Lord of the Truth

"It tears me apart from the inside." Rinara's face contorted; a thin sheen of tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, which burned with a furious light. Her claws bit into her forearm until they left crescent marks. "...The fact that I'm at war with every one of them — with every power and court and petty throne in this Starfield — except for the Empire of the Twilight Spectrum, it rips me apart from within!"

"...." The woman in her thirties standing behind her lowered her gaze to the dust-strewn ground and fell silent, wary of becoming the target of her Lady's unleashed fury. "My lady, you know the Marshal's reasons..." she offered in a quiet, careful voice.

…More than a century had passed since the Nine Paths Wing rose to prominence, and from that very day Lady Rinara had been pressing, again and again, to secure permission to strike the Empire of the Twilight Phantoms — to make them a primary objective, or at the very least a significant secondary target. Each time she brought the proposal forward, Caesar had shut it down.

The reason was painfully simple: he did not know the full extent of what Elinor had leaked to the high commands within the Twilight Spectrum. The real fear was that the instant war was declared, a flood of secrets would pour out. News would spread like wildfire — revelations of Lord Human as their true emperor; whispers about a Nihari seed hidden in Young Sector 99; disclosures of the True Beginning Empire its advanced technologies, and the terrifying speed of its progress. Once those facts reached every court and command in the sector, everything would change.

Back when the war first flared all those years ago, the Twilight Spectrum had not joined the assault on the Centennial Cradle Empire — despite being among the powers most eager to slaughter the Kiumaji and seize their females as trophies. Yet when reinforcements arrived and the Cradle launched its counteroffensive, the Twilight Spectrum chose a different tack: they sent an envoy to Caesar requesting a quantity of Treant bark, claiming their royal soul Master required it.

The Cradle Empire had never trafficked in such things; Rinara herself had once — in the years following the coronation — procured Trent bark at discounted rates from the True Beginning Empire, a trade that had ceased centuries ago. The meaning behind the envoy's request was unmistakable: it was a polite, coded way to say, we know things about you.

On that day Caesar had hurled the envoy from his presence in a rage, his voice booming as he vowed that if anyone dared bring such a message again he would have their head. His fury was real — but so was the damage: the message had already been sent, and it had landed loudly where it mattered. Now, a hundred years later, Caesar remained hesitant; he dared not strike them, nor would he permit Rinara to do so.

"...I know," Rinara whispered, wiping her tears away with a quick, furtive motion. "I know he fears Elinor's leaks. I know I am to blame — I am the one who let her listen, who exposed those scoundrels, the Hall Masters, to such dangerous information. It was my fault, my old, naive self…"

She turned her face again toward the distant mountain range, her eyes narrowing with a cold, coiling rage. "But that does not mean I will forget my vengeance upon the Twilight Spectrum. I will not forget my retribution against Elinor, against that aged whore — the last Hall head — nor against the brood of whores who fled with her. They must all die. Every last one of them."

"...." The woman behind her rubbed her hands together in an anxious, almost superstitious motion. In truth, the "whores" the Wing Lady spat out were the woman's own kin — siblings and cousins who had chosen to abandon the Hall. She had been among the few who refused to leave the ancestral grounds, who stood her ground on the old soil. Because she was now the eldest of the survivors and the strongest among them, Rinara had honored her with the title of that Hall's head.

"...Everything has its time, Wing Lady," the woman in her thirties said with a slight bow, forcing a steadiness into her voice as she tried to suppress any hint of familial sympathy. "For now, everything depends on Marshal Caesar's judgment. Either he finds a way to contain the spread of those revelations, to silence or discredit the leaks — or he will cast aside caution and declare war on them on your behalf."

"I do not know whether he can do anything about stopping the spread," Rinara said, her brow knitting in frustration. "If the information keeps flowing, he will remain fearful of striking them forever." She paused, jaw clenched, then added with a dangerous softness, "But I have begun to walk the other way…"

"The other way?" The woman in her thirties flung her eyes wide, hope and disbelief warring across her face. "You mean… winning the Marshal over? Have you finally followed our counsel?!"

"Yes." Rinara's answer was curt, almost reluctant at first. "At first the thought felt humiliating — to have to curry favor, to rely on gratitude and politics — but I act in his interest regardless. A little extra effort will not harm him." She swept her hand toward the distant battlefield, the smoke and lights of conflict still visible on the horizon. "Today I personally saved thousands of his soldiers. He must factor that into his report when he reads it."

"…Is that your method of winning the Marshal?" The Hall Mistress's face registered a raw, disappointed hurt, the kind that trembled on the edge of a sob.

"Yes," Rinara replied, firm and cold. "This is only the beginning. I will throw myself into more battles, I will risk my life to save more of his soldiers, and I will collect more favors with every life saved." She nodded with a hard certainty. "Do you think that will be enough?"

"…Perhaps." The Hall Mistress's voice cracked; she looked as though she might cry.

The Nine had been pressing Rinara for months — urging, scheming, whispering the same desperate idea into her ear: get close to Marshal Caesar by every means available. Make him yours and then everything would follow: your revenge would be secured, your rank in the sector would be raised beyond anything you now possess, and the Nine Paths Wing itself would ascend to a stature far greater than its current standing.

They did not speak the plan aloud when others were present, not boldly — they were ashamed and afraid to say the words in clear voice. Yet everyone understood the implication.

There was another reason for their silence: Marshal Caesar was still so young. He was, in truth, a war-forged emperor — a military genius, and in blood the son of a man with whom Rinara had once argued as an equal. The idea of binding herself to him in that way felt obscene to some of them; it felt like prostituting their cause. Still, the Nine argued between themselves almost daily, trying to decide who among them would have the courage to voice the plan, who would sacrifice reputation and desire for the sake of the greater cause. Even if none of them acted, they hoped the mere existence of the idea in Rinara's head would soften her resistance.

In the end, they want her to marry him officially, not like what her sister did... But would live long enough to explain that to her?!

"Sultier," Rinara asked after a short silence, turning toward the Hall Mistress with a measured gaze. "I sense a higher blood density in you than the last time I saw you. Have you taken your serum?"

The victory-serums from the Sky Opining city were not reserved for Rinara alone. The second-strongest concentration was being administered to the four newly appointed Hall Masters; the five elders had already failed to reach Nexus State and had exhausted the last of their cultivation potential, but those four still stood a chance of breaching into a Nexus State. The serums — diluted or full-strength — were the secret many employed to alter fate itself.

"Yes." The Hall Mistress smiled, a mix of pride and nervous triumph. "I drank it, and I am currently circulating it through my body. Honestly, I think that after one or two more doses I will be able to claim the Ninth Tail." She laughed then, a wide, delighted sound, and continued, "Not only that — the other three new Hall Masters are on the brink as well. All the talented children with seven or eight tails are taking a milder serum, and the density of their blood grows daily. The Kiumaji strain has never been stronger than it is now, Wing Lady!"

She swallowed, then stepped forward as if to claim the truth of her words. "By the way… I believe I have grown closer to Marshal Caesar. These… serums… may increase that proximity."

"Do you think so?" Rinara lifted an eyebrow, then nodded once. "Very well then. We take this planet today."

With that cold decision, she launched herself in a mad, furious flight toward the mountain on the opposite ridge. Three stars began to flare above it — a clear sign she meant to bring ruin.

"Hwaaaa—"

"Hey~" The Hall Mistress exhaled, listening to the screams erupting from the second mountain and watching the ensuing detonations paint the skyline.

It was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.