The one thing that struck him, though, was the continual strange noises. He had already heard some of them before, while he was waiting outside, but now, the man was getting more curious about those unusual sounds. It was loud, like drums, something resonating inside a huge cave. It was... terrifying. He didn’t dare look up, but the man could tell he was walking right toward whatever was making that scary noise.
He was preceded and guided by an Imperial Servant, but even without them, he could have easily followed the simple, straight path that took him right to the throne.
More precisely, he was asked to stand a few steps away from the first step of a flight of stairs that most likely led to the rumored golden throne.
“Empress, this man claims to have come from the faraway Eastern Kingdom to request an audience with you.”
He heard a chuckle.
“The Eastern Kingdom?” said a feminine, imperious voice. “Does that mean those brats next door are finally done fighting?”
The man nodded, but was he allowed to answer? He heard that arrogant chuckle again.
“Interesting... You learn something new every day. How long has it been already?”
“The new King rose to power five years ago, Empress,” answered a male voice.
“So it took him five years to get them all to sit down and stop shouting? Hmpf, the kid didn’t waste his time... I don’t really care for their stupid Republic, though. They were all pretending to be so smart and thought of us as barbarians. I guess a bit of fresh blood will do them some good... some that boy didn’t spill.”
The man took a deep breath. Did he have to endure the Empress insulting his King? Nothing in her words was wrong, though...
The former Eastern Republic had endured a cruel defeat against the Dragon Empire twenty years ago. What was more aggravating was that the Republic had started the war. Some of their leaders had been convinced by the Empire’s Second Prince, a cunning man with large ambitions, to agree to this nonsense attack. He had only failed to mention that the Third Prince, the one known as the War God, would stand in their army’s way so fast...
In the end, the Eastern Army had been sent home, its pride wrecked to pieces, and a lot to deal with in the aftermath; those who had agreed to this attack had to come up with some explanations. Those conflicts added to their people’s anger after so much death, poverty, and famine, which threw the Eastern Republic into a long civil war. After several attempts at reconstructing themselves, the rise of a new king was the hope he was willing to do anything to protect.
“Fine. Let’s hear it then. What does the brat have to say?”
The man took a deep breath. Now was finally the time. He had to be very careful with his words...
“Our King reigns alone and his Queen’s seat is still empty, Your Highness. Now, I have come forth with the hope to... find a suitable partner for him.”
“...What was that?” said the Empress.
“They want to establish a good relationship with our Empire through a wedding, Your Highness,” said the male voice.
“Why do we need that?” asked the Empress with a chuckle.
“For good relations with our neighbors, Your Highness.”
The Empress stayed silent for a couple of seconds. He could hear her fingertips tapping on her golden throne. It was hard to keep his eyes on the floor when he was dying to look up. He finally heard her sigh.
“What do we need that for, again?”
The man was speechless. Was the Empress playing dumb on purpose? Was she mocking them? He heard the chuckles of two other women, but the man that was speaking like an advisor, or a close counselor, let out a long sigh.
“Now that their situation is stable, we should look to establish good relationships with our only neighboring nation, Empress. Good relationships with our neighbor means cheaper prices on the imported and exported products, Your Highness. Cheaper prices means less taxes, and the less we tax our people, the happier they get.”
The Empress brutally slammed her hand, making them all jump.
“Oh, so this is why!” she said with a chuckle. “Less yapping from them. Alright, let’s do it then. You. You can raise your head. I feel like I’m going to watch your neck break if you keep standing like that.”
The man finally lifted his head with relief, his neck indeed a bit stiff.
He had gotten authorization to look at the Empress, but he certainly wasn’t prepared for what he was about to see. The golden throne was higher than he had imagined, and much, much more impressive. That mountain of gold destabilized and blinded him for a second, until... until he realized it was moving.
The throne itself was a very large seat, so large that almost two people could have sat there. It was stuffed with purple cushions as if to fill all that space. However, behind the large throne was this mountain of... golden scales. The man swallowed his saliva, realizing this was the source of those terrifying sounds from earlier. It was one of them. One of their... dragons.
Of course, he had heard about the Dragon Empire’s actual dragons. Those magnificent, mythical creatures were no myth in this Empire. The dragons were the mark of nobility, and also why no mere mortal had ever been able to take an emperor’s seat. Their people only acknowledge the Dragon Masters, and Dragon Masters were only born into the Imperial Family. There was no real explanation as to why they had been blessed with such incredible companions. One possibility was that it was in their blood, and until recently, only the male heirs of the Emperor were blessed with a dragon alter ego, a companion for life. They were no mere pets, though. He had heard terrible stories of manslaughter caused by one of those ferocious beasts on a whim, and now, as he witnessed the size of this thing, he sure believed them.
He didn’t stare at the dragon for long, though. Inside the golden throne sat another one of the most terrifying creatures of this Empire: the Empress herself. She was a tall woman, with dark skin and the black hair and eyes typical of their people. The only thing that made it known that she was the Empress was the impressive amount of gold in her hair, clothes, and jewelry. Her dress was purple, but since it was sleeveless and the skirt was slit to let her legs through, it looked like she was wearing more gold than fabric. There was even gold embroidered into her dress. Still, her attire was strangely simple for an empress of the wealthiest nation known on this continent. If it wasn’t for her sitting on the throne, he might have wondered which one out of her or the other woman dressed in purple was the Empress.
There were actually two other women present, instead of one. They were both seated on the stairs below the throne, just a few steps away from him. The first one was obviously a close relative of the Empress. She was beautiful, with her very long, black hair in hundreds of braids falling over her shoulders, and just like the Empress, she wore purple with some gold jewelry. The other woman was probably a simple Imperial Servant, although she was allowed to sit there for some reason. She was merely embroidering some purple piece of clothing, and she didn’t have the looks of someone who was even from that place. Her white skin shocked him for a second. Never had he seen someone with such light skin, like some white jade. She was looking at her work, so he couldn’t tell, but from her chestnut hair and pink lips, she was definitely a foreigner.
Trying not to stare too long at either of the women, he looked up at the Empress again. Next to her was an elderly man in blue clothing. He glared when their eyes met, so the poor Eastern man had to look elsewhere again.
“...Did the King specify which princess he was hoping to marry?” the servant woman suddenly asked.
“N-no, Your Highnesses...”
“So cunning,” hissed the Empress. “That brat sends only a servant, after all this time, and now he asks for one of my nieces to be sent to him? Isn’t he quite cocky?”
The man next to the Empress rolled his eyes at her language.
“I-I have some gifts for the Dragon Empire and... the princess,” quickly said the man. “They are not much, but... I hope this will be taken as a token of–”
“Stop talking and open that chest,” ordered the Empress.
The man nodded and quickly opened his chest.
