Chapter 85

The sun was starting to hide behind the horizon.  It had been hours since the meeting began, and they were still there talking.  They haven’t been outside, not even to eat, they had asked for food to be delivered to them.  After a few hours my family and I had gone to our room and spent some time just talking.  They all had worked hard to avoid any reference to the meeting, and I knew that my children were trying to avoid any reminder or what had happened to stop me from feeling bad.

Even if I was grateful for what they were trying to do, I couldn’t help but feel worse knowing it was so obvious how affected I had been by the situation.  Even if there was no talk about the meeting, I knew they were keeping tabs on it, their mood changes and hidden silences made me suspect they were keeping communication with Kimball, or maybe even Antrax to stay up to date with what they were discussing at the meeting.

In the afternoon we decided to leave the room and went to other common area, one on the lower floor, and sat down around one of the salt water pools.  While we watched the sunset, Ethan had started a game, one we used to play when he was younger.  Using some of the pool’s water, we started to create different shapes, while the others tried to copy it, once the copy was perfect, the first one to get the perfect copy then changed the shape and waited for the other to copy it.  As soon as they had understood the game dynamics, Malkia and Greca had joined us.  Once the game started to get too repetitive, we started to create basic weapons and started fighting with them.

Fighting with water weapons wasn’t easy, so one of the first things I did was to transform them into ice.  Freezing salty water was harder than freezing simple water, but if you managed to separate the salt from the water it became easier.  Since I knew the direction the game was taking, since I had played it many times before, I had started the process of separating the salt with each transformation I did, and when the time arrived, it was easy to freeze the water around a center of salt.  Ethan knew about the freezing the water trick, but I saw the moment he realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as usual, he hadn’t taken into account the fact that we were using sea water, and I could see him having trouble freezing it.  It was easy to destroy their first weapons, since they were not fully frozen, and I watched as they struggled to copy my trick, not knowing exactly what I had done.

I was so focused on the game that I didn’t notice the figure stalking me until he took out of my seat and into his arms, luckily I noticed it was Kimball before I attacked, as I was prepared to do.  Kimball sat in my place and then set me on top of him.  It wasn’t a proper position, but that didn’t matter, I was in Kimball’s arms, and after a long, difficult day, it felt really nice.

“How did it go?  Did you manage to reach an agreement?”

“It was a very productive day, even if we didn’t get too far, that people is terrible, and when dealing with so many points of view and different ideas, it’s very complicated to agree on something, but there was a very important subject we were discussing, and we are already working on the fine details,” Kimball answered.  “You will need to come with me tomorrow, by the way, there is something we need to discuss that needs your presence, no matter what Stone wants.”

“I’m not sure if I want to be part of the meetings after I was kicked out like that.”

“Those against you are a minority, most people support you and are on your side.”

“Melchizedek asked me to get out of that place.  If it was just Stone, I’m sure I wouldn’t have any trouble fighting for my rights, but when he asked me to leave…”

“He had his reasons, as you always say.  Seers, in case you haven’t noticed, always have their secret plans, and have reasons for everything they do.  Some of the topics we discussed today, and one of the reasons we want you there tomorrow, would have been more difficult to talk about if you had been there.”

“And what was discussed that would have been affected by my presence?” Kimball smiled at me, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if the was mocking me, or just didn’t want to answer me.

“We aren’t supposed to repeat any of what happened today, they don’t want any of our plans being discussed until we have a definitive agreement.  However, I can tell you that what we want to discuss has to do with your future, and with Aquarium.”

“I guess they want Aquarium as neutral ground,” that was one of the possibilities I had seen in my visions.  There were other things, but most of the future was foggy, and I couldn’t really see it.

“Something like that.  We will talk more about it tomorrow.”

I knew that I could have pressured Kimball into giving me more information, or maybe even someone else.  It would have been so easy to get into someone’s mind and see what had happened.  I could even go into the fog and walk the set paths, the ones that showed what had already happened.  There were many things that could be done, but I decided to wait.

The next day I walked with Kimball back to the meeting room, but he asked me to wait outside.  I was starting to get angry again, but just a few minutes later William arrived and asked me to follow him.  There were three new seats in the middle of the room, and I was guided to the one in the center, but I didn’t take it, I wasn’t going to sit down so they could look down on me, I wanted to be able to look them all eye to eye.

“Thank you for joining us today,” President Yu greeted me, “especially after what happened yesterday.  I would like to start by saying you don’t have to agree to anything we are going to discuss today, you are free to refuse any of our requests if you don’t feel comfortable with any of it.”

“Thank you, President.  You should already know that I never do anything I don’t want to do,” I knew my words could be considered hostile, but I wasn’t worried about that.

“We are looking for a place where we can set our International Tribunal.  A neutral place where everyone can feel safe.  During our discussions yesterday, the possibility of using Aquarium was mentioned,” Yu said.

“For many of us, there isn’t a safer place than Aquarium.  Many of us lived there as refugees, and we remember it with affection.  For those that are not part of the Dominion, it is a safe place because it’s under your protection, and for all of us, that’s very important,” William said.

“Aquarium has always been neutral ground, first it was a refuge for all of those from Mzansi who were in danger during the war with the Dominion, then for all of those in danger in the Dominion, once we became part of them.  Right now it’s a place that’s it’s open to every investigator and developer who want a safe place to work.  Even if Aquarium is part of Mzansi, since we were the main investors in the project, as I explained to the other leaders yesterday, Aquarium has always been yours, it was my gift to you, and therefore, I can’t make any decisions over it.  Because of that, the only one with the authority to decide if Aquarium can host the Tribunal, it’s you.”

“As you say, Aquarium was a gift to me, but I can’t pretend it’s only mine, many people now call it their home.  Aquarium’s doors have always been open to those in need, and that’s something that won’t change any time soon.  Keeping it as neutral territory is a given, and if you want to use it for the Tribunal, I have no problem with that.”

“Thank you, Kaiserin,” President Yu told me.  “If you are so kind as to take a seat, we have other topics to discuss.”

I decided to sit down, feeling more comfortable with the situation.  Besides, I didn’t see Melchizede, but Malkia sitting with the people from the Light, and I was curious to know what was going on with that.  William walked out of the room again, and came back a moment later, followed by Sofia and Melchizedek, who took the seats to either side of me.

“We spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do.  One of the decisions we arrived at, was to create a new organization that helps us keep the peace and balance between all of us.  We decided to create a Tribunal, an organization we can go to when we have disagreements, one we can respect enough to listen to.  But we also need it to interfere when they think someone is about to make a mistake that can affect others,” William started to explain.

“We all agreed that the people in charge of this new organization have to be people we can all respect, people with integrity and the ability to make decisions that are best for everyone.  After thinking about it, we realized we already have those people with us, and that they have been doing a great work for a while, and that it was time to recognize their hard work and give them the position they deserve,” Luzian said.

“For your constant work and the sacrifices you have done in the name of your people, for your powers and your ability to see into the future and make the best decisions you can based on that, the people of the Light would be honored, father, if you will do us the favor of representing us in the new Tribunal.”

Melchizedek got out of his seat, with a smile on his lips.  He didn’t look at me or Sofia, but I could feel his attention on us.  “It would be my honor to keep working for the good of every person in the world as the representative of the Light, and I promise I will keep using my powers to look for the best solutions for my people, and all the people in the world.”

“Thanks, father,” Mistral said.

“I know you have said in the past that you no longer wish to take on the responsibility of a work like this,” William started, “truth is, you have already given your life to the service of our people, even if you think you let us down with what happened during my sister’s rule, I know you did your best, and eventually, you helped the Dominion to go back to what it used to be.  Because of that, I ask you to keep using your powers for the good of our people and that you accept to represent the Dominion in this new Tribunal.”

“I have always done my best, but I have let you all down in the past.  I made mistakes, I was weak, but I have learned from those mistakes and I’m willing to work in this new phase.  My time working in the Dominion ended a long time ago, but this is different, and I’m ready to give it my best, and to show you, and show myself, that I can do better, and that I can still be useful.”

“Thank you mother,” William said with a smile, and then his eyes locked with mine.

I didn’t need my powers to know what was coming next.

“When they first introduced this idea, they said they needed people capable of respecting and understanding the different points of view of all the people in this new experiment.  Immediately one person came to mind,” Molpadia said, “in our divided and war filled world, only you were capable of teaching us how to see the other people’s point of view, you taught us that people can see the same situation through different glasses, and that that doesn’t mean one of them is wrong, but it also doesn’t mean they are right.  You taught us to find the middle point.”

“You have already proven you are capable of holding a position like this, because you have done it before.  You understand how the Free Clans work, and the Allied Clans, and you have taught us how to put our differences aside and work together.  You also understand the people of the Light and the Dominion.  You know people, you understand them, and you know where to draw the line and what lines to cross when needed,” Spike added.

“Because of all that, we think that the right person to represent all the clans, it’s you, Kaiserin,” Pompeyo said, formally.  “We already asked you to open the doors of your home, and now we are asking for your time and work.  Aunt, right now I’m asking you to represent our people in this new tribunal.”

I glanced at Kimball, who had a satisfied smirk on his face.  William and Mistral were looking at me eagerly.  I had the impression that Melchizedek already knew this was going to happen the previous day, and that was why he asked me to step outside, he wanted to catch me by surprise, he didn’t want to give me time to think about it.  During all our history together, Melchizedek had always been there to support me, but it also wouldn’t be the first time he went full Seer on me and hidden information from me.  I couldn’t be mad at him, but I wasn’t happy about the trick he had played on me.

“During all my life I have used my powers to help others, I don’t see why I would have to stop now.  If there is a way I can help others have a better life, then that’s what I will do.  I accept to represent the Clans in this new tribunal.”

I could feel that some of them had been unsure as to what I would respond, and they were more calm after my agreement.  I was surprised by the acceptance I could hear and feel from the people around me, I didn’t expect so many people to support me, especially not after being kicked out of the place just the previous day, but at the same time I understood those were different circumstances, and that they seemed more comfortable choosing me for a new position that to recognize me as part of the governments I had left behind me.

To represent my own people, make me feel connected to my roots.  I knew it wouldn’t be an easy task, but at the same time it felt right.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about people, and that if my powers needed me, I would do my best to help people, which would be so much easier from my new position.

There wasn’t much time to think after accepting my new position, because they immediately went to explain what had happened the previous day and what was the part they wanted us to play, while we started to give our own suggestions about it.  Little by little the new world was taking shape, and my role in it was starting to come together.

We still had a long way to go, but the foundations were set.  And even better, I wouldn’t be alone.  Melchizedek was a strong presence, but at the same time he was the pillar that could hold you up and would be always be there to support you.  Sofia was a woman that had lived a long life and was full of experiences, that made her a fountain of wisdom.  Despite the three of us being high level Seers, we didn’t always share the same ideas, and that was something that was going to be useful in our new job.  I knew they would temper my fighting instincts, and I would give them the strength and push to act when needed.

Ch 84-b

The first vote was to decide if they should let the observers stay, and it was a long and complicated process, setting the bar for how complicated the rest of the negotiations were going to be. Some of the leaders were content to wait and listen as the others were engaged in heated arguments. Some were worried people would start to migrate. Not only the people from the Dominion worried that people from the clans or the Light would start moving to the Dominion, but the clans were worried that people from the Dominion would go to their territories and try to change the way they thought or acted, and people from the Light recognized how vulnerable they were and worried that some people would decide to take advantage.

At the end it all boiled down to lack of trust. The three powers barely knew each other and there wasn’t enough trust between them. While some were eager to start relationships, more than one was ready to find a way to take advantage of the others while others worried about being the ones being taken advantage of.

“You have a clear advantage over us,” Molpadia was saying. “While we lost most of our history before the Great War, you still remember. When you say you want things to go back to what they used to be, it’s hard for us to understand what you mean, since we don’t share the same stories, we can’t know for sure that things were better before.”

“Besides, if it was so perfect before, how come we ended up fighting the Great War? It’s clear something went wrong,” Spike added. “Instead of trying to get things to be like they used to be, why don’t see into the future? Start new?”

“We look into the past to learn from it so we can correct our mistakes,” Melchizedek said. “It’s true we can’t do things the same way, but we can take what happened in the past and improve on it.”

“When we created the Dominion it was thinking of that,” William said. “After World War I, the nations created an institution that was supposed to stop another war, but just a few years later the World War II started. The countries learned from their mistake and created the United Nations, among other institutions created to stop that kind of war from happening again. Many people think that their lack of a real army was one of the reasons they were unable to stop the war, so when we created the Dominion we gave it their own army, but we all know what happened with my sister. I guess even you have heard the story?” William asked the clans and the Light.

“Both my aunt and my sister told me a little about what happened to the Dominion, what I can’t understand is, if your government already failed you once, why go back to the same method? Why tempt fate?” Pompeyo asked.

“Queen Sofia tried to warn us what was going to happen, and we have set some rules to avoid it from happening again. We also have to admit that what we are doing here is another way in which we will try to stop it from happening again. These alliances that we are building are a way for us to keep ourselves in check and stop our government from losing control again,” Yu explained.

“What we have been thinking about, is building some kind of international tribunal, an institution capable of stepping in when there’s trouble, to act even if there is no one asking for help yet,” Melchizedek said. “But we need a law, a set of rules in which we all agree that sets the tone and defines what can be done and what not. Which crimes we can’t let go and which are to be managed by each country. We need to work with the details, and I’m sure we won’t all agree about them, but we will need the majority to decide what path to follow.”

“What have you seen?” Luzian asked, she was the only one representing the Light’s clergy. “I know you have an idea of what to do. The Seers have always been a source of wisdom and comfort for the rest of us.”

“It’s not my place to say it,” Melchizedek answered.

“We need people capable of understanding the different points of view of the people in this new institution,” Luzian said, “someones who not only understands, but respect the different points of view and is able to reach the best solution for everyone. We need someone capable of understanding the consequences of their decisions, and capable of acting accordingly.”

“I think there is a person that is perfect for the position, if you are willing to consider her,” Spike said. “Her actions while she was with us prove that she is capable of doing all of that and more.”

