The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Emperor Cabel sits on the sofa, gazing at Cethin and his friends. Luna stays quiet as she looks back at Cethin—who seems rather playful.

"I want to make sure none of my family gets hurt or myself. We'll get injured on missions, that's a given since it's part of the job, but I don't want to be injured from people who wish to have our heads." Cethin calmly states.
"I can provide that. If I do, you must give up the citizenship from whatever hole you crawled out of, and become citizens here. There's no such thing as quitting. I ask for loyalty, and expect it until retirement or death. In your retirement or death, you'll be provided enough money to live, and your family will be cared for."
"Fair enough, sound good to you all?" Cethin turns to look at his friends sipping the tea, "Quit shoving your mouths with plant water, and decide!" Cethin scolds, rolling his eyes.

"Okay." A man with ash-grey hair nods, discreetly elbowing the girl beside him.

The girl nods absentmindedly, crumbs gathered at the corner of her mouth and filled cheeks—more focused on devouring the cookies than on the decision she's just agreed to. The three other men ignore Cethin's question entirely, crowding around the emperor's desk as they poke and prod at its collection of curious gadgets.

"If you accept, you guys should introduce yourselves before we sign it." Cethin sighs, holding his forehead with an exhausted irritation, "I swear I'm just a babysitter."

Hearing his mumbles, the five assassins quickly compose themselves to stand in a line behind the sofa Cethin sits on. Playful one moment, now they provide their full attention as they wear a composed expression, they bow.

"This is Xal, Jax, Petunia, Riddle, and Eli." Cethin gestures to each one as he introduces them, giving a shrug he wears a wistful smile as he shrugs, "It's all nicknames, but it's been so long since we've used our birth names, we forgot them."
"I still remember mine -" A man with half brown and blonde hair speaks, sticking his hand up.
"C'mon, don't piss on my cool sentence like that, Jax." Cethin snaps with scowl, groaning as he flashes a childish glare to the man named Jax.

The emperor and Luna quickly exchange a bewildered look to one another. Taken aback from the people before them, acting in a childish and playful way—much different than the image of murderous trained assassins.

"I don't understand why you'd go through this effort to hire some people. We could kill you both and steal your stuff, and you still want to trust us?" A blonde man rolls his eyes in disbelief—introduced as Eli.
"Allow me to specify. I am the emperor. Those who wish to harm me or the empire, won't live long enough to notice when they've been executed." Emperor Cabel calmly states.

Gingerly pulling Luna by the waist to sit close to him—her body pressed to his—the emperor gently lifts his arm to rest around her shoulder, his hand curling to cover her eyes.

"Your majesty? What are you doing?" Luna questions.
"It'd be best if you don't watch for this test." The emperor speaks in a composed tone.

"Test? Does this mean you want us to show our strengths, right now? You could die y'know." A slight grin on his lips, Cethin chuckles at the emperor's words with a slight amused twinkle in his eyes.
"You can if you'd like, but I'm not responsible for anything that happens -"

Emperor Cabel's cut off as a blade is suddenly held to his throat, throwing blades piercing the sofa around Luna and him.

Cethin stands behind him, his hand holding the blade to the emperor's throat.

"This was too easy. You'd be dead by now!" Cethin childishly snickers, looking down at Emperor Cabel's expression.
"As I said, this was a test. If it were an attack, you would have been dead seconds before you moved." Emperor Cabel calmly states.
"What? You're crazy -" Cutting himself off as he looks back at the other, Cethin's eyes widen in surprise.

Xal, Jax, Riddle, Eli, and Petunia are all restricted by giant spikes that burn with a sinister glow, dark red sparks crackling across the surface. Spikes bind them to wall and floor, the sharp points lingering at their throats. Dark red shadows stretch upwards into pillar-like cages, keeping them trapped. Before Luna, a narrow beam is erupt—behind it, the throwing blades that were pointed towards her are caught within the sinister glow of the shadow.

A gulp stuck in his throat, Cethin cautiously looks below him to see a large spike that sits millimeters away from the skin of his neck—aimed at an angle as if ready to pierce through his jaw into his skull.

"How did you? -" Cethin pauses, the atmosphere growing thick as shadows begin to crawl to cover the windows.

A heavy aura emits off the emperor. The shadows continuing to grow, covering the windows as the room grows dark from the absence of the sunlight.

"As I said, those who wish to harm me or my empire, won't live long enough to notice when they've been executed." Emperor Cabel's lips curl into an amused smile, his tone composed without an ounce of fear in his expression—only a chilling look of judgement, "Can I count on all of you to stay loyal? Or shall I continue?"

Amongst the darkness, only the emperor's glowing sharp eyes light the dim room. His analyzing gaze, slowly shifting to look back at Cethin.

A visible chill rushes through Cethin's body as his eyes widen. Forcing down the lump that was stuck in his throat, his eyes curl into an charmed grin until breaking out into a sharp laugh.

"You're fun! What the heck, thought you were some boring noble." Cethin exclaims, removing his blade from Emperor Cabel's throat.

As the blade is taken away from his throat, the shadows retract—the room turning back to normal as the assassins are released, and the windows allowing sunlight in once again.

Hesitantly walking towards the emperor and Luna, Petunia watches the emperor with the corner of her eye. Cautiously picking up the throwing blades, the emperor wears an inscrutable expression as he watches the assassin retreat to the others.

As the emperor removes his hand from Luna's eyes, she looks to see the six assassins on their knees, bowing before them.

"We accept this opportunity, your majesty." Cethin grins, amused as he holds a hand over his heart.


As night approaches, Luna is escorted back to her room as the emperor goes over documents, the assassins patiently waiting for him to speak.

"Sign at the bottom. This binds you to me. If you break the contract, your hands and tongues will be hung on the palace gates, and then you'll be banished from my land." The emperor solemnly speaks, tossing the paperwork towards Cethin.
"Interesting, are you sure you can catch us if we break the contract?" Cethin replies, glancing over the documents.
"I'm not one to hold grudges, but breaking my trust is enough to make me kill someone—no matter what lengths I have to go through."
"Alright, alright. It's better than being on the run again anyways." Cethin snickers as he signs, passing the papers for the rest to sign.
"While you're working here, you'll be guarding Luna as well. At least two or three of you should shadow her at all times. Kill anyone that approaches her with malice." The emperor coldly orders, resting his elbows on the desk as he watches the assassins sign.
"Her again? What makes her so special? If anything, it'd disrupt training if we have to protect her." Cethin scoffs—evidently toying with the emperor to see how far he can push.

Emperor Cabel's eyes glow subtly as he analyzes the assassins with a chilling gaze. Clasping his hands together, he places them in front of his lips as he rests his chin. His eyes piercing into Cethin, the room suddenly grows heavy.

Startled by the coldness in the emperor's eyes, Cethin tenses as he tries to read his expression.

"You've signed your lives to me, so there's no point in asking irrelevant questions when you're tasked to follow orders. If you need incentive then just know, if she's killed—I'll torture those who failed to protect her." The emperor sharply speaks, his eyes glancing to look at the assassins.
"How fun." Cethin snickers, running his finger through his hair.
"Understand?" The emperor asks.

"Understood, your majesty." The six assassins speak in unison, bowing their heads to the ruler.