Empire of Vipers

Panicked whispers of the honoured guests hissed through the great hall like a hundred snakes. A sense of contempt washed over Captain Rothal Halrion as he surveyed the faces frozen in shock, stark white against their bright, garish garments.

They’re all vipers, he thought, each and every one. They just never expected someone among them to strike at the emperor himself.

Captain Halrion stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his imperial guards, forcing back the crowd that were craning their necks for a glimpse of the emperor. Captain Halrion, himself, spared a deeply troubled glance over his shoulders at the head table. The lavish, overflowing feast prepared for the Festival of the Golden Harvest had been abruptly abandoned. Every member of the small council have rushed to the emperor’s side. Behind the shifting mass of bodies, the emperor could not be seen.

Captain Halrion clenched his jaw in frustration and whipped his head back to the front. Before him, the crowd continued their tense whisperings.

“What’s wrong with His Imperial Majesty?”

“He just collapsed!”

“Face straight into the lamb-chops.”

“I saw his lips turn blue…”

“You mean he was p—”

“SILENCE!” A shrill voice cut through the noise of the crowd. A young boy of sixteen had gotten up on the head table and was gesturing wildly, trying to impart an aura of authority that he didn’t quite possess. Nevertheless, the crowd quieted immediately. No one wanted to upset the son of the emperor.

“None of you move one goddamn inch!” He continued to shout, “My father has been murdered, and I will hunt down the traitors that poisoned my father! Every one of you is guilty until you have proven your innocence!” Far from being the distraught, weeping mess of a boy that had just witnessed his father’s death, the boy-emperor’s eyes burned with fanatical rage.

Captain Halrion stared in disbelief. Not at the announcement that the emperor was poisoned, but at the audacity of the boy to have threatened the entire court. Has he gone insane?

The seething crowd had suddenly stopped straining against imperial guards. The crowd seemed to have found themselves, and they bowed their heads at the tragic news of the emperor’s death. What was once tense whispers had turned into soft reverent murmurs.

Captain Halrion couldn’t make out they said. Prayers, probably, he thought. Yet, the cold serpentine eyes of the crowd still glinted behind their facade of deference.

From the group of small council members that had surrounded the emperor’s body, emerged a woman, dressed in the all-black gown of the Imperial Spymaster. Her black hair was fixed into a simple braid that flowed around her neck and down the front of her left shoulder. Her green eyes were dark and inscrutable as she approached the emperor’s son and rested a hand on his left elbow.

The sight of Lady Corvier brought a wistful smile to Captain Halrion’s face. If anyone could wrest control of the chaos that had erupted at this feast, it would be the Imperial Spymaster.

She looks as beautiful as the day I asked for her hand in marriage, he thought. Lady Corvier had rejected him, of course. As explanation, she had said gently, “It could never work, Rothal. You are a sparrow in an empire of vipers. You will be bitten if you come too close. Only you don’t see it because you’re in love with me.” Captain Halrion wasn’t sure he understood the metaphor, but he did understand that it meant no.

Captain Halrion was drawn out of his reverie by the smooth sound of Lady Corvier’s voice.

“Your Majesty,” she said, “we need to—”

“It’s Your Imperial Majesty, Lady Corvier!” The boy cut her off sharply. “I’m the emperor now.”

The little shit, thought Captain Halrion. Had he always been so insolent?

Lady Corvier’s expression remained smooth as glass at the boy-emperor’s deprecation. “My apologies, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Whatever,” he snapped and stomped off the table. “I demand the traitors to be found!” The boy-emperor swept the room with eyes that burned with fury.

“Bring me the head cook!” He exclaimed suddenly. “I want to question him.”

The boy’s eyes now fell upon the captain of the Imperial Guards.

“Captain Halrion!” He commanded. “Bring him to me.”

*****

Moments later, Captain Halrion brought the blubbering mess of a head cook in front of the boy-emperor. The cook was on his knees and shook visibly.

“Tell me, cook,” the boy hissed. “How did the poison that killed my father end up on in your food?”

The cook’s watery eyes were wide with terror. “I-I don’t know!” he stuttered, “Your M-Majesty.”

“YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY!” The boy-emperor screeched as he slapped the cook across the face. “Are you telling me that you didn’t check the food for poison before serving it to my father?!”

“Of-f course we did, You I-Imperial Majesty! N-Nothing leaves the kitchen unless w-we’ve made sure!”

“Oh, is that so?” The boy-emperor had become dangerously quiet.

He grabbed the bowl the emperor ate from and held it in front of the cook’s face. “Then surely you wouldn’t mind testing for us once more? No?”

The cook’s eye flitted wildly between the bowl and the body of the emperor that lay only a few yards away, and he shook his head violently. “P-Please, Your Majes—”

“Eat it!” The boy was screaming once again. “EAT IT!”

He jammed the bowl against the cook’s lips. They trembled as the cook continued shaking his head that was now covered in tears. Running out of patience, the boy-emperor threw the bowl at the cook’s head.

“Get him out of my sight! Take him to the dungeons!”

Captain Halrion clenched his jaw and sighed imperceptibly. He nodded curtly at two guards next to him, and they stepped forward eagerly, dragging the cook away.

The boy-emperor briskly paced back and forth before the members of the small council and the rest of the honoured guests. He panted and moved sporadically like he wasn’t fully in control. He was fully intoxicated by the rush of wielding absolute power. His eyes blazed unsettlingly with sparks of insanity and rage. He searched the room for his next victim.