“When Kaiseirn arrived to the Amazon’s territory, she was looking for sanctuary, but she ended up being our salvation. She not only helped us with the war we were fighting, but her actions helped prevent a future war with the Empire, and what could have ended killing thousand of people.”

“Besides her actions and teachings were the foundations in which we build the alliance that now unite all the Free Clans,” Spike said.

“You all give that woman too much credit,” Felinae interrupted. “You are so blinded by her that you don’t realize she is using you all. I know her, and I was a victim of her ambition. She not only destroyed my people, but she captured me and then gave me to our enemies as payment for an alliance that would secure her position in her clan. You all are falling into her game without realizing that all she is doing is looking after herself.”

“As Seers, our job is mostly difficult. For Kaiserin, it wasn’t easy to give you to Rex. While she was visiting me, I had a vision of you, next to Rex, and I shared that vision with her, we both knew it was important for the future for you two to be together. Your choices were to die with your clan, whose ending was inevitable, or to join a new clan. One path led to certain death, the other at least gave you a chance at a future,” Melchizedek explained.

“I don’t care about your stories. Neither you, nor Kaiserin can understand what I suffered at Rex’s hands, she just didn’t care what happened to me. She had no idea what giving me to him would do to me. They just used me to get more power and to destroy my own clan.”

“You are wrong about that, if someone knows what you had to go through, that’s Kaiserin. You may be just a couple of years younger, but by the time she gave you to the Predators, she had already experienced more than most people, she had already gone through harder tests than you faced. You think she didn’t care about you? It wasn’t easy for her to leave you in Rex’s hands, and she even threatened to take you back if Rex kept mistreating you,” Melchizedek replied.

“My wife is a complicated woman. She has never claimed to be a selfless person, she herself recognized she has flaws. What is true is that she always tries to go for the best scenario, one in which everyone wins, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be willing to sacrifice others to achieve her goals. When she left the Empire and went looking for heaven with the Amazons, she did it for selfish reasons, but once she was there and knew how the situation was, she decided to stay and fight in a war that wasn’t hers, and she saved the Amazons. She also did it for the Empire and what could have happened if the Amazons had lost. Still, after all that, she could have just walked away, but she stayed longer to make sure she could set the seeds of what it’s the Free Clans Alliance.”

“We are aware and recognize all that Kaiserin did for us,” Spike cut in, “I know that without her help I would be dead, and I also know that without her teachings, our people would probably be dead, or at least in a situation that is much more unstable and dangerous than our current one.”

“Kaiserin is always worried about people’s wellbeing, and she takes as hers the people she lives with. Just as she took the Amazon’s fight as her own when she was living with them, once she arrived at Mzansi she took our fight as hers. It was a hard and long journey, and once we realized we couldn’t save Mzansi from becoming part of the Dominion, she focused her efforts on turning the Dominion to what it used to be. Maybe not everyone liked her methods, but Kaiserin did her best trying to minimize the damage and maximize the benefits.”

“From what I have learned from my mother, knowing the future doesn’t mean you have control over it. She saw the Dominion’s crisis coming, and did her very best to prevent what was going to happen, but at the end she was powerless to stop it. For years she had to stay at my sister’s side and witness all the crimes she committed. But she knew that sooner or later Kaiserin would arrive, and that together they would be able to save our people from the nightmare we were living. From what we have seen, being a Seer doesn’t make you infallible, but it helps them search for the best way of doing things,” William said.

“I think it’s clear what we must do,” Luzian said. “The Seers have been carrying the difficult task of guiding us for years. Even if we don’t always understand their actions, the results they have given us are clear. The Goddess herself gave us a powerful weapon that we should not let go to waste: the power of the Seers. We have one from the Light, one from the Darkness and one from the Domain. I think they are the right people to guide this tribunal or whatever institution we want to set in place.”

“I guess that when you said we have one from each of the powers you meant Melchizedek, Kaiserin and Sofia. But there is a problem with that,” Stone said, “first of all, Melchizedek is one of the leaders of the Light, so he can’t take on another position of power. Kaiserin is part of the Dominion, so to pretend she can represent the Darkness, or the clans, however you want to call them, is not accurate, and since Queen Sofia has already rejected other positions of power, there is nothing to assure us that she will agree to occupy this new position.  We also know that Kaiserin has ties to many groups, in the clans and the Dominion, so we can’t guarantee she will be impartial on this.

“Those are valid points,” William said, “but Luzian’s proposal makes sense.  Maybe you haven’t noticed, because you don’t have as much practice dealing with Seers, as some of us do, but from Melchizedek’s words, I think this is exactly what he was thinking of, isn’t it?”

“There are certain points in time that are hard to see, but between what I have been able to glimpse, the chance of a scenario like the one you described is very high.  I would be willing to quit my current position to be part of this new institution you propose.  I can’t speak for Sofia or Kaiserin, but if this is the direction the Goddess wants us to take, I’m sure both of them will accept.”

More voices joined the discussion.  While others thought the proposal was the perfect and the solution to their problems, others insisted that it was crazy to trust their future on those people.

The conversations started to change, they started to discuss the possible structure of this new organization and what locks could be put into place to stop them from abusing their power.  How could they trust the Seers were telling the truth?  If they were truly looking at some distant future, how could they believe that what they were saying was the truth and that their decisions were truly for the greater good?  So much power in few hands was dangerous, and they all agreed that they needed strict and specific rules created especially from stop possible abuses of power.  They thought that it would be better to have more people, not only the three Seers as Luzian had proposed, they would put other people there, representing all the powers in a proportional matter so they could act as helpers and supervisors of the Seers.

Kimball knew it was a good idea and that Kaiserin was going to accept.  No matter how much she insisted she wanted a quiet life, he knew that she couldn’t stop from getting involved if she had a vision telling her that someone needed her help.  The new position would give her the tools she needed to act in case she saw something in her visions, but also to have a more quiet and relaxed life.

At the end of the day, there were still a lot of things to discuss, but at least they had the idea to build their future around.  They still had to talk to Kaiserin and Sofia, and wait for Melchizedek to define his situation, but the future was getting closer, and the end of the road was in sight.

Chapter 80

As soon as I started to come back, I noticed the smell of delicious food, and realized right away that I was starving.  I opened my eyes and saw the dishes in front of me immediately, not wasting any time I took the closest one and started eating.  I realized with the first bite that Kimball was the one responsible for cooking such a delicious meal, I could recognize it any place.

I heard laughter and when I turned to the origin or the sound I found Kimball, I extended my hand to him and as soon as he took it I pulled him closer so I could steal a kiss from him.  More laughter and a groan made me finally realize we weren’t alone in the room, in fact, we were still in the same room as before I had gone into the fog.

“It’s good to have you back with us,” Kimball said as we ended the kiss, “you got us worried for a while.”

“How long was I in trance?”

“Several hours,” Ethan said, moving behind me and giving me a brief hug.

“What happened?” Pompeyo asked.  “Ratu said you were supposed to be right behind her.”

“I needed to make some things clear, and teach Fedelm a lesson so she would finally learn not to mess with me.”

“She is still in a trance,” Ratu said, she looked tired and a little worried.

“And I’m sure she will be for a while longer.  I would suggest to put an IV in her to keep her hydrated.  If she doesn’t come back in another 24 hours I will go back and make sure she comes back.”

“Is he lost?  Is that like going into the astral planes?” Alukah asked.

“It’s not the same, she is lost in time, trapped in a vision in the fog of the future, but she will be fine soon, she is strong, and part of the strength of a seer resides in the ability to find your way.  She is there because she is trying to find and help the rest of her people.”

“Some of the seers already woke up,” Inionri said.

“Those who swore their loyalty to me and promised not to hurt me or mine, that includes Ratu, were taken to the exit, the others are still trapped.  I’m really sorry, Pompeyo, but I think you will lose a couple of seers, at least.  Not all that come back are able to keep their head straight.”

“Those still there defied my orders, they deserve whatever happens to them.”

I couldn’t help but to smile at his words, the loyalty he felt toward his sister was first, and that was huge.  Ratu was about to face some difficult times and she needed all the support she could take.

“Eat,” Kimball said, pushing the plate in my direction, reminding me how hungry I was.  Even if I should have been angry at his command, I was so hungry I forgot to protest and just started eating again.

“What’s the plan?” Inionri asked.

“I think there’s not much we can do right now,” Ethan said, taking control of the situation and letting me eat in calm, “other than giving the seers an IV to keep them healthy, there nothing we can do but wait.  We still have some meetings scheduled, so I would recommend we all take as much time as we can to sleep and rest, you have the General’s breakfast in a few hours and then the meeting with the rest of the clan leaders.”

Pompeyo stared at Ethan, he knew he was right, and that it was important to keep acting as if nothing was happening, he couldn’t let the rest of the clans know that he had an issue with his own people, in fact, he needed to come up with an excuse for his action the previous day.  His only problem is that he didn’t want to follow Ethan’s advice.

“Some rest sounds great,” Maddan said.  “I can send a group of people to take care of the seers and then prepare a different room for tomorrow’s meeting… or move the meeting for later.  What do you think, Emperor?”

“Go ahead.  Sleep sounds good right now.  Tomorrow we will take care of Fedelm and will decide what to do with the other seers.  Maybe it’s time to change some things, their isolation has made them think they are not part of the clan, and they can’t forget who is in charge here.  I’m afraid that I will have a very serious talk with Fedelm once she wakes up.”  Pompeyo looked at his sister and I could tell they were having a silent conversation.  I didn’t need to hear to know what they were talking about, or to tell they were thinking about the brother they shared, Fedelm’s son.  Anything they did would end up affecting him, and apparently neither of them wanted that.

Little by little people left the room, a group came in to take care of Fedelm, but other than them, me and my family were the only ones in the room, even Antrax had left at some time.  When my hunger was satisfied, I started to feel tired.

“I think it’s time to go,” Kimball said, taking me into his arms.

“Let me down!” I demanded immediately, but he only shook his head and kept walking.

“At this time only guards are walking through the hallways, and even if that wasn’t the case, you must be exhausted, and it’s my right to take care of you, so you will have to endure my help.”

I tried to get angry at Kimball, but it was hard, so I just allowed him to carry me to the room.  Even if the time we had to rest was short, I felt so much better when he woke me up for the meeting.  As usual, he had everything ready to start a new day.

Everyone was curious about what had happened the previous day, but Pompeyo didn’t allow them to move from the main topics of discussion, it was necessary to reach an agreement before the other leaders left for their respective clans.

“What’s most important right now is that those who share a border with the Rebel Clans talk to Malkia so you can agree on how to conduct negotiations with them.  I also have to insist for you to start thinking how you want to deal with the people from the other world powers.  Soon we will be opening for trade with the Rebel Clans, the new Light People and the Dominion.  All of this can be good for you, if you just allowed it to be.”

Most of the clans’ resistance was gone, a few weren’t convinced yet, and I was sure that in the next few weeks, or maybe months there would be some conflicts, but Pompeyo had changed a lot and his reign was very strong, I trusted he was going to be able to face any issues presented to him.  Besides, I was there to help in any way I could.  For me it was very important to make sure my clan was doing well, despite what some of them thought.

Once the meeting was over, they announced the time and place for the feast that would close all festivities that year.  There were a few hours to go before the feast and I still had a few things to talk about to Pompeyo.  Luckily, he was thinking the same, and before I walked away, he sent me a psychic message letting me know he wanted to meet with me in another, smaller, room.

I arrived with Kimball and found that Pompeyo wasn’t alone, both Ratu and Inionri, as well as Alukah and Maddan were with him.

“What’s going on?”

“Fedelm is awake, and it seems that most of the seers also woke up, Fedelm says that those that aren’t awake are already lost,” Pompeyo said.

“If you wish it, I can go into the fog and look for them, I told them I would only help if they turned their backs on Fedelm, but I think we are past that at the moment, we can forget about that, and their minds will already be affected, one way or another for being on that place for so long.”

“Do it, if you want, but as I said, they ignored my orders, therefore they are not a priority.”

“But we do have a problem we want to discuss with you,” Inionri said, “Fedelm insists that Ratu needs proper training to focus and control her powers, and that if she doesn’t agree she will face problems sooner or later, and will most likely end up lost in the fog.”

“That’s not entirely wrong.  One of the reasons Melchizedek asked me to visit him before I woke up as a seeress was because he wanted to offer to be my teacher, he knew I would need that help.  I have to be honest, I’m not the best option to teach Ratu, and I could offer Fatima’s help, but she told me herself that Ratu’s potential is bigger than hers, and even if Fatima has been a great help to me, I also had Melchizedek and Sofia to guide me, and they are two of the most powerful seers in the world.”

“What are you trying to say?  You won’t help me?” Ratu asked, angry.  I was about to remind her that I had already helped her by giving her the protection she needed to stay away from Fedelm, but she was right, my help wasn’t much good if I couldn’t help her to control her powers.

“I have a better idea, in fact.  We already talked about how important it is to have a presence in the Dominion, and about the possibility of sending an Ambassador to act as a bridge between the Empire and the Dominion.”

“I thought we already had one, with you,” Pompeyo interrupted.

“But I can’t be all the time in Capital City, I have other responsibilities.  Having someone there full time is in your best interest.”

“I don’t get it, I thought we were here to talk about my daughter, not the relationship between the Empire and the Dominion.”

“Queen Sofia is one of the best seeress in the world, and she lives in Capital City, I’m sure if I ask her, she will have no problem teaching Ratu all she needs to control her powers,” for a moment they were silent, they were finally understanding my point.

“Do you want me to go into hostile territory and put myself in the hands of a woman I don’t know?” Ratu asked.

“If I thought you would be at risk, I wouldn’t suggest it, but you will be safe there.  Capital City is a place that was created as a way to have a neutral place where all the countries in the Dominion could co-exist.  It has a strong military presence which only job is to keep peace and stop fights between members of the Dominion, that would include you.  You only have to stay there long enough for Sofia to teach you what you need to survive in the fog and be at peace with your visions.”

“When you went into the fog you asked Kimball to contact Melchizedek and Sofia, but it was Melchizedek who came to your aid,” Pompeyo pointed out.

