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Zamokra41It was a normal day at the office, nothing unusual happened over the night, no one noticed anything amiss or misplaced within the city or its outskirts, or so the morning report say. Commanding the entire militia of a city wasn't all that nerve-wrecking as he expected, but at times, he found himself rather annoyed by the lack of responsibility and discipline those men had. But when it came to defend their commodity, they were steadfast and trustworthy; at times, this attitude proved to be problematic, since in his rather short stay, he had to fend off three rebellions, problem was that they weren't sure themselves whose side they were on. Aleko had a very clear order and that was to keep this entire province neutral towards all three major, ruling factions; it wasn't his concern who tried to buy or convince them to join one side or the other, his purpose there was to boot all criers out of his or the mayor's office, keep the people happy and safe and sign a ridiculous amounts of papers. He couldn't remember how many mind-boggling requests he had to read through and out and reject, not to mention nuptial contracts some "smart" farmers tried to sign with him. Even though the day started in a standard format, having an average breakfast, a normal morning report and a small tactical discussion with the men under his command, there was this ball of concern hurting his bowels and making his mind and body heavy with dread; every time one of the men entered the door to tell him something, announce him of the smallest nuisances, somewhere in the back of his head was waiting to hear the most dreadful of news one could get in a day, such as, an approaching army, a tactical withdrawal, anything bad. Sometime around noon a peculiar guest arrived, again, fearing the worst, but at the same time, he expected some other disgruntled farmhand coming to report a score of moles ravaging his precious crops. Instead, he was rather surprised to have none other but the Imperial Wizard of the Sendrakon come forth and, another big surprise, bow before the halfling. Aleko blinked slowly and felt the urge to stand up and raise the old man from his deep bow, knowing that he was clearly superior to a twenty-something old anthro officer.
But then, he sighed very softly through his wolfish nostrils, making the quickest, most logical connections in his head and coming to the conclusion that this man's presence was The New Empire's last ditch effort to convince the town to pledge allegiance to their cause. As noble as it would be to try to put the Sendrakon family back in power, it was a wild goose chase, unless they would somehow take the ghosts of the late family and re-materialize them using some sort of dark, obscure arts of black magic. It wasn't his concern, this province was out of the question, so with all that, he lowered his eyes from the man in front of him back to the documents resting at his hands.
"Your Enlightenment, although I feel honored to be in your presence, take no offense from my words when I say that the mayor of this province is not interested whatsoever of your leaders' offers, however tempting they may be. Does not matter the riches, advantages or trade goods you come with, they will fall unto deaf ears, and honestly, these men have been through enough misery to hack your Enlightenment's head off if I weren't holding this city's militia at my leash's length. Ironic, do you not think so?"
Then, the wizard made sure that trying to convince them to join the New Empire's ranks wasn't his concern, as it was made clear to him by the militia; instead, it seemed that the man wanted to have a conversation with him, quite oddly. Aleko narrowed his eyes, not knowing what to take of this man's apparent friendliness, and, mood to sit and chat. Aleko felt grateful he wasn't trying to convince anyone around here about his cause, but he sure hope the wizard wasn't plotting to use some form of magic to control his and the mayor's minds and bend them so that he could obtain a new territory for the Empire, a vassal even. In all honesty, the man could use a short chatting session to kill the boredom that engulfed him, but what could interest a man of such intellect at this rather unimportant man? Then, the man started a history lesson out of the blue. Aleko felt absorbed by the old man's voice for a while, but when the information dump that was thrown at him became too familiar, the halfling started to tap his fingers impatiently against the desk, waiting for someone to take away this senile, old rock out of his office, yet, he felt that he was trying to reach somewhere with his little discourse. When he felt his brain came to a point where he couldn't stand the talking anymore, Aleko rose his palm and waved it at him.
"Pardon my rude interruption, your Enlightenment, although your knowledge of recent history is astounding, I also studied the books of history and I myself know it quite well. It is requested for military officers to be knowledgeable of such events, you see, thus you are wasting your breath on me with such tales. I wish to know what are you here for in fact, as, I am pretty sure you could have chosen to lecture a class of young students rather than some drafted officer of the Royal Anthro Forces."
The wizard did draw his attention for being rather impatient, but was he really to blame? He wasn't convinced the man actually wanted to tell him anything important, he only based his patience on this intuitive thought that this man could have some important news for him and the province. Then the man reminded him of the New Avalon Empire mission to look for a Sendrakon heir, something he was also very aware of; suddenly, his hopes of having an interesting discussion with the man wavered, until, he caught a fine detail in his statement. The way the man implied a past tense, he quickly came to the conclusion that they must have found a descendant, a bastard maybe? If that was the reason for his visit, Aleko took it as another attempt to convince the mayor.
"Excuse me, was? You mean to tell us that you have found a possible heir? And, beg your pardon again, how does that help me, this city, the mayor, this province and then men outside at all?"
Then came the firebomb that left the halfling aghast, the firebomb that made him the heir of the dead noble family. He stood up on his strong feet, knocking the chair over behind him, leading a loud bang as the wooden frame of the chair crashed against the wooden floor; his body leaned forward in an offensive posture, his eyes now glacially glowing with anger as he felt he was insulted in some way by this zit-filled coot.
"Are you mocking me, old man? Is this some sort of crude joke? Who sent you here, those filthy puritans?"
But as the man talked, in his heart, he knew it made sense, as crazy as it seemed. How could the man know about his mother's unfaithfulness? Yes, he was a halfling, so he was a combination of different races, but how did he know that detail about his mother? Aleko started to ponder and make those logical connections that always came to him in the most natural way. His mother was a black shepherd with blue eyes, a beauty in her younger years, yet, he himself was a white shepherd with blonde hair, much like the late emperor's own features, pale skin and blonde hair. At this rate, it could have been someone at the tavern his mother fancied at some point, but the way the wizard addressed to him in the end really made his bones shiver, his guts flutter, his skin rise and form minuscule islands of bumps and his spine freeze in place. Was the man senile? Could he really believe that Aleko was a last heir or was this all true? That ball of dread in his bowels had disappeared, and judging by that reaction of his body, considered the man's thoughts to be right and true. After all, why would he go through the trouble of coming this far away from home and contact him personally, out of all other people that could surely be twice better than him when it came to ruling a settlement?
His rational mind was now buried in an obscure corner of his mind and followed this hunch that all this insanity was true; at the very least, it would be a very interesting day for Aleko. He promptly emptied his drawers and cupboards of his personal belongings, mostly comprised of mostly military clothes and books that had a certain importance to him, most of them being military treatises and one or two very long novels. Before he took his departure, he had a word with one of his direct subordinates on how to further maintain the control over the city without his presence. He didn't trust the man will not break or bend around the rules, but he was the best chance of maintaining order in the province he was supposed to work in. He could hear himself yelling at himself for being a deserter, but surely his superiors will understand his move. Luckily enough, those superiors are on the side with the New Avalon Empire. Even if they weren't, they wouldn't be able to comment on his sudden leave since he would end up being superior to them. A very odd thought, in fact. As he left the town with the large backpack, Aleko found himself to be rather absent minded and simply follow the stranger to who-knows-where; he was somewhat present in the conversation, proving again and again that the Lieutenant was a very informed man. He had to be if he wanted to effectively defend his little province. He knew that the New Avalon Empire was the smallest, weakest of the three powers that tried to claim power over Avalon; he also knew that they were the second most ambitious power of them, the one surpassing it was the faction willing to form an inquisition against halflings like himself. Cyrus evidently pointed that Aleko would soon be a prime target.
