[Color=Darkgoldenrod][Center][H1] The Weight of Rule, Chapter 1 [/h1][/Center][/color]

	A young man aims down the iron sights of an ancient pattern of firearm. A reproduction meant for hunting copied from one of the only Earth-that-was firearms still available in the reference collection of the Orion House Archives. It consists of a rifled barrel, wooden stock and bolt-action receiver, and propels a roughly 7 gram projectile with crude chemical propellants. 

	The young man shifts in the tall straw-grass around him, the ruffle of his gear the only sign of life. He’s been waiting here, laid out on a thin shooting mat, for nearly an hour. The quiet and focus of hunting is always a draw for him; he used it almost as a sort of meditation. A break from the overstimulating halls of Court and Parliament. 

	He takes another breath in as his eyes focus across the plain, where he finds his target. A buck Antelope, standing well over 1.7 meters at the shoulder. He aims the ancient weapon towards the beast, holding his breath to steady his aim. Making this shot with some sort of modern optic would be trivial; but the young man’s eyes have been perfected by genetic engineers a century before his birth. It would be an insult to their labor to use anything more than simple irons. 

	He watches the beast through the reticle, waiting for it to lift its head at just the right angle for a humane shot. Seconds stretch into hours as the beast moves.

	The crunch of boots on hard-packed soil sound behind the young man; and in an instant, the beast is gone; bounding off into the plains of Learties with its life intact. A mote of anger and annoyance starts to glow red hot in the Man’s chest, as he turns around to see who had disturbed him.

	It’s one of the house guards; a Sovereign Cataphract in dress uniform. One of the dozen that had been tasked with protecting the young man’s life today. The Cataphract kneels, putting a hand to their chest and bowing their head in a sign of deep respect. “Sovereign Adonis. You have been re-”

	The young man; Sovereign Adonis, head of house Orion, interrupts the Cataphract. “You were told to wait in the Blind, Sargent.” He says, his displeasure clear in his voice. The green tassel on the man’s dress uniform marks him as the most senior officer of his protection detail today. 

	The Cataphract falls silent for a few moments, before speaking again. “The Council of Regents requests your presence at an emergency session of Parliament.” They say, their voice betraying no emotion. 

	Remembering himself, Adonis takes a breath. He stands from his shooting mat, slinging the rifle over his left shoulder. He starts to gather the mat, folding it into a more portable form, as He speaks absentmindedly. “You are forgiven Sargent. You have done your duty, Now I must do mine. Have the men break down the blind, and pack the vehicle. We’ll return at once.”

	The once-quiet plain erupts into soft clatters as the small hunting camp is broken down. 11 more men in similar dress uniforms appear from the blind to perform the work, and within 5 minutes, the pristine nature of the hunting ground returns. Sovereign Adonis steps into the passenger's seat of the first of 2 large trucks that had brought the small group here. A moment later, the vehicles start to roll quietly along the well-worn game trail, back towards civilization. 

	Slumping into the seat, Adonis gives himself time to reflect. He had no idea what looming crisis had prompted this ‘emergency session of Parliament’, but his best guess involves some sort of civil unrest within the outer moons. I’d be about some Warren refusing to work or hoarding arms or something. Still; It was the first Crisis of Adonis’ reign, and how he dealt with it would be noted down for the history books.

	If he could actually deal with it, that is. The 3 year council of regents still has another 14 months before Adonis could officially disband them, and during their tenure they were fond of making many ‘examples’ of rulership for Adonis. 

	A few minutes pass where the sovereign merely looks out the window, eyes passing over the lush savanna landscape. He wonders how much time he’ll have for hunting now that he was Sovereign. It was a selfish, dishonourable thought. It was his duty to serve as steward and protector to the billions of souls under his command. But his mind idly passes to his great-great grandmother, whom he was named successor for. 

	The late sovereign Anthea had spread herself too thin in her second century. An addiction to anti-fatigue medications had plagued her final years as she tried desperately to leave the system in the perfect state for Adonis to take over. She had taken decades off her life with stress…

	But perhaps that is what serving the House and people had to entail. 

	Adonis is going to miss hunting. 

——————

	Court is as lavish as it always is; all long gold inlays and bismuth mosaic. The layout of the legislative building is simple, with two main Parliamentary chambers; One for the 5 (The Planetary Assembly), and another for the 7 (The Noble Assembly). Between the chambers, the Throne Room sat; where Adonis, accompanied by his small assembly of regents, would determine what laws would be granted royal assent or not. 

	The din of yelling voices from the other two chambers reached even here. Adonis’ hearing could nearly pick up the voices of individual MP’s beyond the heavy oak doors. 

	But his focus should be here; on the grey cloaked scholar before him. Clearly from the verdant moon of Lemnos, the man speaks in stuttering tones as he presents his desperate findings. 

	“-These readings. Graviton flux around what we once thought to simply be a derelict ship, or scrap of terraforming equipment. It never warranted much investigation you see. You see here.” Another frantic shuffling of paper as another slide is projected to the assembled regents. 

	“My request… my Request would be to have a grant for the study and investigation of this anomaly… especially since it… it so closely resembles…” The scholar coughs as he trails off. “What is said in myth to be the method our ancestors used to arrive in this system.” He mumbles.

	Everybody was thinking it. ’And thus with azure flash and great speed, did the 12 soon 7 pass through the great gate’ - a line from Dra-Muls’ mythological history of the 5 and 7. It was how humanity passed from Earth, the great cradle of humanity, to their current home. 

	The tension hung thick in the air. It would be easier to explain a great portal to hell itself opening under the ice of Thalassos. Earth is a distant myth; the birthplace of Jesus and the 12 apostles, The domain of the Jade emperor and the home of the Buddha. A place used in allegory and myth and historical fiction… not somewhere that actually had any effect on the people here. 

	The regents seem anxious; a few had already heard this news, and awaited the reactions of others in the room. Some others look on in shock, unsure what to think or say. Adonis himself broke the silence, a sign of his growing confidence in rulership (He hoped). “This Relic. Do you have any idea what it might be capable of?”

	The question is simple, but the scholar fusses before answering. “Truely, My Lord, the only way to know for sure is to commit to studying the damn thing. There’s nothing we can know for sure at this stage.”

	Adonis nods, taking a moment to read over the handout that was presented to him. “This proposal you’ve put in front of my ministers. This ‘Xenoglossia’. It seems a wide-reaching office. A new department of the 5 and 7 set for the study of all originating outside the gravity well of the star Bellatrix. What have you to say about that?”

	The scholar nods. “I.. My Lord. There is so much we don’t know. So much we could learn of the outside world, of our origins, of the universe. The moons of the 5 are well trodden ground; known like one knows the face of a lover. But the world outside? It could be limitless.”

	“It could be dead ground. Nothing but rocks and bones.” Interjects a regent; An older member of House Orion. 

	“But it could be more.” Adonis says, silencing the elder. The Grand Duke looks back to the Scholar. “I’ve heard enough. All we have to do now, is wait upon the wisdom of Parliament."