The Blood Empress (2 page)

"You may."

The Soothsayer began to slowly creep towards her again keeping his red eyes lowered. "My Empress you have reached the age of consent. The Kastras will soon be sending their finest young men to call on you."

She turned away indifferent to the thought. He pressed on.

"Might I suggest that you establish a sporting contest to narrow the field a bit?"

Nykostra looked back at the Soothsayer, her interest piqued.

"What kind of sport?"

"One of skill, intelligence and strength. One that will be sure to weed out the weaker individuals and champion the most fit warrior to take his place at your side."

The idea intrigued her. It was customary for a sitting Empress to select her own betrothed from one of the nine Kastra. But the rules for how this was to be done were obscure. There hadn't been a young Empress such as herself in hundreds if not thousands of years.

Boys were the furthest thing from her mind of late. Being a secluded monarch didn't afford her many opportunities to socialize with youth her own age. She found little of interest in the obedient servants with whom she ordered around every day.

"There are no official rules for selecting someone. I'm free to conduct my search however I see fit."

The Soothsayer nodded, his gray hands clasped together under the long sleeves of his cloak.

"But I don't want to be bothered with it right now. I'm too young. I don't even like boys."

The Soothsayer's head rose up to look at his Empress.

"It is only a matter of time, my Empress. Only a matter of time."

She stood up, wiped the blood from the blade on her gown and slid the falchion back into its sheath. "It would appear that I have plenty of time now, wouldn't it?" She stepped off the throne and started to pace around the room.

"I want you to select the sport. Make sure it involves fighting and riddle solving." She stopped and turned back to face the Soothsayer who had been watching her from a distance.

"Don't make the riddle too complicated. I want him to be smart but not smarter than me."

The Soothsayer nodded and lowered his head.

***

Even an Empress has a bedtime. When the hour approached, she was undressed by her handmaidens and her bed turned down and heated for her. Her bedroom was huge by Votainion standards. High ceilings and stone walls made for a cold and lonely room when the lights were dimmed. The handmaidens all left and the room fell silent.

She pulled the covers to her nose and watched the reflections on the wall from the rain on the thick, stained glass windows. Nights were terribly lonely for her. She had no parents to tuck her in and talk to her about her day, no siblings to argue with. Just the darkness, the sound of the rain outside and the ever-present sentries posted outside her door.

She reached into a slot beneath her pillows, where the mattress met with the ancient wooden headboard. Inside was a slim tablet that she kept hidden from her caretakers. She slid it out and activated it. Its glowing screen lit her sky blue face in the darkness.

She used the device to communicate with people she did not know. It masked her identity and let her chat with other kids her age across Voton and even as far as the closest worlds of the Empire. The device contained encryption software that hid her communications from Imperial eyes. She may have been only sixteen, but the Empress was not stupid. She knew the Soothsayers and the Engineers would disapprove of her behavior and she took elaborate measures to obfuscate her nocturnal activities.

Her dark eyes looked around the room as she sat up and waited for the communicator to connect to her secret friend. A boy, somewhere in the Empire, whom she had taken to meeting at this same time every night.

She didn't know where he lived or what Kastra he belonged to. He knew even less about her. But the two of them talked for hours some evenings over the same communications systems that the adults used.

"Kaleen, are you there?" the voice called out from tiny speakers. They only used first names to preserve the secrecy of their talks.

"Yes. I have to keep the lights low tonight," she whispered. Her voice was different than the one she used with her staff, weaker and higher pitched. Girlish. His voice had only just turned and yet was nearly indistinguishable from hers over the tiny speakers.

"I can't talk long tonight. I'm going on a hunt in the morning. I must rise early to make ready my weapons," said Ketar.

Kaleen leaned in to study her screen closer. It made her own face larger on Ketar's screen.

"You look different. Have you been somewhere exciting today?"

She shook her head and sighed. "No. Same old boring school and dealing with my nagging mother."

