“How be a proper plotter, for beginners : everything is in the appearance. People need to know that you are scheming nefarious plans just by looking at you. Have a cunning smile at all times, whether you're glaring at your sworn enemy, or bathing. Squinted or smiling eyes are a boon. You'd do well to get yourself a baggy robe where you can hide a large variety of things : poisons, blackmail letters, items waiting to be put in your enemy's pockets as to compromise him... You can buy one at Levibel's workshop in the main street. Do not forget to rub your hands together and chuckle on a regular basis. Always appear in unpredictable places and unpredictables times, as to surprise people – you never know what you can stubble upon – and more generally, as to embody danger and chaos. Finally, you need a plot or a scheme, but that kind of thing comes naturally once you live in a palace or a castle...

-101 Palace tips for newly arrived employees”

* * *

Hadrias

Grumpy, the Second Prince walked at a fast pace in the Palace's corridors. He was looking for Leopold, who was hiding somewhere in the damn tower. The chancellor probably felt he'd be blamed for the catastrophic turn the audience took earlier in the day. He had no reason to, even if his niece had been at the centre of it all. The decision to summon that atrociously flashy Azcheron was made by the Emperor at the request of the lords Ravilna and Farril.

So, Hadrias was grumpy because he couldn't find his advisor. He was made even grumpier by the fact that his whole court was following him everywhere, not forgetting his private army of bodyguards. Maybe they were afraid Hadrias would do something rash because of his mood. But he wasn't ! He was just getting impatient.

This damn Leopold... Won't he come out ?

He really needed to talk to him. About the audience, yes, but not about responsibilities and heads about to roll or whatever the chancellor was afraid of. The consequences of the audience stretched much farther than that.

That man, Azcheron, could either end up as the bane of the Empire, or as another of its heroes. Hadrias would very much prefer the latter. The Saint, as he called himself, had already started to establish his notoriety in the Academy and in a part of the aristocracy. It’d much easier to elevate him to the rank of hero, given enough time, than just discard him as a dangerous element and try to dispose of him, with all the consequences that would come next. Hypocritical stares and whispers, for one, but the man's wrath, also. Well, Hadrias hadn't any guarantee that the Saint would agree to become a hero of the Empire, seeing as he made his position very clear – him not being a vassal.

Again, this thing was fishy. What was that island that no one heard about ? Where was it anyway ? Was it really a foreign country, or had Azcheron been bluffing ? Hadrias needed information, and since Leopold's niece was involved with Azcheron... The prince knew the chancellor to be a rigorous man, very watchful of his reputation and not above sending spies to keep an eye on his family and their frequentations. So, while waiting for his personal spies to get to work, he hoped to find some sort of enlightenment about this whole thing by asking Leopold. When he'd find him, yes.

He had checked the chancellor's office and chambers, the archives, asked the ministers about the man's whereabouts, but nothing. Maybe he was being subjected to some vociferations ? Hadrias set off for the higher floors, where the Imperial family's living area and the high-chancellor's study were located.

Something's wrong, he thought as he reached the floor of the Emperor's chambers. Too many female guards. Too many Magic-maids. Not hard to figure, the eldest brother was here. As expected, he found him waiting in front of the doors of their father's room.

Waiting here ? What is he... The giggles and moans coming from the other side of the doors gave away the answer. Hadrias grimaced. Seeing his sibling, Alcidel grinned.

“Hi there, dearest brother.” The usual aloof tone.

“Alcidel,” the Second Prince replied coldly. “What brings you here ?”

“That's my question. I have a few things to say to father. You ?”

He frowned. “...Not your business.”

Alcidel shrugged and both kept an awkward silence. It must have been even more awkward for their court and guards, forced to witness such a scene, with the disgusting groans and laughs coming from the other side of the doors as a background noise.

The gates eventually opened, letting a bunch of lightly dressed girls escape. The cherished sex dolls of the Emperor. Slaves. One of the many shameful 'secrets' – which everyone was aware of – kept by the foolish ruler. Yes, yes, of course, slavery was officially abolished in the Empire, but one would have to be fairly naïve to expect important people from nobility and royalty to abide by their own rules and laws. In fact, owning or buying a slave here was forbidden, but the law said nothing about selling people to another nation. Slavery was one of the rare things that more or less maintained good relationships with the southern kingdoms, for now. Human trafficking, and what ensued from it – life-long servitude, sex slaves, gladiators and all sorts of things – stood as a pillar of these countries' culture and economy. The people who knew about it kept their eyes closed, and their pockets filled. The common populace saw it as a urban legend at most. What, slaves in the morally immaculate Empire ? Pfah !

Hadrias found it distasteful. It was a stain on the Empire's values, his values, but it wasn't as if he had the power to do anything about it right now. Not now. So he had to bear with it each time he saw his father and his brother dragging along girls with iron collars and whatnot. Thankfully, these two weren't the worst of the slave-owners. There were always people with... darker fantasies, and that, Hadrias wasn't sure he could witness calmly. Thinking about it was enough to ruin his mood.

A maid came from the room and bowed to the princes. “His majesty is busy addressing some important matters and will receive you as soon as he is finished,” she said without much conviction, and Hadrias snorted.

“Rather, as soon as the maid finishes him !” Alcidel joked after the girl went back into the chambers.

