《The Empress' Descent》


 The Empress Descent

    I noticed their presence outside my chambers even before they deigned to announce themselves.


    I had been sharpening my dagger, pouring a potion onto it to aid the process. Magic was a rare commodity these days. But not to me. Never to me.


    Like a quill dipped in ink, the tip of the dagger absorbed the glimmering liquid. I held it up to behold it in its deadly yet elegant glory. At the exact same time the light glinted on the blade''s edges, the doors of my chambers banged open without warning.


    I turned and threw the dagger, my nightgown fluttering against the evening breeze coming in from the window. The blade found its mark on a man''s chest, buried until the jeweled hilt. All this happened in a second.


    The man seemed to struggle registering how the dagger had found itself into him, as did his other two companions at his sides. The man in the middle fell on his knees, and then his face landed on the floor. Dead.


    "Who dares to enter the chambers of the Empress without knocking? I hope you were made aware of what this treacherous act will cost you before walking in."


    They did not answer me, these men who were clad in all black garments. Their faces were covered with the same color of clothing, their eyes filled with murderous intent.


    The two left had already recovered from the shock, getting into their fighting stances. Prepared and wary, a sword in each hand.


    ''Assassins,'' I thought to myself, ''but what kind of proper assassins announce their arrival and make a grand entrance? Amateurs, for sure.''


    I merely tilted my head and laughed. "Who let you in?"


    Later, I''d have to have some words with the lousy guards who had allowed these lousier assassins to roam around the palace. I just need to deal with these pests first. Moreover, who the hell thought I''d be this easy to take on? Assassins, really?


    There wasn''t a single word from the intruders. Only the sharp inhaling of breath as one lurched for me.


    I quickly sidestepped, light and graceful as a pouncing feline. My cropped dark-blue hair swept my chin, the night air sighing on my nape.


    "First you barge into my room, disturb my solace and now you refuse to speak?" I clicked my tongue, and stopped beside my armor stand where I had placed my weapon, relishing the sound as I unsheathed my sword. "Or... someone cut your tongue?"


    Irritation sparked within me as my question was met with silence. Again, the men did not do so much as nod. Now, both were coming at me.


    The clashing and clanging of steels against one another rang through the four corners of my bedroom.


    I was skilled in combat and swordplay, having been drilled with fighting techniques since the day I''d learned to walk. In this field, I was a cut above many others.


    I, Solaria''s Empress, was worth a thousand average soldiers, a warrior queen with years of experience on the battlefield.


    But what if I were facing two enemies who were each worth five hundred soldiers?


    I saw it now. These men were not merely amateurs. Like me, they did not make clumsy movements. Every strike and parry calculated, not a moment wasted.


    "Hmph! Not bad."


    I had said that but I was finding it harder to land a blow every time a minute passed. Although this wasn''t something I couldn''t take. Of course, I''d fought greater foes before.


    But this felt different. They evaded my attacks without much effort, as though they''d predicted each of my movements. As though they had known my fighting style and had memorized every detail of it.


    As though they''d spent a long time studying me.


    They were assassins, yes. And trained just for me. Carefully honed to someday end the Empress of Solaria.


    The realization came a moment too late.


    There was a whoosh in the air, followed by the breaking of glass.


    Too quick.


    I paused and looked down. Then I saw a bloody tip of an arrow jutting out of my chest, ripping through flesh and bone.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Red bloomed on my white nightgown. Like a rose laid upon a marble floor.


    I whirled and saw a hole in the window, tiny cracks branching out on glass.


    I chuckled. "So that''s what you''ve been trying to do. You bastards let me know you were here on purpose. Then you cornered me to my very own window. For your archer to take a clear shot. What fine distractions you make."


    "I suggest you save your energy for your last words, Empress." One spat.


    "If you think that I can be brought down by a mere arrow, then you are horribly mistaken¡ª"


    Pain throbbed all over my body. It was a kind of pain that made sure every single part of me stung and ached.


    "As you can see, it is not just a ''mere arrow''." said the other.


    "Clever," my voice wavered but I stood straighter. "Yet this will not be my end."


    The assassins failed to notice that I was already coming.


    I was fueled by adrenaline. By the madness and the pain altogether.


    With two successive clean swings of my sword, I brought down the assailants. As fast as when lightning hit the earth.


    "I need to find an antidote." I murmured, dislodging the blade from the assassin''s body. My vision was already blurring, my head already spinning.


    With uncertain steps and the searing twinge brought by the arrow impaling me, I headed for the door.


