Jadis had only visited the imperial palace a handful of times. Other than the last time Emperor Somerulf summoned her, she had been invited by Prince Kestil to speak on business matters on three or four occasions. Every visit with the prince had been to an area of the majestic structure that Jadis mentally designated as Kestil’s wing, since the decor of the rooms had definitely matched the elf’s sensibilities. That said, Jadis was never under the impression that she had been allowed access to the personal rooms of the royal family; every area she had entered had felt like the sorts of places that the emperor or his sons would entertain guests but not actually live in.
The room Jadis had been led to was definitely not a public space.
Standing alone in what she could only describe as the emperor’s living room, Jadis’ eyes scanned the myriad family portraits that lined the walls. Some were clearly old, having probably been painted hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Those paintings were of people Jadis had no information on the identities of, other than that they were likely ancestors of the current emperor based on their clothing and golden skin. Other portraits were far more recent and Jadis knew who many of the subjects were, such as the two princes, or the emperor and his late wife. One small painting in particular caught Jadis’ eyes.
Two men, both elves, stood together on the parapets of some ancient, crumbled wall. Or maybe the wall wasn’t all that ancient, and just heavily damaged. The artist had put a lot of detail into the scene’s architecture, as well as the rolling hills in the background that showed signs of battle and war. The two elves were the focus of the painting, though, and their smiling faces drew Jadis to them. One was a golden-skinned elf wearing a shining breastplate and wielding a large silver staff with a multi-colored gemstone on the top. His bright silver eyes matched his hair, and his friendly smile was infectious. The other was an elf with dark red skin, long white hair, and blue eyes that stood out starkly against the rest of his coloration. The man had a long glaive in one hand, the shaft laid across one shoulder, and the artist had depicted a bright blue flame emanating from the blade of the weapon. The red elf’s grin was confident, showing a natural charisma that looked like it would have fit perfectly on the silver screen on Earth, if the elf had lived another life.
Jadis didn’t need an explanation to know who the two young elves were. While she was still what she would call uneducated by her own standards, she had been putting effort into learning the empire’s recent history, at the least. The book she had been reading for the past few days had enough descriptions in it that both men in the painting were easily recognized.
“Somerulf and Alfarr, the Emperor and the Hero.”
Jay’s murmured comment went unremarked as she and her two other selves were alone in the room. While Emperor Somerulf had given her a specific time to arrive, it seemed that the old elf was running late himself as he had kept her waiting for almost ten minutes. She wasn’t bothered by the delay, not really, but she did find his tardiness odd. Somerulf didn’t seem like the kind of man to leave people waiting.
A distant noise, something like a shout, caught Jadis’ attention. Following the sound to its source, Dys walked to one of the arched windows that lined one wall of the spacious living space. Through the diamond leaded glass, she could see a small courtyard with a small pond and a few trees in the middle. She hadn’t noticed them before, maybe because they hadn’t been in view earlier, but Dys spotted several figures moving around the edge of the pond.
Emperor Somerulf sat on a stone bench, a silver staff with a shining eleria gemstone on the top leaning against his side. He was dressed finely, though his clothes lacked the pomp and splendor of the robes he had been wearing last time Jadis had seen the elf. He wasn’t facing the window, but when the emperor turned his head, she saw him doing something that she had not expected to see.
He was laughing.
On the dark green grass before him were two children, one that was likely nine or ten years old, the other much younger, perhaps five at the most. The older girl was wearing a pretty blue dress and had blue hair that matched her clothes done up in pigtails. She was trying to teach some kind of game involving a red ball to the younger child, though it was clear that she wasn’t having much success. The young boy, who had dark hair and wore a green shirt, either didn’t understand the rules or just didn’t care, as the older girl kept stopping what he was doing and correcting him.
The scene was sweet and wholesome, though Dys couldn’t help but frown as she watched the two children play in the yard. Some aspect of the situation was gnawing at the back of her mind. No, not the situation, Jadis realized after a few more moments of quiet observation. The children. Their skin was light and had a golden hue, but they weren’t the true gold of Somerulf or his sons. The kids had pointed ears, but they were much shorter than any elf Jadis knew. And their eyes… They weren’t a solid color. They had irises and pupils. The children weren’t elves. They were half-elves.
All three of Jadis stood by the windows, watching as Emperor Somerulf played with his grandchildren. Whenever the ball rolled towards him, the old elf would pick it up and toss it back to either the boy or the girl. And while she couldn’t hear anything through the glass, she could see that he was offering his own advice and guidance to the two children. Several more minutes passed before a door on the far side of the garden opened, and a woman walked out carrying a two-year-old infant on her hip.
The woman was human, and she looked like she was in her late thirties. She had a heart-shaped face framed by black hair, and while she wasn’t gorgeous, she had a kind expression that exuded a friendly sweetness. She wasn’t dressed extravagantly, but the dress and jewelry she wore made it obvious that she wasn’t just some maid or nanny, but a royal wearing comfortable clothing in her private home.