“Sofia was asleep, because of the time zones it was easier to contact Melchizedek, but if he hadn’t been available, I’m sure that Sofia would have come help her,” Kimball said, “she owes us a lot, and will do whatever she can to pay.  You can trust her.”

“What do you think?” Pompeyo asked his sister.

“In a way I would feel better if it was Kaiserin who taught me what I need to know about clairvoyance, but if she thinks this is for the best, then I obviously would prefer the best.  My only goal is to be useful to you and our people, and if that woman, Sofia, is the best, that’s what I want.  If being there also helps us, I will do that, I’m not afraid of anything.”

“I know, I know you are not afraid, but right now all I want is what’s best for you.”

“And I can assure you Sofia is the best.  Besides, she only needs a few months.  If she is not looking for a position like Fedelm’s, all she needs is to learn the basics to be able to live with her visions without going crazy or losing herself in time.  It could be a short time, or longer, depending on her wants and needs, but I’m sure that’s for the best.  We will be leaving tomorrow, but if you need more time to think about this, all you need to do is call me and I will come for you and take you to Sofia.”

“I don’t think I need more time, I will be ready to leave tomorrow.”

After a while, each of us went our separate ways, we still needed to get ready for the feast, and I knew Ratu needed some time alone with her family.  I knew that her problems with Fedelm had affected her family relationships, Fedelm had been, after all, one of my brother’s women, but as much as it pained me, I had never been part of that family.  My fight with Fedelm in the fog had made it clear who was stronger between us, and also had proven that we would never be able to be on the same side.

Chapter 79

Time goes flying.  It was hard to believe it had already been a year since I had returned to being part of the Empire.  My visits had been few and short, but still I felt like I was back home.  Walking through the hallways besides Kimball and my son was an especially pleasurable experience, it was a way to share with them a part of me I couldn’t before.

Our dynamic was a little complicated, Kimball was there as a representative of the Shadows’ Clan, but I was there as part of the Imperial Clan.  Ethan was always changing his title depending on circumstances or his mood, sometimes he was the heir to the Shadows’ Clan, sometimes he was just another youngster in the Empire.  I knew that he would get in trouble because of that, sooner or later, but until that moment, I just let Ethan do whatever he wanted.

The Reunion arrived without giving me a chance to talk to my daughters, for some reason their caravan had been delayed, and we didn’t get a chance to catch up.  I finally saw them when we were walking inside the meeting place, Greca and Ethan were going to the Heirs meeting while Malkia and Antrax were with us as part of the meeting with Pompeyo.

The tension that had been there during our previous meetings was gone, as was the animosity between the Imperials and the Assassins.  Everyone in the room could tell something had changed.  Pompeyo looked more calm and in complete control, and that change in attitude was having a clear impact on the rest of the leaders.

The first part of the meeting went without problems, it was mostly an overview of the agreements and problems the Empire had faced since the last time we had gathered, but at the end of the meeting it took an unexpected turn.  First, it was something I was already expecting, it was a full introduction to what the Dominion was and the plans we had to trade with them.  Some clans already knew about them and were already working on their own deals and the possibilities the Dominion opened to them, but for most the Dominion was something they didn’t understand, something Pompeyo had tried to change with his speech.  Then there was a mention of their plans with the Light, but the important part was what came after that.

“During the last few weeks we have been negotiating with the Rebel Clans and we reached a cooperation agreement,” Pompeyo announced.  “Before any of you decides to say something, you have to understand this is something that was going to happen sooner or later.  Things have changed a lot in the last few years, our new reality is that we don’t have to be constantly at war with someone, there are better ways of using our time and resources.  Right now we are working on finding a new way to set the limits between the territories of the Rebels Clans and our people.  Once those issues are resolved, both sides have agreed that the fights over territory will end, in exchange, we agreed on working on trade agreements with the Rebel Clans.”

“You really expect those people to respect any agreement?” one of the leaders of one of the clans that shared a border with the Rebel Clans protested.  “They will go back to trying to steal our territories as soon as they can, they can’t help it, it’s part of their nature, and that won’t change just because you sign a few treaties.”

“Once those treaties are signed and the limits are drawn, any part that tries to take more territory than assigned will have to fight, not only the affected clan and their allies, but their own allies as well,” Malkia explained.

“Malkia has been working with us and with the Rebel Clans trying to find the perfect solution to that kind of issues, in case we find them, and we have concluded that the best way to deal with them is by creating a new independent group that will be in charge of negotiating the borders and then dealing with anyone who breaks the treaties.  The punishment the offending group will receive will the same as if any of you decided to betray the Empire.”

“And why is an Assassin working with Imperial matters?” someone asked.

“Even if Malkia is an Assassin by adoption, she is also part of the Imperial Clan, as you all know.  Anyway, the reason she is working with us is not important, she is doing it, and when the time arrives, you will have to work with her.  There will be other changes in the Empire as well, but those changes won’t affect your territories or your lifestyle, unless you decide to make changes by yourselves.”

“I’m not sure I understand the advantages these proposed changes will have for our people,” one of the leaders said.  “To me, it seems all of these only benefits, as usual, the members of the Imperial Clan.”

“That only proves how short sighted you are,” Flora said, “the opportunities are there, you just have to see them and take them.  Nothing will fall on your lap, you need to work for what you want.”

“It looks to me that this a good opportunity for us,” said the leader of one of the lower clans, one that was under complete control of the Imperial Clan, “and we still have to give them a chance before deciding it’s a bad idea, anyway.”  I could tell he was already considering this his chance to find more freedom, and find a way to improve his standing in the Empire.  That was the kind of reaction I was looking for, and I hoped more people would realize that and start taking advantage of the changes.

“The changes will come one way or another, it’s up to you to decide if you are going to take advantage of the situation or not,” Malkia said.  “Instead of fighting and trying to delay the inevitable, I would recommend you to start looking for ways to make these changes work in your favor.  The world is bigger than we thought, and it’s time to adapt or we will be left behind the rest of the world.”

“You’re just saying that because this benefit you and your clan, but the rest of us don’t have the same advantages as you,” one of the leaders said, looking at me and then to Kimball in a significative way.

“Those are just excuses,” Zola said, and the excuses are nothing more than the tools the weak use to justify why they don’t have what others do.  You can take advantage of the opportunities presented to you, even create your own, or you can keep crying because your clan is staying behind while the rest of the Empire moves forward to the future.”

“People in the Dominion have a lot to offer, but so do you,” Kimball added.  “There are people in my world that is not so happy with the new agreements we are working on, but there are others that are open to trade and are already looking forward to what you have to offer, this new trade agreements will open the doors for you to obtain great benefits, especially from our technology.”

“We don’t need their help,” the right hand of the Tecnnologic Clan said.  “We are more than capable to create our own tech, we don’t need your help.”

“Maybe you have great advances in the war side of inventions, but we use our tech in every aspect of our life,” Kimball said.

The discussion was still going between them when I started to get uneasy, and then I was hit by a wave of energy, a wave in the fog.  No one else seemed to notice any change, they were all still talking, or more accurately, fighting over the changes, but I knew something was going on, and after a while I realized that it was Ratu, she had awoken as a seeress.

Ratu, just like other members of the Imperial Clan, was watching the proceedings from one of the corners of the room, since she was not a General, she couldn’t sit on the table, but she was still part of the proceedings.  Because of her position no one realized something was going on with her, even with her air barrier waking up when her vision started, no one was close enough to feel the air currents moving around her.

Some started to pay attention when she got up and went to the door, I could tell by her movements she couldn’t wait to be out of there, but I wasn’t sure why she was so eager to get away, not until I realized that Fedelm was in the room, and even with the blindfold over her eyes, I could tell that all her attention was focused on Ratu.

‘Ratu just woke as a seer, and Fedelm will try to go after her, you have to do something,‘ I let Pompeyo know, he sent a quick look my way, but nothing else betrayed the fact that he wasn’t paying all his attention to the issue at hand.

My focus, on the other hand, was far away from the discussion taking place in the room.  When Fedelm got out of her seat, she caused a bigger reaction than Ratu, since she was sitting at the table, even if she was on the other side of it, it was hard not to notice her.

I didn’t need my powers to tell that Pompeyo was talking to her, trying to make it clear that she couldn’t leave, but from her expression, I could tell that Fedel was going to ignore him.

“The Reunion is not over yet,” Pompeyo said out loud.

“I’m so sorry, but there is an important issue I have to take care of, it’s something related to my people and it can’t wait,” Fedelm said.

“I suggest you get back to your seat,” Pompeyo said, the strength in his voice left no room for further protests.  Fedelm went back to her place, but I knew she wasn’t going to give up so easily.  Fedelm’s trick of blinding herself to improve her clairvoyance powers made it hard to see in which state she was.  It was easy to see if someone was in a trance if their eyes were open, but not in her case with her eyes hiding under the blindfold, and the way she was sitting, it was also hard to read if she was just relaxed or out of her mind.  But despite all that, I was sure that Fedelm had stepped into the fog, and I worried about that.  I started to feel bad, just before I was attacked, a feeling that reminded me of the time they had trapped me in a vision.  It had been a long time since then, Sofia had helped me learn how to fight back, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t worried about it.  Even if I could fight back, I knew that Ratu had no training and was vulnerable, especially since she had left the room.

‘Fatima, I need you to find Ratu,‘ as usual, my guards had to wait outside the room, and it was very possible they had seen the way Ratu had left and were able to find her.

‘Any particular reason for that?‘ I could read on Fatima’s mind.

‘I’m worried about her, she just woke up and became a prime target for Fedelm,‘ a bunch of impressions went through Fatima’s mind, and I realized something that I wasn’t expecting, Fatima hadn’t felt Ratu’s awakening, which could only mean that Ratu was a stronger seeress than Fatima, and I had always had the impression that Ratu wouldn’t be than powerful.  Still, the fact that Fedelm had noticed her, meant that she was still stronger than Ratu.

My vision was going blurry, I guessed that had something to do with the fact that they were still trying to trap me in a vision.  I wasn’t sure why they were still insisting on that, they already knew they couldn’t get to me that way, even inside the fog, my body was able to protect itself, and that wasn’t taking into account the fact that I was surrounded by all my friends and allies, any attack would be unsuccessful.  But maybe they weren’t after me, they were just trying to keep me busy.

I was still feeling uneasy, and had stopped to even try to pay attention to what was going on there.  I needed to go and see what was going on, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to interrupt the meeting.

“Kaiserin!  What’s happening to you?” Kimball asked, his voice breaking the trance I had been starting to fall into even without noticing.

“Mother?” Malkia asked from the other side.

I felt something wet under my nose and noticed I was bleeding.  Clairvoyance had never been one of my favorite powers, and the truth was that there were a lot of things I still didn’t understand from that power.  I had thought nothing would happen if I kept fighting the pull to fall into the fog, but maybe the effort of staying out of it was having a bigger impact on me that I had thought.

“Could you excuse me for a moment? I have to go take care of something,” when I tried to stand up I felt dizzy, I wasn’t sure if I was being attacked by someone in the room or if it was another secondary effect of the other attack.  Something that was clear was that I wasn’t just fighting Fedelm, there were other seers involved in it.  I was sure that one, or even a couple of them wouldn’t be able to affect me like that.

“What is happening?” Pompeyo asked me out loud, I was sure he had already guessed it had something to do with Fedelm and Ratu.

‘Fedelm is planning something, and if I’m being affected by it, I can only imagine what Ratu is going through,‘ I told him telepathically.

“Stay,” Pompeyo ordered, “the rest of you, we will continue with this meeting later, it seems there is something I have to take care of.

“But…” someone started to protest.

“You heard the Emperor,” Maddan interrupted, “we will continue our discussion later, tomorrow we have another meeting, we will continue then.  Take this time to think about everything we discussed today, maybe tomorrow you will be more willing to reach an understanding.”

“Don’t even think we will leave,” Kimball said, getting out of his seat and going to my side.  “What is going on with you?  How can I help?” Kimball put his arm around my shoulders, offering his support and protection, something that I was going to need.

One of Pompeyo’s guards went to where Fedelm was sitting and proved that she was in a trance, I guessed she was in the fog, maybe she even had Ratu trapped there.  I waited until the rest of the clan had left the place to explain what was going on.  Only the Assassins and the Shadows remained, mostly because they were worried about me, it was not normal for me to bleed.

“Ratu woke up as a seeress a few minutes ago, and it seems that Fedelm haven’t accepted that she won’t be under her control.  The moment Ratu left the room, I could feel that Fedelm wasn’t going to let her go easily, she has been trying to trap me in a vision since then, and I have a feeling that she did something similar to Ratu.  Even if she will be able to keep her enemies away, I’m afraid that sooner or later the effort could prove to be too much, we need to stop Fedelm before she has a chance to hurt Ratu.

“And how can we do that?” Inionri asked, I could see she was worried, even if she was trying to appear calm.

“I will go into the fog, but not following the path that Fedelm wants me to follow.  Kimball, try to contact Sofia or Melchizedek, it would be useful to have some support in the fog.  Inionri, if you can reach the rest of the seers and make them stop the attack, that would be a great help.  And if someone can find a way to take Fedelm out of her trance, it would make our fight easier.”

People around me started to move as soon as I spoke, I could tell that Inionri was worried, Pompeyo also looked worried, but mostly he looked mad, which was good for me.  Taking my seat again, I went into the fog, the storms I could see in the landscape were a clear sign that many seers were involved it whatever it was they were doing.  Walking through the fog was already hard, but it was even worse with the storms, a seer’s hand could cause chaos in that place, but through my years I had been able to navigate the fog even in worse conditions, although without an anchor it would be very hard, I trusted that Sofia or Melchizedek would arrive in time to help me find my way back.

The advantage of the storm was that it was showing me what way to go, and I moved closer, I noticed a big number of seers already there, it was as if every seer in the Empire was gathered there, it was very likely that was the case.  In the fog things were different than in the real world, we were in a different reality.  Despite the threats of the group around me, I knew they couldn’t hurt me, all they could do was try to get me lost in the currents of time, but I was better than them at finding my way, and because of that, I was able to reach Ratu.

