Book of The Dead

She was going to be put to death. Speaking out of turn before the Imperial Court? Death. Extreme, painful and public death. She was a Noble of lesser blood, which might count for something. Probably. She could likely argue out of the painful, or the public, but definitely not both. Which was better? A quick death in public, or a horrific, slow death but without her shame being on display for all to see?

She knew what her mother would prefer. Bringing shame on the family? Unthinkable! Well, it was too late for that; she had opened her stupid mouth, and now it was going to be filled with sizzling rocks. Perfect.

Mind filled with frantic nonsense, Merigold fell to the default and final action that seemed to make sense. In a swift and ungainly motion, she knelt and pressed her head to the floor. She didn’t say anything. Further words would only make her eventual death all the more painful. She’d already subjected the high Nobles and the Emperor to her words, anything further would get her flayed.

“Someone remove this undisciplined cretin,” the voice from the Dais declared venomously. “Chosen of Selene. What rabble has been allowed into the Palace of Ascension that they would dare speak in this place?”

With her face on the floor, Merigold couldn’t see anything, but she could hear well enough. She heard the deathly silence from all the clerks around her. She heard footsteps approaching from her left. Perhaps the Chosen of Selene was coming to drag her out with his own hands.

Hot tears welled in her eyes. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? Mother had always said she could never pay attention to anything that wasn’t written down. This wasn’t the way she wanted to prove her right!

“Stop.”

One word, softly spoken, but in an unmistakable voice that caused the air to shiver and all motion to cease. Once again, Merigold felt her mind succumb for a brief moment, every thought scrubbed away, only to snap back into place an instant later.

What was going to happen now? Had she angered the Emperor to the point he wished to intervene personally? What horrific torture awaited her now? Shaking in terror, Merigold remained in place while everyone waited, barely a breath to be heard within the entire court.

The silence dragged on, and on, and there could be only one reason. The Emperor was conversing with a high Noble from the gallery, intending for that person to act as his voice. That meant the Emperor had more to say, but didn’t want to be heard by the court. Just how much was he going to punish her? A whole diatribe condemning her disgraceful action? That was too much.

So sunken in despair was she, Merigold almost didn’t hear when a voice spoke from the gallery.

“I am Bealyn Lofis, Pure of Lineage, and I will speak on behalf of the Emperor.”

A true descendant of a Divine! Just how much trouble was she in?!

“These are the words of the Emperor, witnessed by The Divines!”

A bell tolled somewhere high above, a single resonant note that filled the chamber with its unspeakable purity.

Instantly, everyone in the chamber knelt. Despite being unable to see it, Merigold knew exactly what had happened. If there had been an air of fear before, now abject terror had gripped the court.

The sound of the bell grew louder and louder, rising to the point it was painful to hear. When it reached its peak, four other sounds rose to join it, also emanating from above. Unlike the bell, which Merigold had never seen and couldn’t say where it was housed, she knew exactly where these four notes were coming from.

Everyone knew. They came from the thrones of Selene, Orthriss, Lofis and Hamar above the Emperor. They signified the Gods themselves were listening, something that hadn’t happened for almost a hundred years.

Merigold couldn’t even weep anymore. She tasted ashes. She couldn’t breathe. What was happening?

“The matter of the Western Province, and the uprising there, is an affront to The Five. The Divines have already personally intervened to put down the heretic, speaking through their Oracles, and the Empire has failed them. As a result, an entire Province has been lost and the Empire diminished.

“The Emperor is disappointed.”

The speaker allowed that word to hang over the court like an executioner’s axe before she continued.

“Rebellion against the Empire is rebellion against the Gods. The Emperor cares not for cost. The Emperor cares not for petty squabbles and bickering in the court. The Emperor wishes for finality. This rebellion should be crushed with the full might of the Empire, every individual rebel and heretic stamped out, and only then can the court return to its normal duties.”

Another pause as the words were allowed to sink in.

“This clerk seems certain as to where the rebel known as Tyron Steelarm has gone. The Emperor wishes to hear why.”

At this point, Merigold felt numb. Nothing could happen that would surprise her anymore. There were further footsteps that drew to her side and she found herself gripped under the arm and hauled to her feet. The Chosen of Selene glared down at her.

“Stand and walk,” he stated.

Somehow, she held herself up, and managed to walk, with the eyes of the entire court on her, before the Dais, the Chosen looming behind her like a cloud of judgement. Around the table, the most august members of the court glared down at her as if she were scum they wouldn’t deign to scrape off their boots. Yet, given the words of the Emperor, they would never dream of preventing her from speaking.

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Despite being placed here, Merigold did her best to keep her gaze down. She didn’t want to antagonise anyone any further, and certainly didn’t want to lay eyes on the gallery, or heaven forbid, the Emperor himself.

Ancestor Hamar. Give me strength!

Hamar was known to give people mirth, happiness, and cheer, none of which she needed right now, yet she hoped her prayer was well received.

“Now speak,” the Lady Lofis stated. “Tell us the source of your confidence.”

Silence fell, and Merigold felt completely defeated. She was supposed to open her mouth? And speak? Impossible. Flatly impossible. She could barely stand up. A firm, reassuring hand fell on her shoulder. The Chosen.

“You must speak,” he murmured in her ear. “Or you will surely die.”

