The Aeterna Empire

Chapter 11 - Ascending towards the Sun

I waited in the lobby, allowing my eyes to roam over the make of the complex. Unlike Barjol's grand castle keep, this land owner held a single living complex bursting with life and belongings. There was a baby's crib to the side with some sown up dolls, a case of scrolls and books and letters, a stained couch I found more comfortable than ornate, a board game left unfinished, a fireplace with simmering coals, and a desk next to the crib covered in dishware and crumbs as much as papers and documents.

"I apologize for the wait." A newcomer entered the room. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "But, in my defense, I am diurnal."

Governor Bagon approached me, his hand extended to greet me.

I extended my hand and punched the traitor in the face.

The former general stepped back under the blow and put a hand to his mouth to stifle the blood. His eyes flashed, fully wakened. His servant stepped forward with a hand to his sword hilt.

"Hold! Do not retaliate." Bagon put his hand out and the servant stopped. "First of all, he was your king once, and that means something, even now. Second," Bagon spit blood into his hand. "He caught me offguard, but that will not happen again, even if he wants to."

"But, my lord-"

"Leave us. I will be fine." Bagon insisted.

The guard hesitated, eyeing me briefly, but obeyed and left, closing the door behind himself.

Bagon took a cloth and dabbed his mouth and nose. "For a nobleman, you have a solid fist." Bagon poured water into a dish and cleaned himself. "Now, care to explain or am I to assume you just make a habit out of meeting people at the oddest times?"

"I want an explanation, and if you have any respect for our history, people, or me, then you will answer. I was at a certain place the other day, and there were a great many slaves belonging to him. Slaves used for pleasure of ways I had never imagined, and ones for work. Their treatment made my blood freeze. Worse, they were our people. And, in my search, I found his biggest buyers." I breathed out heavily, seething in barely restrained rage. "Why are you buying our people?"

Bagon stared at me a moment, seemingly putting things together. "Are you this 'Second Adam' I heard about?"

Damn, how far did that spread?

I kept him on the topic, taking a step toward him, "That doesn't sound like an explanation."

He countered, circling around, "And that doesn't sound like a denial."

We stared at each other a moment, our sight of each other restricted by the fireplace. We couldn't see one another in our entirety, partially hidden in shadow and partially illuminated. Where did the truth begin and assumption end?

The facts presented him as a traitor, but our brief engagements gave me hope there is something more, something warranting answers. In turn he heard rumors of me under a title, where my succession of the title is as unclear as my relationships to the titans of the ages.

The world was not black and white, especially in the transition between.

Bagon was the first to look away. He stopped in front of the fireplace and peered in sadly, whether because the fire reminded him of something or he chose it as a distraction I could not say. "It is not what you think. I am not enslaving our people."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Sending them home." He said simply. Immediately my shoulders relaxed and I let out a dizzying breath. He explained further, "When the priceless is exchanged for pocket change, something is wrong. This isn't a handful of cities or villages being raided, its a country's worth. While such numbers give the enemy opportunity, thankfully it has given me the same chances. I had an army, many of whom found their families already taken when they returned home. I may be a governor, but I have the loyalty of men helping me send our people home from within."