CHAPTER 142: ESMERELDA’S GATHERINGS

Ever since last year, our mother has decided to aid my rule and try to lighten some of the load I carried, by returning to the world of politics that she had once so easily thrived in; and she did so by these so called ’gatherings’ of hers, wherein she would invite many of the high and proud ladies of the court for a supposedly casual get to together, where they can foster friendship and harmony among themselves, and by relation amongst their powerful husbands, fathers, siblings and sons as well, thus by bringing more peace and stability to the realm.

From the surface all looked well, with not a hint of darkness to blemish the sanctity of her new found club and their biweekly meetings, which only served to further enhance my mother’s reputation as a benevolent and kind matron of peace and prosperity, a veritable paragon of virtue and purity.

And since the empress is traditionally the de facto leader and model of the nation’s highborn ladies, these assemblies of hers gained even more fame, as it became the dream of many to attend such a revered gathering, where they could stand on the same stage as their idol.

Yet the wise saw past the sweet honey and into the nasty poison that lurked within, as they understood the clever scheme my cunning mother had managed to obfuscate behind all the glamour of her parties, for she had created a tool so potent, yet so unassertive, that many never realised it’s sheer proliferating power.

For these gatherings allowed my mother access to the trusted ears of those who heard their family’s most guarded secrets, and to the lips that could parrot whatever persuading words she whispered.

And though her influence didn’t manifest itself in many ostentatious ways, like being able to marshal armies for war, or to deploy diplomatic and economic sanctions upon foreign powers; this intricate web of connections afforded her a more subtle sway; a standard of such immense soft power that very few in the empire could dare claim to be her equal; even my own hold over certain places and people were no longer as firm and suffocating as hers; which has led many to begin jokingly referring to it as the Women’s Council.

Yet all things in this world must follow a strict sense of balance, which can never negated; and so for this reason we, but mostly Cyrus, were blighted with our current plight, for there is something our mother could never do with out, and that is her inability and constant need to brag about her beloved children, which these gatherings of hers coincidentally made for the most fertile land for.

This peculiar quirk of our mother was easily handled by Nizam and me, since the two of us were accustomed to being the center of attention and the target of much flattery, in addition to being highly resistant to the charming wiles of women, whether they be young or old, as they would try every trick in the book to earn our favour or to grow closer to us.

But our poor younger brother was not so proficient in these skills yet.

Since this was our own mother’s party, we could never disregard her face by secretly snubbing her guests, so even if we must pretend, we will still show the proper cordiality to them, but never beyond that, as we are very much mindful and aware of that line where courtesy and friendly, or politeness and indulgence meet.

Which is precisely where Cyrus usually stumbles.

The boy, like most thing sin his personality, was heavily like our mother, as in he was a natural born socialite, who enjoyed conversing with strangers and acquaintances alike, and with his ever rising charm added to the mix, he was quickly becoming the bane of any poor maiden’s heart.

But unlike our mother, who had mastered the fine art of the social and political dance, he was still a novice, as he constantly trespassed over the aforementioned border and into the realm of fellowship, which constantly left perplexed and swarmed in these events, so much so that even he, someone who enjoyed talking to nearly anyone, was left exhausted after every occasion.

Sighing at his half pleading, half accusatory eyes, I turn to my mother’s handmaiden and say "The message has been heard. Please, inform our mother that we will all be joining her shortly."

She looked surprise when she heard the word ’we’, before she quickly nodded and left.

I then stretch my sore shoulders and rise from behind the prison that is my desk, and it’s paper wardens, as I tapped Nizam on the shoulder, which elicited a sigh from him, while I and the now beaming Cyrus made our way out of my office.

We then very quickly went into our mother’s palace where the event was being hosted, before the woman standing at the doorway of the lounge, who was the master of ceremony this evening, spotted us and loudly announced over the smooth music and clamour of the gathering "His imperial majesty Alexander the third, along with the two princes, their highnesses Nizam and Cyrus are entering!"

The hall was instantly silenced, before the dull thud of hundreds of knees bending upon the cold marble floor simultaneously sounded, while the call "Hail to his majesty, the Ruinous Dragon and their highnesses!" boomed between the silent pillars.

