The Six

Chapter Twenty Two- Betrayed

"Your Empress already knows."

Her words rung through his mind on a nonstop loop. The silence of the march back to the city not helping things.

Abner looked down at his weary horse then at the fields surrounding him. The chief had been speaking the truth- that he could not deny. The rivers created for beauty in the city had diverted their natural flow, meaning the crops were dry and wilting.

The Empress had justified it by saying that the rain season would fill the wells and water the fields, but it was late this year and that meant that there wasn't enough food to go around. The imports from the other countries could only be afforded by the rich, leaving the poor without food and with very little water.

He was surprised that there hadn't been an uprising yet, but perhaps the people trusted the Empress so explicitly that when she says it will rain, it will.

Should he trust her? Not only did he feel as though she was taking vanity over her people's welfare but then the warning from Sister Eboni.

It was not in the Sister's nature to lie. No traveller from God's land had come to the city in over 300 years, it was a shock to see both her and Brother Bren- unaccompanied- never mind that the Chief of Sher Woods and his brother had left their home of their own free will. The stories of the people of Sher Woods were renowned, so them being here and together, had to mean something.

They said they were on a journey prophesised by Elementi- to eradicate the Darkness once and for all. As Commander of the Army of Admari he was privy to the information that Tozaro was off limits and had been scrubbed off maps that were used in schools.

Had the Empress truly been turned against the light? He was sure it was possible, every person had their weakness and lack of power was the Empresses greatest one. She had remained constantly bitter about not being Empress of Cerina as well as Admari, but that title had been lost by her ancestors many years ago.

The dry and barren fields turned into lush fields of grass and orchards as they passed the point where the rivers from the city met. He led the army across the first of many bridges now conscious of how they followed his every command and whim. The army he had control of would be formidable in the wrong hands.

He had made good time on the journey back. Ordering his men back to the barracks he dismounted from his horse and walked through the city. People stopped and smiled at him, children waved hello and stall holders nodded in respect.

Deciding that embarrassment over accusing the Empress of such a crime would be a much better fate than seeing these people look at him with hatred and mistrust should he be wrong in his thoughts, he made his way to the pulley at the base of the mountain.

Climbing higher in the air he began to go over sentences in his head, trying to make them as light and unamusing as possible.

'Empress, it had been brought to my attention that the group of travellers who passed through your city today think you have turned from the light of our creator Elementi, and sided with the Dark Ones of Tozaro and their master Darkness. Such preposterous ideas should be dealt with immediately, what do you wish to say?'

He said it over and over in his head to make sure it sounded right, and steeling himself he excited the wooden box and made his way through the hall to the throne room.

Seeing the door was shut he circled around and through the corridor that led to the secret passage into the room, that only he and the Empress could use.

He slowed his paces as a he heard the Empress conversing with another. Stopping outside the door, he slowly opened it. A piece of cloth hung in the door way, but he could see through it and into the room. It was built in case espionage was required. During a banquet, he would stand here and the suspected guest would be placed for dinner nearby.