The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter Thirty-Three

Emperor Cabel and Luna sit quietly, reading their books.
Emperor Cabel's cheeks grow faintly red as he thinks to himself. He turns his chair around, reading more documents on his desk.
His eyes shift over to Luna frequently, glancing at her reading. Her expression is calm with a gentle glimmer of excitement in her eyes, and a slight smile on her lips as she reads.
He gazes at her profile, his eyes shifting down to stare at her slender neck.
Emperor Cabel gulps, shaking his head. He clenches his jaw, attempting to focus on his papers.

The door knocks.
Emperor Cabel uses his powers to open the door.
Duke Oslo enters the office, bowing as he walks inside.
"Greetings, your highness-" Duke Oslo pauses as he notices Luna on the sofa, "Oh forgive me, I was unaware you had a guest."
"Hello, I'm Luna of the golden palace." Luna stands, curtsying calmly.
"I'm Duke Oslo, it's nice to properly meet you." He bows.
"Properly?" Luna repeats.
"Oh yes... Forgive me for saying, I actually found you in the dungeon..."
"I see, it's quite alright. Thank you for helping me back then. You must be here with business, allow me to leave-"
"Stay as you are. We can start our meeting now." Emperor Cabel interrupts, calling for Duke Oslo to sit across from him.
"Yes, your highness." Duke Oslo speaks.
He walks to Emperor Cabel's desk, sitting down in a chair as he places documents on the desk.
Luna grows conflicted, yet does as she's told. She slowly sits back down on the sofa, continuing to read.

"We need to deploy Marquess Simone's knights in the East." Emperor Cabel speaks, his eyes scanning over a letter.
"The East is filled with troops on patrol from the Lunnex Kingdom. Given our relationship with them, it won't be easy to pass them. Marquess Simone's knights won't be able to overrun them if they're overpowered. I could send knights from my squadron, but if I'm supposed to deploy them to the West, I won't have many knights to offer." Duke Oslo speaks, thinking to himself.
"I can contact the kingdom of Xiao. Their warriors can provide backup once we enter the central area of the East."
"You realize if you ask them, they'll use this as an excuse to bring their princess here to-"
"I know. We won't speak about it for now, but I'll find a way through that. If we have support from Xiao's warriors, we won't need to worry about our knights being ambushed." Emperor Cabel interrupts.
"They'll surely be useful, but could potentially start a war if you refuse-"
"I said I know, didn't I? I'll face those consequences."
Emperor Cabel and Duke Oslo talk as the tension in the room grows heavy.
Luna sits, listening in on their conversation, unable to focus on her book.
She places her book onto the table, turning around to face them.
"May I intervene?..." She asks.
Duke Oslo and Emperor Cabel turn to her.
" I have no problem with that." Duke Oslo smiles, looking back at Emperor Cabel.
"Come." Emperor Cabel points to the empty chair beside Duke Oslo.
Luna hesitates as she stands, walking over to the men.
She sits down, thinking to herself.
"I apologize for interrupting, but Xiao may not be as advanced as your highness's empire, but compared side by side, they could be equal in strength... With their many different trainings, they primarily focus their warriors strengths in stealth, making their warriors known for their 'assassin' like skills. They may not be strong compared to Cypheler's knights, but if we went into war with them, it could be a close fight from how many trained assassins they have. Might I suggest an alternative to avoid going to war or being in debt with them?"
"If you have an idea, go ahead and share." Emperor Cabel speaks, watching Luna closely.
"Well, Xiao is described in history books as once a beautiful kingdom, but when King Tun passed, his eldest son was crowned. His eldest son was described to be selfish and cunning, and changed laws to only benefit him, which angered the officials who wanted more power. Due to his nature, government officials voted him off the throne, placing his younger brother Shen to be crowned. King Shen lacks skills regarding politics though, which made it easy for officials to pass laws that are inhumane under his nose. He refused the throne at first, but he's known to be a nefarious womanizer, and so officials used it as a way to coax him into the throne by providing a bountiful harem at his feet. The laws they made caused their kingdom to rely on the taxes of the poor, making it so officials and the high class didn't need to pay. Poverty rapidly increased, making job openings rare with very little pay. Xiao's 'slums' are filled with poverty-stricken citizens who tried to become warriors in hopes of gaining a steady income, except graduating as a warrior is at a low rate of ten percent or less of those that apply every year. The citizens who trained and couldn't complete or pass, are left to gather coins off the street or turn to dirty work like becoming assassins, due to the training. I suggest you scour for the best trained citizens, recruit them to live here, and they could work apart of your army. If they're skilled, they could even train new recruits for you, using the training they learned from Xiao." Luna takes a deep breath, after quickly explaining.
She looks at Emperor Cabel and Duke Oslo, who both stare at her, dumbfounded.
"Where on earth did you learn this?" Duke Oslo asks.
"Well... I've read political history books on neighbouring kingdoms to know more of their culture. I added two and two together and thought of this theory I suppose. I read that once King Shen was throned, the lower class began paying up to sixty percent of their pay for taxes, while nobles pay either five or none."
"Even so, how would we know we can trust them? If they're stuck in poverty, they could just want fast money and turn on us." Duke Oslo speaks.
"Which is why you should send in spies to recruit them. If you find the loyal ones who are well trained, you can build this empire's army with the strongest defences. You'll have knights who are well trained with hand to hand combat, archers who are trained for long distance attacks, and assassins who are experts in stealth and ambushing. They can even be a spy if you need to gather information. If you find the best assassins they'll provide extra defences, and if they're chosen from the slums they could be desperate to get back on their feet, which will make them loyal to someone who's willing to provide them a better life."
"It's a brilliant idea... You learned all of this from reading?" Emperor Cabel asks.
"Well, yes. I finished all the books at the golden palace's library, and read an abundance of books and journal's from the royal library so far... Have I messed up?" Luna cocks her head, thinking back on her words.
"Not at all, you just had an amazing idea. Your highness, if this is successful you'll steal citizens from Xiao. They would see you as a larger threat, but more of their citizens would want to join your army. Once word spreads about the empire welcoming citizens of Xiao, and there could be a revolt against King Shen. It could lead to you potentially overtaking them." Duke Oslo exclaims.
"I could kill two birds with one stone..." Emperor Cabel whispers.
"How so?" Luna asks.
"Xiao has been a kingdom I wished to takeover. I don't necessarily care for it enough to go to war to take it, but they've sent many spies and assassins to me. We had no physical evidence or reason to do so, but if this works I could overthrow Shen and make Xiao the first kingdom to be run by a woman." Emperor Cabel grins, amused.
"A woman? Who would run it?" Luna questions, surprised.
"House of Zelnia. Earl Pietro has four sons, and one daughter, Canella. She has the ability and intelligence to run the house of Zelnia, but her brothers out class her since they're older than her and are men. She's the smartest one out of all of those ugly, useless rats but is trapped. Her path for that life is to just marry wealthy. I can have her lead it. She has the qualifications, is loyal to me and has... Personal ties with Xiao." Emperor Cabel chuckles, thinking to himself.
"Personal?" Luna questions, confused.
"You'll find out if your plan works. Duke Oslo, we'll carry on with this plan. Decide out of the squadrons, which knights will perform best undercover."
"Yes, your highness." Duke Oslo stands and bows.
He bows again to Luna, taking her hand.
"My lady, your intelligence is very bewitching. I'll be sure to consult you in the future."
Duke Oslo bows to Emperor Cabel and Luna.
"May glory of Helios rest upon you." Duke Oslo leaves the office, excited.