The glorious throne room of the Severian Empire. An Empire as old as the church, having taken numerous names in its years. The wealth and history the room told of made anyone who stepped into its halls feel as if they had taken a step into the past. Its ancient marble pillars, although old, lined the path toward the golden throne at the end. The walls had numerous statues, the oldest of which had lost their colour, depicting the previous emperors of the old empire.

It felt like a pantheon for anyone who wasn’t wiser, depicting the glory and prestige of the Empire that had existed before the Years of Darkness. On the golden throne, a lone platinum-haired man sat. He was fat and covered in jewels, a testament to his extreme wealth and decadence, but his emerald eyes held a deep cunning and cruelty within them.

"Your Majesty." A bald eunuch walked down the pillars to the throne room, taking his place next to Emperor Theodosius. Handing a letter to him, Theodosius took a glance at the seal and smirked.

"My brat sent a message?" The eunuch nodded, opening it for him.

"It seems the Holy Seat underwent another change." A booming laugh followed the eunuch’s words as Theodosius’ fat jiggled.

"That boy can claim to hate me all he wants, yet still does the things I do." Looking at the letter, Theodosius squinted, rubbing his chin. "He summons us?"

"For what reason?" The Eunuch asked in confusion.

"It seems it is the Blessed One in the West." The eunuch widened his eyes but smiled.

"The church, despite what they say, always seems eager to kill them off." The eunuch scoffed, taking the letter from Theodosius. "A new crusade."

"What do you know of the East?" Theodosius tapped the armrest, looking out into the distance.

"A wall. The Empire and Vladmire are tied by marriage. Recent reports of a marriage between the Slathans and the Ammarys have also reached my ears. It will be a hard war."

"And this Emperor himself?"

"Took the throne at twelve. Purged his nobility and created a new military under his sole control. Formed the Empire at twenty. Tyrant, saviour. Names and titles have been thrown around for him since his coronation."

Theodosius smiled upon hearing the report. "He seems to be a capable leader, willing to make the hard choices even at a young age." Leaning on his arm, his eyes wandered to the multiple statues that lined the walls of the throne room, "Better than my brats, it seems."

"Some say he is insane. Smiled as he watched the purge. Even giving it a nice name. The Night of Long Knives." Theodosius chuckled at the name, nodding to the eunuch’s statement.

"It is quite nice." His finger bounced on the armrest again as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "The war with the Ammerians can’t be stopped. We need at least another three years before we can end it."

"The Holy Seat still has to fix its administration after Constance’s cleanup, this is fine."

"Send word to him. Tell him that the Empire will fulfil its duties as the Guardians of the Holy Seat, but must wait. Request funding if he wishes for this to be sped up. We need to figure out how desperate he is." The eunuch nodded and walked off with the order as Theodosius wiped his sweat again.

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"Your Majesty." The Lisaponic envoy bowed as Alfred entered the room. "Have you given some thought to the matter?"

"Yes." Alfred took a seat, sitting in silence and closing his eyes. The envoy didn’t talk as the two waited. It didn’t take long until two more people entered the room. Dimitri and Reinhard looked around and nodded, taking a seat at the table. Alfred didn’t move yet, resembling a dead body as he sat with his eyes closed.

His mind wandered, remembering the conversation he had a few nights ago.

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"Charles." It was late at night when he found Charles. The man had always been someone to stay up late ever since he became Marquise. Charles looked up with a smile, offering the seat opposite him as he reached out to grab a couple of drinks. "It’s fine, Charles. I promised Isra today."

"Of course." Charles quickly stopped himself, silently thanking the Empress. Only she had the power to stop Alfred from indulging in his coping mechanism, and whilst he understood, he also knew it wasn’t truly a way for him to heal. "Why have you come to see me then?"

Alfred smirked, letting out a soft chuckle. "Do you have any plans on getting married? Anyone on mind or anything?" The question came from nowhere, leaving Charles frozen before he thinly smiled and shook his head.