But as he was starting to realize what his new purpose was, he quickly stopped on his tracks, almost in the same moment when the old man nearly tripped over some displaced piece of dead wood. Aleko threw a helping, supporting hand to stabilize the wizard, muttering a low "careful" to him, as if it would help with anything after the little incident happened. The true weight of his task was now mounting on his shoulders, thinking that he would basically have to gain influence over the most of Avalon and, maybe, trample one of the other major powers. Was he actually able to do that, was he prepared for such a life? He felt more and more lightheaded with every step he took towards wherever the wizard wanted to take him, losing his thoughts among issues of all sorts, details and corners of his mind filled with dread, but his exterior showed none of the storm inside. He looked rather calm, maybe a hint of that surprise was left on his expression from earlier, but otherwise, he looked calm; he tried to pull himself out of the dark corners of his mind with more constructive thoughts, starting to make a to-do list in his mind. At the moment, he hoped he wasn't going to be the only general and diplomat of the power he was about to lead. The Cyrus asked him if he was ready. Did he really have the choice? He felt like he wanted to ask the wizard some of the questions running around his head.
"I-" he tried to start, but a mere few splinters of a second later, he found himself blinded by an engulfing flash of light, a fleeting moment of being weightless feeling as if he was floating in a dead space, then felt a more solid ground under his boots.
The first teleportation in his life went as expected, Aleko suddenly felt sick and his guts crawling up through his body and about to spill out through his mouth. He gritted his teeth and swallowed down a mouthful of bile that rushed up his gullet. He took himself a few moments to regain his composure and fight the urge to retch on the floor, but once he had gained control over his body, he then started to pay good attention to his astonishing surroundings. He wasn't sure what was more impressive, the floating fortress in itself or it's extravagant interiors. He quickly understood that time was a precious resource that was running thin, so, he continued to follow the wizard and completely opened his eyes and ears to absorb his surroundings and the first man to meet was the captain of the flying fortress. Curious that a floating building needed a captain to steer it; maybe it was, in fact, a monolithic ship? As soon as the human realized who was Cyrus' guest, he promptly bowed deeply before him in an almost reflexive move, without taking real note of what or who the bastard was. The halfling quickly returned the honorary move with a bow of his own specific to anthro officers: left foot slides back, right hand laid over the left side of the chest in an open palm, torso bends at a perfect 30 degree angle and the head kept on a horizontal plane, never loosing eye contact with the one you are bowing to. He then followed the bow with a good handshake. He really didn't know if it was a royal-ish move to shake hands with those lower in rank than himself, but to him, it really didn't matter; Aleko didn't value one's privilege to be a descendant of some important, would-be noble family just because they were lucky to wear that name. If one brought justice to his name through actions of valor and honor, Aleko would deem him worthy of respect. If not, that one person was either his equal or lower than himself. The captain of the Escalyber promised safety and longevity while he was the one steering the ship, the heir could only smile politely and blink slowly as a subtle gesture of appreciation.
"I have no doubts of your talents, Captain. I have been on this ship for a little less than a few minutes and I must confess honestly, I am quite impressed. I am convinced this flying fortress lies in good hands." He added to his gesture, never breaking eye, or at least head contact with the man. "Tell me, have you-"
But then, a red flash of light interrupted his idea, making him actually forget what he wanted to ask; he turned his attention to the second crewman of the Escalyber, a young elfess, he judged. When she finally realized what was going on, she quickly excused herself and bowed deeply, a simple mistake that made her blush and nervous; the heir came to the conclusion that she was indeed young. Young or not, he repeated the whole bowing ceremony and proceeded to gingerly lift her left hand to place a gentle kiss on the outer side of the palm as a gesture of anthro chivalry, sophistication, respect and social etiquette; of course, he didn't thoroughly think about every detail of his movements, but he felt that he needed to at least show impeccable manners, whether the people on board the flying ship were fond of him or not.
"At ease, Miss Wayfinder-" he started after he released the girl's hand "I am the one intruding here while you were working, it is only natural to be startled. No harm was done, milady."
The discussion ended abruptly, Cyrus urging his protege to keep moving, Aleko quickly picking up what the wizard intended and exited the room after he bowed once more to the two members. Passing through the corridor leading to the council chamber, they encountered the men that made up the imperial guard, staunchly guarding the whole length of the corridor and the room entrance; Aleko briefly analyzed the men's whole gear, deeming it to be of high-end manufacture, both the armor and the weapons holstered by their hips. Entering the council chamber, Cyrus only now announced him that the whole political envoy was present; left aghast, the halfling shook his head in disbelief and frowned at the wizard for not being more informative about this whole tour. He had to pull himself back together in order to meet a number of very important people that will influence the well being of the power he was about to lead soon enough and leave a good and lasting impression. As if the task itself wasn't enough to throw him off his feet, having to encounter such indispensable personalities during the same day he was told that he was no one else but the emperor's only standing half-heir. They entered the room and as soon as his eyes assimilated the first impression of the people standing there, his cogs started to spin in his head and begin to study each and every person's subtle moves, grimaces, words, choice of apparel and general demeanor. While he himself couldn't do much to impress at the moment, these people would still have to show some regards to him as in time, they would all be at his heels, should this little adventure work out in the end. He chose to bow respectfully to each and every member of the council and shake hands with the male members. The first to speak to him was the human representative, a man with the looks that deceived his age and once acted as an ambassador. First question that came to his mind was why was he no longer an ambassador? Of course, he knew better than to openly ask something like this, as it could be a very gross move on his side. His presentation was short and concise, a man of few, selective words, but deceiving looks. Aleko chose to keep a close eye on this one. Next came a rather loud-mouthed anthro which had "posh" written all over him instead of "elegant"; the first remark he made was unwelcome, but Aleko knew he had to let it pass and show that he was unaffected by words. Still, he chose to hold that against him. He indeed knew about the Weissnout family, but if this is one of their descendants, the halfling felt that he would not like him or his roots. And throwing the word "honor" at the end of the official greeting after an insensible opening remark completely ruined the first impression of master Weissnout. Not to let himself lower than him and show true class, Aleko also bowed to him and shook his hand and decided to be a bit mouthy too.
"Nay, the honor lies on my side to meet a member of the revered Weissnout family on this humble ship; admittedly, I have only had distant contact with any member of the family. I am most eager to see if all words are true about the prestige, ingenuity and impeccable demeanor of the family from up close."
He did feel a slight sense of satisfaction after that exchange; he was new and maybe inexperienced, but he was no-one's fool or puppet. Then came the orc, finally, a friendly and honest to gods man. Orcs seldom lied, but they had quite a temper if they were caught in a bad mood. The man came with an excuse for not having any titles under his belt, but Aleko didn't mind; for the sheer fact he admitted such a thing, the orc grew highly in the halfling's eyes. He preferred men that had the ambition to overcome their condition and prove their worth; in a way, it reminded him of himself. He shook hands with the diplomat and gave him a hearty grin.
