The Rebellion

Lily was already waiting with everything she needed secured in her waist band when the palace guards came for her. They hustled her towards the secure inner chamber deep inside the palace that she had only seen once before but knew about very well.

"This one apologises for the disturbance," said the lead guard, with patent insincerity. "But it is important to ensure the safety of all the honoured members of the imperial family until the rebels are fully subdued."

"This unworldly one is not disturbed," replied Lily, with her own smile. "This unworldly one comes from an old military family, after all. This unworldly one is aware that rebels can only succeed if the army stands aside to let them."

The guard looked sharply at her. She looked back without changing her smile. He bowed to her – a real bow, unlike when he had met her – and left her walk into the chamber. She was the last to arrive of all the major characters. For what was essentially a panic room, it was large and absurdly lavish. But even money could only go so far when the needs of security took priority. There were enough seats for all the people, but they had no space between them. The few beds provided were right next to each other, with only the curtains within the bed to provide any pretence at privacy. The room had no natural lighting, and the lanterns and people together left the air muggy and unpleasant smelling.

And the only entertainment provided was in the form of Primrose throwing a tantrum.

Lily watched for a moment before going to greet the emperor.

He was too weak to leave the bed they had carried him to, but he was propped up in a sitting position and his eyes were clear.

"This unworldly one humbly salutes Your Most Exaltedness," said Lily.

"Stop," said the emperor. "You of all people don't need to bow to me. Sit down, sit down."

Lily took the stool next to the bed without fuss. "How is Your Most Exaltedness feeling?

"About what you would expect," said the emperor. "I'm stuck in bed, my government has fallen to a coup, and everyone thinks I'm insane."

His words were harsh, but he sounded more resigned than angry.

"Surely not," said Lily politely.

"They all pretend to acknowledge me to my face, and disregard everything I say behind my back," said the emperor. "And then treat me like a whiny toddler when I question them."

"This unworldly one takes it the reports of Your Most Exaltedness injuries were greatly exaggerated?" asked Lily.

"Perhaps not exaggerated," said the emperor after a moment's thought. "Rather greatly extended. In the beginning, I was often genuinely confused. During the brief periods of sense, the imperial doctors assured me that it was only temporary and would soon improve. What I didn't know was that they were simultaneously telling the court that it was permanent, and I would never recover."

"Your Most Exaltedness agreed to hand over power as a temporary measure?" asked Lily, not hiding her incredulity.

"I brought my own downfall," agreed the emperor. "It is easier to give power away than to recover it again. But you see, that is where the irony is – that was what I was trying to prevent. I feared that if I left matters unofficial, it would allow the court officials to slowly steal away authority and influence that I would battle to ever retrieve. I decided to turn it over to my wife and son, who swore they would only hold it until I was once again well enough to defend my position."

"Your Most Exaltedness decided?" asked Lily, "Or Her Imperial Highness, the empress, suggested?"

The emperor sighed deeply. "I don't even remember. It was a very confusing time. I don't remember ever authorising the executions, but multiple people assure me that I did. I can't—"

The emperor's voice broke, and Lily had some sympathy for him. While she had never thought he had ordered the killing his other son, she had felt some contempt that he had not stopped it. It sounded like stopping it had genuinely been beyond his ability.

"I damaged the empire," said the emperor. "I suspect I would have lost power no matter what. But at least one of those advisors would have been competent."

"Your Most Exaltedness does not believe Her Imperial Highness, the empress, is competent?" asked Lily.

The emperor gestured towards where Primrose was trying to insist that a servant bring her more ice 'at once', despite the obvious lack of servants. A handful of the most senior court ladies fluttered around her, none of them brave enough to say anything meaningful.

The emperor said, "She hasn't even realised we're under arrest, not under protection."

"Her Imperial Highness, the empress, has always lacked imagination," said Lily.

"You are very kind not to have mentioned the obvious," said the emperor.

"What would that be?" asked Lily. There were, after all, a great many obvious things she was not mentioning.

"That if I had never set aside our marriage," said the emperor, "none of this would have happened. I could safely have left you in charge. I sent away the sheep dogs and invited in the foxes."

"Your Most Exaltedness no longer suspects that the Goldenrods were behind the assassination?" Lily asked. "That they are not behind the current rebellion?"

The emperor laughed. "Honestly? At this point I hope they are. Your family is the best hope the empire has of remaining intact. My legacy is not going to be kind no matter what, but I don't want it to be the legacy of the empire fracturing back into warring states."

Lily was impressed. Most people in the emperor's position would instead have doubled down, using the current situation as evidence that they had been right all along and that their only real fault is that they had not gone far enough with their ruthlessness and selfishness. This kind of self-reflection was unusual.

The door opened abruptly, letting in a painful amount of light. Soldiers streamed in and stood in a threatening semi-circle. One of the soldiers announced the entrance of the prince regent. The last Lily had heard, the prince was still at the northern border, and she had been somewhat concerned that he would not make it back in time for the final act. She was glad he had. She would have found a way to make her point regardless, but it would be more impactful with him. Especially considering what Lily knew about the prince's personality and his relationship with his mother.

Primrose was obviously thrilled and ignored the implied threat to rush towards her son. A soldier held her back and she immediately started complaining.

"Quiet, witch," said the soldier, "Or we'll be forced to gag you."

