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“Emperor, you can’t… The GTU will sanction us, they will—” Lady Madeema stepped forward.
“Let them.” Daryus shrugged. “I’m done bending to their will and watching thousands of mekarries for my people die. I will not stand by this another tick. I am the head of the Pandraxian Empire, the mightiest force in the universe, and I order you, Superior Commander Callicapos, to destroy the Cryon presence on Earth.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. It was Lady Madeema again who interrupted it. “The Cryons will ally themselves with the Moggadesh, the GTU will put sanctions on us. We cannot fight everyone at every front.”
“Nocc, you can’t”—Xandros gave her a derisive sneer—“but I will.”
He turned in a circle, staring at his friends, ignoring Lady Madeema. “The GTU will do nothing at first, just like they always do. The Cryons will come screaming at them, demanding retribution. I will offer the Cryons a place in my empire.”
“Nocc!” cried Garth and Xandros at the same time, while Lady Madeema remained quiet.
Daryus lifted his hand. “We will embrace our new friendship with King Crough and then we will confront him with Sir Priough’s testimony. As a member of the Pandraxian Empire, they’re bound to our laws, not the GTU’s, ours. And as such they will be in direct violation of so many codes it will make their heads spin. As King Crough’s overlord, I will send a delegation, led by my superior commander to Colynth to report all the atrocities they find, and free all the species they are unlawfully detaining.”
Tears formed in my eyes as silence fell over our group. Silla threw me a surprised glance, looking startled, pleased, filled with hope—all exactly how I felt.
“I will relay the orders straight away, Emperor.” Xandros bowed deeply, his holographic eyes shone with intensity and murderous intent to do just that. All that was missing was him rubbing his hands together and chuckling like a villain. But he wasn’t a villain, he would be like an avenging angel, finally taking the Cryons down, freeing whoever was left on Earth.
“That is sheer genius, Emperor.” Garth nodded his head in appreciation. “Sheer genius.”
“I am glad I could be of service,” Lady Madeema chimed in. “We will keep Sir Priough confined and—”
“We will do no such thing, Lady Madeema.” Daryus coldly turned to her. “You will have all the time in the universe to ponder your betrayal to me in your cell! While I will do what I should have done from the moment Garth reported having found his mekarry.”
“Mekarry.” Lady Madeema rolled her eyes. “You need me.”
“Nocc.” Daryus gave her a once-over. “I never needed you. You were an asset to me, but that wasn’t enough for you.”
“Why did you lie about Sir Priough having been shot down?” Xandros wanted to know.
“She would have used him to blackmail me to make her my empress,” Daryus stated dryly.
“You are too blind to see the value in that union,” Lady Madeema spat, raising her chin high into the air.
“Guards,” Daryus called out, “take her to a cell. Nobody is to talk to her besides me.”
“Vra, Emperor.”
Lady Madeema gave one more derisive snort at Daryus, and me a spiteful once-over, and followed the guards.
“Is it just me or did the air quality improve?” Xandros joked.
Which was funny because he was only a hologram, the only one in here who wasn’t able to smell anything.
“Don’t you have a job to do, Superior Commander?” Daryus asked.
“Vra, Emperor.” Xandros didn’t look contrite, he was too eager to fulfill his emperor’s orders.
“The council is gonna piss themselves,” Garth warned.
“Let them, What’s done is done, they’ll get over it.” Daryus grinned, then winked at Garth. “Sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.”
I imagined there was a private joke between them that I didn’t get, but Silla winked at me as well, so she must have been in on it too.
“Garth said that when he took me from the Cryons,” she explained.
Just as Garth had predicted, the council did piss themselves when I confronted them with the done deal. Protests were voiced and threats were made. Eventually though, they grudgingly agreed to extend an invitation to the Cryons to become the newest addition to our empire, in order to smooth things over with the Cryons and the GTU.
I offered an official apology, announced that my famous temper had once again gotten the better of me and that Xandros had only followed his orders.
