The Princess of Wrath

Chapter 1 - Part II: Imperial Diplomacy

Followed by the disturbed emissary, Asura went into the Astral Atrium with her brother still in her arms. The great hall was completely dedicated to the worshipping for four Gods: there were four giant statues that served as the pillars that hold the roof, which was totally carved with astronomical maps of the all the known stellar systems with mathematical and physical precision.

It was so beautifully painted that it gave the impression that the hall was open to the skies and it amplified the view into the Cosmos. The statues represented the apparent phantasmagorias of the Old Gods that manifested themselves in the time of greatest need of the predecessors of the Empire and granted them their blessing: Kantrus, Xiliarra, Vel'Moran and Endrel.

The allegory behind the position of the statues and the way that they held the ceiling was that those four Gods watched from the darkness of space over the star systems and, specially, the one in which the world of humans was located. There were other Gods out there, perhaps thousands, hidden from sight but always watching, just like those four that presented themselves in front of the Ithryl family... A hopeful way of thinking for some, but a disturbing one to others.

Asura had no love for the Gods and never would. She could only offer them loathe.

"Del!" she looked at where Jul was pointing with his hand, her eyes fixing on the statue of Endrel. Her pace slowed down as her brother excitedly waved his hand and smiled with joy. "Look, Del!"

Known as the Mother of the Deep, Endrel was represented in that statue as an entity with female humanoid features from the head to the waist. She was bald and had neither eyes nor mouth. The lower half of her body was merged into a spiral shell that, according to the legend, was always casting stellar dust from hundreds of little holes in its indestructible surface as if it was the tail of a comet. 

She was the only one of the Gods who did not return to the Cosmos and was left behind; her eldritch corpse is preserved in the catacomb of the Berelith Temple, at the peak of the Black Ice Mountain, where thousands of faithful dangerously go in pilgrimage every year.

"I really don't understand what you see in that wretched statue and what it represents," she muttered, although Jul did not understand what she said by the way that he looked at her with that unmoved smile and wet with tears.

"The texts did not say that the Gods you worship are so...nightmarish," the Ambassador muttered to Asura once he stood next to her and looked around in horror. Having a glimpse of the cosmic knowledge always has been an unpleasant experience for the uninitiated, Asura could testify. Luckily most of them did not think deep enough to understand the terrifying implications of such knowledge...

When they went into the Crystal's Ballroom, the first thing that Asura focused her attention was one of the two ten-meters long tables, the one that was surrounded by Frida, two butlers —Georg Gluz and Benedict Herzt—, and the head of the kitchen, Wallace vas Karevik: they had just finished making a portion of the table for Jul, the Ambassador and her by placing a small banquet consisting of eggs with bacon and ham, bread snacks, sausages, pumpkin porridge for Jul, black beer and water to drink, and three different kind of fruit.

The ballroom had the artificial lights of the three chandeliers turned on, like the crystals on the walls, as daylight still was not strong enough to illuminate the entirety of the place through the glass ceiling and the windows.

"My lady, my lord!" The three men deeply bowed in the presence of the Princess and her brother. Asura solemnly nodded and left Jul in the hands of Urza before accepting the seat that they were offering to her. The cook stood next to her with both hands on his back. "If there's anything you need, please let us know."