When they occurred, the odd family dinner tended to be a strange affair.

Most of the time, our schedules don't really line up all that well for a family meal. The Emperor mostly took his meals in his personal study, too busy with the affairs of state to leave things alone for even a this short amount of time.

Meanwhile, my brothers Zorzal, Kati, and Diabo always had their own things going on that never really lined up with one another. Whether it was Zorzal's revelry with his friends, Kati's political meetings, or Diabo's things, all of them had their own schedules. Made even more complicated by the fact that each of them owned their own homes, though calling them villas or mansions would be more appropriate given the scale of their respective residences.

On a side tangent, I will never understand why Diabo has his own mansion when he's only fifteen years old. The Emperor said it was because 'he is a grown man now'. I suppose standards of maturity and adulthood are different here; and it's not like Diabo don't have an army of servants and clerks to manage everything for him.

Maybe my bemoaning is a tad hypocritical given my past exploits as a prepubescent leading a military unit, or maybe I'm just a hint jealous of not having my own luxurious mansion to call my own. Who could say?

While on the other end of the age range, there was Pina and I; both of us too young to live on our own. One would think that I would be used to dining with Pina given our proximity to one another, but Pina is…Pina. The girl wakes up at the crack of dawn to train with her friends/retainers/handmaidens as knights, then does her usual schooling during the day, before going back to training until dusk. By the time it's time for dinner, Pina is too exhausted after all the training to want to do anything other than bathe and sleep.

I can't fault her work ethic, and even now inclined to believe that this 'knight' thing isn't just a phase she's going through. Pina has been at this for two years already; and while some of her compatriots have quit, most of them have stuck to the drills and physical conditioning. I've even observed them on occupation. In the afternoon, because even though I wake up early in the morning it's not early enough to catch the morning drills, I can usually find Pina leading a line of other noble girls and boys marching about or practicing swordsmanship.

Yet somehow, by some herculean effort (or the Emperor demanding it) all of us are sitting at the same dinner table for the first time in months.

And then it became apparent why we didn't have family dinners…

"-because I'm actually doing something important, rather than wasting all my time with drunken revelry and whatever debauch hedonism you engage in in the evening," Kati sneered from his end of the table.

"At least I'm not some girl who shrieks at the first sight of a little blood!" Zorzal's fumed, his fist coming down next to my glass, making me reach out to keep it from spilling as the table shook.

…is because anytime Zorzal and Kati are put in the same location, it will always end in some altercation between the two. They are complete opposites, whose personalities seemingly cannot stand to even be in the other's presence. It's not even major things that can start one of these screaming sessions, even the most mundane thing can set either of them off on one another. I don't even remember why this evening's argument started, I was too busy trying to ignore it, but I think it was Zorzal challenging Kati's masculinity and it just spiraled out from there to a general argument about their "obvious" failings.

Everyone did their best to enjoy their meals despite the two arguing, which was easier said than done give the volume of the argument. Pina kept her eyes glued to her dish, she visibly shook every time the pair raised their voices to insult or degrade one another. Diabo watched on with morbid curiosity, almost seeing this as some form of entertainment that came with dinner. The Emperor occasionally looked up from his plate, but betrayed no expression as to his feelings on the alteration going on. And for me, Zorzal always sat next to me during meals, so I was constantly wincing as he acted akin to some petulant child with a chip on his shoulder all the while he smashed his fist into the table like a gorilla.

Even the staff wanted nothing to do with this. Beyond our personal retainers that had to stay by our sides through the meal, the various servants that placed and collected dishes seemed to scurry faster as the arguments grew more heated; but I could see a head creep through the doorway to the kitchens to hear what was going on every now and then.

And it always came back to the same point: who would be a better crown prince.

While I kept it to myself Kati was the superior choice in my opinion.

