Book 6: Showdown (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria)

Chapter 1 - Regrouping

The 13 year-old Emperor of Occultoria was now deeply unhappy. Not only had he given the Matriarch rank, precedence and power over him in order to secure an annulment from the manipulative Princess Sanchia, he had also lost Jessica - the only girl that ever understood him - to the whim of the indecisive King of Celio.
But Emperor Max's resolve had doubled. He had come so close to making Jessica his Imperial Consort and future Empress of Occultoria. He would not lose her again.
Although he had no idea where she had gone, he suspected that she had been recalled back to Celio. Since she was the subject of the King of Celio and since the King had changed his mind about rejoining the Empire, she was no longer able to be with Max.
But that was alright. Max was determined to get her back, one way or another.
He was standing in front the Imperial Puzzle in the Throne Room of the Imperial Palace.
There was something else he had lost: Magicka's piece of the Imperial Puzzle.
When he decided to annul his engagement to Princess Sanchia, her mother the Duchess of Magicka succeeded from the Empire, taking her piece of the Imperial Puzzle with her as they left.
The number of provinces currently in the Occultorian Empire and subject to the authority of the Emperor had been reduced from 4 to 3.
If Max didn't have such good solid control of his mind, he would have been overwhelmed by the enormous tasks in front of him.
First, he had to reconquer Celio. Then, he had to find Jessica. Then, he had to reconquer Magicka some other way, instead by marriage. And then, he had to hope that the Matriarch wouldn't impose some kind of unreasonable demand on him that would slow him down.
Ever since he signed the contract and issued the Imperial Edict giving the newly-elected Matriarch Catherine III power over him, he had been on edge. He felt uneasy.
He wasn't sure whether he had made the right decision in swearing an oath of obedience to the Holy Mother. But, what was done was done and he had to learn to deal with the consequences of his hasty decision.
The young monarch was still lost in thought when Archbishop Julius Pius called out to him.
"Your Imperial Majesty," said the Archbishop as he walked into the room clutching his bishop's staff like some sort of walking cane.
Max turned around to look at his Chief Adviser, Court Chaplain and Regent in the face.
The Archbishop looked old, what with the creases on his wrinkled face, but then again, Max had never known the cleric as a young man.
Julius asked, "Are you ready to return to Celio?"
Max nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
He sighed.
The Archbishop asked, "What's wrong, sire?"
"I just didn't expect the King of Celio to change his mind. I felt like he lied to me."
The Archbishop nodded understandingly. "Yes, the more you do this job, the more you will realize that court politics is extremely treacherous. People will hem and haw, take forever, lie to you, betray you, backstab you, and everything else that's annoying, unethical and downright obscene if it serves their best interest. Everyone's thinking about themselves."
"I'm starting to see things for the way they are now...." Max trailed off.
A silence passed.
"I assume you'll be taking that brave young man with you to Celio," said the Regent.
"What brave young man?" asked Max.
"You know, that Jordan boy you knighted. The one who saved you when you fell from the sky."
"Oh right," said Max. "Yes I will. I made Sir Jordan my personal bodyguard. He'll join the Elite Imperial Guard when Eddie gets back from training."
The Archbishop smiled. "Wonderful. There is one other matter. The Matriarch has issued a Matriarchal Bull allowing her the power to appoint bishops in the realm. This is merely a reconfirmation of her new right to do so. There are lots of disadvantages for you now that you have lost that power. For one, the bishops would now pay taxes to the Matriarch instead of to you, which would mean a huge loss of income for us. As Your Imperial Majesty may recall, you agreed to this new policy of Matriarchal Investiture when you...uh...."
"Go ahead," said Max. "You can say it. When I foolishly signed over some of my powers to the Matriarch and moved her up the Order of Precedence so that I could get my annulment from Sanchia."
The Archbishop held up one hand in protest. "I never said foolishly, sire. I was merely concerned that giving the Matriarch precedence over you can lead to big headaches. If we learn from the history of the Natural World, the Popes of Rome were spiritual authorities in Europe and had power over all earthly and secular Catholic Kings and Emperors. There were many a conflict between church and state and frequently, the church won."
Max nodded. "Yes, I know. But sometimes, the state won."
The Archbishop raised an eyebrow. "How so, sire?"
"I'm sure you know all about King Henry VIII of England and how he broke away from the Catholic Church when the Pope refused to give him a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon."
The Archbishop smiled. "So Your Imperial Majesty has been paying attention in history class."
"It's one of my favorite subjects," said Max.
"But surely Your Imperial Majesty isn't suggesting you'd ever break from Divine Island, would you?"
 Max shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. I don't want to split the Church apart. That heretic John Huffin is doing enough of that for me right now anyway, but I'm not ruling it out."
The priest nodded. "I see. In any case, I think it sets a bad precedence if you don't at least protest the new Matriarchal Investiture policy. As Regent, I took the liberty of issuing a formal letter of protest on your behalf to the Matriarch, but she's been ignoring it. Shall I call a meeting of your Imperial Cabinet and Council? That way, we can all advise you and help you decide what to do."
Max knew he had already signed away his right to appoint bishops in his Empire to the Matriarch. There was no point in furthering arguing over that right.
Besides, he had other things to do.
His mind was elsewhere. Ever since Sanchia left, Max felt like a new man. He felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He was single again. He wasn't tied down to some overcontrolling fiancée he didn't even like, let alone love.
Now, he was finally free to get engaged again. And he had only one girl in mind. But, like before, she had disappeared once again.
He shook his head. "No thanks. I'd like you to tell the Master of the Horse and the Hunt to call the Conductor and get the Sky Train ready. I want to get to Celio as soon as possible. Then, tell Ariel and Sir Jordan to get ready."
The Archbishop nodded. "As you wish, sire. But as your Chief Advisor and Regent, I must provide a word of caution and advice. You don't want to give the Matriarch any more power that what you have already given her, which is already a lot. If you're not careful, you might find yourself trapped in a corner, completely helpless and desperate."
Max nodded like a robot. He wasn't really listening. His mind was elsewhere, far far away, way up in the misty skies, where danger and adventure and a beautiful girl were all waiting for him.