"Might want to gag her anyway," replied another. "Just in case. No telling how she works her magic."

"Don't you know who I am?" asked Primrose.

The emperor said in an undertone, "Isn't it obvious that they know exactly who you are? That's why they want to gag you. I wish I'd thought of that."

Lily shared a grin with him.

In the meantime, the prince had walked through the semi-circle and was trying to placate his mother.

"But I don't understand," Primrose said. "You're here now. That means the rebellion is over."

"Oh, the rebellion is definitely over," said the prince. "The rebellion won."

Primrose screeched "What?" at the same time one of the soldiers coughed meaningfully.

"Excuse me," said the prince dryly. "I meant of course that the imperial loyalists successfully rescued me from the clutches of the villainous Flint and his evil magic."

"Isn't that nice of them," commented the emperor quietly in the same tone.

"But what does that mean?" asked Primrose.

The prince sighed. "It means that a few positions will be swapped around. Particularly yours. They've agreed that you're also a victim of Flint and his enchantments, but they won't allow you to remain in a position of authority. We restore Her Imperial Highness Lily as first empress. She becomes the natural co-regent instead of you without anything having to go to trial or any rumours being raised."

"We can't do that!" said Primrose.

"It's the only way we can keep you alive," said the prince. "They can't strip you of your power without giving a reason, and any reason would be enough to have you executed."

Lily took her cue. "This unworldly one regrets to inform Your Imperial Highness that Her Imperial Highness Primrose is correct. It is impossible to do that. This unworldly one does not have enough days left to live to restored to empress."

"Your Imperial Highness is unwell?" asked the prince suddenly very still.

"This unworldly one is poisoned with Eternity Poison," said Lily. "Her Imperial Highness Primrose has seen fit to provide insufficient amounts of the antidote."

"Of course, she did," said the emperor. Lily found she was quite appreciating the black humour the emperor had discovered within himself.

"Mother," said the prince. "What on earth possessed you to kill the only Goldenrod hostage we had left? Why must you always make things worse?"

"I did it for you!" said Primrose.

"You did it for yourself," corrected the prince.

He retreated through the ranks of the soldiers to the door and spoke to them rather than to his mother. "It will have to be the second option."

The prince disappeared without a second glance back. It was a soldier that answered Primrose's increasingly desperate questions. "The fire option. What a great pity the emperor and empress died together after lightning struck the palace. The poor young prince is the only member of the imperial family member left. But we shouldn't speculate about divine cleansing."

"You're… you're going to kill us?" asked Primrose.

No one answered her. The semicircle of soldiers contracted back out the door and slammed it shut before any of the chambers inhabitants could think to rush them. The sudden darkness left them half-blind once again. After a moment came the sounds of people dropping things, and it didn't take much imagination to picture additional wood being piled up around the room.

Lily found it interesting that they were so swift to condemn Lily herself to death without any confirmation or discussion. Either the prince and his soldiers were trying to complete it as fast as possible and present it as a fait accompli, or the Goldenrods had already indicated that if they couldn't get this last service out of her, she was of no further value to them.

The emperor laughed. "What a good son we raised."

In that moment, Lily honestly could not tell if the emperor was being sincere or not. This was a good option to keep the empire intact and the lives of the people stable, after all. If the rebels were prepared to leave the prince in place as a figurehead for long enough, at any rate.

Lily found herself moved to a compassionate gesture. "This unworldly one happens to have some doses of Peaceful Sleep on this worldly one. Would Your Most Exaltedness care to consume one? This unworldly one fears that fire will not be a kind death."

Peaceful Sleep was not officially a poison, but it would render him unconscious long enough for smoke inhalation to take him.

"Do you have enough for yourself as well?" asked the emperor.

"Yes," said Lily. "Your Most Exaltedness need not concern yourself."

Her impulse was validated. When it mattered, the emperor had rediscovered consideration for others.

"Then yes, thank you" he said. "You have shown more loyalty to the empire than I have managed, and more to me than I ever deserved. I am sorry it has led us both to the same end."

Lily held his hand until he slipped from consciousness, even as the crackling of fire could be heard outside the door and smoke began to pour through the gaps. Lily looked up. The other ladies had fled to the far end of the chamber, futilely trying to break through the back wall. Only Primrose was left in the middle of the room.

Lily approached her.

"Are you proud of yourself?" asked Lily, dropping all formality. "You should be. All your schemes succeeded so beautifully. You saved your nanny from getting attacked. You rendered me sterile. You opened a shop that earned you a lot of money. You convinced the emperor to trust you by foiling an assassination. You placed your countryman in charge of the army. You executed every other threat to your son. And now, you've put your son on the throne of the empire."

"How did you know—" asked Primrose. "No, I mean, none of that's true!"

"Come now," said Lily. "No one can hear us anymore. You've won. Everything you ever wanted has worked out for you perfectly."

"I didn't want any of this," said Primrose. "I just wanted to be safe and happy."

"You wanted to be special and important," corrected Lily. "And you succeeded. You'll go down in history."

"This… you… you planned this!" said Primrose.

"Yes," said Lily, amused that Primrose would never realise just how true her accusation was. "Just like you planned this. I hope you're as satisfied with the outcome as I am."

Lily smiled in her victory as she died, as Primrose died, and as the story ended. Primrose had succeeded in all her schemes. Lily had succeeded in all her goals.