It didn’t occur to Iris until she was nearly back to the White Stag, ‘I’m twice a traitor now. Part of the family that betrayed the empire, now I betrayed my family to sleep with the nephew of the emperor who destroyed us. Aren’t I the fine Abacleonian noble?’ Iris asked herself with a mix of disgust and relief. ‘At least this time I had a choice in treason.’ She cast the bitter reflection from her mind when she entered the White Stag and saw her mistress behind the bar.

She went and knelt in deference to the proprietor, “Everything went well, did it, My Lady?” Iris asked with her eyes downcast.

She was surprised when she felt a hand come down to the top of her head and rest gently there before it began a slow and thankful caress. “It did. You’ve done me a great service, you were worth many times what I paid for you for that observation alone.”

“Th-Thank you, My Lady.” Iris replied, her eyes didn’t rise, but they did widen, taken aback by the unexpected praise.

“I need to reward you somehow…” Lyrica looked up and brought her free hand up to her chin, she tapped her chin with her forefinger as she thought it over.

“You don’t seem to care much for little comforts, and something petty like a better blanket just won’t do.” Lyrica thought it over… then removed her hand from Iris’s dark and silky hair, “Tell me, do you like working the floor?”

“No, my Lady. Not in the least.” Iris shuddered.

“What if… I let you stop?” Lyrica asked.

“Mistress?” Iris brought her eyes up with disbelief, ‘I’ve made her a small fortune since I started working here…’

“Yes, you might be wasted out there wheedling gold from men with bigger titles than erections… starting tomorrow you’re going to work directly for me. I’m going to train you in my tasks and keep you in reserve. You’ll service only special clients, by reservation only. You can still dance, but that will only enhance your worth to me with private clients who can afford the upper room.”

Iris shifted on her knees and Lyrica cupped Iris’ face beneath her chin, “What do you say?”

“I… I don’t know what to say, Mistress…” Iris stumbled over her words, from where she knelt there was a sea of tables that would await the servants both male and female, nubile, young, fit, and beautiful, and here at one stroke, Iris found herself being elevated out of that position. ‘No more navigating a sea of hands and making promises I won’t keep to people I don’t like so my Mistress can mine gold from my body…’

“I… yes, I thank you, Mistress. But… you know what I did with the extra… how will I-” Iris stopped speaking with Lyrica giggled and patted Iris’ cheek.

“Oh no need to worry about that, my little river of gold. No need to worry about that at all. I was thinking about this while you were gone, your dancing has always been excellent, now we’re going to step that reputation up. Oh yes, we’ll shorten up your uniform a little bit, limit you to dancing at a specific time. You’ll be a rare treat and entertain only the highest paying nobility in the city. I’ll even go one step further, I’ll give you a cut of what you earn me if you fall short with the smaller number of clients. Aren’t I generous to you?” Lyrica asked with a beaming smile on her face.

“Yes… yes, my Lady, you’re very generous to me.” Iris said, casting down her eyes. This glimpse of Lyrica was the hardest to bear. ‘So often… I think she sees me as a woman, a person… that she feels some warmth for me… but in moments like this? How do I ever forget that in the end, I am merchandise she bought, expensive, useful, and profitable. Gold mined from curves and long dark hair, silver mined from smiles, every roll of my hips is a swing of the pickaxe in a copper mine… and sooner or later she’ll have me mined for platinum.’ It chilled her blood like ice water poured over someone in the midst of winter. ‘Never forget, Iris. Never forget again.’ She warned herself, and pasted on her professional smile that she had become an expert at.

“What would you like me to do for now, my Lady?” Iris asked, and Lyrica snapped her fingers and brusquely commanded her.

“Up, get up and follow me to my office. You can already read and write, I know, but do you know secretarial skills?” Lyrica asked, already striding toward the back. The golden dress that slit at Lyrica’s thigh waved rapidly with every step, and Iris did her best to keep up, scurrying after her owner all the way to the inner sanctuary of the White Stag’s owner.

“I know about administering a household, my lady, I was versed in that to prepare me for marriage before… this.” Iris pinched a ruffle of maid outfit cloth in her hand, and the familiar look of sympathy spread over Lyrica’s face.

“Right… I suppose you would have, but this is different. Sit!” She quipped and pointed to a chair at the side of the desk.

“Pay close attention, you’re going to start learning and doing these tasks every day.” Lyrica replied and slid a sheaf of papers over to her along with a quill and an inkwell.

“I’m ready, Mistress.” Iris said as she took them up, and hoped she was telling the truth.

Gottfried held his hands behind the back of his head, feet shoulder width apart, he was shirtless, but wearing long pants, though not even sandals on his feet. The sun beat down on him, and a sheen of sweat dripped over his hardened flesh.

“Again.” He snapped, and the long wooden rod swung toward his torso. It cracked, but didn’t snap, so Gottfried turned his eyes toward the orc holding it to quip, “I said break it. I break, or it does.”

“Forgive me, My Lord.” The orc trainer said and went to one knee with hands on his thighs, dropping the rod into the sand and bowing his head, “I was distracted by your mother.”

That had his attention, he turned his head to see exactly who the trainer was bowing towards. The stern visage vanished and his face lit up, he walked toward her with open arms.

