I looked to Ankhelina. “Then why are you blaming me? Zukov’s mistruths caused the Emperor’s pain.”
“General Zukov is an honorable man. He would never besmirch himself with falsehoods,” Ankhelina said.
Zukov’s eyes narrowed. “Do you call me a liar?”
“I call you mistaken. The months after the blitz were confusing. Armies were shattered, scattered. I was separated from my legion for weeks, fighting with an infantry brigade on Pohnpei until the Commonwealth bureaucracy could reunite me with my unit.”
“My spies did not deliver me reports of separated. They delivered your death certificate,” Zukov said.
“I was officially Missing in Action, presumed dead. An easy mistake, I’m sure.”
Zukov settled back, cupping one elbow in his hand and tapping his fangs with his fingernails. “Regardless of whether you are in fact Levar, your position as Consort causes many problems.”
I cocked my head. “Why? Do you think your Emperor so easily influenced? She was quite clear that I have no official authority, so my only enticements are my pretty words. I wonder that you’ve trusted her to reign this long if you think she’s so malleable, unless you’re manipulating her to your own ends, and cannot stomach the thought of competition?”
The old demon count held Ankhelina back again, then turned to me. “Your situation raises questions amongst the Emperor’s loyalists. Who are you, truly? Why has our Emperor chosen you over the many viable options available to her over the years? If you are not a plant, then what are you planning, both with the Emperor and with your Commonwealth? Some questions we have answered through old-fashioned spycraft, but for the latter queries, I fear we can only learn those answers from the source.”
I chuckled. When Zukov asked what I found amusing, I replied, “You’re the second demon lord this evening who’s asked me about my nefarious plan regarding the Emperor. I’ve been on the front lines for ten years, serving as a supply coordinator. If you asked me how the Commonwealth organized our depots, or how many pyromagnetic shells we produce in a week, or how much mass per second our portals can handle, I’d understand, but sinister schemes? I’m happy if I pitch my tent on dry ground. I don’t have time to plot.”
“We don’t expect a simple soldier to have created thescheme. That probably was the Duke of Lynwyzc or maybe your Colonel Boleslaw of Royal Military Intelligence. However, you were clearly chosen as the preferred implement to infiltrate our court. Your previous intimate connection with the Emperor makes you uniquely suited to the task,” Zukov explained.
I laughed again. “I suppose you wouldn’t believe me if I told you we had no idea Astrid was the new Emperor until two standard days before the jubilee?”
“Your assertion certainly strains belief,” Zukov replied.
I shrugged. “I was brought along because I’m the only Commonwealth soldier with any peacetime experience with Imperial nobility. Before the war, we knew very little about you. Your counterintelligence is too good. It’s part of why your initial blitz was so successful.”
“He’s lying,” Ankhelina barked, then asked of me, “you can’t possibly expect us to believe it was pure coincidence you were brought here to this sham of a jubilee, only to accidentally find yourself the Emperor’s Consort?”
“What you believe is beyond my influence. I can only tell you the truth as I know it.”
Ankhelina stormed forwards, slamming her hands on the arms of my chair and leaning inches from my face. “What is the Royal Commonwealth planning?”
“A negotiated peace,” I replied coolly, my brain racing, but my demonic heart beat smooth as a metronome.
“What are your orders?” Ankhelina shouted.
“To assist Prince Aureli, Duke of Lynwyzc, in negotiating a peace treaty,” I said.
“How do you plan to betray the Emperor?” the Champion screamed.
“I won’t,” I shouted.
Ankhelina struck me. My shield took the worst of her blow,causing my chair to lurch as the force of her attack spread across my entire body, but I was still tied down, and her strike snapped my head to the side so hard my neck ached. Bright blotches blossomed before my eyes as the chair landed on its side. Hazily, I dragged my face back to look forwards as strong hands righted my chair, wishing shields offered better protection against concussion, but they had kept me alive. As my vision cleared, I saw the other kidnappers pulling Ankhelina away from me. Fully four guards were fighting to keep her off me.
Zukov gave me what he apparently thought was an apologetic smile, but it looked more like the grimace of a hungry shark. “You must forgive the Champion. Her loyalty to the Emperor sometimes drives her to extreme measures.”
“How do I know you’re loyal to the Emperor? Any of you? How do I know you don’t just want to manipulate her?” I asked accusatorily.
“What does loyalty have to do with it?” Zukov asked in return. “Of course we want to manipulate her. Everyone wants to manipulate her. The difference is we want to manipulate her for her own good.”
I scoffed, but Zukov continued. “The Emperor is a powerful figure, full of verve and energy. Her ideas and enthusiasm could revitalize the Empire. Already, she has united the Voidsky lords and led us to a victory grander than Simeon the Great ever achieved. What could she accomplish if she reigned for three dozen years? Five dozen? A century or more? How grand would she leave our Empire? How stable? To an old loyalist like myself, the idea is as intoxicating as wine is to you.
“But, the Emperor is young, inexperienced. She makes mistakes which will get her killed. Mistakes like you.” Zukov leaned forwards. “I will not allow you, intentionally or not, to harm our Emperor and our Empire.”
“And how will you stop that? The Emperor’s Champion thinks I’ve already endangered the Emperor simply by existing.”
“Because you do,” Ankhelina shouted.