“This has been a harsh awakening,” I said, trying to make the situation a little more normal.

“What is this place?  Where am I?” she asked, a little scared an a lot lost.  I didn’t need my empathy to realize that she was terrified.  “Where…” her words were cut the moment she stepped into one of the paths and was lost inside a vision, but with me there it was easy to get her back.  “What is going on?” she asked, looking around.  She wasn’t sure what she was looking at, with so many paths and so much information around us it was easy to get distracted and get lost, especially if she didn’t have the right information to find her way.

“We are in the fog of the future, the place where you can see all the possible futures.  Each path is a different possibility, each one can open into even more paths going into infinity.  With so much information available, it’s easy to fall into the trap, but you need to leave your curiosity to the side and resist the temptation of going after every possibility, or you could spend the rest of your life in here.”

“What I saw, I didn’t like it.  Everything we did was to keep me away from the Imperial Seers, but I was trapped by them, under Fedelm’s control, that isn’t what I wanted.”

“There is a possibility that something like that could happen, but that doesn’t means that it will happen, there are other options.”

“Haven’t you done enough damage giving her false hope?” Fedelm interrupted.  “It’s time for her to accept her new reality and embrace her destiny.”

“I should have guessed you would try something like this,” I told Fedelm, “but we both know that even if a path is possible, it doesn’t mean it’s probable.  This path we are standing in, it barely has light, it’s your power that’s keeping it open, but there are other paths that have a better probability of becoming real.  Come with me,” I told Ratu extending my hand in offering, “let me show you other realities, lets see what you can really do with your life if you follow your own path.”

“For every path where I’m not there, I can show her one where I am.  This proves nothing,” Fedelm said.

“The longer you go, the more uncertain the path becomes, and we are far away from the start,” I took Ratu to the breaking point.  “Do you see how these paths are breaking apart?  Those are the possibilities that are no longer, the paths you didn’t take.  “Do you see how behind you there is only one path?  That’s the path you already walked.  Every path in front of you is a different possibility, everyone depends on a decision taken, not always yours.  Right now you are trapped in this place, but you still have many paths in front of you, and those not only depend on the decisions you take right now, it also depends on what’s happening outside.”

“You can’t escape your destiny, some things can’t be ignored, and there is also the risk that the path you follow will take you to an even worse situation that the one you are running from,” Fedel said.

“Do you see how some paths look clearer while other look blurred?” I asked Ratu, ignoring Fedelm and trying to get Ratu to do the same.  “Each path is a possibility, some have a higher probability of becoming real.  When you are studying your future is important to know these differences, sometimes you can find ways of strengthening the paths of increasing their probabilities by taking some decisions or taking certain actions.  This is what Fedelm is doing, she is trying to make sure that only the future where she is in control becomes real, but you can do the same, you can look for the future you want and take the path that takes you to it,” again I asked her to follow me, we started walking through a more defined path, but I didn’t let her stop.  “It’s also important when you choose a path to find the consequences of taking it, and how it affects others, to realize what possibilities you are letting go.”

“This is much more complicated than I expected,” Ratu was only catching fragments of the future that could be, but as I had predicted, the path we were walking wasn’t one that included Fedelm.  “How can I learn about the consequences of each decision taken?”

“That is not easy, it requires a lot of training, you normally can only realize that when you see that in the future you chose, you are missing an important person to you, or you find something worse than what you tried to avoid waiting for you.  In one of my first visions I saw my father died, I was so focused on stopping his death that I didn’t stop to think about the consequences, I ran to his side to protect him, and even if I managed to save him the first time, my victory only lasted a few hours, at the end, I didn’t just lost my father, but also my partner.  But that’s not something you will learn from a moment to another, it requires time and training.”

“My future looks fine in this path, but how do I know that things won’t go bad further along?  The possibilities to explore are too many.”

“And that’s another of the risks of being in this place.  Sometimes you have to go with your gut, sometimes you have to take risks, because if you start looking at every path, every possibility, you will stay here forever.  You’ve already seen that there are other options other than staying under Fedelm’s control, you saw there is a chance to stay free and be part of the Empire.  It’s time to get out of here.”

“But there is so much to see,” Ratu protested.

“It’s easy to lose your notion of time in this place, it’s easy to get lost, but if you stay here, your body will collapse sooner or later.  Right now you could be under attack, and your defense is wasting your energy.  You don’t want to leave here only to find yourself dying because you’re having a psychic headache.

My words scared Ratu into following my instructions to get out of the place.  But I still had a job to do, I couldn’t get away yet.  Fedelm was still near me, but she wasn’t the only one, Melchizedek had finally arrived.

“Thank you for coming, it’s good that you found me,” I told Melchizedek.

“You are a beacon in the darkness, finding you wasn’t hard, the problem is with the people around you.  Even if your power and your presence is creating an oasis in the middle of this chaos, the energy of all these seers is affecting the flow of the fog.”

“I have experience walking through this place, but not enough experience fighting here.”

“Me neither,” Melchizedek said, “you know that I’m a peaceful person, but that doesn’t mean I will let anyone threaten the designs of the Goddess.  At some moment people will have to learn that certain things are inevitable.”

“I’m not afraid of you, nor your friend,” Fedelm told us, a group of seers moving behind her.

If they were looking for a storm, they I would fulfill their wish.  When I was finished with them, they would wish never to have crossed in my path.

Ch 78-b

“The Emperor asked me to see him alone,” Malkia reminded Antrax.

“I know that we have to obey the Emperor’s orders, technically, but there is no way I will let you walk inside that room by yourself.  Not long ago, Pompeyo was doing his best to kill you, and even if your mother left quite the impression here, I won’t risk him thinking it’s worth it to make her mad to get rid of you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Malkia reminded her partner.

“In most cases I would agree with you, but he is the Emperor, besides, he may not be alone, so you won’t be alone either.”

Malkia decided not to argue anymore, in part because she agreed to what Antrax was saying.  From the moment she had received Pompeyo’s letter asking for a meeting, she had been nervous.  She had considered contacting her mother for a moment and ask for advice, but then had decided it was time to make her own decisions and decided to risk it and go see what Pompeyo wanted.  And she was ready to fight, in case she needed to.

When they went into the Throne Room, they found Pompeyo surrounded by his closest collaborators.  A quick scan made Malkia realize that most were not aware of the meeting.  Some were watching her with curiosity, others with open hostility, but she wasn’t about to let anyone know she found the picture a bit intimidating.

“Antrax, what a surprise, I don’t remember including you in my invitation,” Pompeyo said.

“Since Malkia is my partner and the mother of my son, I thought my invitation was implicit,” Antrax said back, and the tension between the two of them was back with a force.  Even if Pompeyo hadn’t tried anything else against us, his last attack hasn’t been forgotten, or forgiven.

“I don’t think this is the right place for our talk,” Pompeyo said, looking around.  “Join me for dinner, it will give us a better chance to talk.  Alukah, Ratu.”

Pompeyo didn’t wait for agreement, he just started walking, trusting he was going to be followed, and he was.  Alukah and Ratu took their places on either side of him, his five guards fanning behind him.  Malkia and Antrax didn’t have any other choice but to follow.  They arrived at the dinning room a few minutes later and each of them took a seat.  Alukah to Pompeyo’s right, Ratu to his left, Antrax opposite to him, with Makia to his right.

“Are you going to tell me why you asked me to come to the Palace?  Or are we going to pretend you didn’t try to kill me several times?” Malkia asked, breaking the silence.  She knew the three Imperialists were using telepathy to talk among themselves, and it was a conversation she didn’t want to be excluded from.

“You need to get over it, Malkia,” Alukah said, “if you are going to let a simple thing like that affect your judgement, you are not ready to play with the grownups, and have no reason to be here.”

“I’m here because I was asked to be here, but I don’t have a problem leaving.  Not because you want me to, or because I’m scared of you, but because I have nothing to prove to any of you, and I don’t have to be here and let you insult me.”

“I have a proposal for you,” Pompeyo interrupted, “and even if Alukah doesn’t like the idea, I think it’s a good one.  I know that our relationship didn’t start in a good way, and I know I let myself get carried away.  You existence was a threat to my government, and since my position was in question, you were a risk for me.”

“Even the Rebel Clans recognized you before recognizing us,” Ratu added, “something that most members of the clan noticed.  You saw yourself the kind of support your mother still has, and before she came here, that support could be easily been given to you.”

“I never tried to take Pompeyo’s position for myself, I wasn’t even here to fight for the throne, and never challenged for the position.”

“The problem is that you didn’t need to, the problem was what you represented.  There were several internal groups that wouldn’t have doubted to use you for their purposes, and few people are able to ignore the temptation to acquire the kind of power that being the Emperor gives,” Ratu said.

“But instead of punishing you for something that could happen, I should have focused on neutralizing those that still opposed me.  Being Emperor is not easy, and it took me some time to get the recognition I deserve.  Your existence, and then your mother’s visit, made a difficult process even harder for me.  But now that my enemies are out of my way and my throne is secure, I realize that some of my actions were unfair.  The fact that Molpadia, Queen of the Amazons said that you were destined to unite the clans affected my judgement, until I realized there are many ways of uniting the clans.”

“All of this is very confusing, and I have no idea what are you trying to say.”

“You have Imperial blood, and are, therefore, part of us.  You don’t have to be the problem, you can be the solution.  From what I have heard about the Dominion, and your brother, as odd as it seems, I have realized that there are many ways to reach stability.  Because of that I have an offer for you.”

“For some reason this feels like a trap,” Antrax said.

“What’s your offer?” Malkia asked.

“I think this is a stupid idea,” Alukah said.

“We want to change things, to stop the fighting.  For a long time we have had a tenuous truce with the Rebel Clans, but we want a formal alliance.  It won’t be an official one, not in the sense that they won’t answer to us, but we want to be open to trade, and find another way to resolve our differences without resorting to fighting,” Pompeyo explained.  “We need someone working for us to be our representative with them, and since you already have open doors to deal with them, we think you are the right person for the job.”

“They think,” Alukah said, making it clear she wasn’t in agreement with what they were proposing.

“You want to send Malkia into the enemy’s territory?  Let her at the mercy of our enemies?”  Antrax wasn’t happy with the proposal, to him, it was just another trap from the Empire, another way to get rid of Malkia.

“If something was clear from our last meeting with the Rebel Clans is the great respect they have for Kaiserin and Kimball.  I’m sure that none of them would do anything to hurt Malkia, out of respect for them.  We are not sending her there because we think we will get rid of her that way, but because we think that she is the right person to represent us, and to open communication with them,” Ratu said.

“What’s your plan?  What do you want to accomplish with this?” Malkia asked, she was interested in what they wanted to say.  She liked the idea, as weird as it sounded, it was something she was willing to explore.

“Frist of all, I want an agreement that there won’t be any attacks between our groups.  After that, we will have to establish some kind of agreement about what is allowed, and what isn’t, and how are we going to punish those that doesn’t follow the rules.  I want to have a system that allows collaboration between us and prevents attacks.  Like Kaiserin said, a war between our groups could do a lot of damage.  From what I have heard about their work in the north, I think they will be willing to consider our proposal.”

“And you want me to convince them it is a good idea?”

“It is a good idea,” Ratu said, “and if someone can convince them of that, it’s you, at least you will be heard.  I’m sure they will be interested in it, they have been working on something like that with their clans, and if they have the chance to do the same with us, they will take the chance.  Especially if it’s you working as the bridge between our groups.”

“You basically want Malkia to do your dirty work, and to suffer the consequences if something goes wrong.  But I have to remind you, she is part of the Assassins, she is the Queen of our clan.”

“She is, as much as it pains me, also part of this clan,” Pompeyo said.  “In fact, as Kaiserin said a lot of times, she has access or claim to every family.  We want her to work as our ambassador, to represent us before the Rebel Clans and present our ideas.  She doesn’t need to leave your clan for that, all she needs is for us to recognize her as one of ours.”

“You don’t have to make a decision right now,” Ratu added, “but it’s a good solution, just think about it.  As our Ambassador you will have the authority to represent us before the other clans, and solve conflicts between our groups.  You would also be in charge of an especial group that would help with the security of our borders, something like an especial forces unit.”

“The idea is for it to have representatives from both the Dark Empire and the Rebel Clans, and if that group becomes a reality, you would be the representative from the Imperial side.  And before you say anything, just think that with the technology we got from the Dominion, it would be possible to have meetings and keep communication at a distance, so you wouldn’t even have to be away from the Assassins’ Clan for that long.  Of course the initial meetings have to be in person, and the reunions about important issues would have to be too, but most of the work could be done at a distance.”

“It seems you have been thinking about this for a long time.”

“I have been thinking about something like this since I had the initial meeting with the people from the Dominion.  It can be the same as what they have, because I know that the Rebel Clans won’t accept to be under our control, but we can find another way to solve our differences and work together that doesn’t involve constant fighting.  As Ratu said, you don’t have to make a decision right now, let’s focus on eating and I will give you time to think about it, and you can give me your answer later.”

Malkia let the conversation move to other topics and focused on her food.  She could see, and feel that Antrax wasn’t happy with the offer, but the opportunity appealed to Malkia.  She had never really considered being part of the Imperial Clan, she was happy with her life, but at the same time, the chance to be and do more, was quite attractive.  The challenge of facing other people and making hard decisions in the name of her people, was tempting.

Her first thought was to talk to her mother, but at the same time, it was something she had to do by herself.  She knew that the connections that Kaiserin had with the Rebel Clans were the reason she had been chosen, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t make it by herself.

The rest of the dinner went by as in a dream, Malkia couldn’t stop thinking about the offer and what it would take.  Unlike Antrax, she didn’t believe it was a trap to get rid of her, and even if they were using her, she couldn’t blame Pompeyo for taking every advantage he had at his disposal.  It was true that she had a great advantage over the others, no one in the north would dare attack her for fear of making Kaiserin mad, besides, if she got into a situation that she couldn’t handle by herself, she was sure her mother would be there to help her.  The offer was getting more and more attractive as time went by, the only obstacle was Antrax.

