Great Eastern Empire
Annapolis, the capital of the Great Eastern Empire, was a two-week journey by air Gadreel.
One night at dinner, Will asked Marcus to describe the empire. Will hope Marcus could fill them in on the imperial culture.
"Marcus, tell us about the empire. What was it like? Are the people nice? What should we expect?" Will asked curiously.
"I don't know. I mostly stayed in the Adventurers Guild. But I remember the people being snobby," Marcus said shrugging his shoulders.
"Can you remember anything else?" Will asked nervously.
"Nope," Marcus said carelessly.
"Well, then it's a good thing I borrowed a travel guide book from the king. It's quite old, but from what I've read, it seems helpful. The Great Easter Empire spans the eastern sea.
According to the travel guide, the empire itself has had a diverse topography with lots of mellow rivers and a diverse climate. The gigantic empire was bordered by mountains to the North, rough beaches to the South, a cold arctic sea to the East, and flowing hills to the West, the Great Eastern Empire mainly lives off war, mining, agriculture, and trade.
The Eastern Empire was a vast country with a population of over 100 million and ruled by the hereditary Pontic Dynasty. According to history, the first emperor was a demi-god, Pontus' son. The large empire is made up of several smaller provinces which have large cramped cities.
The country's landscape is delightful; impressive architecture, a huge cathedral, and gorgeous city parks are just a sliver of the brilliance the empire has to offer, which is why the empire's beauty is praised by foreigners.
By in large, imperial citizens are unwelcoming toward foreigners. The aristocracy in general tends to welcome foreign aristocrats with irritation. They feel foreigners only want to suckle on the country's prosperity," Will said.
"I also borrowed a book on imperial culture. According to that book, the empire was founded much earlier than the Kingdom of Fermion. Fermion's culture and aristocracy are modeled after the empire's imperial culture.
This is best exemplified by honorifics, the Fermion use of 'vont' versus the Imperial 'von.' Fermion decided to use 'vont' rather than 'von,' to reinforce their political independence from the empire.
Even with the change, imperial cultural still dominated much of Fermion's society and political economy.
In comparison to Fermion, imperial culture has much more refined and based on long-standing etiquette. The slightest hand gesture and bow may signify one of a hundred meanings," Will paused to strategize his arrival.
"Listen when we arrive, in Annapolis we need to be very careful what we do. Samuel, you'll serve as my manservant. Kalista, Marcus, and I shall dress in imperial attire. Please watch everything you say and do. Even the slightest facial cue may signal some unfortunate consequence," Will said.
"Brother, I haven't dressed as a noble since leaving to become an adventurer. Please don't make me wear those tight close and pretend to like tea," Marcus moaned.
"Marcus we look too similar for you to play any other part but a noble. But don't worry, I promise you won't have to attend any soirées and luncheons.
Quite the opposite actually, your job shall be to visit the brothels and bring me information. Also, be on the lookout for information brokers. If you find any ask for their help, tell them I'll pay generously.
"I tried to go a brothel last time, but they only accepted imperial coin," Marcus said.
"Don't worry, I have imperial coins. What I need most is information," Will said.
"Ahem…I may also…need a few coins to settle my bar tab at the Adventurers Guild," Marcus rubbed his belly and laughed.
"Fine, I'm used to paying your bar tabs anyway. At least this you did it in service to me," Will said.
"Yep, that I did," Marcus lied. He drank to forget about Cherry.
Will set his plans in motion early, because the book described Imperial culture as a sort of theatre where various social and cultural etiquette engage one another.
Etiquette and mannerism were held much more rigidly. For example, a noble's ancestry and peerage were used to decide how low to bow or curtsy, when you should speak at a gathering, and what honorifics to use when addressing a noble below and above your station.
In truth, it was rather a complicated social structure. Maybe imperial culture was more of a spider's web or battleground on which people contend with one another.
It was common in the empire for provinces to war among themselves. There were fewer provinces than there were 100 years ago. The provincial boundaries were always shifting.
And if the empire wasn't at war with itself then its adversary another empire from the west.
In the empire loyalty was a line made out of the sand. The only thing the aristocracy agreed upon, was hegemonic domination. Imperial law was written for subordinate citizens, foreigners, and especially foreign kingdoms.
Two weeks later, Will was excited to finally see Annapolis for the first time.
When they debarked, Will, Nisha, Marcus, and Samuel were surprised by Cherry. Kalista wondered what was so surprising about this woman.
"Greetings honorable Earl vont Ballard and Marcus vont Ballard," I am Dowager Madeline von Cha it's a pleasure to greet you.
"Greetings," Will said hesitantly.
"I know you had a long journey, I invite you two to spend the evening at my residence. You'd do me a great honor.
"Dowager?" Marcus asked, his heart starting to flutter.
"Yes, unfortunately after I got married, Marquis vont Cha and his family passed away before I could give them an heir," Cherry said feigning tears.
Samuel rolled his eyes at Cherry's acting.
"Then Dowager von Cha, you do us an honor," Will said.
"Come, my carriage awaits. But, there's no room for your manservant. He'll have to ride along next to us? Is it true they call him Samuel the Slaughter?" Cherry asked stopping herself from laughing at Samuel.
"Have no fear dowager, my brother and I shall protect you" Will said patronizingly. He couldn't wait for this ruse to stop.
"Why thank you, I must say I find your brother quite attractive," Cherry said smiling seductively at Marcus.
"Aw, gross!" Kalista couldn't help but say.
