“Ah, yes … our venerable, transcendent cardinal. I take it you have some reservations about it?” The Emperor said in the most uncaring tone.

“What do you think?” The cardinal spat back, standing defiantly and looking absolutely furious, “have you forgotten what has happened the last time someone dared to open a portal?”

“How can we ever forget, cardinal? As long as people like you are among us, we can’t forget no matter how hard we tried.”

The Senate floor was utterly silent. Even the murmuring stopped.

Hazelmere leaned in towards Rowena, as discretely as possible: “Any other time, this would be an amusing joke. But I’m afraid our Emperor doesn’t realize just how serious this is,” she said in a whisper.

Rowena didn’t acknowledge it at all. Her focused gaze didn’t shift away from the Emperor.

“I did say,” the Emperor continued, “that we’ve taken all necessary measures of precaution. I had plenty of reservations, just like you venerable cardinal. I didn’t agree to this until my associates were absolutely confident there are no risks involved.”

“Do you have any idea what’s going to happen if anything goes wrong?” The cardinal retorted.

“You’re repeating yourself, dear cardinal. Can you at least let me explain everything before you cast your judgment?”

The cardinal paused at that, but his facial expression didn’t change.

“Will the Senate have a chance to vote on this?” He asked.

“No. This matter is too delicate to be entrusted to the senate.”

“That’s only because you know everyone is against it! You’re going against the will of the noble houses! You’re abusing your power!”

The Emperor glowered at the cardinal: “I don’t want to hear that from the head of the church! When have you cared about the will of the houses? All you’ve ever cared about is filling your coffers with noble coin! Look at you! You’re almost as round as I am! Someone who cares about others would certainly share his meals with those in need! When was the last time your church has done anything useful?”

The cardinal stared at the Emperor, looking quite shocked, eyes wide open and mouth agape. It took him a few moments to respond.

“How dare you! We purify water every day! We’re lifting the curses! We offer guidance to those who are lost! We keep your Empire afloat while you indulge in unnecessary, expensive wars!”

Rowena stood up, much to everyone’s surprise.

“With all due respect, sirs, I don’t think the senate is the proper place for this kind of conversation. Can we try to keep the conversation civil?”

The Emperor and the cardinal still glared daggers at each other, but they did stop with the insults.

“We can certainly reach a compromise,” Rowena continued, “after all, isn’t that what makes the timkik Empire great? Unlike the other nations of this continent, our Empire is guided by reason. So, how about this: how about we let you, venerable cardinal, oversee the portal personally? I’m certain our Emperor will have anything against it since his intentions are pure.”

The Emperor nodded: “I can agree to that. If you want, cardinal, you can come and observe the portal personally.”

“I’m not a practitioner of arcane arts! Besides, what would my presence achieve? Whether I’m there or not won’t make any difference!”

“But, venerable cardinal,” Rowena countered, “you can bring the council of archpriestesses with you. They can observe the portal with their divine powers and, if at any point in time they detect any traces of corruption, we’ll abort the spell.”

The cardinal’s expression softened a bit as he considered the idea for a few moments.

“Are you saying an arch priestess can feel if the portal is leading to hell?”

“Absolutely! The royal archmage assured us of it!”

Hazelmere didn’t dare make a move. She just sat in her seat like a statue.

But, she soon felt a slender finger poking her vigorously from within her dress. She didn’t realize it before, but Rowena has somehow managed to put her hand inside Hazelmere’s dress and was now making the most out of it.

“Isn’t that right, miss Hazelmare?” Rowena asked in a polite voice as her poking got ever more vigorous.

Hazlemere, still looking like a frightened deer, finally turned her head. With a quick glance, she saw that Rowena hid the lower part of her right arm masterfully, as her and Hazelmere’s dresses were conveniently too close to one another. She quickly realized that, almost certainly, nobody but the two of them knew what was going on.

And clearly, defying his majesty always comes at a cost. So, Hazelmere did the only thing she could do. She nodded her head slowly, in affirmation.

