The past of an empire - II

In a town far from the big cities, Emperor Alef held in his arms a newborn that was the spitting image of him.

Beside her, the newborn's mother was happy for the presence of the man who took her in her arms, but she kept her gaze down, hoping that the guards would not take her action as an offense to the emperor.

Three months had passed since the emperor left the palace, during that time he was in charge of eliminating any uprising against his empire and kept by his side a villager who had won his heart for several years. .

Taking the young woman's chin in her hands, the emperor raised the young woman's face, meeting her gaze.

— Leticia, don't be afraid for our successor, as long as you stay by my side no one will be able to put a finger on you—

The emperor was aware that if he brought Leticia in that state to the palace, the empress would not bear it and would have her killed on the spot.

Feeling the concern of her majesty, Leticia held back her tears and kissed the back of the emperor's hand as she looked at the happy face of her baby.

During the months that the emperor was away from her, the empress was called by the high priestess to perform her monthly check-up.

The day the empress received the news about the emperor's son, she asked the high priestess to check her body only to find out that she was not pregnant.

Furious, the empress did not stop plotting against the son who had not yet arrived at the palace and she held a different man every night, hoping she would get pregnant.

On her last date after three months she received the happy news that she had become pregnant.

Returning to the palace, the first thing the empress did was eliminate all the servants who kept loyal to the emperor, locking them in the villa where she disposed of her concubines.

— My lady, we do our duty—

In a palace room, the empress had a happy expression on her face as she gazed at the withered head of what was once the high priestess, alongside a letter sealed by her deceased.

— Very well, now that there are no annoying witnesses left, I will be able to face the emperor without problems—

In the letter, the priestess wrote about the check-up of the empress and her pregnancy status. When the woman saw that it was the empress's spies who were asking for the letter, she hesitated before writing anything else without leaving a trace on it.

Lowering the feather, an icy edge pierced the priestess's neck, in the last moments she remembered the anxious face of the empress and she could only mentally deny when thinking of the fate of the empire before falling lifeless to the ground.

— My lady, what will happen to the concubines?—

The elven guard who held the empress in her arms asked the woman curiously.

Not finding anything strange in her actions, the empress began to tell the young man who held her in her bed of her plans to receive the emperor, including the fate of the concubines.

Without the empress noticing, when he was late at night. The elven guard left the empress's room and headed for the inner courtyards of the palace.

The guards posted on the walls, recognizing his companion, let him advance without problem, they did not doubt him because it was not the first time he had come.

This was the fifth time the guard had arrived at the entrance to the imperial harem. Although he was never able to enter due to the guards guarding the place, he eventually won the love of one of them and asked her to help him deliver a letter.

— Another letter for her? Sometimes I think that I am really nothing to you and you prefer to love a woman you can never touch—

Using his arms, the elven guard took the woman in his arms and bringing her face closer, he sealed her lips as he whispered in her ear each time they parted.

— Okay, but you must understand that it will be the last time I will do this, in another month the emperor will arrive and by higher orders they will increase the guard of the imperial harem.

Inside the imperial harem, a woman with long crimson hair covered her belly while in her hands she held a letter.

Although the first time she received the letter, the harem guard doubted its content, when she opened it she noticed that he could not understand a single word and stopped caring about it.

— We have little time left baby, it seems that even hiding for so long we will not be able to prevent death from reaching us—

The woman had an advanced state of pregnancy that she was only able to hide thanks to the help of a guard from whom she could never see her face.

Holding the letter close to a candle flame, she burned any evidence that could compromise the guard's safety.

On the other side of the palace, after an hour the elven guard returned to the empress's room and wanted to enter her bed, but when he lifted the sheets he did not find the woman.

— You seem surprised, perhaps you hoped that I did not notice your departure at night—

Lowering his face from him, the elven guard remained silent and turned to face the empress.

In the room apart from the woman there were four spies who were on the lookout for any strange movements from the guard.

— Raise your face and answer me, where did you go tonight? —

The guard felt that no matter what he said, tonight he would be killed by the empress, yet he decided not to reveal anything he did.

— It seems that you are not as cowardly as I thought, let's see if you can talk after this—

Giving a signal with their hands to the assassins, they opened the door and brought in the bloody body of a woman.

Seeing that the elven guard's eyes showed pain inside him, the empress was pleased and she decided to force the guard to tell the truth.

— My assassins have already taken the truth out of that woman. You must understand, for every word that does not match what she told us you will lose a part of your body—

Inside him, the elven guard wanted to apologize to the woman, although he used her to deliver his letters to the harem, over time he grabbed an affection that with more time would have become love.

— Where did you go tonight, there are no second chances so answer—

The guard did not hear the voice of the empress and could only see the eyes of the woman on the ground who had lost all traces of life.

Without giving him time to think, an assassin stepped in front of him and cut off a part of his left arm.

— Where did you go tonight, this time you will lose your entire arm—

The guard gritted his teeth trying to avoid opening his mouth, but an assassin approached his side and put the edge of a dagger in his neck waiting for the answer.

Seeing that the empress was not going to keep her word and was directly going to take his life, through her mind passed the woman he had not seen for years.

— My lady, the emperor has arrived at the entrance of the city —

A guard of the empress rushed into the room, he did not mind seeing one of his companions bleeding on the floor and the corpse of a woman next to him, he had already got used to acting as his mistress.

— What is happening, shouldn't it arrive in a month? How is it already here? —

Not expecting to worry about the elven guard, the empress gave different orders to the assassins who, after hearing them, left the room.

When the empress saw the guard kneeling over his blood, she felt that what he was hiding should be something important.

— You, make sure he does not die and lock him in a cell, later I will see what to do with him—

The arrival of the emperor to the palace gave a stir throughout the capital, the millions of inhabitants made a great celebration when they heard that a successor to the emperor had been born.

Upon entering the palace, the first thing the emperor noticed was the lack of several of his servants especially left by his to take care of the empress.

Approaching an unfamiliar face he asked how long he had been assigned to the palace.

After the new servant answered him, the emperor showed a furious look on his face for just a moment before returning to his normal face.

After reaching the main hall, he noticed that he could hardly recognize any of the servants among those present and felt that something strange was happening in the palace when he saw that he could not find the respect they owe him in his gaze. .

— Amanda, where is my welcome, you are the only one I have waited to see for so long but I can't find you anywhere—

After raising his voice, the figure of the empress followed by a group of concubines entered the room.

The emperor, upon seeing the face of the empress, found that she was more beautiful than besote he left.

For the moment forgetting any suspicions towards her, he took the empress's hand and pulled her close to him giving her a warm hug.

Surprised, the empress did not avoid the hug and could not help asking.

— Your majesty, your return so early took us by surprise, that's why we took a long time to present ourselves before you—

— Don't worry about that, the important thing is that I'm here. Now, I want you to meet someone—

Behind the emperor, a simple woman with a dress according to the situation had a child in her hands.

Seeing the creature, the empress offered to take him in her arms, but the emperor stood in front of her and cut her off with a few words.

— First of all, we need to speak with the priestess, ask your guards to call her to the palace—

The empress felt something strange inside her, yet she decided to move forward with her plan, otherwise, when the emperor realized what had happened it would be too late for her.