The White King's Favorite

The Dragon Empire. A very old Empire that had seen centuries pass by and never flinched. From the northern barbarians to the Pirates of the White Sea, and then, the vain attempt of the Eastern Republic, nothing had been able to scratch an inch of those strong borders. The long line of its rulers, always covered in the gold and Imperial purple, only ever feared their own progeny, for it seemed each heir was stronger than their fathers. Their only notable conflicts were internal wars between the fierce brothers, all hoping to claim the golden throne as theirs. However, for over two decades now, no man had been seated on the large, golden throne of the Emperor. This vast Empire was thriving, now more than ever, with an Empress as its head. The man had tried to study as much as he could to prepare himself. It was no easy task. His country had been at odds with the Dragon Empire for centuries, and their cultures were too different. He had tried to grab scraps of information, here and there, to get ready for this very special day. A day that would be recorded into history, perhaps. He took a deep breath, his eyes on the Imperial Palace as he stood in the long line of people wishing to be granted entrance. This Imperial Palace itself was as vast as a small city. For centuries, it had been the house of the Emperor and his large family. The Empress and their children, when there was one, but most importantly, all the concubines. The long line of the Dragon Emperors had mostly continued through the many children those Emperors had fathered. Those large families needed to be housed in the Imperial Palace; thus that place had only grown with time. As an Emperor thrived, he had his concubines, and his children often had their own concubines and children... Of course, it was also practically cleared out with each new Emperor taking over. No smart man kept his rivals close, and thus, the said siblings were usually all killed in a matter of days before the new Emperor sat on the throne, had his own children and concubines taken over, and that circle of life and death would start all over again. However, no concubines were residing in the Imperial Palace. The Empress did have male concubines, but none of them was allowed to live there. Within the year she had become the new ruler, she had declared that she wouldn't have any children to succeed, and instead, her nephew should be the new heir apparent. Strangely, he couldn't find why this decision had been welcomed. The said nephew was the son of the Empress' brother, the rumored War God. Yet, why would she allow her brother's son to inherit her throne, instead of having her own children? There had been no proof of the Empress being sterile, but according to the locals, she had actually taken medicine to prevent pregnancy for years before she even fought to rise to the position. ...Did she feel like she owed this to her brother, who had helped her rise? Then, why not let the War God himself become Emperor? Surely, this would have been much simpler than establishing a woman on the golden throne... This was a mystery he hadn't solved yet. "Next!" Yelled the Imperial Guard. He had to hand out his papers quickly, and explain the reason for his visit. The Guard raised an eyebrow. Surely, not many foreigners made it all the way there. Eventually, the man in silver armor scoffed and gave him his papers back. "Good luck with that!" He laughed. His papers shoved back into his hands, he nodded, and made his way inside. He knew he had come with no easy request, but it was of utmost importance he succeeded. The future of their Kingdom depended on the outcome of this audience with the Empress... Following the long line of people walking in, he was a bit lost inside those high walls, and long corridors. He had to ask his way twice to the Imperial Servants. Thankfully, he had studied enough to know the servants in this place traditionally wore green clothing. Although the Empress had abolished the centuries-old Imperial Decree behind a lot of the rules on the different casts' clothing, the Imperial Servants most likely wore green out of tradition. Some wore little accessories or pieces of clothing of different colors, but the green was still prominent. The man internally congratulated himself for having chosen a simple blue attire. This was the color of scholars, officials, and educated people in general. Everyone showed him respect, despite his poor appearance. The journey there had taken a toll on the old man. He had lived over half a century and seen many things, but this may have been the journey of his life. He had always dreamt of coming to this amazing country. Where he came from, many saw the Dragon Empire as a ruthless land, with barbarians preying on the weak, and monstrous mankiller beasts allowed to roam free. No foreigner had been allowed in for a long time. The only ones who could walk into these lands were travelers, people of tribes, or merchants who wouldn't be so foolish to get close to the Capital. Things have changed in recent years. The borders weren't as tightly closed as before. A lot of the Cities were now thriving, while before, it seemed everything was solely happening in the Capital. Since the death of the late emperor, his daughter had been making more and more changes every day... Now, the man was trying to brush some sand out of his hair and beard, and wipe off the dust from his clothes. Compared to the other people waiting to see the Empress, with the perfect attires and gold jewelry, he looked like a beggar... Strangely though, the line was getting shorter, fast. People who walked inside the throne room didn't seem to spend more than a few minutes before leaving. Strangely though, the people who came back were