    I halted, relief washing over me. A number of guards and a few of my trusted advisors stood by the doorway, blocking my path.


    The relief was short-lived.


    Because when another realization came to me, my blue eyes shifted into those of the stormy skies, darkening with rage.


    Between the huddle of the bodies on the threshold was Grand General Ethan Byront, flanked by my imperial advisers.


    "Grand General," I giggled manically, as if the burning sensation caused by the poisoned arrow was making me high. "My dearest Grand General. What a traitorous fiend you are."


    He clasped his arms behind his back, indifferent to his wounded ruler. "Your reign of tyranny ends now, Athelina." He raised a hand, face taunt with disgust. "Kill her."


    Tyrant. That was what everybody in the empire called me. Tyrant. A despicable tyrant.


    They weren''t entirely wrong.


    I pointed my sword at the Grand General, then at everyone else. Red liquid was still dripping from the blade.


    The soldiers and knights drew back.


    Even when it felt as if the ground was constantly moving below me. Even when my knees were wobbling. And even if the walls had started to cave in, anger flared in my heart. A strong, ravenous emotion that would last a hundred lifetimes.


    Was it because of the betrayal? Probably.


    But it was more because I''d never expected this to be how my life would end. Slain by the very people I''d trusted myself. Pathetic.


    So now, I lifted my sword to my once allies. Or were they ever my allies at all?


    "Come at me," I bared my teeth. "I refuse to die like this."


    I put up a good fight. Bodies of knights and imperial guards were scattered on my bedroom floor.


    My limbs hurt with every move, the poison settling ever deeper into my bones. Cold sweat ran down my brows and on my back. Chills began to spring up.


    I might as well have been a corpse at this point.


    I could feel it nearing now. My death. Inevitable, like the running of time. Or the flowing of a river.


    I thrust my sword toward my traitor of a Grand General, unsettling the knights and my advisers. They fidgeted in fear, as though I could actually harm them in this state I was in.


    ¡°I swear to the gods above.¡± I spat blood. ¡°You will never, ever claim Solaria.¡±


    He merely smirked. ¡°Farewell, you despicable tyrant. You do not sound so threatening when you¡¯re about to die. Kill her!¡±


    Sensing that I didn''t have any fight left in me, I let my knees give out and dipped my chin.


    A knight''s shadow stretched in front of me. I could feel a sword being raised above my head.


    My vision was blurring and I had lost all feeling. The sword was now inches away from my neck and unlike what people said, my entire life did not flash in my mind.


    Instead, someone else''s pair of eyes flashed before me. Both twinkling violets, polished amethyst gems.


    ''Ah. Why am I thinking about that person now?''


    The world blacked out.


    For some time, I had a vague sense of floating, of drifting away. Of being, weightless and unrestrained. I felt everything and nothing, awake yet asleep.


    Then I was dragged out of that weird but also comforting sensation.


    Someone was shaking me, so hard it could have dislocated my skull. And perhaps it did.


    For I woke up with a gasp, memories of the previous night filling me in.


    I rose into a sitting position. ''Was it all a dream after all?''


    I released a breath, thinking of all of it being just a dream. It was a nightmare I''d rather not experience again.


    My gaze shifted to the woman beside me who was still grasping my shoulders.


    My brows knotted in utter confusion."Who are you and why are you laying your hands on me?"


    The woman¡ªwho appeared to be in her mid thirties¡ªhuffed in annoyance.


    She smacked me on the head.


    I was so shocked that it took a while for what she''d done to me to sink in.


    The woman turned her back and began to blabber, hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. She began with a disappointed voice,


    "I do not know what I''m going to do with you, Clarisse Lorraine! I can''t figure out what I''m lacking as a parent! Your father and I are doing our utmost best to get us out of this hell! And here you are stuck in your dreams, no¡ªhere I am, stuck with an ungrateful daughter who''s also a shut-in. You know what? Why can''t you be like Lady Elizabeth? Aside from being pretty, she is the exact definition of elegance..."


    I ran my fingers through my hair, already planning to punish the servant who''d allowed a madwoman into my room.


    My hand froze midair. I brought my palm in front of me, strands of hair stuck between my fingers.


    It was the same color. But the wrong length.


    ''My hair couldn''t have grown this long overnight!''


    Panic gradually brimmed in my chest. I could feel the color draining out of my face.


    I scrambled out of the bed. Which I figured was not mine. The room, too. It had shrunk. And had become less fitting for an Empress, though it was still quite fancy and exquisite-looking.


