The Regency

After years of being the empress, Primrose was only now finally able to confront her arch-rival, and she intended to enjoy every minute of it. She slammed open the door of the little chapel without letting anyone announce her but was disappointed that Lily wasn't doing anything suspicious. Lily didn't even jump. She just calmly rose to her feet and stared at Primrose. But none of that was important. What was important was that Primrose had won. This was the very last obstacle, and from then on Primrose could relax as the ultimate victor.

That path to victory had been hard fought. Originally, Primrose had thought she was in a romance story. That she would achieve her happily-ever-after once she was secure in her love for the emperor. But she had learnt better. Time after time, the emperor had disappointed her. He always had people he spoke to who weren't her. People he listened to who weren't her. People he loved who weren't her. That's when she had finally realised that what she needed was not the emperor's love, but the emperor's power.

With her teenage son sitting on the main throne as prince-regent, she had all the power she needed. She was the one her son spoke to, and listened to, and loved. Every important thing now happened right in front of her, as she sat behind a screen in the audience chamber. No-one could betray her anymore.

"You failed," said Primrose, smugly.

"May this unworldly one know what the mother of the world is referring to?" asked Lily.

The words might have sounded respectful, but Primrose knew full well they came with an undercurrent of sarcasm. That was alright. The former empress was just a has-been who hadn't been forced to confront her own defeat.

"You failed to assassinate the emperor," explained Primrose more clearly.

Lily looked incredulous and Primrose felt a vague sense of jealousy of her acting skills.

"This unworldly one did not attempt to assassinate the emperor," said Lily. "That was established many years ago."

Even if Lily had not been behind it – which Primrose doubted – there was no way that her army of spies had not given her all the details.

"Don't play innocent," said Primrose. "Not the assassination attempt from back then. The one from earlier this week."

"This unworldly one is relieved to hear that the emperor is alive and well. May the Daughter continue to protect His Most Exaltedness."

Primrose twitched. Was Lily doing it on purpose? Had she really not heard about the assassination attempt? Ignore it and move on. The exact details weren't what she'd come here to gloat about.

"This time, we could not just brush over it and let it go again," said Primrose.

She felt no guilt over assigning them blame for her fake assassination. She knew they would have done exactly that if she had not pointed out the flaws in the emperor's security first. It was only a pity that she hadn't been able to accuse Lily this time as well without simultaneously accusing the palace guards of incompetence.

Primrose tilted her head so that she could look down her nose at Lily. "Your family has proved that any mercy shown to you will just be abused. This morning, we executed your cousin and her child."

Lily bowed her head. "It is always the innocent that pay the heaviest of prices for the crimes of their elders."

"Are you claiming that they were wrongfully convicted? That We made a mistake?"

Lily failed to look suitably threatened. "My cousin's son was barely old enough to write his name. What possible crimes does Her Imperial Highness imagine he was guilty of? Other than being a potential competitor to Her Imperial Highness's own son, of course."

Alright, trying to be subtle with her threats clearly weren't going to work. It was time to make certain facts of life a little more direct.

"I'd be careful how I spoke if I were you," said Primrose. "Without the emperor around to protect you anymore, your continued good health depends on me."

"Is that so?" asked Lily. "This unworldly one recalls that Her Imperial Highness said that the assassination attempt failed. Why would the emperor no longer be around?"

Begrudgingly, Primrose said, "It failed to kill him. He received a bad head wound in the process and his mind has become disordered. My son was declared regent."

"And the regent will rule with Your Imperial Highness's assistance?" asked Lily.

"Exactly," said Primrose. "So don't think you'll get away with things anymore. I am not as soft-hearted as the emperor."

Lily had the unmitigated gall to laugh. "This unworldly one would never have described His Most Exaltedness as soft-hearted."

"He was to you!" said Primrose.

Primrose took a few breaths to regain her emotions. It didn't matter what happened in the past. She was the one in charge now.

"You know," continued Primrose conversationally, "You almost had him convinced to send you to that nunnery. He was just going to let you go out into the world, completely unsupervised. But I knew better. I knew that if we did that, the next time we saw you would be at the head of some rebel coup."

Lily didn't look upset. She didn't even look surprised.

"My," said Lily. "Your Imperial Highness has such an opinion of this unworldly one, to think that this unworldly one could achieve such feats. This unworldly one wonders whether it was also Your Imperial Highness's counsel that this unworldly one also be administered the Eternity Poison?"

Primrose could not control her smirk. That poison had been one of her finest suggestions. She had been able to talk the emperor into administering it because there was absolutely no damage done… so long as the victim annually took the antidote. But if even one dose of antidote was missed, the victim would fade away, with no chance of recovering. It had been the perfect way to ensure that Lily behaved herself when the emperor had been too cowardly to get rid of the problem permanently.

"Exactly," replied Primrose. "And now that the emperor is incapacitated, you'll be reliant on me and me alone to get the antidote. You might want to think about that before you open your mouth."

