Devourer

I watched as the gate opened and the banner on the walls fell. Looks like this is it, all of Elysia is now ours. Now we just walk in and kill the king, then Cecilia can go and set up the new Empire. I commanded my Hive to burrow and move under the city just in case. You never know if something will go wrong and in case something does go wrong I’ll need all hands on deck to make sure nothing happens to Cecilia. You can’t be too careful afterall…

“So you getting in that fancy carriage?” I asked as I turned to look at Cecilia.

“Yes of course, the arrival of an Empress needs a little fanfare after all. But to be honest I would rather you just pick me up and fly me to the castle. It would save us quite some time.” Cecilia remarked as she turned and began heading for the carriage.

“So many things to do, so little time.” I replied with a laugh as I followed after her. The army parted neatly forming a corridor as we moved to the rear of the formation.

“Yes when I was imprisoned I felt the days were too long but now I feel there aren’t enough hours in a day…” Cecilia mused.

“Well then let’s go claim the last piece of Elysia.” I said with a smirk.

“Yes let us go, this is the birth of our new empire.” Cecilia said.

As we entered the city I saw Prince Edrin standing at the side of the gate looking very tired but a little relieved at the same time. He was still wearing his battered armor, dented in many places thanks to my not so gentle thrashing. I did break limbs and ribs after all…

Hmm there might be a little trauma from that… ah well I’m sure a tumble between the sheets with his girlfriend will sort him right out. Humans like that stuff…

Well yes I could go into his head and unentangle some of the mess but most people’s heads are filled with weird fantasies that I rather not see.

“Hold.” Cecilia said calmly from her open top carriage and the formation ground to a halt.

“Come aboard Lord Edrin, your dearly beloved as well.” Cecilia said calmly as she looked down onto the pair from atop the carriage.

I saw the pair hesitate as they looked at each other uneasily. Well this must be a change of pace for them, after all Prince Edrin was now a lord.

“I am sure this is a change of pace but you should get used to it. This is afterall a command from your Empress.” Cecilia said with a small smile.

Lord Edrin hesitated a moment longer before bowing and moving to board the carriage.

“Thank you Empress for your grace.” Lord Edrin said with a small bow as he took a seat. 

I watched as the pair sat down and his girlfriend held tightly onto his arm. Both their faces were pale, not surprising, considering they were now sitting opposite the most powerful woman in the region. Also I happen to be next to the carriage looming over them with a fanged smile.

“Now then, I am perfectly fine with you continuing to rule Marina under my new empire. However, with the initial resistance of House Marina I feel some punishment is in order. If for nothing else, to be fair to the other Lords and Ladies who bent the knee.” Cecilia said calmly.

Lord Edrin flinched at those words, well honestly what was he expecting? We were ready to execute his whole family, besides knowing Cecilia she’ll probably take some territory and demote their house. Honestly a pretty light punishment for high treason.

“I am sure you are familiar with this map…” Cecilia said as she reached into a compartment in the carriage and retrieved a map of the old borders. 

“You see Lord Edrin, punishment for treason is usually very severe. It usually involves heads being removed from bodies in a rather… dramatic fashion…” Cecilia said calmly and I watched as the two of them flinched slightly.

“However, if I am to be frank. Your heads don’t interest me… if anything your corpses are more valuable to me because they can at least serve as a source of sustenance for my friend’s children.” Cecilia said as she gestured to me.

“But despite all of that, I need someone to rule Marina in my stead. For a sudden takeover would incite unrest and I believe we both do not want that…” Cecilia said and Lord Edrin nodded quietly.

“So here comes the predicament, I cannot give you the title of Duke as I have given to the Duchess Yatheria, nor can I give you the title of Margrave as I have to Margrave Leon. Margrave Leon hesitated when I proposed reunification, thus he is a Margrave.

Your house openly resisted reunification which means I must put you even lower on the hierarchy. I am willing to make you a Count but Counts do not hold as much territory as you do now…” Cecilia said as she took out another map.

