"You wanted to see me?" Princess Silja looked at her father who was sitting on a large throne and staring back at her with sad eyes and grim expression.
Emperor Ivar Alpin was well in his sixties, had long gray hair and a thick white beard. He was dressed in white leather armor made of rank four ice wolf pelts. In the left hand he was holding the handle of his favorite weapon – a huge double axe and, even though he was looking majestic and powerful, only he knew how nervous he was at this moment speaking to his only daughter and favorite child.
In the large throne room there were only two of them and every word they spoke echoed around the stone walls. There were only few torches lit in it and the weak lighting made the atmosphere even gloomier.
"I did." Emperor Alpin nodded, "We have some results – it looks like those were the Sun kingdom's people who did it."
"The Sun Kingdom?" Silja furrowed her brows.
Even though she had the typical sturdy body of a barbarian woman, her face was cute and even a little bit childish – so much it almost made her look ten years younger. Looking at her, emperor still couldn't believe she had grown up. Still, he knew very well that anyone who judged his daughter only by her looks would suffer miserably – she was much smarter than his oldest son and her fighting skills were not far behind any of his sons as well.
Unfortunately for her, women in general were physically weaker than men and therefore she could not seriously compete with her brothers. But there was no need for that anyway – all three of them loved her more than themselves and since childhood anyone who even looked at their beloved sister the wrong way got ruthlessly beaten up. Later, after coming to the age, even though she could protect herself well enough, they still continued to beat up her suitors since there was no one who could be 'worthy' of their little sister.
It was only until she met Jens when the three princes got defeated. The embarrassing part was that they got beaten up by a person who wielded a sword and even more embarrassing – all three of them were defeated at the same time. Being proud barbarians they went in their father's footsteps and fought with huge double axes, looking down on anyone who used different weapons. But this time they had to accept the superiority of a sword wielder – a thin looking blond youth who took liking in their sister.
Actually, both of them fell in love at the first sight and the result of this battle wouldn't even matter, but Jens persuaded Silja to 'allow' him to establish position in her family according to the 'old barbarian traditions' and this act even earned him respect from her father, the emperor.
Unfortunately this fairy tale came to an end two days ago.
"I doubt it could be them." Princess said, while deep in thought, "First of all – there is only handful of people in the whole Sun kingdom who might be capable of defeating Jens, but he was killed without anyone noticing. Second – there is no reason for them to attack him, it doesn't make sense."
"Sometimes there are no big conspiracies." Emperor sighed. He knew how much his daughter loved Jens and how hard it was for her stay as strong and calm as she was now.
He continued, "The answer to this is much too simple for you to think of. You probably are the smartest person in the empire, but you see, sometimes people simply act on their primitive impulses – just like in this case. King Alexander Maxwell is known for being perverted. Even if they call us 'barbarians', unlike us, the civilized people in the Northern empire, they take multiple wives and live their lecherous lives in debauchery. The king himself has almost ten wives so you can see that the whole nation is perverted. He even stole the Lethe kingdom's princess to become his latest wife! It is obvious that he wants to steal you as well."
"Four wives. And he didn't steal princess Hua – they fought a duel and marriage was the stake." Princess Silja shook her head.
"It doesn't matter. Your brothers agree with me and are already gathering our forces. You don't have to worry – we will pay back for Jens's life!" Emperor Alpin stood up. He was a huge man over two meters tall and his gray hair made him look like a mountain with a snowy peak.
"Father! I understand how the three hotheads who, I call my brothers can think this way, but you? Because of such rash decision tens of thousands of lives will be lost! And you can't be certain it was the Sun kingdom's fault!" Silja finally got agitated. Of course, she wanted to find the culprit behind the assassination – even more than anyone else, but to declare a war on the strongest country in the world was no joking matter.
"There is no need to discuss it!" Emperor shook his head, "There are several pieces of evidence that point towards the king Maxwell and I'm sure he will confess of his crimes when he'll kneel before you! I'll make sure of that!"
"But father …" Princess still wanted to argue.
"Don't worry, everything is going to be fine." The king took few steps to come closer to his beloved daughter and caressed her cheek just like he did when she was a small child.
'Alright, the first part is done. I guess the grand elder was right, these morons really will march towards the Sun kingdom. This was way too easy.'
In the furthest corner of the throne room there was a person hidden in the shadows. They hid here already before the emperor's arrival and continued to listen to conversations the whole day after the huge man sat on his throne.
'Although that damned elder Jan swore the powder will work at least till sunrise, I can't be careless. Let's hope they'll wrap things up and I can finish my things here. I never liked the Northern empire anyway.' The person in shadows thought to himself.
The emperor sighed again and turned to leave.
"Father, wait!" Princess grabbed his hand, "There is one thing I want to tell you."
Emperor Alpin turned back and looked at his daughter in confusion. She never beat around the bush like this, she might even be the most straightforward person in the capital.
"I … I am … sigh … " She stuttered while blushing, but then gathered her courage and looked emperor straight in the eyes, "You will be a grandfather. Well … I mean … you'll become grandfather again."
