The Aeterna Empire

Chapter 15.4 What was Inevitable

The High Priest was taken away, never to be seen from again.

The Aeterna Emperor, Adam, said, "Bring to me the High General of Kes."

The general stood up on his feet by his own will, but the Soran-Blood took him to the table. He walked with them. He did not have the confidence the high priest held before, but he walked with the efficency fit for his station. He did not waste the Emperor's time.

They met each other's eyes and for a long moment neither said anything. They blinked, but still the gaze was held. Were they in contest or merely examining?

"You have been in the service many years," the Aeterna said.

"Twenty-two years."

"How long have you been High General?"

"Five. Nothing I am sure your agent's haven't ascertained themselves."

 "You caught me." Adam smiled. "And five years ago you were also sent to the Mirrad borders, where you never left. The only general known to not move his post in so long."

"Your point?"

"High generals have always been stationed at the capital or near active war. The war with Mirrad hasn't been active in a hundred years since the Battle of Ten Thousand Torches. While you became efficent in hunting Mirrad-Blood, or Cynn-Blood as your king and priests called them, your promotion, position, and orders to not leave cannot be coincidence and are not warranted by mere skill and understanding of the enemy when there is no true threat. What is the story there?"

The general did not answer.

"I can guess. It could not have been something  so basic as political maneuvering or compromise as your king was whimsical in the extreme and entirely egotistical. No. It was personal. It was a punishment. The promotion was to shame you and put you under his direct control. The post was to rub your face in it while distancing you from himself."

At this, the general turned enough to look at both Caius and I. I was familiar with the story, and nodded my consent. Caius just chuckled, amused.

The general sighed, and said, "I allowed some of the king's prize slaves to flee. I caught them in the wilds, but the 'rebellion' I was told of turned out being a single man, a few women, but mostly children. 'Mirrraed'-Blood." He found the word difficult, not having uttered it before. "The king wanted them for his pleasure."

"And you did not wish to see them burned?" The Aeterna mused.

"No. Worse. The king's tastes had turned exotic."

The Aeterna only blinked at the information. "I see."

"To make matters more emberassing to him, the 'single man' turned out to be the most stubborn of all the Mirrad and rose to chief."

"And you became his hunter to reclaim your honor."

"I had no inkling of hope for that. I just took my orders to the minimum. People who disagree with him have a tendency to disappear. The only salvation I had was my family was too important to allow it."

A moment passed where neither said anything. The Aeterna did not respond to this, and the general was finished with his explanation.

"Are you going to judge me as the high priest?" The general questioned.

"No, not like him, not for this. I see you are telling the truth. I do find your morals in question as you did not retire, but I know very well the delimna of soldiers and rulers that put you in impossible positions. No. I judge you on another matter."

"Which is?"

"Why did you not defend the border?" The Aeterna asked. "I came here with no resistance. You gave up dozens, hundreds, of cities and villages and outcroppings. You should be thankful your people are unharmed. If I was a conquerer as history might portray such as, you would be seeing hills of bodies here and a road paved in skulls and femers. Yet there isn't. I chose to move quickly. Yet even I was surprised by how quickly I would be here. There wasn't a single army. No battalion. No legion. Not even a troop."