"I felt like I had this conversation with Chris not long ago. No, I don’t have time. I had planned to live in my forest alone until my brother forced me out of hiding to take his job." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Charles. I won’t ask you to do anything you don’t wish to. Unlike Issac, I don’t have your father to use and force a marriage. But you understand better than anyone that you must get married sooner or later. Unless you wish for the Raven name to die with you."

Charles looked down at his hands and stroked his ring finger. "I know. It seems like it might be quite a nice thing, but not for me. I have too much work."

"Charles. I’m not forcing you to do anything. It’s your call." Alfred watched as Charles smacked his lips.

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"Your Majesty," Dimitri called out to Alfred, breaking him out of his thoughts as he smiled and interlocked his fingers, leaning back on his chair.

"Forgive me, I was lost in thought." Turning to face the envoy, he poured a glass of water, taking a sip. "Now then, the proposal Emperor Cyrus has offered is quite good, but you see, there exists nothing to bind it. And whilst I believe the Emperor is an honest man, how can I trust a simple piece of paper? I’m sure he must have the same issues aswell."

"Your Majesty. The Emperor won’t be so..." Alfred raised his hand, stopping the envoy.

"I understand. But this isn’t a talk about two people. This is the very fate of our empires in the hands of what can be summed up as a handshake deal. It’s not very convincing." Alfred could see the envoy wished to say more and cut in first. "I appreciate, no, I want to make a deal with Emperor Cyrus, but it needs to be more tangible."

The envoy leaned on the table, pulling a piece of paper closer to him. Getting his pen ready, he sighed. "What is it you propose?"

"A marriage alliance. I know the Emperor has many daughters, some who are past the expected age of marriage, that he is struggling to find husbands for."

The envoy put the pen down. "Your Majesty. You already have a wife, and unless you wish to go against the teachings of your faith, it’s not possible. Your son aswell already has a betrothal." Reinhard and Dimitri looked at Alfred, Dimitri’s eyes more threatening than anyone’s in the room.

Alfred could feel it on him and chuckled. "My wife would kill me if I took another wife. Besides, I don’t wish for another. And as you have said, my son already has a marriage lined up. What I am proposing is for Emperor Cyrus to marry one of his daughters to a prominent noble in the Empire."

"Who? From what I know, Flanders has already married his son to the Slathans, and the Godwins are a house dominated by women."

"Marquise Raven. Head of the Unyielding and a close confidant." Alfred casually sipped his drink, watching the envoy.

"This offer." The envoy paused. "I need to send word to the Emperor with your counter."

"Of course. But don’t take too long. As you can see, the Empire is running out of potential marriage candidates." Alfred smiled as the envoy looked at the two others in the room.

"I will keep it in mind." Alfred smiled and got up, leaving the three.

Dimitri and Reinhard looked at the envoy before walking off together. "He is playing a risky game doing this." Dimitri quietly muttered as they walked down the long hall.

"How so?"

"You’re up North, so I don’t expect you to know, but Emperor Cyrus is a very greedy man. He doesn’t like to lose on a deal. It’s why they are always at war."

"But it doesn’t seem like one he would lose on." Reinhard countered, getting the man to laugh.

"It is as His Majesty said. What would have been before is hardly a deal. He misses out on one obligation of their treaty, and when the time comes, Cyrus can pull out and pretend it never happened, as His Majesty broke it first. Chances are, it is what would happen. If the Lisponic Empire wanted to wait and see when the crusade came, they could. His Majesty looks like he will lose, they can stay natural, looks like he will win, and they reap the benefits."

Reinhard clicked his tongue, ashamed he didn’t realise that. "It’s quite a manoeuver then."

"It’s more than that. If he gets married, then the Empire will have three allies in the coming conflict. The Commonwealth is surrounded, and the supply lines can be cut. He shows your father that he has the means to win and will try to force him into the war."

"He won’t move that easily."

"Maybe not, but His Majesty has time to prepare. The actions the Holy Seat took have allowed it. A couple of years at best, but when they come, he is probably hoping that whatever deal he makes with both the Slathans and Lisaponics will be set in stone."

"He’s looking far ahead," Reinhard said with slight admiration.

"He must. One mistake and it’s over."