He stood, gesturing for me to continue, his stance respectful rather than threatening. I glanced at Fornella, who stood eyeing the revealed throne room with naked trepidation. “It’s my head she wants,” I told her. “When she takes it try to make sure she listens.”
The Imperial throne room takes the form of a circle, ringed on all sides by thick marble pillars to support the great dome above. There are no seats save the throne, positioned atop a raised dais in the centre, the dais itself formed from solid cylindrical blocks of diminishing diameter, creating six steps where the Imperial counsellors stand. The status of each counsellor is denoted by the position on the dais; senior military officers typically occupy the lowest step whilst lawmakers and scholars could expect to stand on the second or third tier. I had been unique in being the only Imperial historian ever to ascend to the fourth step. Only the Hope or those whose advice was most cherished by the Emperor could expect a place on the fifth tier. The sixth step was always left vacant, a reminder that the ruler of the Alpiran Empire must ultimately bear the weight of power alone.
My eyes briefly tracked over the counsellors, finding some faces I knew, all either unwilling to meet my gaze or staring in unconcealed, if somewhat forced, fury. I was surprised to find two counsellors on the fifth step, and one a soldier. Horon Nester Everen, High Commander of Imperial Forces, had always been a difficult man to read. Partly because of the habitual scowl he wore, but more so in recent years due to the extensive burns he had suffered in the final assault on Marbellis, scarring the left side of his face from brow to neck. The attitude of the other man on the fifth step, however, was much more easily discerned. Merulin Nester Velsus, the Imperial Prosecutor, had never regarded me with much affection, or I him. He had always struck me as a man engaged in a perpetual quest for the weaknesses of others, as if in confirmation of his boundless capacity for judgement. Seeing the new depth of his enmity, I deduced my current predicament fulfilled long-held suspicions.