"I have no doubt in my mind of your abilities, my good man. You are just as valuable as any other, so long you work hard and stay true to your word, Master Windsteel."
The next person to present was the only woman in the room and while she was indeed alone, she made sure she would completely stand out of the crowd. She wore a very impressive dress which cherished her overall appearance, and what an appearance she had; Aleko, like any other man, was charmed by her presence, he even smiled one extra second than the established six-second-smirk. Like any other man, Aleko had his own flaw he hated, but at the same time, enjoy it: he was fond of all beautiful and pretty women. He had enough discipline to keep himself in check and in control, especially his masculinity, but he could drink the beauty of women through his eye such as a dry earth would drown with water. He still paid very close attention to he whole attitude and soon learned that this woman was dangerous: she knew she was beautiful and used that knowledge to give herself more power. He wasn't sure if she overestimated her power or if this too was a ruse, but her arrogance and cold attitude killed off most of Aleko's enthusiasm about her; it wasn't that he didn't like women playing hard-to-get, but the feeling in her arrogance had a completely different kind of taste, a taste of a power-hungry character. While she would definitely be very useful to have as a diplomat, he chose again to keep her on close watch for any iffy moves or for any attempt to try to get into his pants. While he would indubitably enjoy the moment, he knew what risks it could bring towards the integrity of his diplomatic portfolio. He gently pressed his lips against her gloved hand and kept a permissive attitude towards her, but her ending comment gave a little glimpse of what her venomous fangs could be capable of. Indeed, a very useful, but dangerous diplomat. Why not play a little with the snake?
"Milady, it is not in my nature to disappoint in anything, be it military expertise, diplomatic relations and... other fields I have quite some skill. However heavy my mountain may be, I will carry the task and use it to everyone's advantage."
The elf was, well, like all elves: curt, serious, truly eloquent and master of words, unlike the disappointment the anthro diplomat was. He knew about how dependable elves are, as in, it depended on their mood or whatever the nature tells them. Either way, Aleko learned to respect them and their rambly attitude, as they were one of the most resourceful races out in Avalon. The man himself was another cardboard copy of the standard elf delegate. The dwarf was another rather friendly face, but like most of his kind, he suspected the man would be a stubborn boulder when it comes to changing tactics, being a natural-born conservative and all. And like any undead, the last diplomat had a very vile air around him, but again, he learned to respect the resourcefulness of entities that have the ability to defy death. With the final words spoken, he and Cyrus retreated from the council chamber and out towards the rest of the castle; he didn't feel humbled by those people, nor intimidated, but he really hoped that those people wouldn't become his enemies. Antagonizing them would be also very unhealthy, so he had to tread carefully. He thought it would be very difficult to get used to be called "sire" instead of "lieutenant", "officer Hyde" or "Frost". No, he was now "sire", "lord", "emperor", "my liege", "Sendrakon". To edify that, Aleko met the throne he would sit unto to, examining it from afar; he then noticed the little one the people called "Scribe", a feeble and dutiful little undead that wrote words that would take maybe two seconds in a matter of a split second. Aleko felt a queer form of pity towards the little soul and smiled warmly to him as he, or she, scribbled its rotten heart out on that sheet of paper words of sheer admiration. Now, the halfling felt that he deserved none of this, especially because of some half-assed birthright; he felt more and more obligated to prove his worth, as if his obligation wasn't exceeding his current capacities. He felt his mind was wandering off towards the realms of dread once more, so he repressed those thoughts out, pull himself back out into the light, erase the frown on his forehead and decided he would not sleep this night. He had work to do.
Next, he was presented with the dining area, a pretty place that enchanted the wolfling, the mere beauty of the place caused a rumble to shake his stomach. Truth was that he didn't get to eat a proper lunch that day, which made him consider grabbing a good supper for tonight's working session. After they passed through the dining area, where he did notice the two familiar characters from before having a surprisingly peaceful chat, considering that one was an orc and the other a human, he was presented to a less friendly ambiance with a fair warning about the situation inside. Given this, Aleko felt even more guilty, since he still couldn't connect with the fact that he, a simple mud-blooded anthro, was now the most viable pretender to the Avalon Empire throne; now, knowing that people had sacrifice their lives just to localize him without risking to reveal the plan to potential enemies, he knew exactly what kind of hospitality he had to expect from inside. Sure, he was used with generals being all prissy, angry and generally moody, he knew to respect their authority and understand the motive behind their actions and judgement; each and every one of them worked hard to reach this place and whatever they lacked in experience, they compensated with talent and tactical ingenuity. Where they lacked the skill and talent, came hard labor and experience. Walking inside, he caught the heat of the argument and the words thrown around, even at Cyrus, made Aleko extremely cautious, to the point he brought his right hand to grip at the hilt of his own long sword ready to slide out and parry or block any misdirected blows. Luckily, the argument did not escalate, since one of the generals, a female anthro halfling seemed to calm down the orc general from swinging his own weapon. Aleko felt miserable, seeing such experienced men ready to break down into a brawl over who was more righteous than the other, who sacrificed good men and who didn't, all for a "pretty wolfling". He did not feel insulted at all, since he was called many worse things than that, but what worried him was the attitude of the dwarven general; if he wouldn't behave under his command, real issues would spark from the incompatibility. Finally, when the fire had been put out, the generals started to present themselves and the truest of them all was the human, Aleko considered. All that he said about him was true, however harsh as it would be. Aleko did not properly reply to the man, he just nodded his head and gave a respectful smile and a short mutter.
"I will give my best, sir."
Next, the undead general showed up and started to talk to him and much like the ambassador of the undead, he showed much prudence and apparent respect for him; he knew the nature of this race, how they tried to crawl into one's skin like worms and try to chew out should one not heed their demands, so he knew better than to wholeheartedly listen to his words. He gave a curt nod, shook his hand and bowed respectfully as ever. The elf general, like the envoy, was a true example of their race and Aleko payed his respects to him too. As the orc general tried to present himself, the Anthro general offer him a true show of misbehavior and lack of discipline and as much as she tried to become chummy with the new emperor, Aleko had a bad impression about her from the start of her presentation 'till to the end; although he commended her courage to break the imminent brawl, her lack of composure and military etiquette ruined the first, good impression. She might be young, but so was he, if he wasn't actually younger. He only hoped she was capable on the battlefield and a complete mess outside. The orc general, true to his race, was completely honest and optimistic, to that Aleko nodded and smiled wide. The dwarf was, obviously, disgruntled and made himself clear about his thoughts on the new Sendrakon, the last of his line. He kept his mouth shut and ate the sour-tasting words, which he decided to hold against the general so that when the day of his success will come, he will prove the dwarven general wrong with great satisfaction. The dark elf general had a demeanor similar to the undead, which made him rather cautious around this character; even though he knew about the resourcefulness of such an army and the subterfuge abilities of the specialized units under a dark elf general, Aleko decided to keep a very close watch on this one, as same with the dwarf, anthro and undead general. Cyrus then tried to hurry and usher the fresh emperor out of the war room, but to his dismay, the halfling refused to leave without leaving some words behind, to give those men an honest insight about the situation the wolf found himself in. He stood not far from the open doors, cleared his voice loudly to draw attention to him and then spoke in a solemn tone, where emotion could be felt only by those who could distinguish the subtlety in one's carefully constructed speech.
