“Why is it taking so long with such magnificent steeds as the muscle for the carriage?” Kata frowned deeply and looked outside. Rachel smiled and looked at Lena.

“Kata.”

“Empress?” Kata turned slowly. She felt that her mistress was not impressed right now.

“The harem tried to murder me in plain sight while still the Empress. The Emperor has made a move to remarry while I am still alive, and replace me with another. Do you think it wise to remain close to the capital?” She asked in a steady, and modulated tone. No tremor, or fear could be heard. Kata blushed.

“No, Empress.” She said and lowered her eyes.

“The goddess has made an agreement with me. She will provide a solution for the prince’s curse if I offer my breasts to her in this ritual. However, now that he has seen fit to remove me from my position, do you think the prince will live?” She asked angrily.

“No, Empress. Even the most basic of protection will be removed if the new Empress bares a son.” Kata said softly.

“The goddess made it possible for me to bare him a son.” Kata’s eyes widened. “However, I was never allowed to kiss him, hold him, or nurse him.” Her eyes turned cold. “I was merely a breeding sow for him.”

“Empress…” What could she say to that? She was a soldier, not someone able to console, or soothe.

“Since I have not been allowed to raise my own son, the Empire has taken responsibility for his well being. I offered what I could. He will live for ten years, if they allow him.” She sighed, as she had already resolved to make this decision when she found out what the Emperor did.  She was the Empress no longer. When another son is born to the one who wanted to divorce her with a sword, her son would be executed anyway. “After that period is over, they will have to petition the gods for assistance.” Rachel smiled softly.

“Do not burden yourself with what will happen, Empress. With the Emperor’s assistance, and your sacrifice, things would become...horrific inside that country. Sisters made pregnant, daughters birthed by the dozen, sacrifices made to add life to the males of the royal family, and the Empire would become a nation built on the blood of its women. Instead of children, it would solely be a nation of men who sacrificed an entire gender for a few more years.” Rachel growled. “The goddess will fulfill her obligation to you for that ten years. What you do with your life after that is up to you.” Lena sighed and looked out the window.

“Mine?” Her thoughts were chaotic, but she knew that her life was no longer hers.

“We have arrived, Empress.” The carriage pulled into the church’s front yard. The freshly scrubbed stone greeted her eyes as the iron gate closed behind them.

“Oh wow.” She said. “We are not in the Empire, are we?” Rachel smiled at Lena’s question.

“Just over the border, at the south eastern tip. It is an entry to the sea, and to the mountains that skirt the coast.” As Lena stepped down and stretched her body, Rachel pointed to the towering stone peaks behind the church. “There is a path cut through the mountain, and it goes to the rocky shore. The locals once offered their daughters to the gods here.” Lena frowned.

“How?”

“Thrown off the cliffs.” Rachel said softly. Lena growled.

“Bloody hell. Do all humans believe that the goddess enjoys such brutality and death?” Lena said with a growl.

“Empress? Is she not going to rip your breasts off?” Kata asked her, a bit confused. Lena sighed.

“That is a method, not the end.” Her eyes grew distant. “I had a dream, where I endured it. I felt everything.” She said quietly. “When I mentioned that I only had two breasts to offer her, I could see something in those deep red eyes of hers. Something I didn’t expect.” She lowered her eyes, then focused on the church.

“How much longer do I have before the ritual must begin?” Lena asked.

“Tomorrow. Late morning, before the sun reaches the over the mountain’s peak.” Rachel watched Lena as she walked around the courtyard. She heard a whisper in the wind.

“She was excited by my response, not my blood.”

“REPORT!” The old eunuch yelled at one of the guards. He currently knelt on the floor of the main chamber, while his comrades held pikes to his neck.

“The head concubine ordered us to kill the former Empress! We did not wish to do it, but a commoner is nothing compared to the concubine of the Emperor!” He blurted out.

The Captain of the royal guards entered the main chamber, his helmet off, and his eyes looked ready to burst due to his anger.

“Commoner?” The eunuch asked, now quite calm. That terrified the guard. “Since when is the Empress of Krov a commoner?”

“We were told that she was going to be replaced!” He yelled.

“Oh. She was to be replaced. As in a future action?” The guard nodded. “So that means, according to your knowledge, she was still the Empress?” As the guard paled, the Emperor tapped the arm of the throne.

“Captain. Approach.” The Captain of the Royal guard walked stiffly up to the side of the guard, his teeth grit furiously. “Have the remainder of the traitors been captured, sir?”

“Reporting to the Emperor, the archers are in cells. Any guards still alive are also in cells. The head concubine is in her chamber, with guards posted. She is on house arrest until his majesty gives the order otherwise.” He followed the rules to the letter. Only the Emperor could dish out the discipline on the royal family, including the harem.

“Have all guard who participated be executed according the the punishment written down in our laws. As to the concubine, let her drink poison. Have her daughters sent out to noble families as wives. Lower nobles. No dowry.” The Captain nodded.  No dowry.  That meant that the Emperor showed no favor to those daughters, and they would only be married so the noble could claim that his family had some royal blood in their lineage.  The Emperor would receive a sum of money for the privilege, but the daughters would not be treated well, nor be able to rely on protection from the palace.

“And this one?”

“You may punish him as you see fit, Captain. Remember, he is a traitor to his men, and the Emperor.” The Captain grinned.

The Emperor allowed him to vent his frustration. Not only did he lose some good men, this squad leader had not verified the orders before he acted. He sought rewards.

So his reward would be to fight, and be slowly dismembered when he could no longer fight. If the squad leader was smart, he would find someone weaker then himself in the encirclement of guards, steal their sword, and fall upon it.

However, the Captain was sure he would fight for life instead of going out with dignity.

At that moment, a loud bell was heard inside the palace. A commotion could be heard outside, while a guard ran into the main chamber to report.

“The treasury has been attacked!”