Pronunciation Guide for Chapter (will update with requests): 

Jabria = HOB-ria (slight rolled r)

Musila = moo-SEE-la

Vistile = viss-TEAL

The empress didn't like him.

He was wholly unused to such sentiments from women. Asa had gone through life with the unabashed assumption that all women --and most men-- wanted to sleep with him. 

It wasn't even as if she were being satisfied elsewhere. It was well-known that her King of Kings offered little in the marriage bed. Some whispered that the Emperor was a homosexual. Asa knew this to be false. His convoluted attempts to be Claudius's mistress had proven that much.

Of course, the next best thing would be to seduce the beautiful Jabria, instead. But she would not have him either.

What irony! Only stopped in his rise to power by perhaps the only two people in the entire empire who wouldn't fuck him!

"What are you pondering about, Golero? The few places you haven't stuck your dick?" Advisor Abboud hollered across the table, much to the delight of the others. 

"At least my dick goes places!" Asa replied, smiling. Abboud laughed in spite of himself.

Such insults were common in the sweltering heat of the palace advisory chamber. The men there were so natural in their opposition of others that they found it a necessary function to partake in before the real show began. Abboud was one of the six remaining conservatives on the advisory board, while Asa was one of the five "new thinkers" who paraded liberalism.  The insults tended to be traded thus.

If Asa were being honest, he would say that he didn't really care one way or another. He just knew the liberal side would be the winning side.

But Asa was never honest.

Emperor Claudius entered the chamber, unsurprisingly accompanied by a whispering Lorenzo Tibresa. Lord Lorenzo was a conservative who had been the closest advisor to Claudius's father. Claudius himself was liberal-minded, but he was far from being a natural leader and tended to do whatever Lorenzo said. Claudius was terrified of being a bad emperor and tried his very best to be as much like his father as possible. Lorenzo had the emperor in his pocket for now, but everyone knew his power was dwindling. 

All the advisors stood up, staring at the emperor until he uncomfortably sat down.

Some men just aren't born for power.

"What are we discussing today, gentlemen?" Claudius asked. "I hope we can be quick today, I have a ball to prepare for."

"Well, first we wanted to discuss some of the unrest in the Kingdom of Musila," Ekrem began. He was one of the conservatives, and he was the Advisor on War. He had been for fifty years, and he was quite old. 

"The Province of Musila," Lorenzo corrected. "They may have a Queen, but she's powerless. And anyway, Lord Ekrem, how hard can it be for the greatest empire on earth to keep a superstitious land more obsessed with magic than combat in check? The Queen does everything we say, anyway."

"Well, yes, but--"

"But nothing. I don't care about keeping the peace, they're no threat to us. Respond to every instance of unrest with ten times the force you actually need. You won't have any more problems." Lorenzo only kept old Ekrem around because he did as he was told. 

Titus looked around, unsure of himself.

"Alright, then. Glad we got that out of the way. Boluk Asa, when is the next shipment of grain coming in?"

Asa was Advisor on Grain. He was responsible for making sure that every citizen in Istrodrid received a monthly distribution of grain and oil. He was also in charge of ensuring that citizens of Vistile who lived outside of the capital had access to basic resources on which to live. Asa hated his job, but it had made him popular. He had his eyes set on Ekrem's job.

"Five days, your imperial majesty. The unrest in Musila went unmanaged for longer than I had anticipated," Asa said, his eyes flicking to Ekrem. "I won't be surprised if they try to burn the next load."

"The people will be very upset if that happens!" Claudius exclaimed, looking to Lorenzo, his Grand Advisor. "Please ensure that that does not happen."

"It will all be taken care of, Emperor. I'm sure Boluk Asa is not concerned, either. Are you?" Lorenzo looked pointedly at Asa.

"If his imperial majesty is not concerned," Asa replied carefully, vividly imagining sticking Lorenzo's head on a spike.

The meeting proceeded. 

***

The ball was even more lavish than usual. The whole room was covered in silks of intensely saturated color. The diamond-encrusted decor refracted light into a thousand rainbows across the room. The event was intended to celebrate the empress's birthday, and gentlemen and ladies alike were wearing cloth of every color woven with silver and gold thread and showing off their expensive jewels. 

Asa did actually like such events. He always got a huge amount of attention, which he enjoyed immensely. He could never turn down the opportunity to be the most handsome, most dashing man in a room full of people at their most beautiful. Asa also never minded the endless supply of high-quality alcohol offered at events such as these. He was well-known for his love of the drink and was rarely seen entirely sober, party or not.

But balls served a political purpose, too. Outside of being a quick way to decisively display the superiority of the upper class, they were excellent sources of gossip. Women always knew the most; the silent watchers of men seized power by dealing information like a game of cards. One of the cleverer ones was Fitnat, one of Empress Jabria's slaves. 