"Generals. Only a few hours ago, I was a first-lieutenant of the Imperial Mechanized Rangers 5th batallion "Gundogs", elite component of the Royal Anthro Forces; I was given the task to oversee a province all on my own to keep its neutrality towards the potshots between the three Avalon powers and refuse any and all allegiances. I have had my own share of battles, survived three undead ambushes and won several skirmishes against rioting rebels, a human force from the Old Avalon Empire, mercenaries whose masters I did not identify and other band of miscreants. I agree with you all, I am in no place to lead seven distinguished officers and their armies to fights that I pick, not since I am still inferior to all who stand in this room. I expect no apologies, nor utmost respect for a 'bastard wolfling' that is the supreme commander of all New Avalon Empire just because of a name attached to him; what I do wish to see is unity and camaraderie, since everyone in this room fights for the same cause now: bring the old empire back and establish order through unification, through assimilation or conquest."
"I lack experience and I am not afraid to declare that, for it is true, I do not take offense for pointing an obvious fact to me. As such, I am more than willing to learn everything and much more that I can learn from all of you, I present myself as an open book on which all can chip in their insights and I am more than eager to absorb the knowledge. Until I prove the worth of my name and my position, and even after, you will all be considered distinguished military advisers, not subordinates under my imperial boot. Thus, I expect transparency, camaraderie, an opportunity to learn and evolve; from me, you may expect transparency, respect, consideration, open ears and growth."
"With this, I bid farewell and good night: I would be most grateful if a list of all men whose lives were lost for my sake were created until tomorrow morning. Any grandiose form of apology, or death honorary, will not bring those men back to life, nor will they heal the wounds in the souls of their leaders and families. What will bring their souls to rest is the success of this campaign, I am most sure of that."
"And lastly... during my service, my superiors adressed me through a certain nickname, I would much prefer to be adressed as such rather than "sire", or "my lord". I am Frost, officer Frost. Or Frosty. You may call me a lord once you deem me worthy of such titles."
With that, he bowed his head, turned around and left and as soon as the doors closed, he wiped off one bead of sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm. He didn't really have the chance to admire the room's strange beauty, but knowing that he will spend most of his time in there, he was sure he would get used to it. The rest of the entire castle's tour didn't really impress him anymore, not after the very tense moment in the war room; although he took note of everyone he met on the road and respectfully bowed to everyone, he did become curious of an anthro engineer that seemed to pay very little attention to the emperor, and of a peculiar fellow called T'Chun, whose nature really sparked his interest. He reassured the poor thing that he only had to work as much as it was needed, there was no need for strenuous efforts. They finally reach the comfort of his own personal quarters, where Cyrus left him with a vast emptiness and dreadful thoughts. Aleko took himself a moment to sit down on the nearest armchair and let the weight of the situation push him down into the cushion; the tension and his own weight pressed him down so hard he could hear his bones and articulations softly groan with pain and exhaustion. He lost track of time as he sat there, his head going through the events of the day over and over again, checking if everything was really true. It seemed too extraordinary for someone like him to actually be the last living son of a famed dynasty, so extraordinary that he felt humbled by the ample task ahead. Gaining enough strength to keep himself compose, he started to devise some plans, starting from the smallest things he noted to be needed for an empire to be strong through his own life experience, 'till to the very first military moves that had to be taken in order to gain more territory and influence.
He stood up, rid himself of the heavier clothes and his luggage and did some routine workouts to get his blood pumping through his body and once he felt himself to be energetic, Aleko sprawled open the contents of the bag and sorted his belongings out, storing his clothes in the nearest closet, his books on the beautiful desk he had and finally, pulling a thick, worn-out journal along with some pencils, a sharpener and some form of gum that could erase the markings a pencil could leave. He then examined the orb he received from Cyrus and somehow hailed a servant, not knowing exactly if he had to tap it, rub it or simply hold it in his hand and talk through it; still not playing the role of an emperor, he kindly asked the man that entered his room to bring a roster regarding the armies the New Avalon Empire had, a map, a situation on diplomacy with the several provinces and the two other major powers and the last entries of the chronicles the scribe had written. In a matter of moments, more servants poured in with everything he needed to work with, Aleko deeply bowed to everyone before he bid them all a good night. As he started to work everything out, albeit having a very difficult starting point, everything started to work out in his head, even with the rather flimsy income and weak military force, all compared to the other two powers; he blamed this lack of integrity and wealth on the search for the last living Sendrakon which left him feeling hopeless for a few good minutes. During this dead time, he remembered of that odd library situation, which made him feel a little unsafe and against Cyrus' advice, he knew he had to investigate that all by himself and his weapon; he thought of the diplomats and the generals, their faces and their personalities and how they would come in handy in his plans prepped for the first week of activity. He thought of the curves, bra size and unmentionable colors of the females he had met that day, the dirty thoughts were quickly shaken away by the more dutiful notions in his head. He wasn't sure if everything could be finished in a hasty rhythm, but it would at least put things into motion and prepare for the first steps; he calculated the costs of his moves, not only in wealth, but also in renown. Should he make a bold move, he was sure to be shut down by the larger powers, so he had to play nice and lay low without risking an early realm divide; it would mean a lot of his actions, strategies and plans would have to be completed in a hush-hush manner, but it would at least build a steady base from where the new empire could grow and as soon as they would have enough strength, they would lash out and hit where it would hurt the most.
It took him several hours to have a skeleton broken down in a few steps and ramifications according to some possible outcomes, but he had a plan. Aleko threw himself in his bed and without even noticing that he even fell asleep, he woke up a few hours later at the alarm of the clock hanged on one of the walls; he somehow dragged himself out of the bed and shut the alarm down and to invigorate himself, he promptly started his morning routing of workouts, a ritual etched into his head by years of military service. Once his muscles were alive and he was relatively awake, he accessed what he suspected to be a bathroom, where he found a luxurious room with multiple faucets, a toilet seat and a large tub in which more than one participants could fit in. He very quickly showered himself and made sure a fresh smell of frosty mint would follow him all day long, he dried out his short fur and mop of hair atop his head and picked the cleanest and tidies set of clothes he had: a pair of dark, slim denim pants, an undershirt over which he had a dark red doublet and over the doublet, a high-quality military overcoat which he decorated with all of the medals and awards he had with him. He took a look at himself in the mirror and found a hungry, tired-looking wolf-to-be-emperor that was about to participate to his own crowning, however outrageous that notion sounded to him. He chuckled at the ridiculousness of the whole situation and shook his head in disbelief; finally, he strapped his trusty long sword with side rings which provided protection for his fingers and knuckles at his waistline, along with his own Katzer semi-automatic pistol of anthro manufacture. He looked as royal as he could with his own clothes and as soon as he found himself ready, he walked out of his room and using his memory, he navigated through the corridors towards the throne room, nodding his head to everyone he met on his way there. He found his head to be drifting aimlessly into nowhere, still thinking that he would soon wake up to his desk in a pool of his own saliva over the papers he had yet to sign back at his makeshift office; yet, he was marching quite confidently down the halls, keeping his back straight, his gaze forwards and a stern look on his face. If everything was true, if all of this wasn't some outlandish mind trip, he was sure to deliver his best shot at this. He felt dread growing and following his trail, the reality of the plans he had made last night would see the true world and feared that they would be rather impractical given the situation of the New Avalon Empire.