Kati was everything a hereditary ruler would want in their progeny; handsome, quick witted, intelligent, firm, gregarious, and diligent. I knew from some off hand mentions from my run in's with Gaius, who I meet with semi-regularly when need to sneak away from the palace for some fresh air or after I grow tired of being constantly nannied by an army of servants, was that Kati was a rising star in the political sphere. While not a true actor in state affairs, due to his youth and inexperience, his noble birth gave him plenty of opportunities to 'meet and greet' with those who could act in his interests. And while young, his intelligence and adaptability made him less of a puppet that could be used to advance political actions and more of a player in his own right.

By contrast, Zorzal was…Zorzal.

Yes, my brother was objectively attractive in that muscular sort of way, and his charisma always made him the center of attention at parties, but that was it. He lacked every other quality that made a good ruler. He was quick to anger, stubborn as a mule, put more emphasis on short term gains that long term investments, held contempt for academics, along with the concept of academia as a whole, and he had a bad habit of thinking that because he was a royal that the laws didn't apply to him.

Why just last week, I watched Zorzal and his cronies take an entire store's inventory without compensation. He had dragged me out of my studies for some 'fresh air' as he called it. Just the two of us, he said; ignoring the small army of attendants and guards that silently followed us. I suppose the break did do me some good, but it was nothing compared to the embarrassment I felt when Zorzal decided to 'requisition' an entire restaurant's food stores for his personal home; beef, beer, wine, and everything else his retainers could carry.

Pretty sure Zorzal was even eyeing up the slave girls who served patrons for his own 'evening amusement' but decided against after I reminded him of my presence with him.

When I asked him if he was going to provide compensation for the goods, he smiled and ruffled my hair. He told me that "serving us was their payment", let out a lighthearted chuckle, and led me onwards to resume our walk.

I can barely recall anytime, in any of my past lives, where I had felt more embarrassed to be seen with another person. Such blatant, and unapologetic, disregard for even appearance of modesty made me feel like everyone was judging me to be in the same mold as him.

Later that same day, I used what little money the Emperor gives me as an allowance to try and pay off the items that Zorzal took. Not in person, mind you. I sent Julia and Rennes out to do the replaying in my stead; with a note apologizing for my brother's earlier actions and kindly asking them to tell the two maids if the amount provided was sufficient to cover his 'costs' should what was provided not be enough.

I never did hear back from the restaurant, but the two maids assured me that the owner was overjoyed with what was given so I assume everything is fine.

So, like I said, Kati is the superior choice between himself and Zorzal. Honestly, a part of me is convinced that the Emperor is privately seething at Zorzal since he had a perfect side by side example of what could have been.

"Of course, I'm not as use to blood as you are. A consequence of not going on frivolous hunts for boars and virgins with your 'retainers' I suppose" the bookish prince rolled his eyes at Zorzal's accusation.

With a snarl, Zrozal stood up from his seat and glared at our brother. "If you think your so much better than me then why don't we fight it out; here and now!"

"And what exactly would that prove?" He didn't raise to the challenge.

"That you're actually a man!"

Kati sighed, "I'm not going to fight you, Brother."

"Because you know you'll lose."

"Absolutely," Kati shook his head at Zorzal's antics. "I've never doubted your strength. You are physically stronger than me. Perhaps it's the Gods way of compensating your utter lack of tact or subtlety."

"Wipe that damned smirk of your face bastard!" Zorzal roared, again his fists smashing down on the table a bit too close to my plate for comfort. "You wouldn't be so smug with me if I had your boy-toy castrated you submissive-"

"Enough!"

The princes quickly looked to our unamused Father.

"Since the two of you have seemingly had your fill of dinner," the Emperor looks at the still filled plates of the two; the pair too busy arguing to eat. "I give the two of you leave to return to your homes."

The subtext was obvious; even to Zorzal.

Kati quickly stood up, gave the Emperor a respectful bow, and walked out without further fuss; with his retainers fallowing close behind.

Zorzal meanwhile-

"Father, why aren't you-"

"I said," the Emperor glared at Zorzal, annoyance clear in his eyes. "I give you leave to return home."

