I was dressed in regal and glamorous royal attire, that was covered in gold, silver and various jewels, I was also wearing a black cape that had the flag of the empire, a large solar eclipse of a silver sun, that gave off white light, as if illuminating the the black cape in it's glory. The reason for this is obvious.
My father's body has been returned and the entire nation was weeping as his funeral procession was going through the capital.
After a few minutes, my father's coffin finally arrived at the palace, and was welcomed by all the ministers, generals and all his wives and children, except for my own mother, who even though she wanted to join, couldn't due to her health.
With the arrival of my father's coffin the beginning of the plan that was concocted yesterday was also set in motion. And the plan was simple in both it's objective and it's implementation. The plan was to infuriate my half siblings and force them to challenge my right to the throne, by calling upon the Law of Strength.
The Law of Strength was an ancient law that stated that any member of the royal family has the right to challenge the heir of the throne to a duel to the death, if they believe the current heir is too weak, incompetent or corrupt to inherit the responsibility of shouldering the entire empire's weight.
So I began the plan with the help of Isaac and Abraham who instructed all the staff and guard to pay less attention to other members of the royal family, while to constantly pamper and flatter me and my siblings. And as expected of my egotistic and narcissistic family, they immediately became enraged by the treatment before even three minutes passed. But they still held on to their composure and didn't act out, they merely glared at me with reddened eyes as they believed that I was the reason for the poor attitude of the servants, which was correct. And I didn't even try to deny it either as I smiled smugly at them whenever our eyes met, further fueling their wrath.
But if they believed that my plan was that petty and immature, they were dead wrong. Afterward, when the high ranking nobles, politicians and military men of the empire arrived, I was the one who greeted them, with Horus, Nizam and Cyrus by my side, standing beside me with pride visible on every inch of their bodies. Meanwhile Alisar, who was attended to by Kira, was protected by Abraham himself.
All this sent the very clear message that the Grand Chamberlin and the Guard Commander were completely on my side. And all the people present were perplexed since these two men were infamous for never obeying anyone except the emperor. And slowly many people started to consider an absurd possibility!
It was at this moment that a man whom I both feared and respected approached me. He was Darius Khan the man who has served the empire as it's Grand Vizier for a thousand years. Since the time of my grandfather this man has held an iron grip over the second highest office in the government, and no one, not even my late father, Emperor Akhamenid the second, had enough power or guts to remove him from his position.
Darius had a large white bushy beard that reached his stomach. His white hair reached his shoulder blades, and even though he was nearing his two thousandth birthday he still stood straight as an arrow with a dignified and regal expression.
"Your highness, I'm sorry for your loss." He said with smile that a grandfather might show his beloved grandson.
"Thank you Grand Vizier." I replied with an innocent smile.
We looked like we were having a very pleasant and heartfelt conversation. But to anyone who knew us they would realize that behind our expressions were two snarling beasts trying to overpower the other.
"I don't see her majesty the empress anywhere, is she occupied somewhere else?" He asked.
"My mother is resting in her room Grand Vizier. Her pregnancy is tiring her greatly. And I'm afraid these news aren't helping either." I replied.
"I see. I hope she can recover as fast as possible so that she might grace us once more with her wisdom in the council hall." He said regretfully since even in my past life Darius would always say that my mother was wise beyond her years, and that the empire suffered a great loss the day she died due to complications with her pregnancy.
He continued while a knowing smile appeared on his face. "Tell me your majesty, are we gonna see an entertaining show today?"
'Of course you already figured out my plan, you snake like bastard!' I thought annoyedly.
But I showed none of my emotions and maintained the expression I had, as I replied "I hope so, but I'm afraid they haven't taken the bait just yet."
"Then allow me to help you, your majesty. HAHAHAHA!" He said before faking an amused laugh and then bowing deeply before me.
Although I was shocked by his willingness to offer a helping hand, I have to say that it worked like a charm. Everyone was astonished but what they saw. 'The Grand Vizier not only laughed, but also bowed before his highness!?' They all thought.
And this was very obvious in my half siblings dumbfounded expression, which I enjoyed very much.
And finally the reaction I was hoping for happened, one of my more hot blooded half siblings stood up and said. "Why are you bowing to a child Darius? Where is your pride? Did you finally lose it in your old age?"
The one who said this was my 27th half brother, born from my 15th stepmother, and he was famed for his brash and impatient attitude. Quickly his mother and another one of my half sisters stood up and tried to stop him, since they knew this was not the time. But he would not live up to his name if he listened to reason, would he?
Shrugging off his mother and sister he said confidently "Why are you all so cautious of a boy who barely reached puberty? I'm done waiting like the rest of you! I couldn't care less anymore about your moronic decision. After all fortune favors the bold!" He said, while looking mockingly at the rest of my half brothers and sisters.
'So they did have an agreement.' I thought.
Unlike my past life when all the children and wives of my father fought for the throne, this time my quick and decisive actions made them weary, and they decided to bide their time until they had a better picture of who I was. And then when they saw that both the Commander of the Palace Guards and the Grand Chamberlin were supporting me, they grew even more cautious and decided to swallow their pride, when they were treated in this manner.
'But this idiot ruined all of that, and instead aided in my plan.' I thought amusedly.
"In accordance with the law of strength I challenge the current heir of the Eclipse empire to a duel to the death! Do you dare accept boy?" He asked loudly so that everyone present could hear.
As the hall went eerily quiet, I say in the same tone one might use to talk about the most mundane and inconsequential thing in the world "Sure, why not."
Dumbfounded by my confidence and attitude all my siblings simply stared at me in disbelief. While I turned my head to Isaac who was off to the side and nod my head to him. After all, had he not covered the fact that I had already awakened my divine powers they would not have challenged me so openly.
Then I turned to Darius and whispered to him in a voice that none could hear but him. "Let the show begin."