But it all went away when he entered the room and saw he was the first man to be there. He felt that everything was right and in its place, that his presence here was needed after all, even if the sensation itself was outrageous and otherworldy. His whole life was a safe road to this place, even in the dangers of dying he felt as though he wasn't really at any threat of being killed, but in this place and time, life, death, decisions and thoughts were very real notions, and each of them were walking at his side as he advanced towards the throne he had to occupy along with his demons.
But then, he sighed very softly through his wolfish nostrils, making the quickest, most logical connections in his head and coming to the conclusion that this man's presence was The New Empire's last ditch effort to convince the town to pledge allegiance to their cause. As noble as it would be to try to put the Sendrakon family back in power, it was a wild goose chase, unless they would somehow take the ghosts of the late family and re-materialize them using some sort of dark, obscure arts of black magic. It wasn't his concern, this province was out of the question, so with all that, he lowered his eyes from the man in front of him back to the documents resting at his hands.
"Your Enlightenment, although I feel honored to be in your presence, take no offense from my words when I say that the mayor of this province is not interested whatsoever of your leaders' offers, however tempting they may be. Does not matter the riches, advantages or trade goods you come with, they will fall unto deaf ears, and honestly, these men have been through enough misery to hack your Enlightenment's head off if I weren't holding this city's militia at my leash's length. Ironic, do you not think so?"
Then, the wizard made sure that trying to convince them to join the New Empire's ranks wasn't his concern, as it was made clear to him by the militia; instead, it seemed that the man wanted to have a conversation with him, quite oddly. Aleko narrowed his eyes, not knowing what to take of this man's apparent friendliness, and, mood to sit and chat. Aleko felt grateful he wasn't trying to convince anyone around here about his cause, but he sure hope the wizard wasn't plotting to use some form of magic to control his and the mayor's minds and bend them so that he could obtain a new territory for the Empire, a vassal even. In all honesty, the man could use a short chatting session to kill the boredom that engulfed him, but what could interest a man of such intellect at this rather unimportant man? Then, the man started a history lesson out of the blue. Aleko felt absorbed by the old man's voice for a while, but when the information dump that was thrown at him became too familiar, the halfling started to tap his fingers impatiently against the desk, waiting for someone to take away this senile, old rock out of his office, yet, he felt that he was trying to reach somewhere with his little discourse. When he felt his brain came to a point where he couldn't stand the talking anymore, Aleko rose his palm and waved it at him.
"Pardon my rude interruption, your Enlightenment, although your knowledge of recent history is astounding, I also studied the books of history and I myself know it quite well. It is requested for military officers to be knowledgeable of such events, you see, thus you are wasting your breath on me with such tales. I wish to know what are you here for in fact, as, I am pretty sure you could have chosen to lecture a class of young students rather than some drafted officer of the Royal Anthro Forces."
The wizard did draw his attention for being rather impatient, but was he really to blame? He wasn't convinced the man actually wanted to tell him anything important, he only based his patience on this intuitive thought that this man could have some important news for him and the province. Then the man reminded him of the New Avalon Empire mission to look for a Sendrakon heir, something he was also very aware of; suddenly, his hopes of having an interesting discussion with the man wavered, until, he caught a fine detail in his statement. The way the man implied a past tense, he quickly came to the conclusion that they must have found a descendant, a bastard maybe? If that was the reason for his visit, Aleko took it as another attempt to convince the mayor.
"Excuse me, was? You mean to tell us that you have found a possible heir? And, beg your pardon again, how does that help me, this city, the mayor, this province and then men outside at all?"
Then came the firebomb that left the halfling aghast, the firebomb that made him the heir of the dead noble family. He stood up on his strong feet, knocking the chair over behind him, leading a loud bang as the wooden frame of the chair crashed against the wooden floor; his body leaned forward in an offensive posture, his eyes now glacially glowing with anger as he felt he was insulted in some way by this zit-filled coot.
"Are you mocking me, old man? Is this some sort of crude joke? Who sent you here, those filthy puritans?"
But as the man talked, in his heart, he knew it made sense, as crazy as it seemed. How could the man know about his mother's unfaithfulness? Yes, he was a halfling, so he was a combination of different races, but how did he know that detail about his mother? Aleko started to ponder and make those logical connections that always came to him in the most natural way. His mother was a black shepherd with blue eyes, a beauty in her younger years, yet, he himself was a white shepherd with blonde hair, much like the late emperor's own features, pale skin and blonde hair. At this rate, it could have been someone at the tavern his mother fancied at some point, but the way the wizard addressed to him in the end really made his bones shiver, his guts flutter, his skin rise and form minuscule islands of bumps and his spine freeze in place. Was the man senile? Could he really believe that Aleko was a last heir or was this all true? That ball of dread in his bowels had disappeared, and judging by that reaction of his body, considered the man's thoughts to be right and true. After all, why would he go through the trouble of coming this far away from home and contact him personally, out of all other people that could surely be twice better than him when it came to ruling a settlement?
His rational mind was now buried in an obscure corner of his mind and followed this hunch that all this insanity was true; at the very least, it would be a very interesting day for Aleko. He promptly emptied his drawers and cupboards of his personal belongings, mostly comprised of mostly military clothes and books that had a certain importance to him, most of them being military treatises and one or two very long novels. Before he took his departure, he had a word with one of his direct subordinates on how to further maintain the control over the city without his presence. He didn't trust the man will not break or bend around the rules, but he was the best chance of maintaining order in the province he was supposed to work in. He could hear himself yelling at himself for being a deserter, but surely his superiors will understand his move. Luckily enough, those superiors are on the side with the New Avalon Empire. Even if they weren't, they wouldn't be able to comment on his sudden leave since he would end up being superior to them. A very odd thought, in fact. As he left the town with the large backpack, Aleko found himself to be rather absent minded and simply follow the stranger to who-knows-where; he was somewhat present in the conversation, proving again and again that the Lieutenant was a very informed man. He had to be if he wanted to effectively defend his little province. He knew that the New Avalon Empire was the smallest, weakest of the three powers that tried to claim power over Avalon; he also knew that they were the second most ambitious power of them, the one surpassing it was the faction willing to form an inquisition against halflings like himself. Cyrus evidently pointed that Aleko would soon be a prime target.