Rushing over to the emperor, Jadis could see the two speak for a little bit as the woman bounced the small child on her hip. Jadis wasn’t sure if the toddler was a boy or a girl, but they had bushy silver hair the same color as the emperor’s finely combed locks. It looked like the mother was apologizing to Somerulf, but Jadis could see that he was waving her words off. Instead, he took the child from her arms and raised them into the air, prompting a delighted squeal from the toddler that Jadis could just barely hear from where she stood inside.
After a little while, the emperor passed the child back to their mother and she gathered up the two older siblings. Both hugged Somerulf before following their mother to the door she had come out from, disappearing inside. For a moment, the old elf stood alone, gaze directed towards where the four had gone. Then, using his staff for balance, he bent over and picked up the small red ball that had been left behind.
A few moments later, Somerulf entered the living room, red ball still in hand, and smiled at Jadis’ three forms where she was politely sitting on the large, yet still too small, couch that had probably been moved into the room just for her.
“My apologies for keeping you waiting,” Somerulf said as he took his seat across from her. Setting the red ball down on the low table between them, he continued. “There was an unexpected delay. I am quite certain that you are a busy woman, Lady Jadis, so I will endeavor to not waste any more of your time.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jay spoke for the three of her. “I’m happy to visit. And I wanted to thank you in person for the gift, anyway. You were too generous.”
The gift had been an extravagant set of furniture intended for a nursery, including silk sheets, dozens of sets of embroidered baby clothes, and a stuffed wolf that was bigger than Eir. The congratulatory letter that had come with the gift had been addressed to Jadis and Alex, and it had been signed by Emperor Somerulf. Jadis had assumed that the emperor had just penned his signature at the end of a letter that some servant had written for him after having ordered someone else to pick out gifts for the newborn Hope, but after seeing Somerulf in the garden with the young playing children, Jadis wasn’t so sure.
“Again, you have my congratulations,” the old elf said in his wizened voice. “I pray to the gods that Hope grows strong and lives a long and happy life.”
“Thank you,” Jay answered, somewhat subdued. “You really are too kind.”
“There is no such thing,” Somerulf stated. “At least, when it comes to children.”
Hesitating slightly, Jadis almost chose not to bring up her concerns about Hraustrekr and his plans for the empire and the demonic invasion. Glancing at the small red ball sitting on the table, her jaw clenched as her resolve firmed.
“Sir, are you aware of how your son, Hraustrekr, is withholding support from Rubaline and Volto? He is purposefully keeping the imperial army on the defensive and letting the other nations struggle against the Demons alone! He is letting countless innocent people die, and I honestly can’t tell if it’s because he’s trying to take advantage of the invasion for his own ambition, or if he genuinely thinks he’s doing the right thing. Does that… do you know about what’s happening?”
The last came out as more of a desperate plea than Jadis had intended. The magnitude of what she was discussing with the emperor of the largest nation in the world had struck her hard in that moment, and a feeling of helplessness hit her that she wasn’t accustomed to. How was she supposed to do anything about the situation? Even with all of her strength, she couldn’t fight a war alone. Despite having multiple bodies, she couldn’t be everywhere at once. She couldn’t protect everyone. She wasn’t sure she should even try.
“I know,” Somerulf spoke softly, his voice suddenly a hundred times wearier than it had been before. “I know my son’s heart, and his actions. Misguided as he may be, he does what he will because he believes his course is correct.”
“And you, you’re just letting him do these things, even though you know he’s wrong?” Jay asked, her expression twisted with confusion. “Aren’t you the emperor? Why don’t you stop him?”
“I am the emperor,” the aged elf said, his silver eyes meeting Jay head on. “But for how much longer? My body is failing me, and even now I feel my soul being pulled towards Valtar’s Halls. My death is inevitable, Jadis, and it will not be a long wait. When I am gone, one of my sons will rule. The empire must learn to live with their new sovereign, and he must learn to live with the choices that he makes and their consequences.”
“So, you’re going to just let all those people die?” Jay demanded, her voice rising slightly. “You’re going to ignore the tens of thousands of innocent lives being lost just so you can maybe teach your idiot son a lesson on how to not be such a shit ruler?”
A second after the words had left her mouth, Jadis remembered just who exactly she was angrily berating. Settling back in her seat, Jay opened her mouth to attempt an apology. Sure, she wasn’t that worried about nobles or following the rules of so-called polite society but yelling at the emperor of the nation where she, her lovers, and their families currently resided wasn’t exactly her smartest action.
Before she could say anything, Somerulf held up a wrinkled hand, forestalling her words. A wry expression crossed his face, and his gaze turned towards the small painting of two much younger men that Jadis had been examining earlier.
“You sound just like Alfarr. Do you know who that is?”
“The last invasion’s Hero,” Jay replied in a quieter voice. “He was your friend, right?”
“He was,” Somerulf nodded his head. “A good man. Wiser than his years would warrant. He left us far too early.”