    "What are you doing, you stupid daughter of mine?!" the woman yelled. "I''ve always refused to believe that you were crazy, Clary, but now I am very close to sending you to a mental asylum!"


    ''Where am I?'' I asked myself as I headed toward the full-length mirror, my feet surprisingly heavy with every stride.


    I, Athelina Solaria, the 15th ruler of the Solarian Empire, went stiff as a tomb. For the reflection I saw in the mirror was not mine.

 Chapter 2: The House of the Viscount

    I watched the woman pacing restlessly across the sitting room, occasionally disturbing the spills of golden sunlight entering through the window cracks. I had been reading a particularly good book, paired with a nice cup of warm tea when she had burst in.


    I decided I could not tolerate her passing in front of me, off and about. It made me lose my focus.


    I set down the book onto my lap, returned the teacup to its saucer and sighed.


    "Mother, will you ever stop? A marriage proposal will not magically appear out of thin air if you fret around like that. Calm down and sit."


    I''d become accustomed to calling her my mother. Though the reason why my soul came to this body after I died remained a mystery for me, I''d managed to come by and willed myself to get used to all this newness. Of course, it was quite tricky learning the habits of a twenty-year-old dead girl. But like I said, I managed.


    I was not the Empress anymore¡ªthat was for sure. Now, I am simply just a daughter of a noble family. Much to my great misfortune, this house was on the brink of ruin.


    The aristocratic family of Lorraine had lost nearly all its fortune thanks to the head of the family himself, Viscount Lorraine. Due to his gambling addiction, he had accumulated piles of debt. As an act of desperation, he invested in shady business deals and loans.


    Well, what would you expect?


    He got scammed and was swindled out of his own money. Pretty dumb if you ask me.


    And the solution my new parents had thought of was the most typical decision every noble house resorts to when they find themselves at the edge of the cliff of destruction.


    Marriage.


    They thought they could save themselves and the family if they wedded off their only daughter to some random lord. But with the sorry-looking zeroes in the dowry they could offer, the gentlemen frowned and would shy away at any given opportunity, choosing instead to discard their pretense at politeness and formality.


    Lady Lorraine, the lady of the house or should I say mother, was now facing me. She glowered at me, hands planted on her hips. "What did you just say? No daughter raises her voice at me like that!"


    I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I lifted my gaze to meet hers, filled with the unyielding fire befitting of a ruler.


    It was not as though I hated this present life. In fact, I have been nothing but grateful to be given this second one. But this woman made me think otherwise.


    Viscountess Lorraine had made no effort to think of another way to solve our current problem. She''d been acting like a normal noblewoman. Attending social gatherings and parties as if the servants in her house weren''t slowly leaving.


    It took some convincing and kind words from me to make a few stay. Even though I wasn''t certain, I promised them that my family would find a way out of this. That last month''s pay will surely come. And the month before that.


    "You are not actually worried about me, the family, or the house. You''re concerned with what the other ladies will say about you, what with the condition we are in right now. But that''s assuming they haven''t talked behind your back yet." I smiled sweetly. "So sit down, Mother. You are disrupting my reading."


    "Y-you! What... you!"


    I almost laughed. "At a loss for words, Mother?"


    She was fuming, already red as apples. "Clarisse Lorraine, you and your preposterous mouth! You ought to learn respect, young woman¡ª"


    "What does respect have to do with you?"


    "Why, you insolent brat! This is exactly why no one wants you. Why girls your age avoid you. And why boys refuse to court you. You are one of the reasons why we are in this mess! If you''d have been much kinder and sweeter, you would have caught yourself a husband by now!"


    I rose from the chair, the economics book dropping onto the floor with a thud. Clarisse¡¯s shelves were lined with nothing but books containing topics of economy, politics, business and the like. It spoke a lot about her and her interests.


    "Right, blame me all you want! But Mother, I have no friends not because of the reasons you speak of. I am like this because it is my choice. I love to be alone with my books. You cannot chide me for being different." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    At moments like this, it might seem like I was speaking up for the original owner of this body. Maybe I was. It didn''t matter. The previous Clary didn''t deserve those words.


    She was a timid girl. I could tell. I could also tell that she was sick of her life.


    Apparently, she had left a diary before killing herself. Yes, it was suicide. And perhaps my wandering soul simply chanced upon her empty body.


    The diary was filled with depressing notes that had talked about her depressing life. With parents like hers, I couldn''t say I was surprised. I had skipped to her last entry. Since it felt wrong to know her personal secrets. I should at least offer a sense of privacy to a dead girl.