But as he was starting to realize what his new purpose was, he quickly stopped on his tracks, almost in the same moment when the old man nearly tripped over some displaced piece of dead wood. Aleko threw a helping, supporting hand to stabilize the wizard, muttering a low "careful" to him, as if it would help with anything after the little incident happened. The true weight of his task was now mounting on his shoulders, thinking that he would basically have to gain influence over the most of Avalon and, maybe, trample one of the other major powers. Was he actually able to do that, was he prepared for such a life? He felt more and more lightheaded with every step he took towards wherever the wizard wanted to take him, losing his thoughts among issues of all sorts, details and corners of his mind filled with dread, but his exterior showed none of the storm inside. He looked rather calm, maybe a hint of that surprise was left on his expression from earlier, but otherwise, he looked calm; he tried to pull himself out of the dark corners of his mind with more constructive thoughts, starting to make a to-do list in his mind. At the moment, he hoped he wasn't going to be the only general and diplomat of the power he was about to lead. The Cyrus asked him if he was ready. Did he really have the choice? He felt like he wanted to ask the wizard some of the questions running around his head.
"I-" he tried to start, but a mere few splinters of a second later, he found himself blinded by an engulfing flash of light, a fleeting moment of being weightless feeling as if he was floating in a dead space, then felt a more solid ground under his boots.
The first teleportation in his life went as expected, Aleko suddenly felt sick and his guts crawling up through his body and about to spill out through his mouth. He gritted his teeth and swallowed down a mouthful of bile that rushed up his gullet. He took himself a few moments to regain his composure and fight the urge to retch on the floor, but once he had gained control over his body, he then started to pay good attention to his astonishing surroundings. He wasn't sure what was more impressive, the floating fortress in itself or it's extravagant interiors. He quickly understood that time was a precious resource that was running thin, so, he continued to follow the wizard and completely opened his eyes and ears to absorb his surroundings and the first man to meet was the captain of the flying fortress. Curious that a floating building needed a captain to steer it; maybe it was, in fact, a monolithic ship? As soon as the human realized who was Cyrus' guest, he promptly bowed deeply before him in an almost reflexive move, without taking real note of what or who the bastard was. The halfling quickly returned the honorary move with a bow of his own specific to anthro officers: left foot slides back, right hand laid over the left side of the chest in an open palm, torso bends at a perfect 30 degree angle and the head kept on a horizontal plane, never loosing eye contact with the one you are bowing to. He then followed the bow with a good handshake. He really didn't know if it was a royal-ish move to shake hands with those lower in rank than himself, but to him, it really didn't matter; Aleko didn't value one's privilege to be a descendant of some important, would-be noble family just because they were lucky to wear that name. If one brought justice to his name through actions of valor and honor, Aleko would deem him worthy of respect. If not, that one person was either his equal or lower than himself. The captain of the Escalyber promised safety and longevity while he was the one steering the ship, the heir could only smile politely and blink slowly as a subtle gesture of appreciation.
"I have no doubts of your talents, Captain. I have been on this ship for a little less than a few minutes and I must confess honestly, I am quite impressed. I am convinced this flying fortress lies in good hands." He added to his gesture, never breaking eye, or at least head contact with the man. "Tell me, have you-"
But then, a red flash of light interrupted his idea, making him actually forget what he wanted to ask; he turned his attention to the second crewman of the Escalyber, a young elfess, he judged. When she finally realized what was going on, she quickly excused herself and bowed deeply, a simple mistake that made her blush and nervous; the heir came to the conclusion that she was indeed young. Young or not, he repeated the whole bowing ceremony and proceeded to gingerly lift her left hand to place a gentle kiss on the outer side of the palm as a gesture of anthro chivalry, sophistication, respect and social etiquette; of course, he didn't thoroughly think about every detail of his movements, but he felt that he needed to at least show impeccable manners, whether the people on board the flying ship were fond of him or not.
"At ease, Miss Wayfinder-" he started after he released the girl's hand "I am the one intruding here while you were working, it is only natural to be startled. No harm was done, milady."
The discussion ended abruptly, Cyrus urging his protege to keep moving, Aleko quickly picking up what the wizard intended and exited the room after he bowed once more to the two members. Passing through the corridor leading to the council chamber, they encountered the men that made up the imperial guard, staunchly guarding the whole length of the corridor and the room entrance; Aleko briefly analyzed the men's whole gear, deeming it to be of high-end manufacture, both the armor and the weapons holstered by their hips. Entering the council chamber, Cyrus only now announced him that the whole political envoy was present; left aghast, the halfling shook his head in disbelief and frowned at the wizard for not being more informative about this whole tour. He had to pull himself back together in order to meet a number of very important people that will influence the well being of the power he was about to lead soon enough and leave a good and lasting impression. As if the task itself wasn't enough to throw him off his feet, having to encounter such indispensable personalities during the same day he was told that he was no one else but the emperor's only standing half-heir. They entered the room and as soon as his eyes assimilated the first impression of the people standing there, his cogs started to spin in his head and begin to study each and every person's subtle moves, grimaces, words, choice of apparel and general demeanor. While he himself couldn't do much to impress at the moment, these people would still have to show some regards to him as in time, they would all be at his heels, should this little adventure work out in the end. He chose to bow respectfully to each and every member of the council and shake hands with the male members. The first to speak to him was the human representative, a man with the looks that deceived his age and once acted as an ambassador. First question that came to his mind was why was he no longer an ambassador? Of course, he knew better than to openly ask something like this, as it could be a very gross move on his side. His presentation was short and concise, a man of few, selective words, but deceiving looks. Aleko chose to keep a close eye on this one. Next came a rather loud-mouthed anthro which had "posh" written all over him instead of "elegant"; the first remark he made was unwelcome, but Aleko knew he had to let it pass and show that he was unaffected by words. Still, he chose to hold that against him. He indeed knew about the Weissnout family, but if this is one of their descendants, the halfling felt that he would not like him or his roots. And throwing the word "honor" at the end of the official greeting after an insensible opening remark completely ruined the first impression of master Weissnout. Not to let himself lower than him and show true class, Aleko also bowed to him and shook his hand and decided to be a bit mouthy too.
"Nay, the honor lies on my side to meet a member of the revered Weissnout family on this humble ship; admittedly, I have only had distant contact with any member of the family. I am most eager to see if all words are true about the prestige, ingenuity and impeccable demeanor of the family from up close."
He did feel a slight sense of satisfaction after that exchange; he was new and maybe inexperienced, but he was no-one's fool or puppet. Then came the orc, finally, a friendly and honest to gods man. Orcs seldom lied, but they had quite a temper if they were caught in a bad mood. The man came with an excuse for not having any titles under his belt, but Aleko didn't mind; for the sheer fact he admitted such a thing, the orc grew highly in the halfling's eyes. He preferred men that had the ambition to overcome their condition and prove their worth; in a way, it reminded him of himself. He shook hands with the diplomat and gave him a hearty grin.
"I have no doubt in my mind of your abilities, my good man. You are just as valuable as any other, so long you work hard and stay true to your word, Master Windsteel."
