Malachi:

      I don't think I have ever enjoyed waiting for something to happen, even the surprises my mother used to have for me when I was little.

For a former Empress of a powerful Empire, she genuinely acts like a five-year-old. At least now, I am Emperor to that Empire.

I was so sick of just waiting in my office for something to happen. I practically begged my advisor to let me out.

I promised I could take over this Kingdom in one day, and tonight is the start of my plan.

My twin brother, Prince Levin is left in charge of taking care of state affairs well I am gone.

Tonight I would be taking over one of the more powerful Kingdoms on this Continent. Cursica... it is a truly horrible place, even as I stand in the middle of a crowd there is not one woman who is walking by herself.

Every single one is hanging on to a man's arm. I feel and sense fear from them. Fear that is no doubt created by the men of this Kingdom.

By how everyone acts, it becomes apparent that what I am doing is the right thing. Invading other nations, just to make them better places.

I promised my mother before I took over the throne. I will leave the world a better place than I found it, then pass the throne on to my children.

      I lean against a town board in a public square full of merchants.

I sip some water out of my canteen.

My eyes drift over the crowd. One girl, not more than seventeen stands alone in a corner with her head covered, her entire body covered.

If it weren't for my elemental powers I wouldn't have been able to know that she was a girl. Water being your main element has its perks.

From water, I draw the power to heal, control any liquid, and control ice. Sensing people's genders is easy.

You can tell by how the body is built no matter how much you hide it. The girl in the corner turns her head meeting my eyes.

I see the strain in her face and her eyes tell a thousand stories.

I feel that at that moment I sent her a silent message with my own aquamarine eyes that looked at me every morning.

I just hope in this one moment that our eyes look at each other that she understands that I will end all the pain and suffering in this place. It will not be overnight but a process, but tonight would start it.

As my forces wait, hiding in the forest and in the shadows waiting for my signal to start the massacre and fight our way into the castle.

The small girl quickly averts her eyes from mine.

She's small for her age, by looking at her face I think she is around seventeen or eighteen, right around my age.

I am currently nineteen.

Walking around the square, I go to some merchants selling fruits,

"When were these apples picked?" I ask a man in his forties

"This mornin' fresh from the grove, one copper piece for an apple." He tells me

"Thank you for the information. I suppose I should eat something, here." I hand the man a copper coin from his kingdom.

I liked to keep an eye on most kingdoms and empires on this continent, so I keep bank accounts active in all of them.

This allows me when I visit, to get money from their kingdom. In most places, Alterian coins are accepted, but if you don't want people to know where you're from it's easier to use money from their own country.

Though this currency would most likely become useless to use in the months going forward after they switch to using Alterian money.

Which is the same conversion system just a different crest on the coins. Rather than the Cursian Royal crest, it will bear the crest of The House of Carnasha.

Any money going forward from conquered Kingdoms will be collected then melted down and then reshaped. The merchant hands me the apple

  "Thank you," I tell the man walking away and taking a bite out of the apple.

      Finding a dark alleyway, I disappear.

I teleport out of the city into the forest outside where my forces are waiting.

I land in a clearing about a twenty-minute walk from the walls of the capital of Cursica.

When we arrived I set up a barrier and put magic spells around this clearing so that anyone that got near would feel compelled to turn around.

Anyone who was inside the barrier would be invisible to anyone on the outside of the barrier, and one final spell to conceal our magic presences for anyone who couldn't already.

  "So your Majesty what is the capital like?" I glance over to the high-pitched female voice, Demarais one of the personal Knight Order walks over.

Her auburn hair lightly flowing behind her from the wind. She wears fighting leathers, no armor, she didn't need it, not with magic.

There are seven members to my personal order. They are the ones that guarded me day and night.

It is customary and law in Alteria, for one of them to remain with me at all times. The only thing about them is they are all masters.

The most powerful people in Alteria

      "Demarais stop bothering him, we just need to focus on our task." Another member of my knight orders, hushing Demarais.

He walks over from in between the trees, his dark brown hair rustling from the breeze, like Demarais he wears fighting leathers made for mobility.

Unlike Demarais, he carried his weapons on his side, two large hunting knives. Each one more than twenty-four inches long including the hilt.

      "She's just looking forward to the battle Nico, it's fine. Well inside the walls of the Cursian Capital, I found an apple stand. I at least don't have to eat the same food as you army brutes," I say, my voice laced with sarcasm.

I throw my apple in the air to show off to my two knights, that are constantly on the battlefield.

Nico catches my apple and throws it onto the ground, making it uneatable.

      "And who's fault is that Malachi, you're the one who moves us from battlefield to battlefield. It's not even like the two of us can teleport." Nico laments

      "Ha, when it's your turn to be my shadow, I can hear you grumbling about me sitting in my office doing paperwork. So don't bitch just because I move you two around the battlefield. Let me remind you, General Nico." I emphasize his name to make sure I have his attention. This was no attitude to have before a battle. "You are part of the Emperor's personal order of Knights. The seven masters of Alteria, there is no one in a higher position other than my siblings and me. You were taught by me when I was nothing but the Crown Prince. Not to mention I saved your sorry ass from death, which you then pledged yourself to me. I know we were friends long before I was your superior, but my orders are absolute." I chastise him

      "Yes sir." Nico sighs, he takes a seat against a tree

      "We remember Malachi, always." Demarais seemed lost in what to say to me. "For me..." Her voice drifts off "I don't mind being on the battlefield. I don't think that sitting in an office suits me. Plus, I don't know the first things about it. I grew up a commoner, my father put more effort into my siblings that had a knack for business. Me, I'm happy being a Mage. I achieved my dream of being a Grandmaster Mage. I have you to thank for that, Malachi." Demarais tells me. For this takeover, I brought two of the most powerful mages in the Empire.

I brought thirty knights with me, all top-of-the-line knights. I know what a small legion would be capable of if we planned right.

Plus I have great confidence in both myself and my comrades. Now, all we have to do is wait for nightfall.