Chapter 75

It was a great experience to arrive at the Empire and have the doors opened to me.  I wasn’t an invader, but a guest, they even had orders to take me directly to as soon as I arrived.  Part of me wanted to reject his invitation and go directly to my room so I could rest a little bit, but another part, the most sensible part, knew it was better to avoid the game and do the right thing to avoid more problems between us.  I knew there was a reason why he had called for me, and I actually had a good feeling about it.

“Greetings, Emperor, how can I be of service?” I greeted him as soon as I crossed the doors of the Throne Room.  I could see by his face and his emotions that he didn’t believe my words were sincere, that I was just following protocol.

“We have reached a decision, and I want to be very clear about this, it wasn’t about your threats or your words, but because I really think this is the best for me and the Imperialists,” his words and attitude were daring me to challenge him, but I decided to wait and see what he had in mind.  “I was thinking about what you said the last time you were here, and I decided that I want a mutually beneficial relationship with the Light, instead of just conquering them.  After all, there is more than one way of taking advantage of a situation.”

“That sounds good,” I said, with an innocence no one was buying.  “What do you have in mind then?”

“I decided that we could use our experience and weapons to help the Rebels in the Light in exchange of future goods and an advantageous trade deal with them.  As you said they were having issues with control, I thought we could send a group of warriors to help training them and give them what they need to win, of course, they will need to give us preference in any future deals.”

“I have to say, that’s really good, especially the timing, just before any other group manages to do it.  While everyone in the Dominion is scared of how it will look if they get involved, and the groups in the North are still considering dealing with the Dominion, you are going to step in and take advantage of the situation in the Light.  I just came from speaking with some groups in the Light, actually, and I believe many of them will be willing to make deals with you.  They are desperate to get any help they can get.”

“I would ask you to speak to them in my name, but I’m afraid the negotiation wouldn’t be entirely in our favor if you do that.”

“I’m offended you think and don’t have the Empire’s best interest at heart.”

“You are too involved with all the players, and that means I cannot trust you to do what’s best for us and care only for our benefit.  It’s because of that that I think it will be better to send someone else to head the negotiations, all I need you for is to organize the contact between us.”

“Someday you will realize that I’m not your enemy, Pompeyo, but until that day comes, I accept your terms.  Melchizedek is working with the leaders of many of the rebellions to establish independent governments, and I think that some of these leaders are more open than others to deal with the Dark Ones.  Of course, some groups won’t trust you.  Still, if you manage to get at least half of them to your side, that will be a big win to the Empire.  Even if some groups already have the communication technology from the Dominion, I think it will be best to meet them in person.”

“I also believe that’s the best option.  I think we could send part of the goods we have to offer so they can see what we have for them, that way the negotiations can go faster, since they will see what we are offering right away.  We will be ready to travel in a couple of days.”

“That works for me.  I will need some time to contact my people and deal with some issues, but I think a couple of days will be enough to be ready.  Of course I will like to be involved in selecting the weapons you are going to offer them, I think I have a better idea of what they might find interesting, and if I can, I would also like to help selecting the people who will be going as instructors to help find those that I think will be a better match to deal with the Light Ones.”

“I have the suspicion that even if I say no you will find a way to get involved, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t allow you to participate in the process.  You can coordinate with Maddan about the weapons, but for the instructors you will have to talk to Alukah, she is one of the persons who will go with you to talk to the Light Ones.”

“I will select the people who I think will be better suited to represent us, if one of them doesn’t meet your expectations, we can discuss it, but I will have the last word,” Alukah said, breaking her silence for the first time in the meeting.  I was quite surprised she had managed to stay silent for so long, it was clear she was one of the main forces behind decision making in the Empire.

“That sound perfect.  I will like to meet with you as soon as you have the chance to go over our options.  Right now, as I told you, I have some things to deal with and will take the rest of the day to work on them.”

I felt like I had won a huge battle by getting the Empire involved in the issues in the Light.  I had to recognize that Pompeyo had found the right angle to turn the situation into something good for the Empire.  He had to bend the Empire’s rules a little bit, but with some luck people would recognize he was doing that for everyone’s sake.  I also was having a little thrill thinking that with that move, he was stepping ahead of the Dominion.  Even if Camil was working tirelessly to do what was best for everyone, at the end, I knew that the rebel leaders would appreciate Pompeyo’s military help over Camil’s humanitarian aid, even if that was given without strings attached.

My steps took me to the place where my life as a full member of the Empire had started, the arena where I had run into my mother while I was running away from my instructors, it was where I had received my name and my place in the Empire.  I wasn’t sure why I was feeling the need to visit the Burrows, but I knew I had a strong feeling I needed to go there, and as always, I knew better than to ignore my feelings.

There were many paths from the Burrows to the Palace, more still from the Palace to the Burrows, alternative routes that were shorter and safer that the ones the young trainees had to use in their search for a place in the Empire, paths known only to a few.  I couldn’t help but remember everything I had gone through while getting away from that place.  When I finally reached the Burrow it took me a moment to reconcile that it was the same place.  I wasn’t as bigger or imposing as I remembered it.  I started walking without a fixed destination, and soon found a group training.

“Greetings, is there something I can help you with?” the instructor respectfully asked as soon as I got near them.

“Do you know where I can find General Inionri?” I asked, sure about my destination.

“Octobeta, take the General to General Inionri’s office,” the instructor ordered one of the boys and I realized I hadn’t introduced myself, the insignia on my chest was all he needed to know.

“Right away,” the young boy said, accepting the task as if it was a dangerous and very important mission.

As we walked, I started to notice more and more groups of kids training around us, until we reached the Nursery area.  My little guide stopped at the door, unsure what to do next.

“Thanks, I think this is far enough, I have it under control from here,” even if I didn’t know exactly where Inionri’s office was located, I could feel her nearby, that was enough to find her by myself.  The boy was unsure at first, but then he left.

A group of guards cut my way as soon as I stepped into the building, even if they turned a little more respectful once they saw my insignia, it was clear they weren’t going to just let me walk in.  I was surprised, but also glad they took their job so seriously.

“Good morning,” a woman greeted me, she was coming from the opposite direction from the guards.  “How can I help you, General?”

“I’m looking for General Inionri, I know she is close.”

“If you give me a minute, I’ll let her know you are here.”

“I think I will go in person.  I would like the chance to see the babies.  Don’t worry, I have experience with babies, I know how fragile they are and I promise not to harm them.”

“Of course, this way,” the Captain accepted, but I could tell she wasn’t happy letting a stranger in the area.

We went up the stairs, and soon I heard a baby crying.  A crying baby wasn’t something odd, it was the way he was crying, it sounded like he was in pain.  I found Inionri with the baby in her arms.

“Kaiserin?  What a surprise! What are you doing here?” I could feel that my guide’s attitude changed when she heard my name, but it wasn’t for good, she felt even more on edge than before.

“I came to visit.  What are you doing?”

“I was walking around the Nursery and heard this little guy crying.  The poor guy has a tumor growing and causing him a lot of pain.  I was trying to calm him down while the healers arrive.  I’m afraid I can see what’s wrong, but I can’t fix it, I need a professional.”

“I can’t fix him either, but if you allow me, I think I can do something about the pain,” I said, extending my arms.  Inionri put him in my arms without hesitation.  The Captain moved closer, no doubt she was preparing to take the baby out of my arms at the first sign of trouble, but as soon as the baby was in my arms, he stopped crying, and I could see him falling asleep.  “As you know, I had to learn to block my pain early on, I know different ways of doing it, depending on what my abilities were at the moment.  When Ethan was little and got hurt, it hurt me to see him in pain, so I found a way to extend this power to others.  Pain is important, it let us know something is wrong, but in this case, when we already know what’s wrong and people are coming to fix it, then there is no reason for this little one to suffer.”

“When I took control of this place I found out you are infamous around here, all the instructors here knows the tale of the young student who killed her instructor and ran away from the Burrows.”

“He asked for it, besides, he wasn’t my instructor, he was just a loser that couldn’t accept he was past his prime and that someone else could be better than his students.  I did what I did on self defense.  I haven’t set a foot in this place since then, actually, I never thought I would come back here at all.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I’m not really sure, maybe I needed to come here to exorcise old demons, also, I was looking for you.  I know your daughter already agreed on taking my help and how it is affecting her, many are doubting her loyalty because of it, and it will be easier for her to deal with me if you are around.  She needs someone to remind her that I’m here to help.”

“I’m really grateful of all you are doing for her.  I know how much it affected her not being able to participate in the fight for the throne, and just the thought that her freedom was running out had her very tense.  She wasn’t the same.  It’s a good thing that her brother supports her so much.  Trajan did a good job creating a healthy relationship between his children.”

“They have no idea how lucky they are he did that,” at that moment, a group of healers entered the area, but they stopped when they saw us, not sure if they should interrupt of not.”

“This is the sick baby.  Make sure he is healthy as soon as possible,” Inionri asked and the group moved immediately, taking care of the baby.  I felt the loss as soon as he was out of my arms, there something peaceful and calming about having a baby in your arms.

“When Trajan assigned me this area, I was mad.  After the battle where I was injured, I knew I would never be able to be on the battlefield again, my powers allow me to be alive and even walk, but despite my best efforts, I haven’t been able to fully heal, the damage was just too great,” I had tried to warn her about it, but I knew there was nothing I could have done to save her from her spine injury.  “I could have stayed as the advisor of some young general somewhere, but here I’m fully in charge, I’m the master of my domain.  And truth to be told, I actually like it here, I find the place and the kids quite interesting.”

“When I found out you were here, I thought it was bad taste to have you and Fedelm so close together.”

“We have always been good friends, and unlike you who stayed with the same man for so long, I still like some variety, and anyway, I have been closer to Geb these last few years.  I think it’s dinner time, care to join me?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

I followed Inionri to her room, it wasn’t what I was expecting, they were much more comfortable and bigger and I thought, but it kind of made sense, the position of caretaker of the Burrows was different from others.  The General in charge of that area had to protect the young ones in case of an attack, but in all the history of the place such a thing had never happened, so the main job of people there was to make sure the kids were safe, protected, and properly trained.  From what I had seen, Inionri was doing a great job.

Once we finished our meals, we both made our way up to the Palace, and as soon as we got there, we met Ratu, it looked like she had been looking for me for a while.

“I thought you had work to do and would be in your room,” Ratu said, I could tell she was trying to be respectful, but couldn’t help but sound a little angry.

“It’s true that I have a lot of work to do, but I was here and I couldn’t help but go visit your mother, we had a lot to discuss.  After so many years apart, there are still things we have to discuss.”

“If you have some time, I would like to talk to you.”

“Your powers won’t take long to fully wake up, if you want to stay out of Fedelm’s reach, then you need to start working on your defense.  If you come with us, I can set a simple compulsion on you so you cast a protective barrier around you in case you get a vision.”

“Come on, you have been waiting for this, it’s better to get it over with, soon Kaiserin will be leaving again and who knows when you will have another chance,” Inionri said, taking her daughter’s hand and dragging her behind us.

“You are lucky,” I said, “that your brother is supporting you.  I know Fedelm is not happy with the situation, and the fact that you can have access to something that will neutralize a seer’s biggest weakness will undermine her control and influence.  She knows that, so you will have to be careful with her and any other person who may try to stop you.”

“All I need is a fighting chance, just that.  If you can give me that, then I will be able to take care of Fedelm and any other person who may try to stop me.”

“I will give you that chance, everything else depends on you, but I’m pretty sure you will do a fine work.”

I knew that Ratu’s future was bright, and I was willing to do everything I could to help her, she was family after all.

Chapter 70

Two days after my talk with Pompeyo, I got a call from William letting me know that the new law had been approved and that after discussing the issue, the Dominion had decided they were going to contact the leaders of the different governments.  All I had to do was go to Pompeyo and convince him to talk to them.  I knew that I had given him enough time to think about what I had said, and the fact that no order against the Light had been given was giving me hope that he was at least thinking about my words.  Maddan has been visiting me and had promised to let me know the moment any order against them was issued, so I knew nothing had happened yet.

First of all I needed to ask for a meeting with Pompeyo, to my surprise, he accepted immediately, in just a few hours time, the same day.  Trusting that things were going according to plan, I walked into the throne room and found that the group of people there was bigger than I expected, even Fedelm was there.

“Greetings, Emperor,” I thought it was best to start by showing at least some respect.

“Greetings, Kaiserin,” Pompeyo said, watching me with distrust, “I got your message saying you needed to talk to me.”

“That’s right.  People in the Dominion decided to change their laws and start to show themselves to the rest of the world, they won’t be isolated anymore.  The first step is for them to talk to the leaders of the different territories, and in the Dark Empire’s case, that means talk to you.  If everything goes well, they are planning to be present during the next reunion with the clan leaders.”

“Meeting with me?  Are they coming here?”

“We have different ways to have meetings between people in different places.  All I need from you is to know if you agree to this meeting and I will take care of everything.”

“Are we going to trust her?” Alukah asked.

“There’s nothing to lose if we agree to meet the leaders of the Dominion,” Pompeyo said out loud, but then he stared at Alukah and I knew they were having another conversation, or maybe discussion that I wasn’t hearing.  “Tomorrow afternoon I have free time for this meeting.  I will send Maddan later today so you two can prepare everything.”

“Thank you, you won’t regret this,” I said.

“I hope you’re right,” Pompeyo said, pensively.

I needed to wait for Pompeyo’s instructions, but I knew that the time difference was going to make thinks a little more complicated, I needed to convince him to have the meeting late in the afternoon and then convince the people in the Dominion to have it early in the morning.  But the first step was to talk to William and let him know so he could start setting everything for the meeting.  Luckily, they were very eager to make sure everything well, and were willing to adapt to any situation, whichever it was.

“What is this and how does it work?” Maddan asked the next day while Fatima was setting the holographic projectors.

“This is what makes it possible for the leaders of the Dominion to be in this meeting, and those cameras right there will help the people in the Dominion to see people here.”

“I would like to bring a technopath, not because I don’t trust you,” he quickly assured me, “it’s just that this is unknown technology and I would like to have a better idea of what’s going on.”

