The Emperor's Black Swan

Ep 8: A Hopeful Emperor

Darilus’s POV

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“You’re telling me that the White Witch of Tollyria is in our garden?” says Liam, my other war general, the male version of Bifta.

“Goddess, is she as beautiful and scary as rumored, ‘an icy queen that will make your heart freeze’?”

I squint my eyes at the young human. “That doesn’t sound beautiful. Scary, yes.”

“I heard her other sister, Scarlett, is the most beautiful,” Bifta chimes in, “Dangerously beautiful. She can lure people to trade any information with her.”

“Yes,” Liam says again “But they say people will fall in love with Lyria more, the real princess of Tollyria, not the girls that Rob adopted. They say Lyria is the true heart of Tollyrians.”

“Nakia is the best spy among them,” Liam is on a roll, “She can infiltrate anything like a wraith. She is soundless, sightless, and very quick. And the best spy can scout for other spies. That’s why it is really hard to have eyes and ears in that kingdom.”

I lay out a map on my desk and start pinning down the location of Tollyria. My empire covers five kingdoms in the continent. We dominate the center and the southern region with a little territory on the east. Tollyria is in the far north. A great mountain separated our domains from a dangerous forest surrounding it. The only way to cross to Tollyria is to take a boat on the Lake of Oblivion to get to the rest of the mainland on the continent.

Tollyrians have crossed our border before, by using the forest route. And they rampaged our rural villages, so I had to evacuate civilians to the bigger cities. I would have dealt with them more, but I have been preoccupied with this demon. It does not help that I am turning into a maniac wolf every night now.

So, perhaps… if I can get the cure from this witch…

It is scary to hope. Especially when you have lived in nightmares for so long.

I want to protect myself from getting hurt yet again when this hope doesn’t work. I want to be as objective as possible.

But hope spreads like wildfire. It doesn’t care if you are trees, humans, or the wind. It doesn’t care if you are ready to receive the fire or not. Once hope has taken its root, I can’t stop it. And I realize it’s because I want to hope.

I hope to have this hope.

It is better than being stuck in a nightmare every night. If there is a way for me to fight back this curse, I will not hesitate. A hundred and twelve years is long enough.

And the hope seems to have grown into a sturdy oak tree. It is not going anywhere.

“I’m going to make this work,” I mutter, much to myself.

“Sorry?” Polar asks, “What is it you are going to do, Sire?”

I look at my lifelong friend. Aging spots have covered my butler’s temples, and the wrinkles on his forehead are not little. His green eyes look at me, stunned. I know it is because he has never seen me with hope in my eyes. In recent years, my eyes have been clouded, they are dimming, even though I am an elf emperor in my prime years.

Bifta answers Polar so I don’t have to, “This witch claims she can make an antidote to subdue the demon.”

“What?” Both Liam and Polar cry out in shock. Their bodies unconsciously lean forward.

“And she acted as though she has experience in handling demons,” Bifta continues, “That witch knew immediately that the wolf is a demon infesting in someone.”

“Does she know that the someone is our emperor?” Liam asks.

“No,” Bifta looks at me, she looks a bit worried, “At least not yet. After she tamed the wolf, she left the pond and said she was leaving. By sunrise, I quickly dragged our Emperor’s body to the castle through the secret passage.”

She looks at me again. Unsure if she should say the next piece. I nodded, giving her permission to continue.

“I came back to the garden just to make sure. Thought she was gone. But I found the garden west gate to be opened and… I saw the black swan again.”

Both Liam and Polar blink. Liam had this silly blank look, which means he doesn’t really follow what Bifta was saying. Polar, however, with taut eyebrows asked, “Are you saying… that the White Witch is one of the cursed people in the garden now? She is the new addition to the cursed folks?”

Bifta and I nod. Liam still has that silly look. Sometimes I wonder why I chose him to be my war general when he puts on that blank face in meetings.

“But… she transforms into her original form at sundown?” Polar is still asking questions. See? My old butler catches up faster than one of my war generals.

I nod again. Bifta follows.

“Did the other animals transform back to their human forms too?” my butler asks again. I secretly scold my war general for not being as quick in mind as my old butler.

Bifta and I shake our heads.

“Huh, that’s bizzare. For a hundred and twelve years we have never seen one of the cursed folks turning back to their original forms,” Polar says, “What is different this time?”

Bifta shrugs. “Perhaps it’s because she is not Aluthians. She is our enemy.”

“An enemy who knows how to tame demons,” Liam says.

Finally! He is catching up! I am so proud of him!

“Do Tollyrians generally deal with demons?” Polar asks another question. An important one.

“That’s what I want to know,” I say, “We used to have intense contacts with Tollyria when we took down the previous emperor. Because of their help, we don’t coerce them to our territory and we keep our trade and good relation. In decades following that, our relationship dwindled but we still maintain trade routes and student exchanges.”

“However, five years ago, Tollyria shut its border. Our relationship ended when they attacked two of our rural villages and two other small kingdoms, there is no way we will still have a relationship with that country.”

