Blood Empire

Chapter 1

Emperor Ishaan sits with his council, listening to his advisors as they flip through plans and plots.

"And a letter from the Amayan King," one councilman says, holding up an unopened envelope that he opens before his emperor to prove that there has been no tampering.

The councilman reads the contents of the letter and then reads it again as if there could have been something hidden between the words.

"Well," the emperor snarls after a moments silence, "What does it say?"

"The King of Amaya has a proposition for you," the councilman says nodding his head in apologies, "he proposes a marriage alliance between one of his children and yours."

Emperor Ishaan chuckles and the sound is echoed through the room as most of the council laughs at the preposterous idea.

"Your Majesty," the councilman holding the letter interrupts, "the king states that in return for the alliance, he will commit men and land to your cause."

The laughter dies.

The Emperor strokes his beard in thought. Amaya is not a large country, but it is the only country that separates the Nurian Empire from the rest of the continent.

"His children?" Ishaan enquires.

"A son and a daughter," the councilman reports, "he offers you a pick of either."

"He offers the heir?" Ishaan questions, glancing to where his daughter sits by his side, poised and perfect, "what do we know of the boy?"

"He is a warrior," the councilman answers, opening his files and flicking through the papers, "tried and tested in battle, has earned many victories against our probing parties in the past."

"With Amaya in our pocket we will have a clear road to the mainland," the emperor's adviser notes, "we would be able to move our military though undisturbed."

"Do they have any affiliations with the old ones?" Ishaan questions, his eyes focused on the carving of the short but long stretch of land between his domain and that of the mainland.

"No, your majesty," the priest says, "their last mage was killed many moon cycles ago in a successful border raid led by his majesty's general. Since then, there has not been a report of another mage rising and holding the power of the old ones for more than a few moons."

"Your majesty, I am quite capable of taking the mainland," the general says, speaking up, "you do not need to risk muddying the royal lines."

"You have had five years," The emperor snaps, irritated at his general's comment, "and yet your attempts have yielded no results."

"Amaya has a very strong militia," the emperor's brother notes, looking to the map engraved in the table between them, "they have strong ties to the mainland and sources say that Knosia has been after their princess for some time now."

"And the king has offered her in the alliance?" Ishaan muses, he glances at his son and heir only for a moment, "has she any other proposals?"

"A few," his advisor says.

Ishaan looks to his children, who sit poised and disciplined, his daughter Azali is his pride and joy.

The princess is much like her father, strategic and has a strong, she knows her place and her power and she honours the throne and the crown a perfect daughter of Nuria.

And then there is Elios, his heir, he has had a rebellious side and a bleeding heart. Elios is his mother's son and, in the past, has let the empire down. But Elios is the heir and Ishaan has tightened the prince's leash and the prince almost fills the mould that his father has casted.