"Ah yes, your Orca Woman disciple. It's a pleasure to meet you. Are all Orca Women as 'flat' spirited as you?" Cherry jabbed at Kalista.
"No, there are women to have trouble walking like you," Kalista punched back.
"You must do a lot of laundry at the Earl's mansion, with your washboard," Cherry countered.
"You wretched woman!" Kalista fumed staring daggers at Cherry.
Cherry ignore Kalista which made Kalista all the more upset.
"Can you tell us what's going on, or do we need to continue this ruse any longer," Will said arriving at Cherry's estate.
"Please come in for tea," Cherry said.
In the library, Cherry dropped the act.
"Whew, it's hard impersonating a noble lady. I don't know how you nobles do it day in and day out. It's awful. Although it has its perks, Marcus was right about it being too demanding," Cherry said slurping her tea in an undignified manner.
"I didn't think I see you again," Marcus said cheerfully.
"Neither did I, but my husband's family was so annoying. They were always complaining about me, nothing I did was ever good enough. One day, I couldn't take it and killed them after a party. It was a robbery gone wrong, my husband's saved me but died a hero blah, blah, blah," Cherry said.
"And they call me the slaughter," Samuel half joked, for the first time since his duel with Will.
"I'm a little mad, you got such a nice nickname name. Meanwhile, I some dowager. Oh yeah, congratulations on achieving your dream," Cherry complained.
"You're an evil woman!" Kalista shouted a Cherry.
"And you're an immature twerp. I know Will's teaching you combat, but who's teaching you how to be a woman?" Cherry asked.
"Lady Elizabeth has been teaching me proper mannerisms and etiquette," Kalista said.
"You're the granddaughter of the Sea Witch, right? Who's teaching you how to use how to be seductive and use your femininity to drive men wild with fantasy? Men only want ladies in public, in private they want women like me. You need to know how to be both," Cherry instructed.
"Ah, master?" Kalista asked nervously.
"She's right. You are not human, you're the Orca Clan's Pirate Princes. You need to learn proper etiquette, how to fight, and learn…whatever Cherry knows. Say what you want, but she's a skilled manipulator and assassin," Will said.
"You're an assassin?" Kalista said more impressed than scared.
"Yep, and I've killed way more people than this silent introvert," Cherry laughed.
Very few people now dared to openly mock Samuel, but Cherry was not one of them.
"Cherry let's get married?" Marcus asked he couldn't wait any longer.
"Okay," Cherry smiled and ran over and kissed Marcus.
"I'm leaving. Let's give the engaged couple some space," Will said running out of the room.
Will left with Nisha, Samuel, and Kalista to buy imperial clothing, and books, tour the city and gather more information.
When they returned to Cherry's estate, there was an old man dressed impeccably dressed.
"Aw, brother-in-law this man is Duke von Mueller's butler. He's come to invite you to dine with him tonight. Earlier, the emperor sent an invitation to a party tomorrow night in your honor," Dowager Madeline von Cha said.
"Then I accept both invitations," Will said.
When the butler left, Cherry's posture returned to normal.
"Gods I hate acting like that," she complained.
"I must say you did a wonderful job," Will complimented.
"Let's talk about Kalista's training before you run off to bed," Cherry said.
"What do you plan to teach her?" Will asked.
"I plan to teach her everything I know. I always wanted a disciple," Cherry said moving on to her next bucket list item.
"You plan to take her as a disciple?" Will asked surprised.
"Yes. I'll teach her deception, stealth, camouflage, knives, torture, poison, speed techniques, seduction, and sex skills," Cherry said.
"That's fine, just don't break her mentally. Orca matriarchs are known for their beauty and brutality. If you mentally harm her, I'll kill you!" Will said releasing his aura.
"I've wanted to do this since we first met," Cherry released her aura and took out her knives.
Will pulled out Heavenly Malice and Nisha growled, showing Cherry her sharp fangs.
"What are you doing?" Marcus asked walking into the grand foyer.
"Making sure your temptress knows her place in the hierarchy. This is between her and me alone. I promise not to kill her, brother. But she needs to understand her place in this world," Will said.
"My place? No man can put me in my place! I was just playing around before," Cherry said angrily unleashing her whole aura.
Samuel and Kalista had to back up for fear of dying.
"Ha-ha," Will laughed at Cherry, making her blood boil even more with wrath. That was until Will and Nisha released their full aura mixed in with bloodlust. Will made sure to protect Kalista, but Samuel, Marcus, and Cherry saw how monstrous was Will and Nisha's aura.
"I yield," Cherry begged, her aura crushed.
"Remember, this moment if you hurt my disciple!" Will said lording over her.
"I shall," Cherry said her face flush in embarrassment and attraction.
"One more thing, welcome to the family," Will said helping Cherry off the ground.
Cherry's world viewed had just been altered. How many master-rank assassins, knights, and mages had she killed? She secretly thought she was the strongest master in the kingdom. Never had she met a master as strong as Will.
For the first time, in years she felt fear, pure unadulterated fear, she felt like she was going to die like she did when she was a little girl.
It was that fear that shift her perspective. She knew that if she emotionally hurt Marcus again or physically hurt Kalista, Will would kill her without remorse.
"Thank you," Cherry said realizing Will had caged her for the first time in her adult life.
"Kalista, Cherry is now your second master. Greet her!" Will ordered.
"Disciple greets master!" Kalista bowed.
Cherry returned the bow stunned at how her life would be fundamentally altered from now on.