    Her last entry made my heart sink: "You were my last sliver of light in this dark world. But now, there is only darkness. I am sick of it all. Wherever I might go after this, I know I will be at peace."


    Whoever "you" meant could have been a lover of some sort. Although I suspected her mother and father knew nothing of it. Now it was all buried in the past.


    It had been two years since the Empress of Solaria died. And two months ago, I found myself waking up as an entirely different person. Right then, I had decided to treasure this body.


    For the previous Clarisse Lorraine, I would take care of it. And that included not allowing people to talk badly of her. This could count speaking up for myself as well.


    And just as I previously said, I was still learning the habits of the old Clary. I would not perfectly act as her old self this early in the game.


    "Yelling again, Rebecca? That is not good for your heart, you know."


    My father came striding into the sitting room, fixing his silk cravat as he headed straight for the mirror.


    "Arthur! Listen to me, Clary has been acting strangely these days! It''s as if she''s been possessed by an evil demon! Do you suppose we should take her to a healer or something?"


    Arthur''s brows furrowed while eyeing me. I crossed my arms.


    "She seems fine."


    I nodded. "Yeah, and you''d need an exorcist and not a healer if that were true."


    He shrugged and went back to the mirror. "Clary''s been having a different behavior during the past months. I almost thought my daughter had a lover and we could get out of this hellhole. Turns out that wasn''t the case."


    My lips curled downward. "I am not some item on display that you can simply sell at the last minute."


    The Viscount ran his fingers through his fading dark-blue hair. "Of course not. You are my daughter. Who would have had better marriage chances if she smiled more."


    I could see the triumph printed on Rebecca''s face. No wonder Clary wanted to die.


    One might wonder why¡ªthat even with the skills and knowledge I possessed as Solaria¡¯s Empress¡ªI had not assisted them in salvaging the family¡¯s fortunes and reputation. Oh, I am capable enough, all right. But I refused to do so.


    They are sick, and therefore, do not deserve any ounce of help from me.


    My eyes fell on my father''s pocket. Looking closely, it looked like¡ª


    I bit my cheek to prevent a devilish grin from escaping. "Where are you off to, Father?"


    "Hmm? Oh, I''m going to Baron Littleton''s manor. See if his son is interested in marrying my lovely girl."


    I tilted my head. "Really? You''re not going to the club five alleys away?"


    He snorted. Too forceful to be normal. "No, of course not, my dear!"


    "Truly? Then what''s Mother''s necklace doing in your pocket?"


    The Viscountess gasped. She was quick to snatch the sapphires from Father''s pants. She held the necklace in the air. "Arthur, you fiend! No wonder my jewelry have been missing as of late!"


    He raised his hands, fumbling for words. "Y-you don''t understand! I... I don''t know why it got there!"


    Normally, I would leave them to fight like kittens and head to my bedroom. But today, someone joined in.


    A maid knocked on the door. "My lord, there is a messenger from the palace."


    My blood went cold. I began to tremble, balling my fists so it would not show. Why would there be a messenger from the palace?


    It was said that Kazriel, my older brother, became Emperor after I was gone. I¡¯d much prefer it if it were our youngest who took the crown. Elian was better than Kazriel in more ways than one, at least he was not gullible. Cynthia, too¡ªmy younger sister¡ªwas a lot deserving of the title despite her disinterest on political matters.


    Kazriel, that treacherous brother, no doubt he conspired with Grand General Ethan on my assassination.


    Did he find out about me somehow? No, he couldn''t have. That was impossible.


    But what if Kazriel did come up with the knowledge that I was here? Knowing him, he wouldn''t want a threat to his rule. With this helpless body, I could never stand a chance!


    Why was it that when I thought that the ghosts of my past would not destroy my newfound peaceful life, they somehow managed to claw their way back to me? I had grown rather fond of doing nothing, ruling nothing. Away from the wary and deceitful eyes of the court, away from their schemes.


    Breathe. I had to breathe. Perhaps this was not what I thought it was.


    "Tell them to come in," said the Viscount.


    Mother was still complaining about him stealing from her jewelry box.


    A man I was not familiar with came inside. Perhaps Grand General Ethan killed all the servants who were loyal to me that night. A chill slithered down my spine with the memory.


    After bowing, he went straight to what he wanted to say. The man did not bother with pleasantries.


    "I have come to tell you that His Royal Highness, Elian Solaria, youngest son of the former Emperor of Solaria, has proposed to marry the only daughter of Viscount Lorraine."


    The walls caved in.