He looked disappointed. She tried to make her life seem boring and average while he seemed to have exciting adventures that she loved to hear about.

"Where is the hunt this time? The dark forest or in the high country?"

He smirked. "Neither. We're heading off world. Somewhere in the system, I think. We're going to need environ-suits and radiation shielding. I'm guessing one of the inner planets."

"Sounds dangerous."

He smirked again and acted as if it were naught. "Nothing to worry about. I'll be off line for a few days though. Think you can live without me?"

She smiled broadly, her smooth face creased by the lines. "I'll manage."

Ketar looked away and she could overhear a male voice talking curtly. He returned his eyes to his screen and said, "I have go, talk to you soon."

"Goodbye," she said as the connection closed.

She switched off her tablet and returned it to the hiding spot at the head of the expansive bed. She had wanted to tell him to be careful, among other things. He lived such an adventurous life compared to her. He wasn't restricted to one planet or to the duties of the Imperial court. Despite being the Empress of the greatest stellar empire in the universe there were many limits to her freedoms.

***

The Kwizarra Lonn stood over the fire pit that burned the sacred bush. Vocra was indigenous to the high desert plateaus of the planet's northern hemisphere. Very early on it was discovered that inhaling the smoke of the burning Vocra produced hallucinogenic waking dreams. When certain individuals smoked the dried leaves they had visions of the future. Those who were able to harness the mind altering visions moved into advisory roles in the primitive tribes. Before long they began to move underground, where isolation and silence let them focus their visions. Thus were born the Soothsayer Dens.

The den of the Soothsayers was buried deep beneath the Imperial castle on Voton. It was understood that the Soothsayers manipulated the ruling Kastra as puppet masters, hidden beneath a stage. It didn't matter which Kastra ruled the Empire, they were in turn manipulated by the clairvoyant powers of the Soothsayers.

They were an incestuous coven of gray skinned, red eyed people who never ventured into the light of day except for the few individuals granted permission to be consultants to the ruling Kastra.

There were Soothsayer dens on each of the nine core worlds of the Empire. But all Soothsayers are born and raised on Voton and then shipped to whichever world needs them. There are no Soothsayer families on the core worlds, only on Voton.

They were not recognized as their own Kastra, but they were taken in by others and used as medicine men and clairvoyants. Kastra leaders depended on their visions to guide them. The Soothsayers slowly became invaluable to the Kastras and when they were united by force and the Empire's capital city was first constructed, the Soothsayers carved their home under the castle and have remained there, for several thousand years.

Another robed Soothsayer entered the quiet chamber and stood beside the Kwizarra Lonn.

"I have been instructed by the Empress to create a sporting event in which the winner will take his place beside the Empress and sire the heir to the Empire."

The second man nodded under his heavy gray cloak. His name was N'arvon and he was the trusted right hand of the Kwizarra Lonn.

"This contest will be one of physical strength, combat, skill and intelligence. You will organize the event with the Nine Kastra."

"As you wish Kasim," N'arvon whispered. Kasim was a term of honor used when talking to a higher ranking Soothsayer. It was part of the old language and unknown to the Votainions above them.

"I have finished my mind probes of the likely candidates. We shall do everything in our powers to ensure that Ku'nar of the Surg Kastra wins the contest. I have foreseen his ascendancy to the throne and he is well under our control."

"Yes Kasim."

N'arvon started to leave when he was pulled back to the fire by the left hand of his master.

"The mysterious signal from the Empress's bed chamber has finally been traced. A youthful soldier from the Vicar Kastra, named Ketar. The Empress has taken an interest in this young man. He will be selected to participate in the contest. We must ensure that he makes it to the finals where Ku'nar will defeat him."

There was a long silence as both men studied the flames below them.

"The Empress will be crushed, Kasim. It will turn her against us even more than she already is."

The Kwizarra Lonn turned his head to his second and by the flickering firelight revealed his soft, red eyes. N'arvon was captured like a moth to the flame by the glow.

