Of Empires

- c h a p t e r 1

Julius Victor was standing in the balcony overlooking the throne room. His arms were clasped at his back. He could hear footsteps coming towards him. They sounded purposeful, and did not falter. Must be his father, then.

He found his deduction to be correct a moment later when his father spoke from behind him.

"That fool from Septentria is dead."

This gained Victor's attention. He'd been anticipating this piece of information for a while now. Septentria would be the next target of the Immortal alliance in their plan to sixteen the whole continent.

"I take it that we'll be heading to Septentria to aid them in the war?" He asked his father.

His father chuckled with wry humor.

"Head to Septentria? To get killed?"

His father's tone was cutting. Victor knew something wasn't right.

"What is it, father?"

"King Volodya was killed, Julius. By his own daughter." His father paused to judge Victor's reaction. This would be a touchy topic for him.

Victor raised an eyebrow in shock. Then he let out an amused laugh.

The great emperor of the south stared at his son like he'd gone mad. Said son made no move to reassure him of his sanity. He tried not to read too much into it, lest he ended up losing his own mind.

"She's only a little girl, Julius, and she already forged an alliance with the Immortals. Even we couldn't manage that. Now tell me, how can a little girl do that?"

"She's smart enough to pull off many things. What did she offer in exchange of the alliance?"

"Marriage. She is to marry one of them."

The emperor aged a good century just by thinking about it. If the pronounced wrinkles on his forehead, or the heavy bags under his eyes was any indication, he had spent a good amount of time worrying over this topic.

A very insignificant topic to be of any real concern, but a rather amusing one nevertheless. Maybe that was just Victor's opinion though.

"Did she send us invitations to the wedding? I can tell it's going to be quite interesting."

"How can you be so calm about this, Julius?" The Emperor bellowed. "She's-"

"Enough, father. Do not interfere in her decisions. You are not her guardian, and she is not your ward. She's got a wise head and strong shoulders, and she knows what she's doing. She won't die. That's good enough for us."

"But she-"

"That is all there is to this topic, father."

The Emperor of Yalith stared at his son in shock once again. He had been prepared for so many different reactions from Victor, but none of them were even close to this. He had completely trivialized Princess Zorya's upcoming nuptials. He slowly walked away. His footing was not even. He faltered.

Victor smiled.

And yet, the way his hands clutched the balustrade, knuckles white, grip strong enough to break off the wood, was a complete contradiction to his calm behavior.

Zorya Volodya was meant to be his bride.