Originally written January 14th, 2024
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Chapter 9

The Emperor's head stared up at Cass. Eyes unfocused, jaw slack, long gray hair floating frozen in the thick preservative mixture. The oddly sweet smell of sap and oil clung to the back of her throat as her stomach churned.

"Lovely, isn't it?" the purple-clad woman from Chol asked. "I must commend you on the clean cut, though we did have to get it washed up by some of the palace servants since you left it among the...other bodies," she said with a sniff, her lips twisting into a grimace.

Cass hoped her face was not as readable at that moment.

The violent haze that fogged her mind during the heat of combat was a safety buffer from the horrors she committed. The consequences of the violence were not wholly lost on her; she saw her soldiers in the medical tents, held them down during surgeries, and stacked them on the pyres herself. Bodies and limbs of enemies were common to see when leaving a battlefield, sometimes days later, but they were never presented to her in a gold embossed box.

Cover it up. Don't let them see you like this.

She picked up the lid that she'd dropped in surprise. Picking it back up, Cass noticed a square of leather attached to the inside with writing on it.

"What does this say?" Cass asked. She'd never been taught how to read - it wasn't necessary as a servant, and there hadn't been time during the war - and was used to asking Helen about orders given to her.

"Just a warning," the gaudily dressed councilmember from Shen answered. "You are not the best with your words, so we are sending this message for you to deliver. This was their Emperor’s fate, and if they do not want to share it they should surrender."

"Who?"

"Some of the Empire's armies are still spread among the other states," Helen explained. "The largest we know of is in Keygroph. We want you to deliver this to the general there. Word of the Emperor's death will spread but it may not be believed, so..." she gestured at the box as Cass fit the lid back into place.

"Keygroph. Okay." Cass still faced the box, but she no longer saw it. Her focus turned inward, thinking how to tell her soldiers that they would have to march all the way to Chol for even more fighting. "I think we can make it there in two months."

"Nonsense," the councilmember from Chol said. "Cross the desert, you can get there half the time."

"I can't lead my army-"

"You won't be taking an army, Cassandra," Helen said quickly. "We want the war to be over. We don't want the capital of Chol razed to the ground. You will be going with a small diplomatic envoy to deliver the message." Helen reached over and patted the gem inlaid box.

"But...what about my soldiers? What if the general doesn't surrender?*

"Do you really need them, in that case?" Helen asked, grimacing. "Sending you with a small group will give us the best chance at ending the matter without egregious bloodshed."

"I'd feel better having the Thiria at my back," Cass protested, ideas of traveling without her army into hostile territory evoking many uncomfortable feelings.

"Ugh, it's not like your slavering rabble of beasts are the Veinor," the man from Harenae said, rolling his dark eyes with such exaggeration Cass could imagine his head rolling off. "Worse even, they're full of nonbelievers." His seething tone pulled glances from the other council members. Unlike them, he was not wearing clothing from his homeland, but rather the white robes of a disciple of the Flame. Not as finely cut as High Priestess Helen's of course, but much nicer than the semi-formal robes Cass had thrown on that morning while hungover.

Before she could protest and defend her soldiers, the councilmember looked beyond Cass and gestured for someone to enter. Cass looked over her shoulder and saw Anatu standing at the entrance to the council chamber, their eyes wide with alarm and locked on the blackened, emaciated arm she'd been hiding behind her back. The stare was broken when Cass moved to hide her arm inside a fold of her robe.

"Yes, councilman," Anatu said, bowing and approaching the table to stand beside Cassandra. "I apologize but I could not find any servants."

"I sent them away already," Cass said absently.

"You what?" the councilman asked.

"I sent them away. I found one up in the Emperor's chambers who could understand me and told her to tell everyone they're free now."

"You freed them!?" the Chol woman asked, her face twisting into something between shock and a sneer. There was electricity in the air as Cass's eyebrows furrowed together. She glanced from one face on the council to another, not sure what the problem was.

"Yeah, I freed them. I didn't want anyone in here when I started tearing the place down." It was the Council's turn to furrow their brows and look around at each other. Their confusion further confused her. "That was the plan, wasn't it? To tear this place down?"

A moment of silence. Two moments. All eyes went to the High Priestess.

"It is not economically feasible to just tear down the palace," Helen said softly. "It is a symbol of-"

"Exactly! It's a symbol of everything we've been fighting against, and I can demolish it with my bare hands!" She lifted her right arm - her good arm - and slammed it into the marble table in front of her. It cracked and a chunk of it shattered, small stones and dust scattering across the floor.

"Cassandra!" Helen snapped. Her soft, gentle tone was gone. "You will not be destroying this Palace, and you will not be leading an army to Chol. You will be escorted by Disciple Anatu."