"It was his fault! It's always his-"

"Do not make me repeat myself a third time, boy," the Emperor almost growled at him, daring him to speak out of turn again.

Zorzal for his credit did not raise his voice again. He huffed and stormed out; seemingly throwing every door he passes wide open enough for the handles to smash against the walls and shoving into every person he crossed as he marched out like a petulant child. Zorzal's own collection of servants followed his path of annoyance and petulance.

The Emperor sighed as the last of them filtered out; muttering a string of curses under his breath.

The rest of the meal continued in blissful silence.

"Tanya," the Emperor spoke up after some time had passed, with the main course having been taken away and replaced with little cakes.

"Yes Father?" I replied.

He gave me a soft smile, "how would you like to make some new friends?"

--
--

As my eight-birthday neared, the Emperor has decided that it was time for me to interact with my peers; namely other noble children.

A gathering, meeting, 'playdate' even had been arranged with several prominent noble children that were in the city at the time.

A part of me went into this thinking this would be a very different kind of situation. One where I would be cut loose into something akin to a societal piranha tank. A collection of young girls from powerful families play fighting with one another via vocal barbs and jabs. Taking note of any weaknesses they could find and exploit them to the best of their, young, abilities. A dress out of season, a hair out of place, shoes not fine enough, eating food in a barbaric manner, failing to speak properly, and so on. Little things that these children's parents would have taught them by now.

I thought I was going to either the center of some game of who can be the greatest sycophant to the princess or be on the constant defense as they looked for any chink in my 'armor' to make themselves seem better in some arbitrary way.

Of course, on the flip side, this could be my chance to get an 'in' with other noble families. If I played my cards right, I could leave a very favorable impression. The image of an intelligence, well cultured, princess who, while not a puppet to be used, has no real ambitions above her station. In essence, a non-threatening mix of contentment, yet still aware enough to make any attempt to subvert me to another's goals not worth it in a time commitment sense.

So I did what I always do when faced with an challenge; I prepared to the best of my abilities for any outcome.

The first step was to know what I was going to be dealing with. A simple enough task, given that these girls were selected by the Emperor himself all I had to do was ask him to provide their names.

Selene Syagrius, Myui Formal, Zaynab Zabba, and Sherry Tyueli.

From what little research I could do, given the lack of a centralized database of any kind to work with, I realized this was far more a daunting meeting than I initially realized. Each one of these girls was a member of an extremely powerful family.

Myui Formal, daughter of the Count of Italica; a chief exporter in agriculture. Though nowhere near the size of a proper metropolis, the fertile lands held within the domain and its place on the Imperial Highway made this region hold a disproportionate amount of influence in political matters.

Sherry Tyueli, daughter of the influential Senator Tyueli. While they held no province or large-scale lands beyond the occasional vineyard and mine, they held a great deal of sway in the Senate.

While impressive, it was the next two were the real daunting ones of the quartet.

Zaynab Zabba, daughter to the Mage-Lord of the Client City State of Zeinab along the norther coasts of the Western Desert. From what I read, the place is basically a mageocracy headed by a clique of hydromancers who maintain and control the city's supply of fresh water. Zeinab itself is a city zigzagged by large canals and dotted by a dizzying number of fountains that provide the people of the city with a constant supply of free water. While the book I read on the matter seems to dismiss the entirety of the city as bland and poor, I would beg to differ. There are many ways to display wealth. Some people use gold, others build massive canals filled with to the brim with water and construct massive fountains that continuously provide fresh water to citizens in a region of the world where it only rains one or two times a year.

And finally, the one of the quartet who concerns me the most: Selene Syagrius. The only daughter of Clovis Syagrius, hailing from the southwestern region of Soissons. Adding to the gravity of the situation is that the Syagrus family are descendants of first emperor, Emperor Aegidius Syagrius.

From what basic research I've done, the Syagrius family founded Sadera and ruled the Empire for the first century and a half of its existence. At some point the Imperial dynasty changed when the son of the last Syagrius emperor gave the crown to the Senate to enthrone a new dynasty; the Metellus family.

