The Empress' Descent

Chapter 28 - The Princess

[Derek, 5 years ago]

The fall of the West was near. Should the South succeed in destroying the last of its walls and subjugate the capital city, victory would be theirs for the taking.

But before that, Emperor Kieran decided to momentarily leave the battlefield and return to his palace. And for whatever reason, he'd insisted that Derek must come with him.

Derek followed closely behind the Emperor's fluttering red cape, his hands joined together at the back of his head.

It didn't come off as much of a surprise when the Emperor came to his tent last night and offered him the chance to be one of his escorts back to the South. He was just a normal knight from the East, but his performance in battle outshined even the mightiest of generals.

He'd bragged to Erix then and his friend gave him a jolly smack on the back saying, "You lucky bastard. Try not to let it all get to your head, won't you?"

When they arrived at the palace doors, it also wasn't that shocking when the Emperor told everyone to leave except for Derek.

Derek marched through the carpeted hallway, the sunlight breaking in from the expansive windows lining at the sides. He hadn't been in many grand buildings, hadn't even stepped foot in the Grand Duke's castle back in the East. The sheer elegance of it all was a lot to take in. Everywhere he looked, everything simply shone. Nevertheless, he didn't suppress the awe and wonder budding within his chest.

He came from a humble household, where he had not even dared to hope for glory and fortunes. Had not even dared to think of material things. At fourteen, Derek discovered he was good at fighting. No, not "good", he was amazing.

His life was mundane until his training days. At least when he was training to become a knight he could allow himself to have some purpose. The thought of leaving such a simple life and obtaining honor was one thing, but defeating people far larger than him during sparring sessions was another. It gave him a sense of achievement, knowing he was better at one particular thing than the others.

Now, a few years later, Derek himself had grown into a full-fledged knight, playing a vital role within the Solarian army. And the Emperor himself was leading him somewhere.

He failed to hide his grin as he made a list in his mind of the possible rewards that the Emperor might bestow on him. Because when you were young and not-so-ambitious, you'd best believe easy treasure always ran in your mind.

The Emperor led him to a spacious sitting room that was roughly the same size as the village church back home. A jeweled chandelier dangled from the high ceiling, its candles casting colorful lights onto the marble floor.

Four teenagers were waiting inside. Every one of them were just about the same age as Derek.

There were two who stood by the window, a boy and a girl. Both had dark-blue hair and eyes of azure gems. Both also had fair skin. Derek assumed they were twins from how they looked so alike. The boy did all the talking, alight with enthusiasm. While the girl listened, either unimpressed or it was merely her resting face.

Derek had nearly mistaken the girl for a boy with how short her hair was, cascading to her chin like a helmet.

The other two knelt on the floor, a low lying table set between them. They appeared to be playing some kind of board game. They were another boy-girl pair.

The older one had pale-blond locks that swept down to her waist, gray-blue eyes that resembled a stormy sky focusing on the board pieces.

The youngest of the bunch had a mop of golden curls on his head, his green pupils lush as the forest trees. He was smiling brightly at the girl, his gold-colored luminosity almost blinding Derek.