“This is the new borders under the new arrangement.” Cecilia said as she handed the map to Lord Edrin.

I could see the poor boy’s hand shake as he saw the new border. Cecilia was taking quite a lot. With this house Marina would be relegated to territory that only included villages. Cecilia would be taking a port town and border fortress town. To be fair, that border fortress town of Elioton used to belong to Averlin…

Marina had just gone from being one of the major players in the region to a minor house.

“This will ruin us…” I heard the girl mutter softly.

“Ruin you? Hardly, you will just not be able to live as lavishly as before. I am not foolish enough to waste time and give you an offer that will drive you to ruin. A house collapsing is a messy affair, if I wanted to do that I would just feed you all to my friend here to save time.” Cecilia said as she gestured to me and I let out a small rumbling chuckle at those words, causing the pair of them to twitch in fear.

“Elioton was never yours to take. Averlin’s decline was because of your father’s ambition, my dear cousin now lays with the bandit prince because of it. I am just doing what you did all those years ago. In fact houses have been slaughtered for less in Ancient Elysia. I am being exceedingly generous…” Cecilia said calmly as her tone turned cold at the mention of Maria’s predicament.

I could tell Cecilia was honestly very pissed off about this. That Bandit Prince is not going to have a good time when Cecilia get’s her hands on him, he will have an even worse time if she hands him over to me…

In truth she partly blames Maria’s fate on House Marina. That war long ago crippled Averlin to the point that they had no choice but to sell Maria to Tralis. When the choice is death and starvation or selling one of your princesses… well that’s no choice at all…

Honestly, I think this whole thing also shows a little of Cecilia’s petty side. She knows Averlin’s fate was partly due to that war with Marina. So perhaps in her mind this was a form of poetic justice against House Marina. I guess it’s a “how the tables have turned” moment, well as petty as it might seem, this is honestly the best solution to this whole situation. Everyone wins actually, even Marina, because the alternative is they all get their heads chopped off…

If anything this was merciful, Cecilia couldn’t just let them go. Afterall, an empress without teeth won’t be an empress for long. You need the stick as much as you need the carrot. Yes technically I could kill any Lords or Ladies that get any funny ideas. But honestly, that’s just a waste of perfectly good resources.

As I looked down at the pair of pale faced teenagers, I decided to give Cecilia a little hand.

“I’ve been around a while, this is as good a deal as you could expect. I’ve seen rulers who would chop your head off and make your girlfriend watch. Then they will take your girlfriend as a concubine or wife. They might even rape her in front of your decapitated head… it varies from tyrant to tyrant.

Believe me it could be alot worse. Do you really think something like treason would be punished with a slap on the wrist? Yes you are paying a pound of flesh but at least you keep your head.” I said in a tone like I was explaining something obvious to a young child.

Lord Edrin went silent for a moment before nodding slightly.

“Excellent, welcome to the empire, Count Edrin…” Cecilia said with a wide smile.

With that we were left with one loose end, judging by what I can see ahead the loose end is already making a lot of noise. Well if we can talk that idiot down then great, if we can’t well I just plan to torch him honestly. Or maybe I could just have Azatharine squish him or something.

When we eventually arrived at the palace steps I saw the king screaming at his royal guards and a small contingent stood exposed on the steps facing us. He was raving about how he was going to defend his city to his last breath or something like that. I was going to have him assassinated but as I thought about it a little more maybe letting him make a fool of himself would be more effective. Much like Cecilia’s brother he could end up delegitimizing himself as a leader and make our lives so much easier.

When our convoy arrived, I heard the King scream out, his voice half demented.

“KILL HER!” the king screamed, almost frothing at the mouth.

“Stand down!” Count Edrin said as he rose from his seat and exited the carriage running towards the line of Royal Guards.

“TREASON!” the king howled.

“Sheathe your swords!” I heard another voice shout and I turned to see a Royal Guard in particularly ornate armour rush forward to stand beside Count Edrin. He must be their commander…

“The Ring of Fire has concluded, the law is clear. STAND DOWN!” the Royal Guard commander roared at his men.