“Sure, no problem, I want to make sure you all see that we are not planning anything bad,” I knew they wouldn’t find anything, most likely they wouldn’t even be able to completely understand what the machine was about.  Of course, I didn’t know much about what a technopath was capable of, that was one of the powers I was less familiar with, even if it was one of Ethan’s favorites.

When the time for the meeting arrived, I realized that once again Pompeyo had all of his most important advisors with him, Fedelm again was part of the group, as well as Ratu and Alukah, others  I knew like Inionri and Maddan, and others that I recognized but didn’t really had a chance to know.

“Is everything ready?” Pompeyo asked.  “What is it supposed to happen now?”

“Now we just need to establish the connection,” I said.  Luckily, Fatima was there to take care of it, because I wasn’t good with the technical part of it.  In just a moment the first hologram appeared and I saw William’s hologram at the other side of the table, as if he was sitting there.  A few moments later both the Prime Minister and the President appeared on either side of William.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” I greeted them, I knew that they were going to be able to see me and Pompeyo, but I wasn’t sure if the cameras were showing the rest of the people there.  “Allow me to introduce you to Emperor Pompeyo from the Regal Family.  Pompeyo, these are King William, Prime Minister Stone and President Yu, they are the leaders of the Dominion.  The three of them work together for the good and the future of the Dominion.”

“Kaiserin,” the Prime Minister said, “I should have known that you would be involved in all this.  Despite your words I knew that you weren’t going to settle with being the governor of a small community, now you are working with the Empire.  What are you planning now?”

“I’m just here visiting family, and took the opportunity to start working on building bridges between the Empire and the Dominion.”

“What does this have to do with your family?”

“Well, Pompeyo is my nephew.”

“Again, I have to ask if this is a good idea,” the Prime Minister said.  “I don’t like that she is involved in this, how do we know that this is not part of her plan for world domination?”

“Do you really believe those stupid rumors?  She had her chance to control the Dominion and she let go of her power for the good of our people, why would she do now what he didn’t do when she had the chance?” the President asked.

“Are you planning on using us to take over the world?” William asked, and I felt the power behind his words.

“Of course not,” I answered automatically, not even trying to resist his power.  I could see that my family and the others Imperialists were watching the exchange with curiosity and distrust.

“As if that meant something, your power doesn’t work at a distance, you need to be in person for it to work.”

“My powers work at several levels, in fact, most of the time just my tone of voice is enough to get results, of curse visual contact is preferred for better results, and being in person helps with some kind of psychic waves I emit, but that doesn’t mean my powers are useless through this media.  Besides, this is not the first time I ask that question, and the answer is always the same.  Kaiserin doesn’t have to lie to us, if she really wanted to get her power back, she would have already found a way to do it.”

“Then we have to trust your word.”

“Of course we can trust his word,” the President protested, “and we can trust in Kaiserin’s word.  You have been so involved in the bad press her enemies create that you can’t see what’s in front of you.  Anyway, we are not here to talk about Kaiserin’s possible plans for world domination, we are here for something far more important: to start a relationship with the Dark Empire.  Both William and I decided this was the best course of action, and you know what that means.”

‘As interesting as this little chat seems, I would like to understand what’s going on,‘ Pompeyo said directly to my mind, and decided it was best to offer an explanation.

“The Dominion works under the principle of power division.  The reason three people are in charge is because when an important decision has to be made, at least two of them have to agree.  In this case, both the King and the President agreed to make contact with the Empire, so even if the Prime Minister does not agree, she has to accept what the others want.”

“You mean that three share the power and at least two of them have to agree for a decision to be made?”  Alukah asked, and I knew that even if they couldn’t see her, they could at least hear her.

“King William is the one that has something that resembles a permanent job in the Dominion, his position is inherited, in part because his family has the power to find the truth behind every situation, and that makes them perfect for the Justice Department, he is in charge of making sure justice is met and that those who break the laws get punished.  The ones that create those laws are the ones that work with the President, she is elected by the representatives.  They all have the chance to vote for the one they think is best suited to guide them, and that person gets that position for four years.  The Prime Minister is the one in charge of making sure everything works, following the laws written in Congress and sending those who break laws to be judged.  The Prime Minister is chosen in a similar way as the President, the difference is that the ones who get to vote are the leaders of the different countries that are part of the Dominion.”

“That sounds unnecessarily complicated,” Pompeyo said.

“I thought the same at first, but it works most of the time,” I replied.  “But enough, we are not here to know how the Dominion works, we are here to see if we can establish a relationship between our us.  The other day I told you a little about the Dominion and how the countries in it relate to each other.  In a way it is similar to how the clans are joined inside of the Empire, with the main difference being that, in the Dominion, is not one country ruling over the others, it’s a mix of people from all over setting the rules for the rest of them to follow.”

“The Dominion was created to avoid fighting, even if it hasn’t always worked as we expected, for the last few years we have been working on taking it back to its original function.  We know that the Empire is all about fighting and conquering, but we also know that the last few years it was more about protecting than destroying.  We want to open communication with you, help you understand our past and help you create your future.  But because of our ideals, we can’t help if that means that someone else is going to suffer for that, we can’t allow our collaboration to end up with the destruction of someone else.”

“I’m not sure what you expect from us, we have always been a warrior nation, fighting and conquering is in our blood, and we are not going to change who we are for someone else’s wishes.”

“My nephew grew up in the Light Kingdom,” William said, “he arrived there when he was running away from the problems in the Dominion and spent most of his life there.  I’m afraid that his time there created a connection that can’t be ignored.  After all the problems the Dominion has gone through, we don’t want to be involved in any fights, we don’t want our actions to be misinterpreted by the countries that are part of the Dominion or for someone to think it’s ok to go back to the time when all the countries were under our control.  We are going to offer our help to the Light in the best way we can, but that doesn’t mean we are going to fight for them, but neither are we going to let them defenseless if someone else tries to take advantage of them.”

“I feel like there is a threat hiding in those words.”

“It’s more like a warning,” William said.

“You control most of the resources in the region,” the President interrupted, “resources that are hard for us to get.  One of the reasons we are willing to open communication with you, is the opportunity to get our hands on some of those resources.”

“I think that no negotiation will go well if we found out that those resources are being paid in blood.  We can’t allow our people to benefit of other people’s pain,” the Prime Minister interrupted.

“What they are trying to say, is that they don’t support slavery of forced labor, and they are not willing to pay for products taken by force from others,” I explained.

“So far I’m not seeing the benefit to our people.  All I see is that they are telling us there is another world that is out of our reach, with people who feel they can come and threaten us, and dictate how we do things.  They say that they don’t want to interfere in how we do things, but they think it’s ok to manipulate us into doing what they want.  Even if they say they don’t want to get involved, they made it clear that they are siding with the Light Ones and that they won’t let us take advantage of the opportunities we see,” Pompeyo said.

“Besides, they want our resources, but they even pretend to tell us how to get them,” Ratu added.  “My brother is right, I don’t see how that would benefit us.”

“In the Dominion people has a skewed image of the Empire, they see our customs as barbaric, when they are not that different from theirs,” I tried to explain, “in reality we don’t have to change much of what we do in order to fulfill their demands, besides, we don’t really have to change if we don’t want to, we can just decide not to trade with them.  But there are things in the Dominion that could be good for us.  Even if some of the clans share their technological knowledge with the Empire, the Dominion has so much more they could give us.  It’s just a matter of seeing what they have to offer before deciding if we should turn our backs on them.”

“I don’t like their attitude,” Pompeyo said, “I don’t like that they think they can come here and dictate how we do things.  We haven’t decide what we are going to do about the Light, but we will take their words into account, not because we are scared of them, but because, despite what you may think, I worry about the Empire and what’s best for it above all.  We will stay in contact to discuss the possible benefits of an alliance between us, but I want to make it clear that we are not going to be taken advantage of.  We are warriors, and we bow to no one.”

With that, Pompeyo got out of his seat and left the room, followed by most of his entourage, only Maddan, Inionri, and surprisingly Alukah, decided to stay.

“Well, I have to say that went better than I expected,” the President said.

“Really?” the Prime Minister asked.  “I’m pretty sure this was a mistake, we should have never tried to negotiate with them,” with that his hologram went off.

“I think that it’s better to give them some time to think about the situation, I trust that in the future you will be able to help them understand better our position and expectations,” the President said before going offline too.

“Are you ok?” William asked.

“Of course I am.  I must say that I get Pompeyo’s attitude, I think we were all a little on edge during the meeting and things didn’t go well.”

“I think you were at the excellent, as always.  From now on, you will be acting as the Dominion’s Ambassador, we will represent us in the Empire.  Any doubt, you can talk directly with me,” with that, William also disappeared.

“That was interesting,” Alukah said.  “It’s good to see that I’m not the only one who distrust you.”

“The thing is, it really doesn’t matter what the Prime Minister thinks about me, as long as the President and the King trusts me, I’m in.  But what matters right now is what are you going to do about the knowledge of the Dominion and their offer to open trade between the territories.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, of course you can always tell us the possible benefits and try to convince us that it’s better for us to get an alliance with them than to try and conquer the Light.”

What she was saying was true, I needed to prove to them that what we had to offer was best for the Empire, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.  Fortunately, I had a good idea of what the Dominion had to offer, and what the Empire could find interesting.

Chapter 69

My arrival at the Palace was complicated, I had decided to go for the main door, but even with my old insignia and the fact that I had made my presence in the clan known during my last visit, the guards insisted on getting in my way.  Then, when I decided to ask for an audience with Pompeyo, I was denied, I was confident that Pompeyo was going to do everything in his power to make things difficult for me, but I wasn’t going to allow him to stop me, so as soon as I was inside the Palace, I used my powers to find where he was and then went looking for him.

At first the guards I found let me pass, but as I moved closer to Pompeyo, the guards started to question my presence, until I found the room where he was.  I used my powers to take the guards out of my way, pushing them against the wall and holding them there while I went in.  I opened the doors and found Pompeyo, Maddan and Alukah inside.

“Good afternoon,” I greeted the group as I entered the room and took a seat opposite to Pompeyo’s.

“You can’t be here,” he said immediately, and I could tell he was angry at my presence.

“I can be wherever I want to be.  You should be grateful that I came here to offer my advice.”

“We know why you are here, you are here because you don’t want us to attack your friend the Light One,” Alukah said.

“I guess you already heard what’s going on there, and that you have every intention of going there and conquer the Light’s territories,” I could tell the decision was practically already made, I could feel their desire for conquest and glory.

“That’s our business,” Pompeyo said, “whatever we do or don’t do, it’s up to us.”

“For many years, the Light Ones followed very strict codes of conduct.  They live under a monarchy, but the real power comes from the High Priests.  One of their main rules was that the use of powers is prohibited, it was seen as a sin, you could only use your powers if their goddess allowed it.  Do you know what’s the main problem the revolution is having right now?  People is starting to ignore the rules laid down by their rulers, they are using their powers so they can fight against the ones that do know how to use them, the problem is that countless innocents are dying because these warriors are getting psychic headaches and losing control.  Are your warriors ready to fight an army with so little control over their powers that they are basically time bombs?”

“Even if they are new to the use of their powers, we can use that to our advantage, we can keep our distance and use that lack of control to let they destroy each other.  We can take our precautions and avoid problems, especially since we already know about this,” Alukah pointed out.

“It’s weird that they haven’t realized what the problem is, by now I would think they have learned their lesson about the dangers of using their powers,” Maddan added.

“Many think that the deaths and the loss of control it’s a sign of the goddess’ anger, punishment for using their powers without permission, but other groups are convinced it has nothing to do with that, they realize it’s a control problem, which is closer to the truth.  So far that knowledge hasn’t changed people’s mind, they keep going as if there was no danger at all.”

“I don’t know what you are expecting from us, but for me, it’s pretty obvious what we need to do, this is an opportunity we can’t ignore,” Pompeyo said.

“Right now the leaders of the Dominion are discussing the possibility of breaking their own rules and letting their existence being known to the Light, they are doing this so they can help them with their conflicts.  Kimball and I already broke that rule by coming to you, but this would mean full disclosure, this would mean bringing the Dominion leaders to talk to you, and the Amazons and Militaries, who are considered the leaders of the Rebel Clans.”

“Will they be a problem for us?  Are they going to fight us over the control of the Light?” Pompeyo asked, and I could see he was already getting worked up into fighting the Dominion, not knowing what they really were.

“You saw what the Shadow’s Clan is capable of, and they are only a part of Mzansi, Mzansi is just a small part of the Dominion.  I helped build the Dominion into what it is now, and I know what they are capable of.  Luckily for you, they are peaceful people, otherwise you would be in big trouble.”

“You don’t know what we are capable of,” Alukah protested.

“Of course I know.  I know what you and the Rebel Clans are capable of.  I know what the Dominion is capable of and have a good idea of what the people of the Light could do.  All I want to do is help you, avoid unnecessary deaths and bloodshed.  I think that if you agree to meet the leaders of the rebel groups in the Light, we all could come to an agreement,” I could see that my suggestions had caught them by surprise, I also could see that none of them was willing to listen to me, they thought my suggestion was absurd.

“If you want to pretend you are part of this clan, you have to start acting as if you really were.  It’s clear that your loyalty is divided, you are more worried about what could happen to the Light Ones that your own clan.  We cannot allow your personal feelings to affect the interest of our people,” Pompeyo said, and I could tell that the others, Maddan included, agreed with him.

“The Dominion is very powerful, the territories that are part of it are by far bigger than the Imperial territories.  For years they were under some evil rulers that cared nothing for their people.  I think they will empathize with the Light Ones.  Maybe they won’t be willing to get involved in a direct way, except for a few countries, most of them prefer not to get involved in fighting, so the help they will offer will most likely be humanitarian, and not warlike.  If you go in and become a threat, you will be in a bad situation and will lose your chance at getting an alliance with them, but if you help with this conflict, you will be in a good position to score an advantageous alliance with them.

“I don’t know how things were done in your time, but we don’t surrender to anyone,” Alukah said.

