Selene awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the door to her chambers. She opened her eyes and sat up, irritated by the racket. "What!" she shouted. The pounding came to an abrupt stop at the sound of her harsh yell.
"Sorry to disturb you, m'lady, but the Emperor has summoned you to the castle."
"Fine. Now leave me," she said with further irritation. Gods only know what that idiot will want from me so early in the morning. Sighing to herself she got up and threw on her priestess robe and slippers. Even though she had been summoned, she took the time to tie her loose hair into a ponytail so it was out of the way. Once she was satisfied with her appearance in her full length mirror, she grabbed her magic staff and headed out the door into the chapel.
There were lesser priests scurrying about polishing the floors and cleaning the various statues and stained-glass windows. Selene was always happy to see her well-oiled machine doing work on its own without any direction from her. She didn't say a word to anyone and walked to the door as they continued their work. With yesterday's summoning, there are four heroes in this world currently. We killed one in the battle at Riverwood on the eastern front, so at least we have 3 of four within our grasp; two of which sit in the dungeon. Hopefully, my plan has come to fruition and that's why I've been summoned.
She stepped out onto the cobblestone street and stared up at the castle. It was a cool morning, and she quietly whispered a spell which warmed her body. She hoped that all her scheming would come to fruition at last. In Selene's opinion, what the king had ordered her to do with summoned heroes was absolutely foolish. He wanted to summon these extraordinary people to their world only to lock them in the dungeon to rot away. Why throw away useful tools? she thought as she made her way toward the castle.
People bowed to her in deference as she walked by, but she didn't acknowledge any of them; she was above this rabble. In her opinion, she was above the king and only answered to Shibeck, the goddess of war and conquest. She liked to believe that she served all the gods, but it was Shibeck that resonated with her the most. In ancient times, the Cyrulenthian Empire had spanned the whole of the world. Soon, the final 6 kingdoms would fall and once more Cyrulenthia would rule the world.
She thought it had been a stroke of genius to lie to summoned heroes about which side of the conflict they had been summoned to. It was a good way to put them off guard and allow for them to be easily subdued and captured. Whenever a hero came and didn't know what their powers were, she let them go. Not out of a sense of mercy, but in hopes that their powers would manifest and they would cause a huge commotion; possibly even escaping the city. She didn't have high hopes for that boy from yesterday though. He didn't seem to have the arrogant spirit that most people she summoned did.
Selene arrived at the gate and the soldiers bowed in deference before opening the gate. She stepped inside and continued at a casual pace toward the castle. I wouldn't have to resort to this type of thing if the idiot Emperor had just listened to me in the first place. She frowned as she continued up the steps and into the main hallway of the castle. The entryway wasn't ornate, but rather it was practical and served the purpose of a place where soldiers could make a last stand if the gates had been compromised. The room was split into three levels; each one providing a killing floor for the one below it with crossbows hanging from walls and soldiers stationed near them. The original designers of this city were nothing if not practical, and the Emperor was a military man at heart.
A few minutes later, she arrived at the third floor audience chamber where the Emperor sat at the head of a long table with a few of his generals and two of the four elites who were stationed within the city. Selene gave a slight bow to the Emperor and took a seat at the table.
"About damn time, woman! The city is in crisis! That hero you let go free yesterday killed Scorpina and a dozen guards in the middle of the night! He also took her keystone! Why in the hell did you allow him to go free? No one was left alive to even see which way he went!" He slammed his fists on the table and fixed her with a furious stare.
Selene remained outwardly composed. Inside her head she was elated. Her plan had succeeded even better than she could have hoped. With a hero on the loose and the fact that he had taken one of the 8 keystones needed to fully power the heroic, Sword of the Ages, the old man would have to listen to her now. "I offer my deepest apologies! He had shown no powers and didn't seem to pose any threat. If he has a keystone, then we must be careful. The enemy kingdoms possess the ancient sword, and as you know, we cannot let them gain all that power. I beg your forgiveness and beg of you to heed my advice: Instead of tossing these useful tools into the dungeon, let's use them to our advantage. They can be powerful allies, why let them go to waste?"
The emperor's red face softened as he considered her words. In the past when she had mentioned this, he dismissed the potential powers of the summoned heroes as nothing to worry about; he had considered them inconsequential against his massive armies and elite warriors. He now had to see that even an unarmed, untrained boy could defeat one of his best. "Very well. We will kill the prisoners and you can summon new heroes in a month's time when the full moon comes again. We will have to move quickly as the enemy will try to summon heroes themselves. Fortunately, they lack the magical resources required to perform the ritual most of the time. We shall attempt to do things your way for now. Tell me more about your plan."
Fantastic! she smiled in self satisfaction as she began to lay out her plans.
