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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