my husband?! Mark me, demon, whatever you have done to him, I will hunt you down and have done to you a thousand times over!”
His face softened a touch, and he closed his eyes. For a moment, he looked sad. When he opened his eyes again, he said, “I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed to admit, I was caught off guard today. I never intended for you to see this.”
“ANSWER ME!!” she screamed.
He was silent for a moment. “Do you remember the time you took me out to the lake to see the northern lights? As the lights danced across the sky and reflected off the water, I asked you what your dream was. Do you remember what you answered?”
“Stop…” she said, her voice and her aim wavering.
“You told me you dreamed of a world where you could travel without fear. A world that didn’t see the Garlean people as defenseless targets just waiting to be robbed, or worse.”
“Stop it…!” Her face twisted in pain with the truth of his words.
“Have I not done everything in power to make your dream come true, Calpurnia? All of Ilsabard is ours now. The lands that once belonged to our people before being forced north into this frigid corner belong to us once more. I showed you it all. Othard is next.”
“What are you playing at?” she asked, angry tears building in her eyes. “Are you claiming to be some sort of demon come to grant my wishes? I recall making no such pact.”
“No. I am no voidsent.” The space around them grew darker for a moment as flashes of shadows and claws and glowing eyes flickered across his form, as his voice shifted into something that sounded less human. “I am something far older and far greater than that.”
Calpurnia’s blue eyes darted around his form as she processed this information, like she was looking for the parts of him that had disappeared. “Then what are you?”
“There are no words in this language for what I am,” he answered, his voice echoing in unnatural ways around her. “Even if I were to give you an answer, the word would mean nothing to you.”
“What do you want from us? From me?” she asked, her anger giving way to fear once more as tears rolled down her face.
“What I want is far beyond your ken to understand.” The shadows faded once more and his voice returned to normal. “But what I want from you, you have already granted. In exchange, I wished to give you as happy and comfortable of a life as this world is capable of providing. That is all. I have no intention of harming you. So would you please lower your weapon?”
Calpurnia did as asked this time, before slowly sinking to her knees, her eyes wide and unfocused. “I suppose you’re right,” she said in a quiet voice. “You could have killed me just like I saw you do to them anytime you wished. There would be nothing I could do to stop you. But if I know the truth now, then why spare me?”
“Because I don’t believe you are a threat. I will kill you if I must should you become too much of a hiderance, but I see no reason to do so. And it makes a terrible mess, as you can see.”
An unsettling smile crossed her face. “Ha. Haha! I understand. I always knew you were ruthless. I just didn’t know the half of it. Then humor me one last thing. Why did you choose me?”
“Because you reminded me of someone I knew once, long ago. Call it a flight of fancy.”
“Then…was all of this just…?”
“A lie?” he finished for her. “Perhaps in part. Deceive you though I did, it was not out of malice. After all these years, is it truly so hard to believe I care about you and our children? Now, I have work to be done. We’ll talk more later. For now, sleep.”
“What? Sleep at a time like this? Are you m—”
He snapped his fingers. The pupils in her wide eyes constricted before they went unfocused and she slumped forward, unconscious. He picked her up and set her down behind him on the throne, then turned his attention back to the corpses and sighed. “And now what to do with all of this? What a terrible day this has turned into.”