often in a curious state. He saw people coming out furious, in tears, or with a lot of joy on their faces. Some... didn't come out at all. He couldn't come up with any reasons as to why, though, as the main room seemed totally soundproof. They only heard something when the door would open, either to welcome the next guests, or for the Imperial Servants going in and out. As he was finally the next one in line, the man took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally. He couldn't be more prepared, but he was still very unsure about all this. His only piece of luggage was in his bag, and he was preciously carrying a little chest he had been protecting with his life throughout this journey. When the doors opened, the man stepped inside, as nervous as an old man like him could be. An imperial servant came to greet him. "Please follow me, and do not speak a word until the Empress has authorized you to. You shall not look at their Highnesses until they speak to you, either. No weapon is allowed inside the Throne Room, and you shall be killed immediately if you’ve brought one without informing us." The man nodded, but he couldn't remember having been searched, which had surprised him. The Imperial Guard had mentioned weapons were forbidden inside the Imperial Palace, but... that was it. The security seemed a little lax, in his opinion. He could have gotten this far with a sword, and no one would have stopped him. Still, that wasn't something he'd do. His query was way too important to risk any mistake like this... He walked slowly, hoping not to make any mistakes that would offend the Empress. He kept his eyes on the impressive white marble floor, but he could tell how impressive this hall was. Each sound resonated throughout, and there had to be large windows for it to be so sunny and warm, too. He could almost smell the sunshine coming from left, right, and above. There was a light scent of incense being burned, and fruits. The one thing that struck him, though, was the strange noises coming regularly. He had already heard some of it before, while he was waiting outside, but now, the man was getting more curious about those strange sounds. It was loud, like drums, something resonating inside a huge cave. It was... terrifying. He didn't dare look up, but the man could tell, he was walking right to whatever was making that scary noise. He was precedented and guided by an Imperial Servant, but even without that, he could have simply followed the simple path in a straight line that took him right to the throne. More precisely, he was asked to stand a few steps away from the first stair of a row of stairs that most likely led to the rumored golden throne. "Empress, this man claims to have come from the faraway Eastern Kingdom to request an audience with you." He heard a chuckle. "The Eastern Kingdom?" Said a feminine, imperious voice. "Does that mean those brats next door are finally done fighting?" The man nodded, but was he allowed to answer? He heard that arrogant chuckle again. "Interesting... You learn something new every day. How long has it been already?" "The new King rose to power five years ago, Empress," answered a male voice. "So it took him five years to get them all to sit down and stop shouting? Hmpf, the kid didn't lose his time... I don't really care for their stupid Republic, though. They were all pretending to be so smart and thought of us as some barbarians. I guess some fresh blood will do them some good... The one that boy didn't spill." The man took a deep breath. Did he have to endure while the Empress insulted his King? Nothing in her words was wrong, though... The former Eastern Republic had endured a cruel defeat against the Dragon Empire, twenty years ago. What was more aggravating was that they had started this war. Some of their leaders had been convinced by the Empire's second Prince, a cunning man with large ambitions, to agree to this nonsense attack. He had only failed to mention the third Prince and War God would stand in their army's way so fast... In the end, the Eastern Army had been sent home, its pride wrecked to pieces, and with a lot to deal in the aftermath; those who had agreed to this attack had to come up with some explanations. Those conflicts, added to their people's anger after so many deaths, poverty and famine had thrown the Eastern Republic into a long Civil War. After several attempts at reconstructing themselves, the rise of a new King was a hope he was willing to do anything to protect. "Fine. Let's hear it then. What does the brat have to say?" The man took a deep breath. Now was finally the time. He had to be very careful with his words... "Our King reigns alone and his Queen's seat is still empty, your Highness. Now, I have come forth with the hope to... find a suitable partner for him." "...What was that?" Said the Empress. "They want to establish a good relationship with our Empire through a wedding, your Highness," said the male voice. "Why do we need that?" Asked The Empress with a chuckle. "For good relationships with our neighbors, your Highness." The Empress stayed silent for a couple of seconds. He could hear her fingers tip-tapping on her golden throne. It was hard to keep his eyes on the floor when he was dying to look up. He finally heard her sigh. "Why do we need that for, again?" The Delegates were speechless. Was the Empress playing dumb on purpose? Was she mocking them? He heard the chuckles of two other women, but the man that was speaking like an advisor, or a close counselor, let out a long sigh. "Now that their situation is stable, we shall look to establish good relationships with our only neighbor nation, Empress. Good relationships with our neighbor mean cheaper prices on the imported and exported