My subjects’ faces darkened. “Bastards,” Liam curses. Oh, he is quick to curse.

“Are you saying,” Bifta touches her chin, which means he is threading on a logic, “That in that five years, there’s a possibility that Tollyria has been playing with demons?”

I look at her. If Liam has the brawns, Bifta always has the brains.

“That will explain their drastic change in the recent five years,” Polar continues that logic.

But it is Liam who finally ties the first knot. “A few people in those villages Tollyria destroyed, saw dark creatures. They heard unnatural growls and creatures with red eyes. But only a few who survived the destruction, and we thought it was just fear talking.”

I look back at the map on my desk. Then I put two red small stones on the villages Tollyria has destroyed. They were Luura and Droia, two rural villages on the far end of my empire. One is on the east and another is on the west.

“Do you remember the small kingdoms Tollyria has conquered over the last five years?” I ask.

If it is about reports, Liam will know. He has this uncanny ability to bond with the knights and the people from five different kingdoms. Everyone just loves the guy. They talk to him almost about anything, and he would listen to them. Even about things that usually go off records.

That is why I chose him as my war general. He is the driving heart of our manpower.

Bifta grabs several small red stones from a basket on my desk. She initiatively puts the stones on the kingdoms that have fallen under Tollyria. They are all scattered on the continent. Kingdoms that are not part of my empire are not that many, some are more like tribes but we treat them as a kingdom, nonetheless. There are twelve in numbers.

I am shocked to see that Tollyria has taken down four of those kingdoms and attack two of my villages. Red stones colored my map, they focus on the western part of the continent where my empire has no authority.

“The situation is direr than I thought,” the guilt course through me in a shock wave. If only I was not cursed, I would have noticed this and taken action. I feel responsible for the lives taken in my villages. But to the other four kingdoms… if only I had realized this sooner, I would have offered help. I could have saved those lives.

“We didn’t think it was possible for Tollyria to attack this many kingdoms in just five years given their size of a kingdom,” Bifta says, “But we think they are planning to take down the entire continent and saving our empire as the last one to conquer.”

“But…” Liam eyes the map, “These countries they invaded, they are not really special in any way.”

“What do you mean?” Bifta asks.

Liam points to one red stone, “This kingdom, for example, Grudeim, they don’t have any merits other than their supply of wool. If I am leading an army to take down the entire continent, which will take decades by the way, I will want to attack Mevarene first.” He puts a blue stone on one kingdom on the west coast of the continent. “That way I have control over the strongest navy power in this continent and cut resources from another continent.”

“He is right. Well done,” Bifta praises Liam, which rarely happens.

“Even the villages they attacked in our empire,” Liam continues, “They are mostly barren and once conquered have no significant advantage to them.”

I nod at Liam’s point. I agree. Their choice in the kingdoms and villages to take over is not the best route to take over this continent. The only thing it does is alert us before the situation gets worse, which is beneficial to us, and we can rally our forces before it is too late.

“It’s strange,” I say, looking at the map, which now has red and blue stones. The rays of the sun stream from the window, casting a golden light on us. I take a deep breath. “Would these strange decisions come from the demons?”

“Also,” here comes the part that I need us to figure out, “Can we figure out the witch’s weaknesses?”

Bifta, Polar, and Liam look at each other briefly. Polar, however, then glances at my wrists on the desk. His eyebrows flattened when he sees the scars I have from the manacles. After waking up in my bed, I only took a robe and stormed to my study room. My hair is still messy, I haven’t showered so I can still smell traces of deer blood, and my nails and feet are dirty. It’s always been like this every time I transform back into my Elven form. I look like a mess.

“Your Eminence,” Bifta says in a worried tone, “You’re not thinking of–“

“Look at this map, Bifta,” I cut her off in a firm voice. My voice is deep and when I speak from my stomach, everyone listens. No one dares to cut me off. “This demon has distracted me from taking precautionary for my people. I cannot function well and effectively as the emperor. I need to get rid of this demon. And it can’t be a coincidence that the White Witch of Tollyria can handle demons at the same time my demon has started to emerge more.”

“But your demon has been inside you for over a century,” Bifta reasons, “Even if Tollyria used the help of demons to accomplish this many in a short time, and that’s a big if, they’ve only dealt with demons in the recent five years. There’s a big gap in time.”

“Besides,” Bifta continues, “What’s bothering me is that the White Witch was burnt to death by the King of Tollyria. Why would someone as important as her be burnt and then show up in our garden? She could very well plant herself here to be a spy. This is dangerous.”

“They all can be connected,” Polar says, “But of course, the White Witch might know more.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I say to the three of them. I set my eyes. I am full of determination. And all of them know that once I set my mind to something, I will get it.

It feels good to have a purpose again. To have something to do that can get me moving forward. I know the three of them see this change in me, too.  

So the only answer they can give me is, “Your wish is our command.”

“Let’s catch a black swan then.”

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