Wrapping both hands around his staff, Somerulf closed his eyes and leaned his head against the silver shaft. Jadis watched as the old man sat in silence for a long while, unknown thoughts and distant memories passing through him. When he opened his eyes again, the emperor was there.
“I will not interfere when it comes to the decisions my son makes regarding the army or the nation’s defense,” Emperor Somerulf stated, his tone firm. “However, that does not mean I am unsympathetic to the plights of those beyond our borders. There are more ways to offer aid than through military might.”
Opening a small drawer on the table between them, the emperor retrieved a folded letter with a red wax seal on the front. He passed the letter to her, which Jay took with curiosity written on her face.
“What’s this?”
“One of the reasons I asked for you to visit today,” Somerulf replied. “I wish for you to deliver this letter to the Senate of Volto, on my behalf.”
Jadis wasn’t surprised that Somerulf knew that she was traveling to Volto soon, but she was confused as to why he needed her to deliver a message. It wasn’t as though the man didn’t have other means of communicating with the other nation. Seraphim made for fast messengers; she was sure that he had no short supply of the avatars who would fly to Volto at his command.
“What’s the message?”
“A pledge of support,” the emperor stated calmly. “And an offer to send a shipment of resources that will aid Volto’s defenses.”
“You need me to deliver this?” she asked, trying not to insult the elf with her tone but still very confused.
“I do not need you specifically, no,” Somerulf replied, a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “But by sending you as my official messenger on this matter, I am elevating you from a simple mercenary to my representative in Volto. You will find that there are significantly more protections in place for you with my power and authority at your back. I hope that many of the difficulties that you may have encountered in Volto will be lessened, if not outright removed.”
Jadis didn’t need to be an expert on politics to know just how much trust the emperor was putting in her by making her his representative on this mission. She also knew that it meant that any actions she took, both good and bad, would reflect on Somerulf, not just her. The weight of responsibility settled heavy on her shoulders as she examined the sealed letter in her hand.
“You said… one of the reasons?”
“Correct,” Somerulf said as he leaned back in his chair, a pleased expression on his face. “I wanted to personally inform you that you will not be going alone on your trip to Volto.”
Looking up sharply, Jadis couldn’t help the frowns that crossed her faces.
“You aren’t sending some kind of honor guard with me, are you?”
“No,” the gold elf replied simply. “I am sending the Hero.”
When Jadis just stared at him, wide-eyed for several long seconds, Somerulf continued.
“Wilhelm has done an excellent job protecting the empire’s borders thus far. However, he is the Hero of the Gods, not the Hero of Alfhilderunn. He must go where his power is needed to protect the people. All people. And as I explained to him last evening, the nation of Volto is in dire need of protection.”
That was… actually really good news, Jadis realized after taking a moment to process the unexpected information. She was heading to Volto so that she and Fortune’s Favored could help the nation launch an attack against the Demons that would hopefully retake Kastoria. If Wilhelm and his companions were there as well, the chances of success went up dramatically.
“Not that I’m objecting,” Jay said after a moment of consideration, “But isn’t he needed on the northern front? Also, you probably don’t know, but Prince Kestil—”
“I am aware,” Somerulf said as he waved a hand dismissively. “My younger son will delay his demonstration. And yes, Wilhelm is needed to the north, but I have full confidence that given his preparations, Hraustrekr will manage to maintain the lines until the Hero is finished in Volto.”
Well.
Jadis smiled to herself. Hraustrekr was playing a defensive war because he didn’t want to waste his troops on weaker nations, wasn’t he? Surely his mighty armies could handle themselves without divine intervention for a while.
“I look forward to working with Wilhelm,” Jay grinned at the emperor. “It’ll be interesting to see him and his companions on the battlefield.”
“I wish I was a few decades younger. To see you both fighting together for a good cause would be something special, I think.”
Jadis had some ideas on how exactly those fights would go, but even she wasn’t sure what all of her companions combined with all of Wilhelm’s would look like working together.
“There is one final item,” Somerulf said, his infectious smile fading slightly. “And after, I shall trouble you no more for the day.”
“You aren’t a trouble, sir,” Jay assured the old elf. “Really. I feel like I owe you a lot. For Alex and our child, if nothing else. I hope your last item is something that I can do to help you.”
“Yes, it is,” the emperor said, his smile growing a little brighter. “You and young Lady Eir. There is a question I wish for you to ask for this old man.”
If it involved Eir, Jadis guessed that meant Somerulf wanted them to ask D something during the coming oracle ritual. The time limit had expired that day, so it was time for another visit to Destarious’ unearthly realm. They were planning on doing it the next day, but if the emperor was asking, she was sure that Eir wouldn’t mind moving the schedule forward a little. Jadis already had a couple of questions in mind, but she had saved the third for whatever question the empire needed her to ask. She just hadn’t expected to get the request directly from the emperor, in person.
“What do you want me to ask for you?”
Somerulf’s smile grew melancholy.
“It concerns my sons…”
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