I was about to speak, when the regal clacking of four sets of heals through the still air reached my ears, only to see my mother approach me with a gentle smile, followed closely by three others of her most trusted and influential members of her Women’s Council.

"What a pleasant surprise." She elegantly said as she lightly embraced me, with not a hint of her usual playful self to be seen, making it clear that the armour I called her empress mode was already donned.

"We had a moment’s respite, so we decided to come visit you for a moment, mother." I replied warmly, with a light smile

"Oh?" She muttered, her eyes deliberately and meaningfully traveling to Cyrus, who instantly diverted his gaze.

His actions caused a chink to instantly appear in her defences, as a knowing smile momentarily struggled to crawl across her cheeks, while her emerald eyes glinted with vivacity; before she quickly restrained herself and chocked the chuckle that threatened to escape her throat, and saying in a tone that we all recognized "How wonderful. Come let me introduce to a few new friends I made today."

"Yes, mother." I replied with a small smile, accepting my fate for the next two hours before the gathering would finally end, while Nizam mostly stuck with Cyrus, aiding him whenever he was once again falling for the same pitfall of his extroverted habits.

"You shouldn’t continue coddling your younger brother so much." She lightly admonished, in a rare moment of peace and privacy, before the next group approaches to talk to us.

"He made us promise." I simply explained with a shrug.

She softly chuckled in reply, warmly saying "And how will he properly learn the skills necessary for a prince, if he keeps extorting these promises out of you?"

"I don’t think he has much to learn if he can already extort me and Nizam." I jokingly affirmed, making her stifle a laugh with another light chuckle.

"Indeed." She responded after a moment, before then saying with a hint teasing bleeding into her words "But I don’t think it’s necessarily that difficult or skilful for him to wrench a promise out of you two, sweetheart; you have no defences against your own blood after all."

I said nothing in reply, since she was right and I was fully aware that denying it would lead directly into her trap, but then she asked after sharing a greeting with an acquaintance she passed by "When do you leave for the Banquet of Concordia."

"The trip alone requires a month to reach the Astrapi Kingdom, and the invite was delivered a week ago, so in two months or so at the latest, I must depart."

"And who will you take with you?" She inquired.

"Darius, Leonid, Isaac, Abraham, Horus and the rest of my guard." I immediately replied.

"Leonid? Not Valdour?" She seemed surprised by my choice.

"Yes." I asserted, before slowly explaining "Valdour is needed to continue Seraphina’s, Azarlan’s and Va’lin’s training while I’m gone, so both of us can’t leave together. We’re also hoping to leverage some of Leonid’s past connections with some people who might join the Banquet this year."

"Who?" She curiously asked.

"During his mercenary days, he became acquainted with a man from Sophientia, and that man is now a high ranking ambassador for the decedents of the Goddess of Wisdom." I answered.

"...You want to request a meeting with the current Basileus, the current master of Sophientia." My mother quickly deduced.

"Yes." And affirmed her conjecture.

"I see." She then almost absentmindedly replied, making me raise an eyebrow, as I worriedly asked in return.

"What’s on your mind mother?"

"Do you not plan to take you brothers with you as well?" She asked, catching me off guard.

"You think I should?" I asked, glancing worriedly toward my brothers.

"Why not?" She replied with a small smile. "If anything it could prove to be a very valuable experience for them."

"True, but you know as much as I mother, that that Banquet is a decorated pit of snakes who..." I suddenly paused, an understanding light flashing through my eyes, as I muttered "So that’s why you insisted we join you in these gatherings. You wanted to train us for it."

An ambiguous smile then stretched further across her lips, as she said "It was more of a test for you specifically, since you didn’t require much training after all."

I chuckled at her words, before saying "Very well then mother. But only if they ready."

"Of course." She seriously responded, before a brief chuckle emanated from her throat, as she called out "Oh, and Alex."

"Yes?"

"You’ll be surrounded by the fairest and most competent princesses and ladies in the world this time around, so make sure you bring me back a daughter in law this time, or else."