The next person to present was the only woman in the room and while she was indeed alone, she made sure she would completely stand out of the crowd. She wore a very impressive dress which cherished her overall appearance, and what an appearance she had; Aleko, like any other man, was charmed by her presence, he even smiled one extra second than the established six-second-smirk. Like any other man, Aleko had his own flaw he hated, but at the same time, enjoy it: he was fond of all beautiful and pretty women. He had enough discipline to keep himself in check and in control, especially his masculinity, but he could drink the beauty of women through his eye such as a dry earth would drown with water. He still paid very close attention to he whole attitude and soon learned that this woman was dangerous: she knew she was beautiful and used that knowledge to give herself more power. He wasn't sure if she overestimated her power or if this too was a ruse, but her arrogance and cold attitude killed off most of Aleko's enthusiasm about her; it wasn't that he didn't like women playing hard-to-get, but the feeling in her arrogance had a completely different kind of taste, a taste of a power-hungry character. While she would definitely be very useful to have as a diplomat, he chose again to keep her on close watch for any iffy moves or for any attempt to try to get into his pants. While he would indubitably enjoy the moment, he knew what risks it could bring towards the integrity of his diplomatic portfolio. He gently pressed his lips against her gloved hand and kept a permissive attitude towards her, but her ending comment gave a little glimpse of what her venomous fangs could be capable of. Indeed, a very useful, but dangerous diplomat. Why not play a little with the snake?
"Milady, it is not in my nature to disappoint in anything, be it military expertise, diplomatic relations and... other fields I have quite some skill. However heavy my mountain may be, I will carry the task and use it to everyone's advantage."
The elf was, well, like all elves: curt, serious, truly eloquent and master of words, unlike the disappointment the anthro diplomat was. He knew about how dependable elves are, as in, it depended on their mood or whatever the nature tells them. Either way, Aleko learned to respect them and their rambly attitude, as they were one of the most resourceful races out in Avalon. The man himself was another cardboard copy of the standard elf delegate. The dwarf was another rather friendly face, but like most of his kind, he suspected the man would be a stubborn boulder when it comes to changing tactics, being a natural-born conservative and all. And like any undead, the last diplomat had a very vile air around him, but again, he learned to respect the resourcefulness of entities that have the ability to defy death. With the final words spoken, he and Cyrus retreated from the council chamber and out towards the rest of the castle; he didn't feel humbled by those people, nor intimidated, but he really hoped that those people wouldn't become his enemies. Antagonizing them would be also very unhealthy, so he had to tread carefully. He thought it would be very difficult to get used to be called "sire" instead of "lieutenant", "officer Hyde" or "Frost". No, he was now "sire", "lord", "emperor", "my liege", "Sendrakon". To edify that, Aleko met the throne he would sit unto to, examining it from afar; he then noticed the little one the people called "Scribe", a feeble and dutiful little undead that wrote words that would take maybe two seconds in a matter of a split second. Aleko felt a queer form of pity towards the little soul and smiled warmly to him as he, or she, scribbled its rotten heart out on that sheet of paper words of sheer admiration. Now, the halfling felt that he deserved none of this, especially because of some half-assed birthright; he felt more and more obligated to prove his worth, as if his obligation wasn't exceeding his current capacities. He felt his mind was wandering off towards the realms of dread once more, so he repressed those thoughts out, pull himself back out into the light, erase the frown on his forehead and decided he would not sleep this night. He had work to do.
Next, he was presented with the dining area, a pretty place that enchanted the wolfling, the mere beauty of the place caused a rumble to shake his stomach. Truth was that he didn't get to eat a proper lunch that day, which made him consider grabbing a good supper for tonight's working session. After they passed through the dining area, where he did notice the two familiar characters from before having a surprisingly peaceful chat, considering that one was an orc and the other a human, he was presented to a less friendly ambiance with a fair warning about the situation inside. Given this, Aleko felt even more guilty, since he still couldn't connect with the fact that he, a simple mud-blooded anthro, was now the most viable pretender to the Avalon Empire throne; now, knowing that people had sacrifice their lives just to localize him without risking to reveal the plan to potential enemies, he knew exactly what kind of hospitality he had to expect from inside. Sure, he was used with generals being all prissy, angry and generally moody, he knew to respect their authority and understand the motive behind their actions and judgement; each and every one of them worked hard to reach this place and whatever they lacked in experience, they compensated with talent and tactical ingenuity. Where they lacked the skill and talent, came hard labor and experience. Walking inside, he caught the heat of the argument and the words thrown around, even at Cyrus, made Aleko extremely cautious, to the point he brought his right hand to grip at the hilt of his own long sword ready to slide out and parry or block any misdirected blows. Luckily, the argument did not escalate, since one of the generals, a female anthro halfling seemed to calm down the orc general from swinging his own weapon. Aleko felt miserable, seeing such experienced men ready to break down into a brawl over who was more righteous than the other, who sacrificed good men and who didn't, all for a "pretty wolfling". He did not feel insulted at all, since he was called many worse things than that, but what worried him was the attitude of the dwarven general; if he wouldn't behave under his command, real issues would spark from the incompatibility. Finally, when the fire had been put out, the generals started to present themselves and the truest of them all was the human, Aleko considered. All that he said about him was true, however harsh as it would be. Aleko did not properly reply to the man, he just nodded his head and gave a respectful smile and a short mutter.
"I will give my best, sir."
Next, the undead general showed up and started to talk to him and much like the ambassador of the undead, he showed much prudence and apparent respect for him; he knew the nature of this race, how they tried to crawl into one's skin like worms and try to chew out should one not heed their demands, so he knew better than to wholeheartedly listen to his words. He gave a curt nod, shook his hand and bowed respectfully as ever. The elf general, like the envoy, was a true example of their race and Aleko payed his respects to him too. As the orc general tried to present himself, the Anthro general offer him a true show of misbehavior and lack of discipline and as much as she tried to become chummy with the new emperor, Aleko had a bad impression about her from the start of her presentation 'till to the end; although he commended her courage to break the imminent brawl, her lack of composure and military etiquette ruined the first, good impression. She might be young, but so was he, if he wasn't actually younger. He only hoped she was capable on the battlefield and a complete mess outside. The orc general, true to his race, was completely honest and optimistic, to that Aleko nodded and smiled wide. The dwarf was, obviously, disgruntled and made himself clear about his thoughts on the new Sendrakon, the last of his line. He kept his mouth shut and ate the sour-tasting words, which he decided to hold against the general so that when the day of his success will come, he will prove the dwarven general wrong with great satisfaction. The dark elf general had a demeanor similar to the undead, which made him rather cautious around this character; even though he knew about the resourcefulness of such an army and the subterfuge abilities of the specialized units under a dark elf general, Aleko decided to keep a very close watch on this one, as same with the dwarf, anthro and undead general. Cyrus then tried to hurry and usher the fresh emperor out of the war room, but to his dismay, the halfling refused to leave without leaving some words behind, to give those men an honest insight about the situation the wolf found himself in. He stood not far from the open doors, cleared his voice loudly to draw attention to him and then spoke in a solemn tone, where emotion could be felt only by those who could distinguish the subtlety in one's carefully constructed speech.
"Generals. Only a few hours ago, I was a first-lieutenant of the Imperial Mechanized Rangers 5th batallion "Gundogs", elite component of the Royal Anthro Forces; I was given the task to oversee a province all on my own to keep its neutrality towards the potshots between the three Avalon powers and refuse any and all allegiances. I have had my own share of battles, survived three undead ambushes and won several skirmishes against rioting rebels, a human force from the Old Avalon Empire, mercenaries whose masters I did not identify and other band of miscreants. I agree with you all, I am in no place to lead seven distinguished officers and their armies to fights that I pick, not since I am still inferior to all who stand in this room. I expect no apologies, nor utmost respect for a 'bastard wolfling' that is the supreme commander of all New Avalon Empire just because of a name attached to him; what I do wish to see is unity and camaraderie, since everyone in this room fights for the same cause now: bring the old empire back and establish order through unification, through assimilation or conquest."
