The Courageous Emperor: The Ending of Non-Existance

 As a pauper from the periphery, I was astonished at the ease by which the Magistrate's letter cleared every obstacle. Even the most burdensome bureaucracy vanished when I displayed the his seal. And so it was that I entered the city of the Emperor. The wonders of His magnificent city passed before my eyes unobserved, for its treasure was not in gold or silver, but the man who fixed it in the annals of history.

And finally, after a five year epic, which he'd completed in twenty-five. Though I shouldn't have been, I was surprised by the absence of sentinels. Though He entertained no fear, and had proven his ability in self-preservation amidst combat, it seemed unusual for the Emperor of such an expansive realm to disregard security so thoroughly. From the city gates, I was directed, with mounting excitement, still eastward. Whenever I observed palace of surpassing magnificence (and these were innumerable) I would pause, asking the nearest, local if it housed the Emperor. Inevitably, they would shake their heads (or laugh exuberantly) and point me onward. At last, I found myself passing under the Eastern Wall, stepping onto the docks. When I explained to the Captain my situation, he gestured at an island, just visible on the horizon. After examining my papers and equipment (relieving me of a knife I used to prepare food) an ancient row boat, and a single sailor, transported me to a shabby pier, splinters and nails scattered everywhere. The sailor tossed me my bundle, and explained he would return in the morning.

From the calm shore, I observed an expanse of twenty acres of so, sloping gently to a plateau upon which resided a simple abode. Inspired by the virtue of my host, I knocked on the only door. It opened, and He stood in front of me, a man still in possession of physical power, of mental agility, and but, as if expecting to continue a previously unconcluded conversation he promptly reminded me he had no further wish to ride further.

“What led you to forsake the westward expansion?” I asked, and then blushed with my impoliteness, but a wave of his hand dispelled my embarrassment.

“I had no men left to follow me,” he said, leading me inside.

Though the sun was shining overhead, with the sea reflected back its radiance, we passed beyond its reach inside. Until one enters a darkened building in the midst of bright day, one fails to notice the artificial, and repellent, illumination of flame. Without windows, this large room which we entered should have been black as despair. Yet, it was as bright as the blazing desert of Arrakis, torches affixed in a multitude to the marble walls. Unfortunately, it was smudged with soot, and the whole room was pervaded by a shadowy haze. The floor wasn't any better, as eventually particulate must settle, and when the Emperor gestured to a cushion, (no better than the ground itself) I considered for a moment, before remembering our disparity in status.

“There is another room,” he said, with a gesture of his hand, “but I find this space large enough for my simple purpose.

And he is right, this room nearly contains the entirety of the building. One might assume (based on the marble) for the room to be the grand hall of a prince, but it is without windows, furniture, embellishment, or anyone beyond our two bodies, a pillow or two, and a bundle in one corner.

“Sir,” I said, “I have come to learn the secret of your tactical brilliance, your courageous advances against the foe which have allowed you to conquer city and village, until you arrived at my poor hamlet. When I saw the Magistrate...”

“Yes,” he said, rising suddenly, slamming his fist upon the stone with such a force he must have fractured a bone (yet he seemed unaware of the pain), “You already betray yourself, and the Magistrate. I know his intention, and I identify you as his assassin.”

He staggered towards me, as if drunk (though wither the source I could not guess), and stumbled to my feet. Arms thrust outward, knocking aside feeble attempts to grasp my torso, we began a revolution of this abhorrent room, I shuffling backward and he shambling onward, and we continued our conversation in this mode.

“What have I done to offend?” I said, astonished at this development.

“I returned, so they caged me, terrified of my success. The people have made me a legend, and a myth, a fixture of the past. In the Empire, faction vies with faction for supremacy, and now the Magistrate has consolidated his position. All that remains is for my life to be snuffed out. Oh, to have been outwitted, outmaneuvered in my own home. He has sent you to kill me!” With these words, he lunged, then slipped and almost fell over the spittle which cascaded from his slack lips.

“But see,” I opened by hands palms up, “No weapon. Nor is there one upon my person, though you'll recognize I have not the opportunity, given our current situation, to display the inside of my coat.”

“I do not fear him, nor you, as you stand before me,” he said, unresponsively, “It is the uncertain death, relentlessly approaching, which I always desired to place in its position. Together, I and death would meet in a place of my own choosing, a location of dignity. I will not be deprived of life by the unknown, and so placed myself in the deadliest of positions, the middle of desperate battles. There, heedless of death, it always spurned me, and now I am a prisoner.”

“Let me remedy your affliction,” I said, referring not to his due death but his capture, “I will loose your bonds, return you to the mainland, and rally a force of men willing to follow your command as readily as I, (for in spite of his attitude, I believed his incarceration was the source of his debilitation).

Though he didn't answer me directly, he stopped his procession, and his arms dropped to his sides (I felt a relaxation of muscles, which must have mirrored his own).

“Tell your master, if he will arrange a time and place, I will meet him gladly in combat. He may stack the odds, one hundred men arrayed against myself, as long as he is on the field, it matters not, for I will have victory of one kind or another.” He breathed a sigh of relief, and I reciprocated, but then with a bound he came at me, and we slammed against the door (he had apparently maneuvered me into this position), and burst through its thin panel.

In retrospect, the light and the smoke of the room had shrouded my senses. In the bright light, and with the lack of distance between us (as he lay atop me), I perceived the bloodshot eyes, the sallow skin, the haggard brow, yet still his ferocity I could not resist. Nor could I overcome this most basic of compulsions, the Emperor was the wisest of men, though I now knew him to be a madman.

In the final moment, I realized what lent him bravery, it wasn't that he was afraid of existence, of pain and suffering, but of the terror of non-existence.

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