The boy-emperor’s gaze fell upon Lady Corvier. In an instant, his face contorted into a mask of contempt.

“How is it possible,” he spat, “that your web of spies didn’t uncover this plot to kill my father?!”

“Your Imperial Majesty,” Lady Corvier said solemnly, “The way in which I have failed the empire is unpardonable. I take full responsibility for what has transpired. I will step down immediately as the Imperial Spymaster. All my knowledge and resources will be at the disposal of the new spymaster to aid them in uncovering the traitors who are responsible for this calamity. I cannot not rest until the truth has been found.

“If I may, Your Imperial Majesty, a word of caution as my final words as the Imperial Spymaster: whoever is behind this assassination has inconceivable reach. Without a doubt, they must have people close to the emperor working with them. I believe the small council has been compromised.”

“Yes,” the boy-emperor nodded enthusiastically, “yes! I agree completely. The small council is compromised, and who could be more capable of this subterfuge than you, Lady Corvier?”

She stiffened at the boy-emperor’s implication.

“Your Imperial Majesty,” Lady Corvier said coldly, “I have served your father faithfully for nearly twenty years. Do you not recall the Cadmian Revolt? The Nalos Crisis? Or the war with the Confederation of Halosar Kingdoms? If I had been compromised, the empire would not be standing today.”

“Well,” the boy sneered, “no one can deny that you have served us well, Lady Corvier. Your accomplishments are indeed impressive! Is that why you thought you would be beyond suspicion when you betrayed us? DO YOU THINK I’M A HALF-WIT?!

“Captain Halrion! Take her to the dungeons!”

Captain Halrion froze, and the blood drained from his face. He desperately wanted to deliver Lady Corvier from this situation, but his limbs refused all commands.

“CAPTAIN HALRION!?” The boy-emperor screamed once more.

Two imperial guards leapt forward without prompting from Captain Halrion. As they passed, one of them hissed, “You seemed almost treasonous, Captain…”

“I am not a traitor, Your Imperial Majesty!” Lady Corvier beseeched the boy-emperor as she struggled against the guards. “Getting rid of me will not make you any safer. In fact—”

She was interrupted by a bright clink. In her refusal to be moved by the guards, something had slipped out of the folds of her sleeve. A small glass vial filled with dark-blue liquid fell onto the floor.

The boy-emperor snatched up the vial immediately. “AHA! What do we have here? Anyone with a brain can recognize the deathly blue of wyvern’s fang.”

“I’ve never seen that vial in my life,” stated Lady Corvier flatly. “That was obviously planted on me. What fool would carry the poison on their person after administering it?”

“YOU!” The boy-emperor roared. “You are the fool who would do such a thing! You are the fool who underestimated me!

“GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT!” he shouted and threw the small vial at Lady Corvier. It bounced off her dress and rolled onto the floor.

Captain Halrion felt nauseous as he helplessly watched Lady Corvier being dragged away. She did not look up at him as she disappeared.

His breath quickened, and he couldn’t comprehend what to do. He didn’t think for a second that Lady Corvier was responsible for the death of the emperor. She was right. Someone on the small council hand in poisoning the emperor. But who?

Was all this part of their plan? Had they known the boy-emperor would react so explosively? Are they still in control, or had the madness of the boy-emperor unhinged everything? Thoughts reeled in his mind endlessly.

The boy-emperor had begun his furious pacing again. It seemed his appetite for tyranny had not abated one bit. He set his eyes on the rest of the small council, looking to continue his rampage.

Captain Halrion looked on in silent horror as the boy-emperor worked his way through the members of the small council one by one. The Imperial Strategist, the Treasurer, the Imperial Councillor, it went on and on. No one was spared from the wrath of the boy-emperor. Those who grovelled were spared and those who showed any sign of resistance were stripped of their office and dragged away.

Captain Halrion saw the flames of the boy’s madness begin to lick at the very foundations of the empire.

*****

Finally, the boy-emperor ran out of members of the small council to devastate. He looked at Captain Halrion, but his eyes no longer burned with the same fury. Instead, they were cold and dismissive, like Captain Halrion was beneath contempt. The boy-emperor kicked the small vial of poison that still laid on the floor, and it rolled towards Captain Halrion.

“Take this to the alchemists, have them test it. It will be the very same poison used on my father, I'm sure.” With a flick of his head, he dismissed Captain Halrion.

With silent obedience, Captain Halrion picked up the small vial and left the great hall.

His mind was blank and numb as he descended the stone steps of the palace, far away from the great hall. With every step, the trembling of his body grew stronger until he could barely walk. He didn’t understand the emotions that had overtaken his body.

Enveloping every thought, there was rage. Rage at the lives unjustly destroyed, at his inability to do anything to prevent it or help the ones he love. He couldn’t even help her. He was disgusted at his own weakness.

But deep beneath the layers of rage, he also sensed fear. Not fear for himself. No, this was fear of himself, of the dark thoughts and fantasies that were boiling to the surface and enveloping his mind. He could see a sword severing the boy-emperor’s neck, a dagger imbedding deep into his chest. He saw the boy’s face turn deep crimson and his lips blue as he collapsed, choking on his own blood. These visions of his black desires slithered around his heart and squeezed, refusing to release him.

One thought broke through to the surface of his mind. That boy cannot be allowed to live.

He was surprised by his own conviction.

Captain Halrion looked at the small vial he still carried in his hand and gazed deep into the lovely blue liquid.

He smiled bitterly. You were wrong about me, Lady Corvier. I’m no sparrow.

I, too, am a viper in an empire of vipers.