“Your archmage looks very uncertain about it,” the cardinal noticed.

“Nonsense,” Rowena was quick to retort, “she’s just not used to being the center of attention. As you may know, she’s been the royal archmage for a little more than a year. And since the mages are known for their terrible lack of social skills, it’s no wonder the girl feels very uneasy about speaking in front of a crowd.”

“Excuse me, your excellences …” another feminine but noticeably more mature voice said.

Hazelmere turned her head towards the voice, seeing a familiar face. A middle-aged lady stood in the second row.

And, although the face was familiar, it was for all the wrong reasons.

Since no one objected, the middle-aged lady continued: “Excuse me but, considering that miss Hazelmere got to such a responsible position so recently, can we really trust her judgment? Would it not be much more reassuring to ask the council of mages for their opinion before we proceed?”

Rowena fixed the female with a slightly threatening gaze: “That same council gives the royal archmage her mandate. Had it considered miss Hazelmere unworthy of such an important station, it would’ve never given it to her,” she said in an extremely calm manner.

“I understand and respect that, trusted advisor, but perhaps we should seek the opinion of other experienced mages in this matter. That would certainly alleviate this unnerving feeling most of us have.”

“That’s exactly what we did, lady Bruna. We’ve asked the most trusted mages for their opinion before reaching the decision. There was a very heated debate regarding whether we should ask your house for opinion but, in the end, we decided we should act as safely as possible. I hope you don’t feel slighted because we didn’t contact you on this matter. The crown isn’t doubting your loyalties. We were worried that you were insulted because the royal archmage title, which was granted to your house for thousands of years, has finally been given to some other family. Considering just how delicate the situation is, we didn’t feel like taking even the most minimal risks.”

“Oh,” the lady’s face became disheartened in an instant, “oh … I see. I was only trying to offer an alternative. Please, forgive me.”

“Worry not, lady Bruna. Your family is kept in high regard by the court. There’s nothing to forgive. We appreciate your input.”

The lady got back into her seat slowly and with some difficulty, her ears lying flat on top of her head.

“Of course,” the Emperor said as soon as lady Bruna was back in her seat, “this matter is too delicate and important to be entrusted with one person. We’re expecting most of the mages to partake in it. And, if the venerable cardinal wants, he and his council of archpriestesses can participate too. Yes, I know, it’s not fair that I’m bringing this matter to your attention this late. But now, when everything has been revealed, and when secrecy is no longer paramount, I promise the crown will be far more transparent.”

“But, still …” the cardinal protested.

And was immediately interrupted by the Emperor.

“But still, you didn’t let me finish the speech! If you, dear cardinal, and the other senate members will kindly allow me to finish, then most of your questions will be answered very soon. How about you let me say what I have to say and then, if there’s something you aren’t satisfied with, you can ask your questions!”

“Surely you can wait for a few moments before casting your final judgment, cardinal,” Rowena said with a pleasant smile on her face.

The transcendent cardinal looked very uncertain, but he did sit back in the end. Rowena followed immediately after him.

“Thank you, venerable cardinal,” the Emperor continued, “now, as I’ve said, we’ve taken all the possible measures of precaution. First of all, it’s not like we got this idea all of a sudden. I didn’t wake up one day with the idea of opening a portal. All of this started when we got a very intriguing scroll from one of the adventuring parties we trust. They found a very unique structure, deep in a certain ancient dungeon. They got some riches, plenty of magical items, and even more strange instruments. We had the experts analyze all of it, and they got to the conclusion that those artifacts and instruments were certainly used for traveling between the worlds. That makes sense because the dungeon is located in our realm, quite close to the holy site of ...”

The Emperor made a pause as he struggled to read something from the piece of parchment in front of him.