"I lack experience and I am not afraid to declare that, for it is true, I do not take offense for pointing an obvious fact to me. As such, I am more than willing to learn everything and much more that I can learn from all of you, I present myself as an open book on which all can chip in their insights and I am more than eager to absorb the knowledge. Until I prove the worth of my name and my position, and even after, you will all be considered distinguished military advisers, not subordinates under my imperial boot. Thus, I expect transparency, camaraderie, an opportunity to learn and evolve; from me, you may expect transparency, respect, consideration, open ears and growth."
"With this, I bid farewell and good night: I would be most grateful if a list of all men whose lives were lost for my sake were created until tomorrow morning. Any grandiose form of apology, or death honorary, will not bring those men back to life, nor will they heal the wounds in the souls of their leaders and families. What will bring their souls to rest is the success of this campaign, I am most sure of that."
"And lastly... during my service, my superiors adressed me through a certain nickname, I would much prefer to be adressed as such rather than "sire", or "my lord". I am Frost, officer Frost. Or Frosty. You may call me a lord once you deem me worthy of such titles."
With that, he bowed his head, turned around and left and as soon as the doors closed, he wiped off one bead of sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm. He didn't really have the chance to admire the room's strange beauty, but knowing that he will spend most of his time in there, he was sure he would get used to it. The rest of the entire castle's tour didn't really impress him anymore, not after the very tense moment in the war room; although he took note of everyone he met on the road and respectfully bowed to everyone, he did become curious of an anthro engineer that seemed to pay very little attention to the emperor, and of a peculiar fellow called T'Chun, whose nature really sparked his interest. He reassured the poor thing that he only had to work as much as it was needed, there was no need for strenuous efforts. They finally reach the comfort of his own personal quarters, where Cyrus left him with a vast emptiness and dreadful thoughts. Aleko took himself a moment to sit down on the nearest armchair and let the weight of the situation push him down into the cushion; the tension and his own weight pressed him down so hard he could hear his bones and articulations softly groan with pain and exhaustion. He lost track of time as he sat there, his head going through the events of the day over and over again, checking if everything was really true. It seemed too extraordinary for someone like him to actually be the last living son of a famed dynasty, so extraordinary that he felt humbled by the ample task ahead. Gaining enough strength to keep himself compose, he started to devise some plans, starting from the smallest things he noted to be needed for an empire to be strong through his own life experience, 'till to the very first military moves that had to be taken in order to gain more territory and influence.
He stood up, rid himself of the heavier clothes and his luggage and did some routine workouts to get his blood pumping through his body and once he felt himself to be energetic, Aleko sprawled open the contents of the bag and sorted his belongings out, storing his clothes in the nearest closet, his books on the beautiful desk he had and finally, pulling a thick, worn-out journal along with some pencils, a sharpener and some form of gum that could erase the markings a pencil could leave. He then examined the orb he received from Cyrus and somehow hailed a servant, not knowing exactly if he had to tap it, rub it or simply hold it in his hand and talk through it; still not playing the role of an emperor, he kindly asked the man that entered his room to bring a roster regarding the armies the New Avalon Empire had, a map, a situation on diplomacy with the several provinces and the two other major powers and the last entries of the chronicles the scribe had written. In a matter of moments, more servants poured in with everything he needed to work with, Aleko deeply bowed to everyone before he bid them all a good night. As he started to work everything out, albeit having a very difficult starting point, everything started to work out in his head, even with the rather flimsy income and weak military force, all compared to the other two powers; he blamed this lack of integrity and wealth on the search for the last living Sendrakon which left him feeling hopeless for a few good minutes. During this dead time, he remembered of that odd library situation, which made him feel a little unsafe and against Cyrus' advice, he knew he had to investigate that all by himself and his weapon; he thought of the diplomats and the generals, their faces and their personalities and how they would come in handy in his plans prepped for the first week of activity. He thought of the curves, bra size and unmentionable colors of the females he had met that day, the dirty thoughts were quickly shaken away by the more dutiful notions in his head. He wasn't sure if everything could be finished in a hasty rhythm, but it would at least put things into motion and prepare for the first steps; he calculated the costs of his moves, not only in wealth, but also in renown. Should he make a bold move, he was sure to be shut down by the larger powers, so he had to play nice and lay low without risking an early realm divide; it would mean a lot of his actions, strategies and plans would have to be completed in a hush-hush manner, but it would at least build a steady base from where the new empire could grow and as soon as they would have enough strength, they would lash out and hit where it would hurt the most.
It took him several hours to have a skeleton broken down in a few steps and ramifications according to some possible outcomes, but he had a plan. Aleko threw himself in his bed and without even noticing that he even fell asleep, he woke up a few hours later at the alarm of the clock hanged on one of the walls; he somehow dragged himself out of the bed and shut the alarm down and to invigorate himself, he promptly started his morning routing of workouts, a ritual etched into his head by years of military service. Once his muscles were alive and he was relatively awake, he accessed what he suspected to be a bathroom, where he found a luxurious room with multiple faucets, a toilet seat and a large tub in which more than one participants could fit in. He very quickly showered himself and made sure a fresh smell of frosty mint would follow him all day long, he dried out his short fur and mop of hair atop his head and picked the cleanest and tidies set of clothes he had: a pair of dark, slim denim pants, an undershirt over which he had a dark red doublet and over the doublet, a high-quality military overcoat which he decorated with all of the medals and awards he had with him. He took a look at himself in the mirror and found a hungry, tired-looking wolf-to-be-emperor that was about to participate to his own crowning, however outrageous that notion sounded to him. He chuckled at the ridiculousness of the whole situation and shook his head in disbelief; finally, he strapped his trusty long sword with side rings which provided protection for his fingers and knuckles at his waistline, along with his own Katzer semi-automatic pistol of anthro manufacture. He looked as royal as he could with his own clothes and as soon as he found himself ready, he walked out of his room and using his memory, he navigated through the corridors towards the throne room, nodding his head to everyone he met on his way there. He found his head to be drifting aimlessly into nowhere, still thinking that he would soon wake up to his desk in a pool of his own saliva over the papers he had yet to sign back at his makeshift office; yet, he was marching quite confidently down the halls, keeping his back straight, his gaze forwards and a stern look on his face. If everything was true, if all of this wasn't some outlandish mind trip, he was sure to deliver his best shot at this. He felt dread growing and following his trail, the reality of the plans he had made last night would see the true world and feared that they would be rather impractical given the situation of the New Avalon Empire.
But it all went away when he entered the room and saw he was the first man to be there. He felt that everything was right and in its place, that his presence here was needed after all, even if the sensation itself was outrageous and otherworldy. His whole life was a safe road to this place, even in the dangers of dying he felt as though he wasn't really at any threat of being killed, but in this place and time, life, death, decisions and thoughts were very real notions, and each of them were walking at his side as he advanced towards the throne he had to occupy along with his demons.