“The Ring of Fire is over, Marina now yields to the new Empire.” Count Edrin said.

“NEVER! MY BONES WILL BE DUST BEFORE I YIELD!” the King roared in response as he waved his sword.

“That can be arranged.” I said with a laugh as I flapped my wings and landed right in front of the guard contingent. The line of Royal Guards took a shaky step back as I loomed over them.

I sent out a mental command and my Phoenixes flew overhead and took position above me, surrounding the small guard contingent. Their flaming bodies glowing and their gazes cold, clearly willing to incinerate the lot of them at my command. 

“Look around you father… it’s over…” Count Edrin said as he looked up at the ring of flaming Phoenixes surrounding the King and his guards. Ring of Fire indeed…

“YOU THINK I WILL BOW TO THAT WHORE?” the King shouted in defiance and I felt a twinge of anger at that comment.

I let out a rumbling snarl and I sensed everyone except Cecilia flinch slightly. Everyone, friend and foe alike. It’s not that surprising. It was bestial sound, it sounded ancient, primordial even. I'm rarely angry and no one knows this better than my hive. I faced life with a mild amusement most of the time. I could feel the Phoenixes' moods sour as they sensed my displeasure and their bodies showed it, as their flames roared up, bathing those below in their heat.

“I believe the King of a realm is also the protector of the realm…” Cecilia said calmly as she rose from her seat to face the King, a bored expression on her face.

“How can you claim yourself to be a protector when you invite death and ruin on your own people, on your own loyal guards.” Cecilia asked, her tone dripping with disdain. 

If there is one thing Cecilia hated, it is incompetence. She already shared with me her intent to do some restructuring in the new Empire. Blood will matter less than merit in the new regime…

“You are an oathbreaker… your grace…” Cecilia said as she implied that he was a king now and a king is all he will ever be. He will not even survive to see his demotion.

“Stand down men… to me…” the Royal Guard Commander commanded and I watched as the Royal Guards all lowered their heads for a moment, before moving down the stairs to stand with their commander.

Well a rather expected outcome, there’s just too many pushes for them to follow this path of action. I would say there are limits to human stupidity but then again…

“TREASON! TREASON! OATHBREAKERS!” the King screamed at the top of his lungs.

There was that idiot over there… standing alone… up there… looking a little too fat for his armour… fucking idiot…

“I WILL KILL THE WHORE MYSELF THEN!” the King roared.

Ok that’s it…

Azatharine?

Yes, my king?

Kill him…

I watched as Azatharine flew forward with a single beat of her wings. She did a little twirl mid air and landed hard, right on top of the king. She stood there at the top of stairs, her massive frame visible for all to see, her beautiful white wings half extended. 

I watched as the king let out a gurgling gag as he vomited onto the white marble floor. Well there goes the lower half of his spine, his guts are ruptured, he has one less kidney and his hip bones are powder now.

I heard that Elise girl shriek as she watched eyes open in horror.

Azatharine…

Yes, my king?

Extra crispy please…

Azatharine poured ether into her talons and they began to glow with heat. The King let out one last blood curdling scream, before he turned into a torch trapped in armour as his body ignited. The flaming torch of a king, then became a pile of molten slag as his armour melted. Then the pile of molten slag became a pile of molten slag sitting in a pool of lava as the marble floor melted.

The area was so silent one could hear a pin drop… the only sound was that Elise girl's quick gasps of air as she trembled…

I jerked my head off the side and Azatharine bowed before taking off again.

Cecilia casted her magic and propelled herself out of the carriage and right next to the spot where the glowing puddle was. I did the same and soon we were both standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the new citizens of the Empire.

“Let me be clear…” Cecilia said her voice was calm but hard.

“We are entering a new age. Elysia has been withered for too long, Voleria will soon march against us. I will defend our home from all threats, both internal and external. Elysia is our home…” Cecilia said as she gestured to me.

So we will burn away every weed in our garden…

We will do this to all the parasites

Until our garden blooms once more…