Displaced

Chapter 43

Haidar Batra reclined against the back of a plush sofa in his private chambers, enjoying his time in the company of his four young grandchildren. Shrieks and cries sprang up all around him as the little tykes ran about causing chaos wherever they went, but Haidar only smiled. It was nice to be around people who didn't want much more than love from him for a change. It was a shame the times when he could drop all the pretense of being the Emperor and just be a loving grandfather were so rare. That was why he'd taken steps to protect these rare moments, issuing a decree to all who lived and worked in the palace that interrupting his time with his grandchildren was a crime with a penalty of death.

"Granpa! Up!" Callasta, his second-youngest grandchild at a mere three years old, stood by his feet, her adorable little arms raised up towards him as she implored him to lift her onto the empty cushion beside him. A precocious child who seemed a bit more developed than other three-year-olds, Callasta had formed a sort of fascination with her grandfather recently, and loved to be with him. It made the old man smile.

"No, Callasta, climb up yourself," he said, patting the cushion with his hand. "It is important to not become reliant on others. You will become weak."

Callasta eyed the the seat in front of her, unsure. As the sofa was a little higher than most, and the girl was rather short for a child her age, the top of the cushion came up to just around her shoulders. Hesitantly, she put her arms up onto the cushion, grabbing the fabric in her tiny fingers, and hopped. It wasn't enough. Teetering on the edge, the fabric slipped out from between her fingers and she fell back, landing heavily on her butt.

Haidar leaned forward as he saw tears begin to form on the corners of her eyes. He reached out a hand and lifted her back onto her feet. "No crying over failure. Try again. You can do this."

The tiny girl reached out to the sofa again.

"Ready? Jump!" Haidar cheered.

The girl gave another hop, this one a little higher than the last. This time it proved to be enough. She was able to get enough of her torso onto the cushion that she could bring a knee up, and then she was on. Callasta smiled a brilliant smile as Haidar patted her head.

"Well done!" he praised. "A Batra never bows to a challenge, no matter how small!"

"Granpa, book?" the little imp asked, giving him a sweet little hug as she looked up imploringly. Haidar's heart melted at the sight. How could he resist such a cute face?

When Callasta said "book", she didn't mean just any book. She meant The Compass, the massive collection of knowledge, advice, and guidance written to keep each ruler of Ubrus from going astray. Each ruler's final act, before passing control of Ubrus to their eldest child, was to add their own words to the end of the book, each generation improving and enhancing the tome's greatness. Haidar's hand caressed the book's soft leather cover, generating a series of soft clinks from the chains that connected the book to his body. Ubran tradition and law required each new ruler, Emperor or Empress, to have the book chained to their bodies so that they would never be without its wisdom. The process of embedding the metal chains into the rib bone caused enormous pain, but temporary discomfort was a small price to pay for the power of an Emperor.

The Compass contained many of the Empire's greatest secrets, and so only the current ruler was allowed to read it. Any other person would be put to death for reading even a single sentence. Callasta, however, was too young to read; she just liked to look at the drawings. Haidar decided that meant he could overlook the transgression at least for a little while longer.

Reaching for the book, he lifted it from the side table standing to his right and placed it on his lap, opening it to a page written by a Empress Kitahun two-hundred and fifty years ago. Callasta oohed at the detailed drawing of a gorgeous woman in an exquisitely ornate dress surrounded by kneeling tribespeople, a depiction of the Empress's conquest of the tribes of the Trinta forests to the southwest. The child snuggled up against his side as he turned the page.