Fitnat appeared to the casual observer to be quiet and absent-minded. Many considered her to be a little slow. In actuality, she never forgot anything she was told, and she could slip between the rooms of the palace virtually unnoticed. Asa had been sleeping with her for over a year, now. She knew he wanted her more for her information than anything else, but she cared little. The sex was fantastic.

The slaves were all dressed far more scandalously than the well-bred women. Fitnat wore only a vibrant pair of baggy pants that caught at the ankle, a light veil, and a few ropes of necklaces. She noticed him, and casually came over to him to pour wine in his cup.

"Boluk Asa," she said neutrally. "I know you'd like some more wine."

"Thank you, uh--?" Asa trailed off, pretending to forget her name.

"Fitnat."

"Ah, yes. Fitnat. Thank you."

Fitnat smiled stupidly, but spoke quietly.

"And what's a boluk doing here? You should at least be dressed in something more revealing. I've been told many Lords would be enticed by the sight."

"If you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask."

"You know what I mean. Your own father a slave and you the Advisor on Grain?"

"I am grateful to my betters for such an honor. I shall not forget my place."

"I'm sure," Fitnat's face still looked vacant as she walked to the next man in need of wine.

 Asa turned his focus back to the scene. The empress, as always, was a vision. Her thick hair fell in curls down to her waist. Her warm golden eyes were meticulously outlined with kohl, which blended into her olive skin. She wore the nicest and most expensive things at the whole ball, but mostly out of duty rather than preference. For even as the whole court gawked and stared at her, she said little, ate little, and drank nothing. She was even more uncomfortable at a ball than her husband was in his Advisory Meetings. Jabria's beauty forced her to be looked at, but she quite obviously resented all the attention a great deal. Everyone and everything seemed to bore her, and she had never really adjusted to her life as Empress. 

Asa was helping himself to a fourth glass of wine when things really got interesting.

The man was easy to spot; the shock of pale yellow hair made its way easily through the sea of dark locks. This was Edgar Myrdoch, a knight from Adraea who had recently been appointed as an ambassador to Vistile. Few took him seriously, and it was generally assumed that he obtained this flashy position through nepotism. 

Jabria noticed, too, and her dark eyes followed him as he made his way to the front of the room in order to pay his respects to the imperial Majesties. How strange he looked, with skin like goose feathers and eyes like the sky.  

Asa edged closer to where Jabria and Claudius were sitting as subtly as he knew how. 

Edgar approached, and bowed deeply before the emperor. 

"Your Imperial Majesties." He rose. "I am Sir Edgar Myrdoch of Adraea. I am the new Ambassador to Vistile. It is an honor to meet you both."

"Ah, yes. Sir. I believe that translates to Boluk, here?" Emperor Claudius asked.

"Pasha, actually," Edgar replied, all too quickly. Asa tried not to roll his eyes.

Surprisingly, it was Jabria who spoke next.

"I do believe we've met, Pasha Edgar, only I cannot think of where."

"I believe we met as children, Your Imperial Majesty." Edgar noticeably blushed. "Although you would most likely remember me as 'Shrike'."

"Oh, that's right! You were something of a whistler, as I recall!"

"I was completely intolerable."

Asa looked around the ballroom as people started to take notice of the bizarre conversation. Jabria almost never spoke. 

"I see my childhood reputation shall never escape me." Edgar laughed good-naturedly. Jabria laughed, too.

"We both spent a summer at Caisan, did we not? You were there for training."

"Lord Edizek was a generous host and a friend of my father's. I still have the Vistilian stallion he gave to me that summer. He's nearing nine years now, but still as fierce as ever."

"Lord Edizek is known for his spectacular horses!" Emperor Claudius interrupted, happy to participate in any conversation about the beasts. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were the best in the world, Emperor. I fully attribute my skills as a horseman today to Empress Jabria's uncle."

Jabria looked dazed. "You used to bring me forget-me-nots."

Asa felt the energy of the room grow uneasy as the court tried to silently interpret the conversation.

Edgar stepped back modestly. "I see their charms didn't aid me much," he chuckled. "Still, I consider myself honored that her Imperial Highness remembers me at all. I've met few women so lovely."

"Pasha Edgar, you understate my wife's beauty. Empress Jabria is the most beautiful woman in the world," Emperor Claudius exclaimed, oblivious.

Edgar spoke as if a spell had been broken. "You are a shining couple, indeed. A picture of the divine sovereignty of Vistile." He bowed once more and proceeded back to the party. Everyone's gaze followed him, including the Empress's. 

Asa finally had an opening. 

***

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