“… Treadmondo. As the transcendent cardinal certainly knows, many rumors surround that holy site and other sites like it. One of those is the assumption that the ancient Sun elves used such sites to travel between the worlds. That would explain the proximity of the dungeon. A long time ago, it was probably used as a planning and support structure for traveling between the worlds.”

“How didn’t we discover this dungeon sooner? There are hundreds of pilgrims visiting that holy site each moon!”

“Patience, cardinal. And besides, it’s not my fault that your priests can’t seem to find a hole, even when it’s right in front of them.”

That did draw a series of giggles from the crowd.

“Let’s go back to the important stuff. The dungeon was filled with all kinds of writings and scrolls but, unfortunately, many of them were unusable. Time has taken its toll on them. However, we did get some exciting findings. I’m not easily fascinated by the magical arts, and yet, even I’m excited about it! I can only imagine how those who have magical blood coursing through their veins might feel.”

During a short pause, the Emperor cast a glance at the Hazelmere.

“First of all, we’ve found a clearly depicted summoning process. Everything our mages need to know about summoning the portal is written there. But that’s not all. As far as I’ve understood what the mages have told me, they also need a set of complicated coordinates. A portal can lead anywhere, and our world has learned that the hard way. I fully respect the worry our revered cardinal feels. Nobody wants to summon another portal to hell. As I’ve been told, the ancient Sun elves didn’t understand the dangers of such a portal. They toyed with them, unaware of all the terrible places such a portal can lead to. But we’re wiser and much more careful about it. And above all …”

The Emperor made another dramatic pause.

“Our mages will have all the necessary coordinates that will lead them to a bountiful world! Miraculously, one set of scrolls has remained intact!” The Emperor said as he raised his chubby arms victoriously.

However, there was no applause.

That didn’t deter him: “With all the necessary components, there’s no risk involved at all! Our mages will have everything they need to open a portal to a specific world. We aren’t going anywhere new. We’re going somewhere where the Sun elves have already been!”

“Do we have a description of it?” A random male voice from the audience asked.

“Oh yes, we have. That world is full of all kinds of riches! And the best of it all is that there are no people there! Our armies won’t have to fight anyone! There are only animals out there, many of which are well suited for hard labor! It’s even written that the world where we’re going has a very unique kind of cattle. One that has both high endurance and a developed intellect, which means it can be easily trained to be servile! With these new riches and plenty of new cattle, we’ll reinvigorate our economy! The endless stream of new resources will ensure that we can continue to finance our military struggle, and not only that! I swear, in front of all of you, that each and every noble house will get its fair share!”

He raised his right arm, vigorously: “I swear it, in the presence of the transcendent priest!”

The uncertainty of the crowd was palpable. Nobody dared say anything.

Until one male stood up in the crowd.

“My house has served the Emperors for centuries! It will follow his majesty even if the road leads to hell itself!”

Another one stood up: “My house is also at your disposal, your majesty. We trust your judgment, no matter what.”

“As the patriarch of a merchant family, I fully support this endeavor,” the third said.

“Your majesty!” Lady Bruna stood up, “I am not trying to stand in your way or dissuade you. I am merely offering my humble opinion. Even if our mages have access to all the necessary knowledge, we will need an enormous amount of magic to do it! It will be a huge investment! We will need thousands upon thousands of crystals to store the magic in, and we will need to mobilize all the mages in the Empire! Even personal ones! This will put a huge strain on our economy and military before we can get any return on our investment!”

“Thank you for your input, lady Bruna. I appreciate it,” the Emperor responded, “but our royal archmage has already warned us about that. Yes, some unpleasant measures will have to be taken. Yes, that will also include the mobilization of all the mages. Yes, that will affect our military capabilities and our quality of life. But, no worthy enterprise can ever start without the investment! We’re temporarily sacrificing our prosperity to make it much better for the generations to come!”

As soon as the Emperor said that, the small group of people standing up started cheering. It wasn’t long before everyone else realized their best option was to do the same.

And as everyone cheered, Hazelmere just set there, completely lost and tense as a drawn bow.