"All according to my plan. All according to my plan."

"Your word is great, Kasim."

It was several rotations later that Nykostra finally heard from Ketar again on her tablet. He left her a recorded message in which he recounted how his master's hunting party had come under attack and he was the only one to survive. The incident clearly affected him on some primal level that she might never understand. There was a dullness in his eyes and in his demeanor that bothered her. He seemed morose and less chatty than he had been before the hunting expedition.

Near the end of his message he confessed to having become a full warrior. His newfound status also came with new duties that would sometimes take him off world for extended periods of time. He didn't know when they would be able to talk again. Her heart sank when she realized that he might be moving on without her. Perhaps he no longer needed their secret friendship. Perhaps. But she refused to give up hope that he would return to talking with her. For nights after receiving that recording, she tuned in and looked for him to no avail. He would be back. He had to be back. She needed to see him again.

* * *

Empress Nykostra sat perfectly still and upright as the parade began. She was dressed in her formal red and black gown complete with imperial headdress. There was a chill in the air as winter was fast was approaching. Her clothes were well insulated against the weather but her blue cheeks were slightly darker than the rest of her smooth skin.

Palace guards and the Kwizarra Lonn surrounded her. She was careful to make him sit far enough away from her so that his thoughts weren't constantly in her head. They were not aware that she could sense when they were probing her thoughts and she preferred to keep them clueless for as long as she could.

The procession included a squad of the best soldiers from the Votainion Fleet, high stepping in perfect unison. They were followed by the Imperial Army guardsmen in their regal red uniforms from several thousand years ago, before the Empire had become a space faring civilization. Even before the nine Kastra had fanned out into the galaxy and formed their own home worlds.

Nykostra loved the pageantry of the parade and all the formal customs that came with it. When she was a few years younger she could recall wishing that she could don a brilliantly colored uniform and join the soldiers. Now she was content to simply watch and marvel at the precision on display for her benefit.

Next came the hardware, her favorite part. Armored vehicles of all kinds, crawled, hovered and walked along in freshly painted colors that made them seem less like killing machines and more like children's toys. Still, the power on display was impressive.

She sat up a bit straighter to catch sight of the contestants. The nine chosen men who would fight to win her hand in marriage. Each warrior hailed from one of the nine Kastra of the Empire. They were all between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one and each was a sterling example of Votainion honor and bravery. Coming from the ruling caste and each having served in combat either on the newly created human front or from any one of several military skirmishes the Empire was currently involved in. They were battle tested and worthy of the attentions of their Empress.

From her vantage point on the royal platform she couldn't make out their faces. Each man walked alone and in single file with several paces between them so the Empress could see them clearly. They all had broad shoulders and round faces with stern expressions. Warm puffs of air escaped their mouths as they marched.

They were escorted by the top military person on Voton, General Verlome. He barked an order and all nine contestants turned their heads up to her and saluted in unison. She was under no obligation to return the gesture. She merely nodded her head to acknowledge their passing.

As the final contestant approached her, Verlome projected an order arms command. The group continued in lock step with their eyes forward. She sighed and sat back against the cool throne seat. She didn't see much difference in any of the contestants. In fact, she thought they all looked pretty much the same. But then that's the point of a formation. She didn't like conformity much, having had to conform to someone else's idea of how to live for all of her short life.

She glanced down at the Kwizarra Lonn and caught his look of satisfaction. Perhaps he could marry one the suitors for her. She smiled at the thought, and he naturally mistook her expression for one of approval.
These idiots are so easy to fool, she thought.

***

The first two contenders were out before she had time to even learn their names. Lord Karno from Sett and Lord Zegg from Khara. Both of them were apparently not bright enough to pass the intelligence test. Then again, they were from worlds not known for having particularly brilliant people. Nykostra had been paying more attention to her teachers than they might have thought. Both Sett and Khara were the weakest Kastras in the Empire. The fact that either Kastra had sent a representative was strictly ceremonial.