Empyrean

Chapter 27

Chapter 27-Jacob

Palace on the Hill

Early Afternoon, 27th of Pachon, Year 612

            “Jacob! Welcome. Welcome!” Lír sounds sincere, but I might be the only Alexandros besides Serena to have any reason to dislike the man. The way he sits on his throne puts me off. The slight lean to the side, the way his presence doesn't fill the chair completely. It is decorated more beautifully than anything I have ever seen and he is dressed more elegantly than anything in the magazines, newspapers, or the illegal books I have read, but it doesn't become him. He just doesn't look like an Emperor to me.

            “Thank you your highness.” I immediately kneel and the formality slips off my tongue like a slimy bite of food. I may not be a Zenith, but growing up in a poor Orange family isn’t easy either, constantly having to suck up to my parents’ bosses.

            “Oh come now, no need for formalities.” He waves his hand to the side in that pretentious way.

            I take this and ride with it. “If that is the case, then why have you called me here? It is early for the report. And shouldn't that be coming from the senior squad leader of the Zenith-Red headquarters?”

            “Straight to the point, I like it.” He stands up and the two young women to his sides pull his magnificent robe behind him so it doesn't trip the poor boy. “I have called you, because you are the smartest of all the Alexandros, save Serena of course. Based on the combination of your entry exam and your training, you are an exceptional specimen. You are not only the best out of your graduating class, but in terms of your military prowess on the battlefield, despite no real experience besides these few weeks, and in stratagem, you are more qualified than anyone else in my whole army. I don't know how you came by the knowledge of how to control this delicate art that we call war, but you have the ability.”

            “I thank you for the compliment, but you didn't call me here just to say that.” I get up off of my knees and look at him straight in the eye. “What do you want from me?”

            “Oh Jacob, when I said that you are more qualified than…” The Emperor pauses and waves away all other people that are in the room. Now we are alone. “You are even more qualified than me.”

            “You want me to lead the army?”

            “I do not want you to only lead it Jacob. I want you to lead it to victory over these Zenith and Red rebels. I will have all dissidents killed; stamp them out with my left heel. I want you to be the proxy for this. This city was built on a one-sided hill. Now there is only way to get up to the top, to where the Emperor sits, up the hill. They can’t come from behind or come from above. They will come up the hill! We have so many guns to there few guns and stick-swords, but still by use of this guerilla warfare they have pushed and taken over all of the Red. As you know being a resident, we have had to evacuate the Zenith-Red Headquarters and you all are living in the Red-Yellow area.” He starts pacing back and forth. “In few, Jacob, I need your help, but like anyone in their right mind would, I need to verify that you are with me.”

            “Of course I am.”
            “And I would think that of most the Blue-born as well, but apparently just contact with that man can create a psychopath.” He rolls back over to his throne and takes a seat. “I know you have had a trifle more contact than a normal Alexandros with the man, so I have arranged a test of your loyalty to me.”

            “And what would that be?”

            “You will see.” And with those words a knock can be heard from the door behind the throne. “Ah. Here come the ladies now.” He stands and moves over to the Greco-Roman style column and puts his hand on it. A screen more complicated than anything I have ever seen shows up. “From placing my hand on any part of this palace, I have control over all the City under my control down to the Red. My forefathers didn't bother installing the system in the Zenith, but clearly that was a mistake. After this is done, if there are any left, we will install the system there.” He starts tapping on it obviously still getting used to it. “We will have to replace the system in the Red as well, Orion seems to have taken it down over there.”