How motivating! Desperate, Merigold tried to force air through her throat, failed, coughed, hacked, and tried again. Eventually, she was able to force out some words. She spoke hesitantly, softly, but her words carried throughout the chamber.

“W-we… the… the Treasury… we were asked to… t-to go through the… uh… the financial documents recovered from… the Duke Raugrave and… the Noble H-Houses, in the… Western Province.”

She paused to suck in a breath and try to steady herself. The more she spoke, the smoother the words came. She was talking about documents. She loved documents. Documents were easy.

“We know… that… uh… that the centre of the… r-rebellion was focused far to the West, along the… the mountains. Payment records show the… pattern of deployment… and the concentration of Soldiers towards… towards the west.

“This was… also discussed here in court… in the reports detailing the rebellion. We also know that, the… uh… surviving Magisters and Soldiers… reported pursuing Tyron and the Slayers West after the fall of Kenmor.”

No doubt desperate to try and capture him to prevent the justice of the Emperor falling upon their heads.

“How do we know this?” the Lady Lofis demanded from above, and Merigold flinched.

“T-the records from H-house Baln s-stated that they… released arms and a-armour to their Soldiers for… for “pursuing the enemy to the West”. Several other Houses also d-did the same.”

“Then how do you know that Tyron Steelarm is within the former lands of Granin?”

“B-because the Golden Army was deployed to the West before the S-Soldiers returned. We know this from t-the inventories of the House armouries when the army arrived. None of the arms or armour… had been returned yet. This means… Tyron could not have come to the Central Province…because the border was shut down from that moment on.

“As for Granin… the reports stated that the Army found the Westernmost towns and villages were empty… including Cragwhisle. The… the Dustfolk would never take them, so… so where could they have gone? According… According to the ledgers d-detailing the cores claimed by the Golden Army at every rift in the West, none were cleared by the Rebellion. That means t-they didn’t flee through the rifts.”

She couldn’t help herself any longer and began to knead her hands together out of nervousness.

“T-the only explanation was that t-they found a passage t-through the mountains. I-I thought e-everyone knew this.”

It had seemed obvious to her. Along with the details presented by the various other departments during the hearings that examined the rebellion, the picture had been obvious. Every detail the Golden Army had extracted from those they’d captured and put to the question had confirmed it.

She expected to see the people seated at the table looking contemptuous or impatient, and some did, but others looked thoughtful, even surprised.

From above, there was silence, and she imagined the Emperor was speaking to Lady Lofis once more.

“The Emperor thanks you for your contribution. Please remain with the Chosen of Selene once the court has concluded. You will be rewarded for your insight.”

With those words, the aura of The Divines began to fade from their thrones, and a more normal atmosphere was returned to the chamber. The worst, it seemed, was over.

Staring blankly, Merigold felt herself being dragged back to her place by the Chosen, propped up until she was able to keep her legs under her, and then left alone.

Sweet anonymity was hers once more. She felt completely drained and lethargic, as if a year’s worth of courage had all been sucked out of her in just a few minutes. Debate on the Dais raged as this Arch-Bishop demanded a Holy War be declared, while this Grand Duke or Duchess urged the Emperor to use the full might of his armies to smash the mountains flat and pursue the rebels to death.

Merigold was barely listening. All of it seemed to pass by in a blur as she devoted all of her concentration to merely remaining standing. Whether the session dragged on for days or passed in minutes after that, she couldn’t say. The next thing she remembered, the Chosen of Selene had placed his hand on her shoulder once more as the other members of her ministry, including Grand Duchess Tiranda, filed out of the palace and over the Cloud Bridge, returning to the capital to resume their regular duties.

“A descendant of Hamar, I’m told,” the Chosen stated, looking down at her.

“Y-yes,” she mumbled back, still with her eyes downcast.

“Come. Lady Lofis will speak to you regarding your reward. I’m told the Emperor himself had words for you.”

“I-I’m not worthy!” she stammered. “I can… just go back to my post! It’s fine… isn’t it?”

Surprisingly, the Chosen chuckled. She had always seen him as an austere man, but without the presence of the court, he seemed at ease and relaxed.

“That would make the Emperor into a liar, and we can’t have that.”

She deflated immediately.

“No, we can’t,” she muttered miserably.

She was not permitted to stand on the Dais, nor even to draw too close to the gallery, but there was a spot to the side where the Lady Lofis could remain in her position above and speak down comfortably enough to the clerk, which was where the Chosen took her.

Soon, the commanding voice of the Lady Lofis, a direct descendant of a Divine, rang in her ears. To listen to her was still difficult, though her words did not obliterate all thought as the Emperor’s did.

“Merigold Herimar. The Emperor is pleased with your insight and impressed by your ability to find the truths hidden in pages of script. Have you always been so adept at interpreting documents?”

Merigold wrung her hands.

“Well… documents are easy,” she said, trying to speak clearly. “People are… much more difficult.”

There was a pause, then the Lady spoke again.

“You have been promoted one rank and granted a residence within the Cloud Palace for your lifetime. Take this reward with the Emperor’s blessing.

“Additionally, you have been appointed to the special ministry responsible for handling the rebellion.”

The last was thrown in, seemingly as an afterthought, and just like that, Merigold was dismissed.

She turned to the Chosen beside her.

“I’m what?” she said, dumbly.