The first kill.

The couple was rather agitated and it was hard to guess which one was going to stress-eat the moment the discussion was over. Lee decided to go with his gut.

He casually sat next to Dale, put down the bowl, and joyfully asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

As expected, he wasn't welcomed one bit and Hannah tried to shoo him, "Not now, Lee! Go away!"

Lee pretended to throw a helpless glance towards the two, then sighed, took a nearby bowl with stew, and went back to where the large group from earlier was.

His absence was short and when Tess noticed him, her only question was, "You told me you had enough!"

"Mhm." Lee nodded and with full mouth said, "But it's so good!"

"Indeed!" Unexpectedly The Emperor joined in, "It's hard to believe a remote place like this has cooks of such quality."

"It's all in the salt." Lee involuntarily blurted out. This was something he used to tell Tess, but here everyone's surprised gazes turned towards the only child.

"… I hear things …" Realizing he had to give an explanation, Lee said something vague.

Fortunately the next moment the crowd's attention was diverted.

"… and I thought you loved me!" Dale shouted, and sprung to his feet. His face was blushed red, fists clenched, and he was visibly shaking, probably from anger. Ignoring how humiliating his own actions were, he continued, "All of you are the same! You all only want to climb in bed with Hardwood! I know I'm not like him, but I want my freedom!"

And then something ridiculous happened. Dale straightened up, marched towards the edge of the cliff, paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then … stepped over.

Everyone, soldiers, ministers and the emperor were watching the play with undisguised ridicule, while the old Farcry from shame wished to bury himself alive and never crawl out again. But the moment the young man disappeared behind the cliff, the whole place fell dead silent.

Hannah was the first to wake up from stupor. With a piercing scream that more resembled a howl of agony, she rushed towards the edge which Dale just stepped off, and the rest of the crowd followed. Powel barely managed to grab his daughter when she tried to follow her beloved and now she punched, kicked and bit her old man, trying to get free, while screaming, "Let me die! I have to go with him!"

Lee could expect anything, but he never hoped things would turn out this way. For the few moments he was left alone, he quickly rushed to the spot the lovers previously argued at and switched the bowls once again. He did empty his, but as it turns out, Dale did the same.

It was hard to imagine back in Maryport instead of making horses go berserk, Alan made them melodramatic, jealous and suicidal, and that was the reason they tried to rush away with no regard for their lives. Or maybe, the effects of the powder worked differently on humans? Or was it the dosage? Or proportions? Be as it may, all questions had to wait and Lee went back to join Tess.

No one noticed the boy's brief absence and much less payed attention to the bowl in his hand – every other person had one.

The following investigation also gave no results. There were no laboratories that could analyze the contents of Dale's stomach, and there was no one who thought of any other reason for his suicide but mental instability and the argument between lovers.

When a couple days later Hannah was finally capable of putting words together, she gave her version of the event. Either it was her father who taught her, or she instinctively decided to blame everything on Dale, she mostly complained about how unreasonable he was.

According to her, he continuously enjoyed the attention from local women, and when she confronted him, he refused to admit his wrongdoings. In the end, to spite her, he theatrically had his last meal in the form of the stew, and died.

At some point Hannah tried to put the blame on the local girl who gave him the spicy fried potatoes, but she turned out to be from a good family, and was devastated by Dale's death even more than Hannah. Apparently it was some kind of love from the first sight.

Other than that, no one suspected the food being bad since everyone, even the emperor, sampled the dishes and knew there was nothing wrong with them.

Before the imperial forces departed, there was another discreet event. The emperor organized a funeral so that the grieving father could have his closure. They burned Dale's remains on the same cliff he stepped off and buried him nearby.

Because the father stayed for another day and night at the son's grave, the return of the expedition was postponed, but no one could blame him.

***

On the way to the capital Lee was forced to sit in the stinky carriage with his parents, but there were only three of them. Both fathers, Powel and Farcry, rode their horses somewhere ahead, but surely not together. Lee saw Hannah on a couple occasions and, noticing her red eyes and gray face, for a few moments experienced a tinge of guilt.

He remembered very clearly how he felt when Lisa died in his arms, and felt for the poor girl, but then chased the silly thoughts away. If she wasn't prepared to loose her loved ones, she shouldn't have killed his parents and the rest of the villagers.

Who the fuck these people thought they were? Just because they had the so called noble status somewhere in the world, they could go around and kill others?

Right! She was the next one, or the one after that! Or maybe he'll kill her a little bit later, depending on what opportunities would arise first. It was not like this was his first revenge, although it was the first one of this scale.

After getting back home Lee returned to his previous routine and was clueless about the awkward atmosphere in the circle of nobles. Besides the regular training, he tried to research the reason behind Dale's reaction to the poisoning, but Tess rarely let him out of sight thus he almost never had free access to Alan's notes or books.

Apparently she was afraid that the tragic event might leave a psychological scar or something despite Lee trying to persuade her he was fine.

There was an unexpected change though. Few days after the return, Alan began something that could be called lessons. He instructed Lee on the Imperial Council, its members and their duties. While Tess was furious, Lee was surprised they hadn't forgotten the discussion before the tragedy on the cliff, and his little charade payed off.

Lee couldn't understand why Tess hated the idea of him officially becoming Alan's heir. Technically they were a family and it was only logical for things to turn out this way. But despite the displeasure on the morning of the next Imperial Council, he was woken up before the sunrise and mercilessly washed until he felt his skin would peel off.

Afterwards Tess got out new clothes she had previously ordered, and dressed Lee up to look like an actual noble.

Now he finally understood why the emperor loved to dress in casual linen shirt and simple trousers. Wearing a robe, no matter how pretty it was, was inconvenient and felt stupid. It was a one thing to wear a bathrobe to hang around your own home, but to wear something that was originally design for women Lee found embarrassing.

Of course, he understood that historically many cultures had males wearing clothing similar to robes. Nevertheless, when he was forced to wear one, especially the current milky green with red flowers, he felt like a five year old gay. His stepmother at some point calling him pretty didn't help the case, and he began to curse the day he got the idea to join the Imperial Council.

It looked like the ugly color was something all his family men had to wear. Alan was dressed in an identical robe, except one that fit his size, and proudly brought Lee along. It was already clear that the meeting place had to be special, and after entering the large hall, for the first time Lee actually felt he was visiting the emperor's palace.

Fortunately Alan didn't go around and make formal introductions, but directly brought Lee to what probably was his spot at the long and wide table. The latter was also glad the pleasantries were skipped and curiously observed the surroundings.

Surprisingly Alan sat almost next to the golden throne – between his and the emperor's seat were only two more spots that were currently vacant, but Lee knew they belonged to the Prime Minister Joshua Bates and his son, Edward.

Indeed, despite how casual and approachable the emperor often seemed, there was an actual golden throne at the end of the hall.

Probably in order to look more ridiculous, it was encrusted with dozens of large, red gems, probably rubies, and Lee's first thought was that if Lisa saw this thing, they would probably spend several months in preparations, and afterwards steal it.

Of course, the throne was not the only lavish item in the hall. The unnaturally wide table and chairs around it were crafted from black wood and decorated with beautiful golden ornaments. In contrast, the floor and the walls were covered in white marble, but there were several weapon stands at each wall, also crafted from black wood, showing off elegant swords and daggers.

If that was all, the emperor probably would feel too cheep, thus there were dozens of golden candlesticks, both on walls and the table. Currently no candles were burning, though, because through the two windows the hall had, the sunlight brightly shone in.