***

Meanwhile, in the Province of Magicka....

In her room in the Ducal Palace, Princess Sanchia was in tears.
"How could he just leave me like that?" she sobbed.
Her mother, the Duchess of Magicka, was comforting her.
"There, there," she said, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Mommy's working hard for us."
"I just feel so humiliated," wailed Sanchia, her tears smudging her mascara. "I mean, there I was, being a good fiancée and future Empress when he suddenly gets an annulment from the new Matriarch. I didn't do anything to deserve this kind of shabby treatment. It's just not fair!"
"I know, honey. I know," said the Duchess, as a brush automatically combed her pink hair for her. "Mommy's working on something."
Sanchia looked up at her mother. "I'm so embarrassed. I want revenge. It's all that Viscountess' fault. Jennica or something. She's an evil sorceress who has bewitched Max's heart. If only we could capture her and keep her in our dungeon."
A smile came to the Duchess' face. "You know, honey, that's not a bad idea. Now if we could only find out where she is...."

***

Meanwhile, on the Holy See of Divine Island, Seat of the Matriarch of the Holy Universal Church of the Supernatural World....

Her Holiness Matriarch Catherine III was in consistory. Consistory was a meeting of all the high-ranking clerics in the realm that the Matriarch wanted to elevate to the College of Cardinals.
Since Catherine had purged the College of Cardinals of the likes of Cardinals Wong, Borgia and Glutton (she had released them all from their vows so that they could live like laymen and laywomen), there was now room for five more cardinals, since her own seat in the College was vacant and the deceased Cardinal Andrew Hanson's seat was also vacant.
As sonorous religious hymns were sung by a choir and accompanied by organ, the five candidates that were to be elevated to the College of Cardinals (taking the red hat, as it is said) filtered in through the cathedral door.
The Matriarch herself was seated high above everyone else on the Divine Throne on the altar of Divine Cathedral, the seat of the Matriarchate.
Looking each candidate in the eye as they entered, the Matriarch smiled.
First, there was Reverend Justin Lee, a young handsome 20 year-old from a rich qiyou oil family.
Then, there was Deaconess Cynthia Stukov, a very ugly old witch with a big nose from Magicka.
Next, there was Deaconess Priya Singh, a tall thin middle-aged former soldier.
After, there was Reverend Jolie Dugard, a beautiful priestess with angel-like hair and an angel-like face.
Finally, there was Bishop Paolo Sforza of Purgatorio, an old man with a pockmarked face and a wide mouth.
But as different as they all were, there was one thing that bound them to her: their unwavering loyalty. She had wanted to stuff the College of Cardinals - the final arbitrator of all religious matters in the Empire - full of her supporters so that she would ensure that the policies she wanted would pass.
The music stopped.
One by one, the candidates came up to the Matriarch seated on her throne.
One by one, they swore undying allegiance to Her Holiness.
One by one, they kissed her matriarchal ring.
Then, the Matriarch handed them their red hats and their scarlet robes.
"This red hat and this scarlet robe both represent blood," Catherine III said. "Wearing this hat means you're making a promise to our Holy Universal Church. You will shed blood in defense of our Holy Mother Church. You will not hesitate to defend our Church from all enemies...."
At that moment, Cardinal Uppal burst into the cathedral.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt, Your Holiness," he said, gasping for air. "But I have big news. Our most capable generals have captured the heretic John Huffin."
Her eyes wide, the Matriarch rose from her throne.
She could not believe that her forces had that heretic in captivity.
Her hands shaking, she motioned for Cardinal Uppal to approach and whispered, "I can't believe this. I want to execute John Huffin."
"Ma'am, as your chief advisor, I would advise you not to."
"Why not? Kill off the shepherd and the sheep would scatter."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, ma'am. Killing him now would make him a martyr. His death would serve as a rallying point for all the reformists to come together and spread the Reformist cause."
The Matriarch sighed. Clearly, dealing with a sect was not going to be easy.