“I have been fighting my whole life, sometimes there has been fights I wish I could have avoided, not because I was afraid or because I couldn’t win, but because the price of victory was too high.  I’m trying to give you the chance of building something, of getting an advantage, not by destroying, but by helping.  If we do things the right way, no one has to die.  It’s really your pride so important that you are willing to sacrifice your people for it?  If you go into battle, you may lose more than you gain.  If you agree to meet them, and help them, you may gain a lot without suffering any losses.”

“What do you want from us?  What do you expect to get from us meeting these people?”  Maddan asked, as always the most level headed of the group.

“If everything works out, if we can reach an agreement, the idea is to form alliances with the rebel groups there and help them get rid of the people in power.  You would act more like an intimidating force, everyone fears the Dark Ones, and Melchizedek and others think that just getting an alliance with you, and maybe a few soldiers to back them up, will be enough to make the people in power step down.”

“Do you want us to become bodyguards to a bunch of Light Ones?” Aluka asked, clearly offended.

“In a way, yes.  But I think you are missing the point.  I think that it’s time for you to consider what you are willing to sacrifice and see if the benefit you will get is worth it.  Do you want an alliance with all the powers in this world?  Do you want to go into the next step as part of something bigger than you?  Or do you prefer to sacrifice your people and maybe even your own lives in search of a power you may not even get?  You can try to conquer the world and in the way be left behind, or leave your pride aside and become part of something bigger than all of you.”

“Are you finished?” Alukah asked in a bored tone, and I knew that there was nothing else I could do, I needed to give them time to think about my words and wait for them to make the right choice.

“For now.  I had a long trip and I need some rest, but I will see you again tomorrow, don’t do anything stupid in the meantime.”

I walked out of the room and I realized that the guards weren’t happy with me, not that I blamed them, but sooner or later they would have to understand that I was not a person to mess with and that following my orders was in their best interest.  A little further down the hall I found Yoweri.  I had the impression that he had managed to stay hidden from the guards.  I didn’t fault them for their inability to detect him, Yoweri was very powerful, but that made me wonder if I would have been able to detect him back then.  I liked to think that I had been an extraordinary warrior in my youth, but sometimes I suspected that my memories could be skewed.  Maybe by being the Empress’ daughter, I had been given more help and recognition than I deserved.  Or maybe I really had deserved my place.

“How was the meeting?” Yoweri asked.

“Better than I expected, of course, none of them was willing to listen to me and all of them want to go directly to battle.  They have no respect for other people’s lives, they just care about conquering and bathing in glory.  My brother was always playing defense, he defended his territories and eliminated any threat to the clan, but he never started a fight that wasn’t necessary.  Many people criticized him, thought him weak for not expanding the territory, but he wasn’t weak, he was a great warrior.”

“You have lived a lot, and gone through a lot, you see life differently from others.  You can’t expect them to perceive life like you do, they haven’t lived what you have, they don’t know what you know.  You must be patient, give them time, teach them.”

“Maybe you’re right, with the information they have right now, there’s no way they can see what I see.”

“If you want to be the one to give orders in here, maybe you need to take different actions.  If you were the Empress, you wouldn’t have to depend on them, you could just tell them what to do.”

“The problem is that I don’t want to be the Empress, my time is already gone, it’s time for the new generations to take control.”

“Then you will need to allow these new generations to make their own decision.”

Yoweri was right, but I didn’t want to accept it, because it didn’t agree with my needs.  It was unfair of me to reject the Empress title, and still want to act as if I still had it.  I couldn’t tell them what to do, all I could do was give them the information I had and hope they would be able to take the right choices under the circumstances.

The rooms I had taken were the same ones that had been assigned to the Shadow’s Clan during our last visit.  I understood that the rooms were more than what I needed and more than I deserved as just a member of the family.  Even if I still had my old insignia, the truth was that I didn’t have a real position in the clan.  I could be considered an advisor, but only if Pompeyo agreed.  I was in limbo.  Still, my pride demanded that I assumed a certain level of power, otherwise others could take it as weakness.

Getting my basic needs covered was easy, which led me to believe Maddan had given instructions to the servants so I would be attended, I really doubted that Pompeyo would have bothered to issue the orders.

The trip had been long, and despite traveling directly from the Light to the Empire, and most of it having been by plane, I was exhausted, and the tiredness was affecting me, so I decided to take a nap, I needed to be ready and rested for my next meeting with Pompeyo, whenever it was.

My rest was shorter than I expected, after just a few hours Thalia went to wake me up and tell me that Pompeyo had sent for me.  The soldier that came looking for me didn’t take me to one of the conference rooms, but guided me to what I knew were the royal suite.  I found Pompeyo in the antechamber, waiting for me, with a few dishes on the table in front of him.

“Good night, thanks for joining me for dinner.  I hope you aren’t too hungry, this is just some light food,” Pompeyo said, and I could feel he was at ease, maybe just a little bit nervous, but I couldn’t feel anything threatening coming from him.

“Thank you for the invite, but I have to say I wasn’t expecting this.”

“I was thinking about what you said, and I would like to know more about those places you talk about, about the Dominion and the Light.  I want to know more about the Rebel Clans and the plans you have.”

I felt real curiosity coming from Pompeyo, and even if his words and actions could be part of a plot to get information that could be used to gain information against me, I felt like he was asking because he was really interested in getting the information he needed to make the right decision, so I decided that the best course of action was to be truthful to him.  I decided to start by telling him the story of how the Dominion had been born and how it had been almost destroyed by the greed of a couple of leaders.  It didn’t take long, but by the end Pompeyo had a lot to think about, and I had the hope that he was starting to change and getting ready to accept the changes to come.

Chapter 67

I felt the punch coming, even if I hadn’t seen or heard anything moving, and was able to dodge in time.  The next one hit my psychic wall, it was another move that I hadn’t been able to see.  Franz’ powers were getting even better, it took me a while to break his illusion and see what was really going on, and I did it just in time to see Tatyana trying to break the wall.  We both knew she wasn’t strong enough to get through, but her attacks were having an effect on me.

I felt the psychic punch just as Tatyana was about to hit the wall again, they were trying to distract me so Tatyana would be able to get past my defense, but I changed tactics, dropping my wall and using my powers to hit both Thalia and Tatyana, and then and changed target and got to Franz.

“Good job,” Kimball said, entering the arena.  “Do you think that’s enough warming up?”

“You know I’m always ready to fight, no warming up needed,” I said.

Without hesitation Kimball attacked, as always my psychic wall was ready for him, but he was much stronger than Tatyana and my wall started crumbling from the first hit.  I could use my powers to strengthen it, but I knew that wouldn’t help for long, I needed something else.  I collapsed the wall, moving it until it was skin tight, I was going to use it for to help me endure his attacks.  We started a melee fight, knowing that even if he managed to connect a hit, my defenses were going to keep me going.

The fight between Kimball and I was like a dance, after a while it didn’t really look like we were trying to hurt each other.  I knew that I could have used my powers to get an advantage, but that wasn’t really the goal of training.

“I have to say I’m a little disappointed,” Geb said, breaking me out of the trance I had fallen into during the fight.  “I find it very hard to believe that the mighty Kaiserin is unable to fight off a simple mutant.”

“Let me tell you there’s nothing simple about this mutant,” I said, still trying to stay focused on the fight.

“I’m not impressed so far,” Geb said.

“I think that’s enough,” I told Kimball as I let my wall drop and used the energy to push him against the wall, just like I had done with my guards, but with Kimball the trick wasn’t as impressive, I was only able to push him back a few steps.

“I was only getting warm,” Kimball said with a smirk.

“If you need someone to spar with, maybe I could help,” a warrior that had been watching us offered.  She was a young General that seemed to be rather curious about me.  She was an Amon and from what I could tell, there was no blood relationship between us.

“How curious, I was about to offer the same,” another warrior said, one that had an insignia that marked him as a Colonel.  He was a Vlad, he looked younger than me, but older than the General.

“I really appreciate the offer, I usually fight two or three opponents at a time, it’s better for my training.”

“Like she was training before?  But you don’t have any powers, I really doubt you would be able to last more than a few seconds against in a fight like that,” the woman said.

“We were only training, you haven’t seen what any of us is really capable of.”

“Do you really think you would be able to face three Imperial warriors of our level?”  Geb asked.

“Yes, I really do,” Kimball said.

“Then let me join those two, and let’s see if you are as good as you think.”

“Alright, bring it on,” Kimball challenged them.

As soon as he issued his challenge, the ground under him started to shake, thanks to Geb’s powers.  The ground started to open under him, but Kimball was able to travel through the rough terrain as if nothing was happening.  He reached Geb and tried to hit him, but a wall of rock raised in front of him to protect him.  Kimball was able to break it with a couple of punches, but Geb took control of the fragments of rocks and threw them at Kimball.  The General was trying to sneak by Kimball, but she was hit by one of Geb’s attacks, Kimball took another rock fragment and threw it at the Colonel.

For a couple of minutes it looked like Kimball was in control, Geb’s attacks weren’t all that coordinated and he was helping Kimball more than hurting him, it was clear they hadn’t thought out a strategy before attacking.  The moment they noticed what Kimball and I had already noticed, the problems started, they had anticipated an easy fight and haven’t been paying attention to their actions, but once they realized it wasn’t going to be easy, they started thinking about their actions.

The three of them moved around Kimball, the ground started shaking and when Kimball started to move, he lost his balance.  He usually had enough control to avoid that kind of problems, I couldn’t understand how the trembling was affecting him so much.  When the ground started morphing and encasing him on rock, Kimball wasn’t fast enough to move away, it wasn’t until I noticed the focused look on the Colonel’s face that I realized he was doing something to mess with Kimball’s equilibrium.  With the Colonel affecting his senses and Geb keeping him trapped, the General was able to finally reach him and put her hand on Kimball’s neck.  The look of pain in his face was the only thing betraying that something was happening to him.

For a moment I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew it was something bad, very bad.  Kimball was about to pass out, I could tell, and I started to panic.  Just as I was thinking of going to help him, his rock prison exploded.  Kimball took the General by the neck and gave her a couple of heavy punches to her face, I could hear her bones breaking and see the General’s inert body falling down.  The rocks around him were moving again, his prison starting to build back up.  Kimball was constantly coughing, but that didn’t stop him from taking a knife out of his belt and threw it at Geb.  Geb was able to build a wall to defend himself, but Kimball reached him and broke through it, punching him in the neck.  The Colonel was the only one left.  Kimball started moving towards him, the Colonel was doing his best to affect Kimball, but even if he was walking as if he was drunk, or high, he was still moving.  The Colonel was a Vlad, and didn’t have a double mind, if Kimball reached him, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself.  At the end, the Colonel decided to drop his attack and change tactics so he could fight Kimball, but he was already tired of the game and attacked him without mercy, in just a couple of seconds his enemy’s body was unmoving on the ground.

“Are you alright?” I asked as I approached Kimball.

“I think that woman gave me a heart attack,” Kimball said, holding his arm, at first I had thought he had hurt it during the battle, but now I realized that wasn’t the issue.

“Soriya!” I called my healer desperate, I knew that she was the only one who could help him.  Zhou could have helped him, but he wasn’t there, and I felt guilty about not having included him.

“What happened?” Soriya asked as she reached us.

“Heart attack,” Kimball said, extending his hand to her.

There was nothing I could do to help them at the moment, I wasn’t sure what to do or how to help.  My powers were useless at the moment and that made me feel so helpless and angry.  I moved my attention from Kimball, I had to trust Soriya to help him, instead I focused on the people who had hurt him.

Both the Colonel and Geb had been part of it, but the one who had really hurt him was the General.  I still didn’t know her name, and I didn’t really care, the only thing I wanted was to punish her.  She was still on the ground, she hadn’t recovered from Kimball’s punch, but she was still breathing, still moving.  Using my powers I got her on her feet and while I was holding her in the air, I used something that I hated, something I tried to avoid, I gathered the static electricity in the air and shocked her.

The General screamed and starting shaking.  The instinct to kill her was strong, but I preferred to punish her using her own methods.  I went into her mind, not bothering to be careful about it, and went through her memories looking for what she had done to give Kimball a heart attack.  Usually biokinesis was hard for me, and in any other circumstances, it would have been almost impossible to give her a heart attack without causing one for me too, but my getting into her mind and borrowing her memories, I had find a way to do it without risk for me.

The woman dropped to the floor as I let my control over her go, her face was a mask of pain.

“What did you do to her?” Geb asked, getting closer to where the woman was.

“The same thing she did to Kimball.  No one hurts him without facing the consequences.”

“We were just training!” Geb complained.

“Exactly!  There was no reason to try to kill him.  Now she must face the consequences of her actions, if she really thought she could get away with trying to kill my husband without suffering for it, then she hasn’t understood who she is dealing with.  Any attack against him is an attack against me.”

“I’m fine,” Kimball said, he had a better face, but was still pale and sweaty.

“Are you sure?” I asked, using my empathy to try to see what he was really feeling, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was trying to lie to spare my feelings.

“It’s all right, I just need some rest and something to eat,” he said, and I knew what he was trying to do and decided to play along.

“Then it would be better if we go back to our rooms,” I said, and went back to his side.  Together we left the arena, I didn’t bother saying goodbye to the others and I knew that my guards would be following us.

“You didn’t have to attack her,” Kimball admonished me.

“She hurt you, that’s reason enough for me, they need to learn not to mess with me or mine.  You had already proven your point, I needed to prove mine.  That was only training, she could have killed you, a clan leader, that’s not correct.”

As soon as we got out of the arena, I started sending energy to Kimball, I tried to be discreet, but after a few steps Kimball realized what I was doing.  At first he just stared at me, a warning in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything until we reached our destination.

“I don’t need your energy,” he said as soon as the door closed, “the damage is not as bad as you think, even without Soriya’s help my body would have been able to heal it,” I was getting ready to reply, to tell him it was nothing and that he did need my help, but I didn’t get the chance.  “Remember the last reunion between Pompeyo and his generals will start shortly.  You said you wanted to be there, and for that you will need all of your energy, since I won’t be with you and I really doubt he will let you take your guards with you.  Even if things are getting better, you can’t let your guard down or be at less than your full capacity while in his presence.”