Lily tilted her head and smoothed down the side of her hair. "Your Imperial Highness alone? With no other failsafe if something were to occur? This unworldly one wonders whether Your Imperial Highness believes herself to be immortal. Or perhaps that the world would cease to exist upon Your Imperial Highness's death."

Primrose almost laughed aloud. Lily had accidentally reached the truth. Of course the world would cease to exist. Primrose was the main character, after all. The story did not have any purpose without her.

"It's in your best interests to make sure nothing happens to me, then, doesn't it?" said Primrose. "Your life depends on mine."

Lily continued to look unimpressed. "This unworldly one regrets to tell Your Imperial Highness that she has overestimated this unworldly one's abilities again. This unworldly one certainly has no control over the life and security of Your Imperial Highness. Especially when Your Imperial Highness is doing so much to endanger it."

"Are you trying to jinx me?" asked Primrose.

Primrose didn't believe in such a backwards superstition that speaking a thing would make it true, naturally, but she had every reason to believe that Lily did. Which meant Lily was attempting to invoke bad luck on her.

"This unworldly one has no such intent –" said Lily, before doubling down with "— and no such need."

Primrose couldn't believe that Lily was still looking down on her. Even after all that had happened, Lily was still acting like the empress looking down on a country bumpkin.

No, Lily was faking it. She had to be.

Primrose firmed her jaw. "You're just jealous that I've won."

"Your Imperial Highness believes that she has won?" asked Lily, pretending astonishment.

"Yes!" said Primrose. "Who is the one trapped in some abandoned corner of the palace, and who is sitting daily in the royal audience hall?"

That infuriating surprise on Lily's face didn't shift. "This unworldly one wonders that Your Imperial Highnesses definition of success is so small. This is an abandoned corner of the palace, but that also means it is on the border of the outside world. This unworldly one can clearly hear the protests and the riots erupting outside the palace walls."

"Don't pretend to care about anything other than yourself," snapped back Primrose.

There was no reason to give Lily any sort of victory. Yes, there were riots, dating back to before the emperor's accident. The citizens of the capital were hungry, and the palace was only dispensing the most meagre of rations. But Primrose already had a solution. The advisors had told the emperor that there simply was no more food to be had, but she knew the truth. Her most trusted servant, Fern, had spotted the deception in all innocence, and Primrose had confirmed. The army had gross corruption. Even if one said that they did not have to tighten their belts at all, they were allocated twice more than their numbers possibly justified. If the peasants in the capital were expected to survive on eight hundred calories a day, the soldiers were apparently consuming more than five thousand a day 'each'. Clearly, most the empire's grains were flowing directly into the black market. No wonder the Goldenwhatis wanted to hold onto all the military bureaucratic positions, even when they weren't generals. They were an excellent place to skim money.

"Just wait," promised Primrose. "You'll see what I can do without you sabotaging things at every turn."

Primrose knew that Lily had been the one who prevented Flint from being promoted as his due. Even after her marriage had been annulled and she had no official position, she had still whispered poison into the emperor's ears about Flint. But now Primrose was in charge, and she knew whose letters back to the capital were telling the truth. It was time to call him back from the frontlines and place him in overall charge of the army. He was the only one she could trust. Unlike the emperor, Flint had never put anyone else's interests above her own. He saw her as the daughter he'd never had. He was a selfless person who truly loved her.

Primrose stalked out of the cheap, cheerless chapel. This wasn't the kind of place for a person like her. Her place was in the court of the most powerful empire in the world. An uneducated spiteful person like Lily could not hope to appreciate her. But the people in court – once she had broken them of the bad habits the emperor had permitted – would soon discover the benefits of her brilliance and her advanced knowledge.

But over the months that followed, it turned out she had underestimated Lily once again. Because Lily was behind this, she knew. The whispers everywhere she went. The concern of the advisors. The growing suspicion of the emperor in his brief moments of lucidity.

… the empress and Flint are traitors to the empire, conspiring together to weaken the army and starve the people … the empress and Flint were secretly lovers … the prince-regent was actually secretly their son … the prince-regent and empress both were no true representatives of the emperor.

Well, Lily could find out how to slander her from beyond the grave. It wouldn't take much, it wouldn't take much at all, to substitute the antidote for something that tasted the same but wasn't quite as effective. It would take some time before Lily realised she was dying. Two years, perhaps three if she was really stubborn. But by the time she realised it would be too late. Lily would be too weak to do anything about it. She would die knowing how powerless she really was.

It would all be alright. They would weather this. Her son was a genius, after all. If he could take the throne at the head of a rebellion, then how much easier it would be for him to take the throne as the recognised regent? It was just that she had made a mistake in putting her trust in Flint. She knew the war had only dragged on so long because of the power of the empress's family, but someone more competent and charismatic would have won despite that. Her son was exactly that competent and charismatic person. He was being wasted listening to self-centred advisors who preferred to argue about nonsense than solve the real problems. If her son went out in person, them every hurdle would fall before him, and they would both be safe. They would both be given the love and adoration they deserved.