Emperor's eyes widened in shock and it was time for him to stutter.
"You mean … you … you and Jens …"
"Of course, me and Jens! Who else?!" Princess Silja angrily glared with red eyes at her father.
"This is … this is great news!" Emperor Alpin finally let a smile show on his face, but then suddenly got serious again, "But it means that you …"
"I don't care I'll be a widow with a single child. Do you really think after Jens there will be a man in the world who will interest me?" Princess immediately understood what her father meant.
"How … how far are you?" Emperor asked with furrowed brows and stretched out his hand to touch her flat belly.
"Don't! Your Qi is too violent and may harm the child!" She slapped her father's hand away, "I just felt it today in the morning and it is barely noticeable. Even I'm weary to probe with Qi in fear of harming it."
She put both her hands on her stomach and gave a sad smile.
Emperor suddenly hugged his daughter. Not only because of the overwhelming emotions, but also to not show the tears that sprouted in his eyes. In his whole life he has never cried and didn't intend to start now, but this whole situation was simply too dramatic, even for him.
'Damn it! She is already pregnant?! It ruins everything!' The shadow in the corner cursed to himself, 'Hmm. On the other hand – if the father is that kid, maybe it is even better. I'll bring her back first and let the grand elder to make the decision.'
Father and daughter spoke to each other a bit more and then the emperor left. Princess Silja sighed and weakly sat on her father's throne. In the whole world she was the only person who could allow herself to do so and no one would mind.
The last two days were absolute nightmare and, despite the terrible pain she felt inside, she had to stay strong. Especially now when her three hot headed brothers and the stubborn father intended to go on war with the Sun kingdom. It was possible she might be the only person who could prevent this war. Her father loved her mother, the empress, deeply, but considering the current circumstances he might not listen to her. That left princess Silja as the only person to stop him from making a huge mistake. The whole situation most definitely looked like a setup, but for some reason these stubborn hotheads refused to listen to her.
Since Jens's death she hadn't slept at all and felt really tired. Still, a Qi master could go on without sleep for several days, not only two – even though those were full of tragedy and pain.
Her eyelids started to fall and, before she fell asleep, her last thought was, 'Something is not right! Why a Qi master like myself would become sleepy all of a sudden?'
The person in the shadows watched princess's eyes close and her head fall down. Then, after two more minutes when he was confident no one had noticed anything, an old man with a grin on his face slowly walked out from the shadows.
'Even though I hate these methods, I have to admit they are effective. Otherwise even I would not be able to enter here, not to speak about killing that kid or bringing this young lass with me.'
Being an old Qi sword master, elder Sonor's favorite way of dealing with any situation was by drawing his sword, but unfortunately in this place he was not hundred percent confident of being able to leave unscathed if someone noticed him.
He had to agree with what the grand elder said, "Despite barbarians being quite simpleminded, one has to recognize their physical capabilities."
This was also the main reason for choosing princess Silja. In general all the barbarians in Northern empire were born with large, strong bodies, but those with the imperial bloodline had even more remarkable characteristics.
Elder Sonor still remembered his fight with the previous emperor, the father of the current emperor Ivar Alpin. He almost died that time and quite a few scars on his body served as a reminder of the event. But that was many years ago and he currently was confident of taking on any barbarian one on one.
The problem was that there will be no one on one fights this time. If someone raised the alarm, within seconds barbarians would swarm all over the place and with no regard to their own lives will try to chop him in pieces with their huge battle axes. As a sword master elder Sonor hated such combat style the most. He would rather fight king Maxwell and the king's old teacher at the same time than get swarmed to death by these primitive people.
Unfortunately he was the only one in the Holy Order capable of completing the current task. He looked at the sleeping girl on the throne and shook his head. For a smart person and a Qi master like herself it was a rare occasion to make such a simple mistake. Apparently her man's death was too much of a blow, even for her.
Elder Sonor lifted princess from the throne and strapped her on his back. He intended to cover the few thousand kilometers to the Holy Order in one go, but first he had to get out of the emperor's keep and then – the capital Falun. Luckily it was already getting dark and in a cloudy night like this, there was no one who could stop him.
Few minutes later he soundlessly jumped out from a second storey window and dashed towards the stables. He moved like a ghost – without sound and not even leaving any footsteps on the snow. He didn't intend to use a carriage or a horse. On the contrary – regular means of transportation would just hold him back.
Stables were simply the easiest way to leave the keep. Because of the many sensitive animals here, this was the place that was guarded the least. Unfortunately for barbarians, elder Sonor came prepared and no one noticed his presence, not even the few rank four wolves that guarded the place.
After verifying locations of the guards, he jumped on the stables roof, then over to the castle wall and then dropped down as if he was not carrying another person who was, in fact, larger than himself. The escape didn't even take few seconds and he was already hidden in a small alley not far from the keep.
Elder Sonor threw one last look at the keep of the barbarian emperor and grinned. There was no way that idiot would not go to a war with the Sun kingdom now, not after his favorite child disappeared without any trace.