“Pompeyo and his people won’t be a problem,” I said automatically, but I could tell that Kimball wouldn’t be convinced by that argument.  “In case I need it, I could take energy from people around me.  I will be fine, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“And you don’t have to worry about me,” Kimball countered.

I knew it was useless to argue with Kimball, so I stopped using my powers on him, he already looked better anyway.  Soon it was time to go to where the reunion was taking place, and even if I didn’t want to leave Kimball’s side, I knew that he would be fine by himself, and I had a mission to finish.  I went to the meeting with plenty of time, but I found Pompeyo and Alukah already waiting there, it was clear they weren’t going to give me a chance to choose my place again, and they were ready to fight me if needed, luckily they had given me a place close enough to Pompeyo, so I decided not to cause trouble, yet.

One by one all the generals in the Empire arrived, and soon enough the place was full.  I saw the General that had attacked Kimball walking in, she has been one of the last ones to arrive, and she looked awful.  As soon as she saw me her face changed, and I was glad to notice she was afraid, and that meant she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

“What happened to you, Hygea?” Pompeyo asked.  “You look bad.”

“Nothing,” she said shyly, glancing in my direction.

“What did you do to her?” he asked me, he sounded angry, but I could tell he was also feeling apprehensive, I knew he didn’t want another confrontation with me.

“Nothing,” I said.

“I don’t have time for this, I won’t allow you to go around attacking me people without reason.”

“But I had a very good reason.  I think I had already been very clear that I won’t allow anyone to attack me or my family.  She offered to spar with Kimball, and then tried to kill him.  It was supposed to be a good faith fight, but she crossed a line and that’s unacceptable.”

“So you saw Hygea winning the fight and you decided to step in?  Does your man is incapable of fighting his own battles?” Alukah asked.

“Kimball is more than able to finish his own fights, the damage you see, the broken nose and cheekbone are his handiwork, I just made sure she got a taste of her own power, so I gave her a heart attack.  Her attack is strong enough to kill a normal person, and since I’m pretty sure she wasn’t aware of what Kimball could do, I’m certain she was trying to kill him, that’s not right, not in that kind of fight, not with a clan ally.”

“That doesn’t justify what you did,” Pompeyo said, as always, trying to recover the control of the situation.  “You shouldn’t have interfered, especially if like you said Kimball had already repelled the attack.  It’s not honorable to attack two against one,” I couldn’t stop the smile on my lips, I haven’t been meaning to explain the circumstances of the fight, but the chance to do so have fallen into my lap, and I couldn’t let it pass.

“By the time I got involved, the original fight was over, Kimball had been able to neutralize his enemy, besides, even if I had been involved in that fight, it would have been three against two, not one against two.”

“Now what the hell are you talking about?” Alukah asked.

“Kimball and I usually prefer to spar against several opponents at the same time.  Hygea offered to spar with Kimball, and when we mentioned this preference, a Colonel I don’t know, and Geb, offered to participate, the three of them attacked Kimball.”

“That’s really hard to believe, if Hygea and Geb were working together, and trying to kill him as you imply, then he would be dead,” Alukah said, as always trying to cause trouble.

“I’m embarrassed to admit that is true.  Gallu, Hygea and I attacked Kimball, and he was capable, not only of defeating us, but he did it while having a heart attack.  Truth is I wasn’t aware of Hygea intentions at the time, but I was part of the attack,” Geb said, and I couldn’t help but glare at him reminded of the fact that he had contributed to Kimball being hurt.

“All of that is irrelevant,” Pompeyo finally getting tired of the discussion.  “None of us should have collaborated to that ridiculous situation.  And you,” he told me, “you shouldn’t have attacked my people nor react that way.  In the future, I expect better from you, I won’t accept that kind of behavior in my clan.

I just nodded, letting Pompeyo win that battle, after all, I had already made my point and I knew that the rest of the people there would think twice before going after me or mine again.

The rest of the meeting went without trouble, it was the last meeting between the Generals and the Emperor, and they had already set the plan for what they would be doing the next few months.  I would have loved to get involved, but I knew it wasn’t time yet, soon it would be my chance to affect the path of the Empire, for the moment, what was important was to make others see me as part of the clan, to make sure that my presence and my comments wouldn’t be questioned.

Chapter 65

The reunion that was scheduled for that afternoon could only have two representatives from each clan, Ethan had wanted to be one of them, obviously, but as soon as I gave him the option to be part of the Heirs Reunion he had accepted the change, so only Kimball and Zola would be there with me.  Greca was also going to the Heirs Reunion as representative from the Assassins, while Antrax and Malkia assisted to the same reunion as me.

I knew that it was usual for the Emperor to be one of the last to arrive, so I went early and took the seat that I knew belonged to Alukah, Maddan was also early and had already taken the seat to the other side of the Emperor’s.

‘Alukah won’t be happy that you are sitting in her place,‘ Maddan told me using telepathy.

‘I’m sure she won’t be, but I’m trying to prove something, and I hope those impulsive youngsters are smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity I’m giving them,‘ I said, using the same method.

I knew, or at least I expected that my words would make Maddan act, and that he would talk to Pompeyo about my actions, warning him about the situation.  When Pompeyo entered the room, he stared at me, but said nothing, he didn’t ask me to move, not even because of Alukah’s obvious anger at being displaced from her seat.

“Thank you all for coming here,” Pompeyo greeted the leaders in the room.  “I know it has been a couple of difficult days for all of you, and I appreciate your cooperation with our investigation about the Death’s Clan’s actions.  I’m glad to inform you that our investigation determined that they were acting alone.  The Death’s Clan is now under the Imperial Clan’s control, and right now we are going through their people and eliminating threats, so we are sure they won’t be a problem anymore.”

“You must know, Your Majesty, that even if they had succeeded with their plan, that most clans wouldn’t have recognized their claim to the throne, but right now, some of us are wondering, who is representing the throne?  The fight the other day showed who really is the most powerful warrior in the place,” said one of the leaders I didn’t know, but I could tell from his uniform that he was from the Guerrilla Clan.

“I think it is obvious who is representing the clan, after all Pompeyo is the one sitting in the place of honor, a seat only the leader of the clan can take,” I said, jumping into the conversation.  “If at any moment we decide to change that, I’m pretty sure you would be able to tell.  So let me give you a piece of advice, if a clan you are dealing with has such clear ways of depicting their power structure, don’t try to mess with it, you may get in trouble.”

“I’m sorry if my words caused any offense, I thought it was a valid question after everything that happened.  There are a lot of rumors about you.  And I have to say, it’s not normal to see someone like you sitting by the Emperor’s side, especially since you have such close and obvious ties to at least another two clans.”

“It really seems like you are looking to cause trouble, that’s never a good idea,” I told him directly.

“There is true in his words,” someone else said, and I was surprised to see it was someone from the Gatherers’ Clan, a minor clan that was under the Imperial Clan’s control, “there are a lot of rumors about you, many stories are being told and we have already seen a few truths.  It’s hard to believe that someone like you who was supposedly been an Empress, can be by the current Emperor’s side.”

“I was forced to leave that position a long time ago, and it was my brother who assumed that position after me, up until he died, and as you can see, it was his son who inherited the role.  For the moment, I have no interest in the position, and as I said, if I ever change my mind, you all will know about it.”

“Who are you really?  Not every story can be true,” a young woman from a clan I didn’t recognize asked.

“It would be better if we talk about this before, or we won’t be able to have a real conversation,” Pompeyo said.  “I think it will be better to take a few minutes to answer the leader’s questions, before we leave the subject behind.”

“I think that’s a great idea.  First of all, for those of you who don’t know already, I’m Kaiserin from the Royal Families,” I started, taking back my old tittle, confident that all the families leaders would recognize me, “I’m the daughter of Empress Sultana and Emperor Kamose.  I was born here and I spent my first years of service right here.  After my mother’s death, one of my brothers decided I was a threat to what he considered his right to the throne, so between him and my father, my memory was erased and I was sent to Sector 32, where they expected me to disappear.  A couple of years later a few of my old subordinates found me and helped me remember who I really was.  I stayed there for a few years, getting my memory back and recovering my powers, until I became the Sector’s General, and after my father’s death, the new Empress.”

“And then you left.  What reason could you have to leave the most important position in the Empire?” the woman that had talked before asked.

“Just before becoming the Empress, I became a seeress, and also got pregnant, which proved to be something very complicated for me.  My pregnancy feed my clairvoyance, and I spent weeks having visions in which my daughter was being murdered by my own clan, mostly because they considered her lineage impure.  I decided to go looking for advice, but I was betrayed by one of my closest allies in the way.  Being away from the Palace opened my mind to other kinds of visions, and I found out that the war between Amazons and Militaries was going to bring problems to the Empire, so I decided to head that way and try to affect the way that war was going to develop.”

“Do you really expect us to believe that anything those clans could do would have hurt us?” the leader of the Guerrilla Clan asked.  “The Empire was capable of crushing them.  They Rebels Clans didn’t become a problem until a few years ago.”

“If the Militaries had won that war, they would have attacked with all the power of the North, they would have been drunk on power and wouldn’t have cared about anything but winning.  They would have been defeated at the end, but a lot of lives would have been lost in the process.  As the current Empress it was my job to find a way to protect my people’s lives.  If the Amazons won, the danger to our people was considerable lower, because they would have been more cautious in their approach, and because of that my focus was on making sure they won their war.  Once there, I also found a way to avoid a conflict with the Empire, making sure that the next leader of the Amazons wouldn’t want to fight my people.”

“And you did it,” Flora from the Naturalists said.  “But you never came back to claim your throne.”

“Even if I had come back, I wouldn’t have been able to claim my throne, not as a seer, I would have been taken to the same place the other seers are taken, I would have been hidden and protected from the rest of the Empire, I would have lost my influence and my freedom.  I saw every possible scenario, my futures, and I knew that coming back was not an option for me.  Luckily, by then I had already met Kimball, and being with him opened more opportunities for me.  My path by his side was not an easy one, his own people was at war back then and I joined their fight.  The enemy they were fighting was very strong, and at the end, we realized we wouldn’t be able to defeat him directly, so we faked our surrender and I moved to work with him while I was building a resistance, after a few years I killed the leaders of the Dominion and took control of all the territories.  Little by little I gave back what I had recovered, and just a while ago I finally gave up the last piece of power I was holding.  That’s why I’m here now.”

“Are you here to take control?” Alukah asked.

“The world is changing,” I started my explanation, my voice changed a little and as I remembered I knew my eyes were turning foggy and I would fall into something resembling a trance.  I knew that a little show would help make my point, so I tried to remember what I had seen in my visions.  “A shadow is growing over the Light, and those who were hidden before are coming out.  The change is coming and it will affect every person in this world.  Those who embrace the change will enter a new era of peace and prosperity, those who hide from it will choke on the ashes of their own ego.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Pompeyo asked.

“You should know that is pointless to try to get a straight answer out of a seer,” Alukah said.

“A couple of years ago a revolution started in the Light Kingdom, things are changing in the South and sooner or later, those changes are going to affect the Empire.”  Kimball said.  “Also, our presence here is a proof there is a whole world you know nothing about.  The change in the North started years ago and the Amazons and Militaries are living proof that things can change and evolve.  Soon it will come the time for the Empire to change and adapt.”

“Soon I will get tired of your cryptic words and superiority complex.  We want answers, not more questions.”

“You don’t always get what you want.  But you can be sure that we are here to help.  Despite what you think, our missions is to help and guide you in the challenges that are coming your way.  It’s nothing bad, you are not in danger or anything like that, but it’s always a good idea to have a guide when you are in unfamiliar territory.”

“How can we be sure you are here for our best interest?” Felinae from the Beast’s Clan asked.  “I don’t trust you, and the others shouldn’t either.  It’s easy to talk, but the truth is you left your clan, you turned your back on your own people and sold yourself to our enemies.  Like they already said, you have ties to at least a couple more clans and you also accepted having ties with the Light Ones.  How can we be sure you won’t betray us to them?”

“Kaiserin is a force of balance, she doesn’t believe in favoritism, it’s not in her DNA.  What you are accusing her of, is something people in the Dominion also tried to prove, but no matter how many times she was accused of having her ties with one of another faction affect her decision making, the truth is that it never happened.  One of the reasons she was able to hold onto her power for so long, was because of people’s loyalty to her.”

“And are we supposed to just believe you?  You’re just a decrepit old lady that it’s not even a warrior of this Empire.  There is no proof that anything you say it’s true, and I don’t believe anything you say,” Felinae said.

“I would be more careful of whom I insult, Zola can look old, but she is practically indestructible, and if you make her mad, you will regret it,” I warned.

“I think we are getting away from our objective,” Maddan interrupted.  “This reunion if to discuss the Empire’s problems and talk about the actions we will be taking for everyone’s sake.  We can be distracted by Kaiserin or her family, we need to focus on what’s important.”

“If everyone’s curiosity is satisfied, then we will continue,” Pompeyo said, trying to regain control of the situation, “and if it’s not, then you can wait and ask your questions at another time.  We already lost a lot of time because of the attack the other day, and I’m sure you are all eager to return to your own territories as soon as possible.”
It was clear that the people there didn’t want to change the subject, but I could also tell no one was willing to go against the Emperor.

The rest of the reunion continued with Pompeyo doing his best to ignore me, and with most of the clans staring at me, eager to know more.  I could tell I had won most of their respect, but there were still a few that didn’t like me.  I had done my part for the moment, I had done my best to establish Pompeyo as the rightful leader and I had explained what I could about who I was and where I had been.  I knew that there was still a lot left to explain, but I had done what I could at that time.

I could tell that Pompeyo was angry about the situation, he didn’t like knowing that he didn’t have all of their attention on him, luckily he had realized that fighting me would only make him look bad again, and for the moment it was better to play along and pretend we were all working together.  I knew and understood that the situation wasn’t the best, and that my presence was causing more questions than answers, but I couldn’t worry about it, I needed to reestablish my presence in the clan and get all the clans to trust in me.

No matter what happened for the rest of the day, my goal had been reached.  I knew that I would need to have some private meetings with some of the other leaders, but for the moment things were going according to plan, and what was better, it looked like Pompeyo had left alone his campaign against Malkia.