The Second Prince didn't bother to reply. Ignoring the manchild was the best course of action. Else he'd end up punching him or something like that. Perhaps he had to thank Alcidel somehow, for inheriting the entirety of the Emperor's lust and vice.

Well, lust, the other siblings could also do. Hadrias didn't miss the looks on his sisters' faces during the audience. Azcheron probably seemed like a exotic, foreign prince worthy of awe, with his flamboyance and imperiousness. What should I make of the rumours saying he's a commoner ? He was already thinking about marrying that guy to one of his sisters, so that he'd refrain from causing problems, and his country – if it existed – would be officially allied to the Empire. Once he was sitting on the throne, Hadrias wouldn't have any trouble to arrange such a wedding, but it'd be another matter if the Saint indeed turned out to be a commoner. It'd hurt the family's reputation, and that would also mean Azcheron was impersonating royalty. No way to really know without learning about his island, though.

“He's dangerous,” Alcidel suddenly said.

What... Who, the Saint ? Are you reading my mind or something ?

“I'm talking about Azcheron. Just thought you'd want to know.”

Hadrias stared at his brother. “...Why would you care ?”

Of course, like Leopold, Hadrias doubted the genuineness of Alcidel's behaviour. He was a suspicious man indeed, and the times when he'd blurt out curious things like that, only helped to make him look fishier.

“I did some digging once I learned the identities of the people father had called for the audience.”

“Why would you do some 'digging' ?” the Second Prince insisted.

Alcidel kept ignoring his questions. “Obviously, there's the whole expedition thing which everyone knows about, and his growing reputation among the mage community. It'd be enough to make Varymiel wary, but there's more.”

Hadrias squinted his eyes. “More ?”

“Oh, much more. Ever heard about hell-bats being summoned in the Academy ? There's also word that he spoke with a dragon while crossing the mountains. Then, curious rumours from the east...”

“The east ?”

“Where he hails from, supposedly. Stories of a small lord journeying to the island he mentioned, and never coming back.”

“You mean... the Sarlas family, who lost its patriarch half a year ago.”

Alcidel nodded. “Maybe ask your informants to do their jobs properly for once. You'll be surprised when you hear of the details of the expedition and the man's ability.”

The maid opened the door once again, and signalled Alcidel to enter. The First Prince disappeared into the Emperor's chambers before his brother could ask him anything else.

Hadrias stood still, gazing at the closed doors, his mind trying to put the pieces together.

Is this the reason you need to speak with father ? No, you'd inform chancellor Varymiel if you really cared... Have you done that already ? And how come you know that much ? Who else knows about all that ?

Finding Leopold became suddenly even more pressing. The chancellor would want to know what kind of mess his niece was involved in. Better yet, it'd be a great boon if they could use the girl to monitor the Saint, or something. It'd be much wiser to ask her, rather than risking spies being discovered. If she refused, maybe they'd arrange a few deals, suggest a advantageous match for the Verald family, in other words solve the issue peacefully. If it came to it he wouldn't mind wedding the girl. She was older and scared but it'd strengthen his ties with the Verald family at the same time. Leopold would surely not oppose having his niece as the new Empress... No, why was he thinking about that ? It was unsafe. The Saint could very well be angered if he turned out to be involved with the girl. How strange of me, Hadrias thought. In any case, he had to act before someone, most likely his father or the chancellor Varymiel, decided on a rash and stupid course of action. The Empire had enough issues like that, it didn't need to have a wannabe hero rampaging its lands because someone in the Palace got on his bad side. They couldn't afford to send an army or another hero after a rogue mage, at the moment.

His father was already wasting money and troops on the preparations for that pointless northern campaign. What did the demons ever did to him ? The current Emperor wasn't even born yet when the Free Cities took that tiny chunk of land, there was no reason to bear such a grudge, and until the hostilities started, the trade had been beneficial to both parties.

Of course, the small diplomatic conflict blew up to absurd proportions, and now the north posed a danger and began gathering troops, so Varymiel was also backing the belligerent faction. These fanatics. Hadrias had never expected Varymiel to join their side, a cool-minded woman like her had no business with these hysterical people. Maybe she had an agenda, maybe not.

They even sent the Great Sorceress Karia in the north. Exactly the kind of thing that would worsen the situation. Hadrias had very little hope left for the conflict to find a peaceful outcome. Well... Peaceful is already out of the equation. By now Karia has probably started to burn people alive... She must really hate demons, even though these ones have nothing to do with the abominations that creep underground...

A common misconception among idiots. The northern demons, Hadrias believed, were akin to humans and merely had a sightly different appearance. Like Elves, perhaps ? Not that he knew of anyone that saw one in decades. Unfortunately people were quick to associate these 'demons' with the entities lurking in ancient ruins, dark temples and forgotten dungeons. Whoever left these dangerous things laying around was probably despised by the northern demons, who had been suffering from the misunderstanding for eons.

So, the Imperial citizens wouldn't voice their disapprobation regarding this conflict, seeing as they did not disapprove for the most part. Most likely, it'd escalate to a full scale war. The Empire would win, of course, but at what cost ? They'd lose money, manpower and a trade partner, all because of the foolishness of the Emperor.

Such a mess, he sighed.

He noticed his court had been waiting for him to do something. Yes, he had been staring at his father's doors ever since Alcidel entered the room. A pointless way of spending his precious time. Turning around, he went once again to search for Leopold, his entourage following him.