I have yet to find a single, impartial, telling of why the change happened. But if I read between the lines correctly, it looks like someone had a bone to pick with the family since the last six Syagrius Emperors succeeded each other within the time span of a single year. Six emperors in one year? Well, that's not fishy at all. And the first Metellus Emperor ascended to the throne within a day of the Syagrius son's abdication; who just happened to also be the most influential Senator of his era?

There was coincidence, and then there was this.

The son of the last emperor probably knew his odds of living past the next few months wasn't all that high, so he just gave up the crown to keep his life. Or maybe he threatened to go down kicking and screaming by using his personal forces to siege out the capitol itself unless he was given a territory to rule. So, he was given Soissons; the then border region of the Empire.

We'll never know I suppose. Not that it matters since the Syagrius family seemingly got the last laugh. Move forward a few centuries, and now Soissons is so massive it consist of three separate provinces, Soissons Superior, Soissons Inferior, and Soissons Ulterior. All three ruled by a single governor, Clovis Syagrius, giving the family a massive amount of power and influence in Imperial politics. And given the past history of holding the imperial title, I can easily say that she will be the greatest challenge in this meeting.

So given all the research I've done, I am confident in the results of this meeting of scions.

--
--

I was wrong.

"Princess, your hair is so pretty! What do you do to get it to shine like that?"

"And it's so smooth too. I wish mine was like that. My maids have to brush it for such a long time in the morning to get it like this."

I was so wrong.

"You could do what I do and just have them tie it a bit, Sherry."

"You think it would look good for me?"

"Of course, it will!"

I did not plan for this….

I planned for some back-and-forth political battle between scions of powerful families. Sure, I wasn't expecting the best thought out or articulated arguments given their relative ages. I even remember telling myself to go 'easy' on them due to their relative ages, but also preparing for any unplanned for genius to be in my midst.

But this? Brunch under a gazebo in the palace gardens, with girls who acted like….this? I gave a quick look at the menagerie around me. Four girls sitting at a round table with tiny snacks on slightly less small plates with cups of sweet tea.

The dark hair, amber eyed, tan skinned Zaynab who boasted of her swimming prowess and talked about how she was just learning water magic; whose minutely tipped ears spoke to an inhuman ancestry.

Selene Syagrius, a redhead tomboy whose expressive green eyes seemed to bubble with energy and emotion; especially when she lamented how her mother keeps buying her 'annoying' dresses that end up torn due to her active lifestyle.

Myui Formal, an orange haired girl, two years all our junior, who babbled how she was so nervous before coming here and was worried about making a fool of herself before us.

And Shery, the light brown twin-tailed daughter of a senator who acted overly excited on the most minute of things.

They talked about dresses, cute animals, funny books, how each other's hair is done, subjects they struggled with their tutors, and told stories of their homes. They acted like…girls.

So no, I had not prepared for this at all.

"Princess, are you okay?" Sherry asked.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Selene repeated Sherry's question; the redhead placing her hand on the arm of my lounge chair. "Is it too hot out for you? We can go inside if you want."

"No…No I'm fine," I gave the quartet a smile to ease their concern for me. "I was just thinking about something else."

"Well if you're sure," Sherry shrugged. "Just let us know and we can head on in if you want."

"I don't think it's that hot," Zaynab quipped while nibbling on a small muffin. "It's actually a bit chilly out today."

"But don't you live in a hot place, so anywhere else would be cooler?" Selene brought up, with a quite Myui nodded in the background.

"More like everywhere else is cold, and I live in a normal place," the desert girl countered.

"No way! Deserts are super hot!"

"Nope, its everywhere else that is cold."

As the banter between normal temperature ranges between the girl's homes escalated, then devolved into a large fit of cankerous laughter where they agreed to disagree, I was left with a single thought of how utterly out of my depth I was right now. It was almost enough to make me pray for something to get me out of this completely alien situation.

Almost.