products, your Highness. Cheaper prices mean less taxes, and the less taxes we give to our people, the happier they get." The Empress brutally slammed her hand, making them all jump. "Oh, so this is why!" She said with a chuckle. "Less yapping from them. Alright, let's do it then. You. You can raise your head. I feel like I'm going to have to watch your neck break if you keep standing like that." The man finally lifted his head with relief, his neck indeed a bit stiff. He had gotten authorization to look at the Empress, but he certainly wasn't prepared for what he had to see. The golden throne was higher than he had imagined, and much, much more impressive. That mountain of gold destabilized and blinded him for a second, until... until he realized it was moving. The throne in itself was a very large seat, so large almost two people could have sat in there. It was filled with purple cushions as if to fill all that space. However, behind the large throne, was this mountain of... golden scales. The man swallowed his saliva, realizing this was the source of those terrifying sounds from earlier. It was one of them. One of their... Dragons. Of course, he had heard about the Dragon Empire's actual Dragons. Those magnificent, mythical creatures were no myth in this Empire. The Dragons were the mark of the nobility, and also why no mere mortal had ever been able to take an Emperor's seat. Their people only acknowledge the Dragon Masters, and Dragon Masters were only born in the Emperor's family. There was no real explanation as to why they had been blessed with such incredible companions. The only thing was that it was in their blood, and, until recently, all the male heirs of the Emperor were blessed with a Dragon alter ego, a companion for life. Those were no mere pets, though. He had heard terrible stories of manslaughter caused by a whim of one of those ferocious beasts, and now, as he witnessed the size of this thing, he sure believed. He didn't stare at the Dragon for long, though. Inside the throne sat another one of the most terrifying creatures of this Empire, the Empress herself. She was a tall woman, with dark skin, and the black hair and eyes typical of their people. The only thing that made it known that she was the Empress was the impressive amount of gold in her hair, clothes, and jewelry. Her dress was purple, but as the sides were slit to let her legs through and there were no sleeves, she looked like she wore more gold than the actual fabric. There was even gold embroidered in her dress. Still, her attire was strangely simple for an Empress of the wealthiest Nation known on this continent. If it wasn't for her sitting on the throne, he might have wondered which of her or the other woman dressed in purple was the Empress. There were actually two other women present, instead of one. They were both seated on the stairs below the throne, just a few steps away from him. The first one was obviously a close relative of the Empress. She was beautiful, with her very long black hair in hundreds of braids falling on her shoulders, and just like the Empress, she wore purple attire, and some gold jewelry. The other woman was probably a simple Imperial Servant, although she was allowed to sit there for some reason. She was simply embroidering some purple piece of clothing, and she didn't have the looks of someone who was even from that place. Her white skin shocked him for a second. Never had he seen someone with such light skin, like some white jade. She was looking at her work, so he couldn't tell, but from her chestnut hair and pink lips, she was definitely a foreigner. Trying not to stare too long at either of the women, he looked up again, at the Empress. Next to her was an elderly man in blue clothing. He glared when their eyes met, so the poor Eastern man had to look elsewhere again. "...Did the King specify which Princess he was hoping to marry?" Suddenly asked the servant woman. "N-no, Your Highnesses..." "So cunning," hissed the Empress. "That brat sends only a servant, after all this time, and now he asks for one of my nieces to be sent to him? Isn't he quite cocky?" The man next to the Empress rolled his eyes at her language. "I-I have some gift for the Dragon Empire and... the Princess," quickly said the man. "They are not much, but... I hope this will be taken as a token of..." "Stop talking and open that chest," ordered the Empress. The man nodded and quickly opened his chest. The truth was, he was very aware of how little this treasure was. Any of the Empress’s bracelets she was wearing were probably a lot more valuable... He was completely at his wits' end, though. If the Empress laughed and sent him back, he had no idea what he'd do... To his surprise, the white-skinned woman put her embroidery aside and stood up, coming to take the crest. Had the Empress given an order he had missed? He didn't say a thing, though, as she took it. She looked through it, and, to his surprise, there was a slight smile on her lips. "...There are some books in there," she said, taking the only two little books included. "Y-yes, Your Highness... Those are very ancient books of our Nation..." She smiled and turned to the Empress. She hadn't touched anything else in the chest. "What do you say?" She simply asked. The man was shocked. She was allowed to address the Empress so casually? However, the Empress shrugged. "It's your daughters this is about. You take responsibility for it." Her daughters... The man suddenly understood. He had been completely tricked by her outfit. This woman was no servant, and no foreigner. She was the one and only War God's wife, the Empress’ sister-in-law, the mother of the Crown Prince. The most adored woman in this Empire! Imperial Princess Cassandra, the Water Goddess.