A Calculated Sacrifice

Garron burst through the brothel doorway, a whirlwind of mismatched clothes and rumpled hair. 

He was still fastening the buttons on his doublet, a frustrated scowl etched on his face. 

"You pulled me away from what could've been the sixth round, Kaelen! The woman had legs like a tree trunk and-"

"There's a problem, Garron," Kaelen interrupted, cutting off his friend's boisterous tirade. His voice was low and tight, a stark contrast to the easy banter of the last few hours. 

He was already halfway down the alley, his pace hurried and urgent.

Garron followed, his usual grin replaced with a concerned frown. 

"What happened? You get a bad hand with the dice? Find out the wine was sour? It was good wine, wasn't it?"

"It's more than that," Kaelen muttered, more to himself than to Garron. "The Emperor... he knows more than I thought. He's planned this for longer." His mind was racing, replaying the events of the night, searching for any sign, any clue that he had missed. 

"What's not right?" Garron asked, his voice low and serious. Kaelen rarely talked this way. It made Garron's skin crawl.

Kaelen stopped abruptly, his hand clenching into a fist. 

"Something is wrong, Garron. This…this is not how it went the last time." The words were a whisper, a confession of the fractured realities that haunted his every waking moment. The memories of his past life were a guide, but it appeared the world was changing, reacting, to his presence.

Garron tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. 

"Last time? What the hell are you talking about, Kaelen?"

Kaelen ignored the question, his thoughts focused on the bigger picture. 

"The Emperor," he said, his voice regaining its sharp edge, "He's planning to destroy both Velarion and Caldris. Two birds with one stone, taking total control of everything." He began pacing once more, the information weighing on him like lead. 

The events seemed different, shifted, somehow. What was once a guide, now felt like an illusion of what it had been before.

Garron's eyes widened, but he chuckled softly, trying to dismiss the claim. 

"Hold on a moment. Now you are just being paranoid. Even Kaelith couldn't plan something like that. It would start an open war."

"That's what he wants, or that is what he will cause" Kaelen hissed back, pacing again. The emperor needed a reason, something to connect the two, so he will force that connection. "He knows about our deal with Velarion. How they plan to flaunt his trade orders, to trade with us."

He proceeded to explain the terms of their secret trade agreement with Velarion, the bartering of grain for their silence and access to their enchantments, making sure to keep out any personal detail, or details of her smuggling.

Garron listened, his face growing increasingly grim. 

"How can he know? That deal was made in the dark, in secret. No one else-"

"That's exactly how he planned it," Kaelen interrupted, his tone bitter. "The reason he sent Selene was to make sure that the deal was made. He wanted this. He knew this would happen. He has been waiting for this exact move to make his own move." The realization sent a chill down his spine. 

He had underestimated the emperor's cunning, played directly into his hand. 

"He's not just playing us, he was baiting us."

Garron shook his head in disbelief. "But even if he knows, slaughtering two kingdoms' rulers and taking control is a bit of an overreaction, isn't it? Why would he openly show his hand when he could just… manipulate things."

Kaelen stopped walking, his gaze locking on Garron's. He leaned in close, his voice barely a whisper. 

"Velarion has been smuggling enchanted arms to Zoryn," he murmured, the revelation hanging heavy in the air. It was the truth, and just like the lotus woman, it seemed, it was a truth only they knew.

Garron's body went stiff, his eyes widening. He hitched a breath, his hand going to his chest, 

"That's...that's treason."

"It is," Kaelen confirmed, his voice cold. "And the Emperor knows."

Garron stumbled, nearly colliding with a passing cart. "But… how does that connect to Caldris? How does it make any sense?"

"It doesn't, Garron," Kaelen explained, his face hard. "It doesn't make sense for them to be connected. But the Emperor will make sure they appear as if they are." The Emperor's plans, while vast and seemingly beyond what they could combat, were never random. They had a specific end goal, which is always to garner more power. 

"He'll use our trade alliance as a basis to make a false connection. To paint us as co-conspirators. To give him the reason he needs."

Garron stood rooted, his brow furrowed in thought. The scope of the Emperor's treachery was slowly becoming clear, and Kaelen could see the fear beginning to seep into Garron's face. 

"So... what can we do? Is this the end?"

Kaelen's eyes narrowed, his gaze hardening, "No. It's not the end. It's the beginning." 

He leaned in close again, his voice dropping to a near whisper. 

"Someone will have to die in our place."

Garron stared at him, his face a mask of confusion and dread. He understood what Kaelen meant, what Kaelen was truly planning. 

"In…in the place of the ones we need to live?"

"Precisely," Kaelen said, his eyes glinting with a chilling resolve. "The Emperor wants a show, so we'll give him a show. A spectacle he won't forget…and a body to bury."