A fairly short woman even by common standards, she had short hair colored like golden wheat, and blue eyes that would have been called more beautiful than sapphires, if they were not set into eyes so narrow and vicious that her face became synonymous with terror. She had strong, lean features and sharp high cheekbones and a little nose that might have been cute when she was a baby.

Despite being nearly forty, she retained a lean, strong body that moved with catlike grace over the sands. Today she wore a riding outfit of midnight purple with a golden sash across the front and carried her bow on her back. Behind her came her bodyguards, a handful only, they were bedecked in heavy plate armor with large round shields and short swords.

The rest of the arena gave a wide berth to the Emperor’s sister, but her son approached her without fear. He even wore a broad smile on his face. She held out her hands and returned his brilliant smile, tilting her head back to look up at him, she clasped his biceps and waited while he lowered his head to kiss each of her cheeks. “Mother, I wasn’t expecting you.”

She squeezed his arms, like steel cable on steel cable, she held fast, “Someone tried to poison my boy, of course I would rush over.”

Gottfried straightened up and rolled his eyes. “You worry too much, mother. The worst it would have meant is an embarrassing knockdown. Nothing more.”

“Nevertheless!” She exclaimed with a sharp tongue, “It was still an attempt to harm my boy… you’re older now, a man by any measure, but I will never not see the little one I held at my breast and never stop worrying about you… or protecting you… or avenging you.”

“Mother… just what did you do?” Gottfried asked.

“About what?” She asked with an innocent wide eyed look up at him that fooled Gottfried for not an instant.

“The ones behind their little gambling game?” He pressed.

“Right about now they’re probably feasting on milk and honey before they go out on a little boat trip. I doubt it will take long before they reveal everything. Then they can die.” She said with a tranquil, devilish smile.

Gottfried turned faintly green. He knew all too well what that ‘boat trip’ entailed, it would mean a grisly death being devoured by insects and could last for weeks. “Mother… you’re going too far.”

“My boy, I must go ‘too far’ because you will not go far enough for yourself!” She reached up and patted his cheek, “You think yourself invincible, but you’re not, you can die, and I’ll be damned if I let it happen before me.” She insisted with a final serpentlike hiss.

Gottfried took her hand from his cheek and clasped it in his own, his hands easily enfolded hers, “Just… mother it’s one thing to do out of need, but another out of cruelty. I do understand why you do what you do… but don’t go too far. When they’ve confessed, give them swift, painless ends.”

His mother melted under his big, beautiful eyes. “Alright… but their families will be stripped of everything and sold off.”

“Mother, is that really necessary?” Gottfried asked plaintively.

“It’s that or execute them. How far would you go if someone hurt me, even if they were justified?” She asked her son, and he could not meet her eyes.

“Till the tip of the sword came out the other end of their body.” He admitted.

“Exactly. As soon as one member of a family rebels or commits treason of any kind, even though the others are innocent, there’s no guarantee that they won’t want to avenge their loved one. They may even feel compelled to do it. I can’t let that happen. I’m not targeting old allies, I’m targeting new enemies.”

Gottfried gave a weary, heavy nod. “At least… the very youngest, have them fostered out anonymously, far away. Don’t make the most innocent pay.”

His mother opened her mouth to object, then closed it and relented. “I worry sometimes, my boy. I don’t know if you’ll make the very finest emperor we’ve ever had, or the very worst. Your father’s influence, I think… but maybe it’s for the best.” She gave him a wry little smile and let her hands fall to her front.

“Since I’m here and you’re well, is there anything you need, anything you want?” His mother asked in her usual clipped but warm voice.

“Actually… There is one thing. I’d like a few more weeks here. I haven’t really relaxed since I took that city and if it’s alright with you, I’d like to…” he rolled his wrist a few times in front of himself as he grasped for a familiar phrase, and tried very hard not to blush, “you know, what father used to say. About young men and women…”

“Sowing your wild oats… yes.” His mother replied, and laughed openly at his vigorous nod. “So my boy has finally taken an interest in being on top of someone without an audience… or maybe not, if you take after your father that much.” She laughed harder at his burning cheeks and put a hand on his sweat and sand coated chest.

“Go ahead, have your fun, it’s only natural you should enjoy yourself,” her flat palm formed into a fist but for one pointer finger that remained on his sternum, “but I warn you, stay away from the daughters of noble families. We don’t need a scandal on our hands. Honestly I was starting to worry you’d never take an interest, it’s about time. So take a month here, and if you decide to take on a few foreign challenges, have fun there too. A vigorous reputation will help you when you ascend the throne.”

“Mother… you know I don’t share my uncle’s… tendencies.” Gottfried replied.

At that her face became quite stern. “All things being equal Gottfried, you will be the next emperor. If my brother has failed for this long to provide an heir that can survive, then he likely won’t succeed now. When you ascend the throne the empire will need a line of succession. I’m not asking you to enjoy a harem, but unless you have sons and daughters to carry on the Jabara name, one day all that we’ve worked for will shatter in the face of civil war. All those deaths will be on your headstone. Duty first, all else is a distant second.”

“Yes, mother.” Gottfried replied, and leaning forward, he embraced her again, she returned it, holding tight to her son, her head barely reaching up to his sternum. It was hard not to feel how much she loved him. More than that though, when she squeezed, he felt the source of half himself, and half his strength, from the woman once known as the Sword and Hammer of the Empire.