The remainder of our week long journey was a quiet one, without much disruption or surprise, until that is, we reached the corridor of the lands beyond the Hadrian Mountains, the Broken Gate Pass and the centuries old fortress that guards it.

"Bellerophon?!" I called out in both surprise and joy, to the ashen beast lazily laying upon the ramparts of the southern sentinel, causing it's feline eyes to sharply open, before it then leapt upon me with an excitedly playful spirit, it's now massive wings fully spread, as it tackled me to the floor and started smothering me in a wave of eager rubs and purrs, grappling me with an intensity that portrayed both his gratified pleasure and pining resentment, after my many long absences.

A furry strangulation I was only saved from, when Cyrus called out to the clingy Chimera King a moment later, his well worn eyes brightening after days without rest in the unforgiving desert, with his voice ladened with the tired proof of this ordeal "Bell!"

And upon hearing the voice of his second favoured person, the quickly growing beast freed me, and humorously delivered the same judgement upon both my brothers, careful it's razor sharp horns and claws did not harm them, a distinction he only afforded them knowing that my body was far stronger than there's.

"It is generally a tame beast, so when it stubbornly refused to remain no matter who called out to it; even spurning her majesty the empress' command, as it continued to follow us here, we were all both surprised and helpless to stop it." The distinct voice of non-other than my minister of justice sounded out at that moment, as he and a small procession of his scribes and aids, followed shortly by the commander of the keep and his officers trickled forth from within the opened fortress gates.

"Ashtad." I said, my voice shedding it's earlier shock and happiness at reuniting with Bellerophon, to once again don the steel of imperial authority.

"My emperor." And he in return, leading all the others, bowed in greeting.

"I did not expect us to meet here." I commented, walking up to them, as they slowly rose.

"Neither did I, sire, but a stroke of good luck and a superior's command, made it so." He replied, in his characteristically stern voice, as he rummaged through his white robes, and pulled out a hefty stack of paper, tightly wound with a sturdy rope.

Taking the clutch of parchment from his hand, I quickly delved into my memories to ascertain the original purpose of his presence, before asking with a knowing tone "You are heading south to oversee the finalizing steps of the newly built Grand Judiciary in the Emperor's Reach?"

"Indeed I am, my liege. This will be the first great courthouse of the empire south of the Hadrians, I would consider it a sin, as the justice minister not to be present at it's grand opening." He replied with zeal, his fanatic love and belief in the word of law, once again shinning through his strict exterior, before he then regained the reigns of his passion, and explained "His grace, the Grand Vizier and her majesty, the empress, both bid me give you these as soon as you arrive at the pass."

I nodded in response, as I quickly unravelled and skimmed through the papers he'd been ordered to give me, some of which were reports from Isaac and Darius, while the rest of them were clearly personal letters penned down by my mother and siblings.

Peeling my eyes off of them, I turned to my retinue and decreed "We will take a day's rest."

"Oh, thank the Gods!" Cyrus euphorically whispered, a sentimentality shared by many within the party, with the sole exceptions of Abraham, Hasdrubal, Leonid, Horus and a few others, since despite their elite status, strength and training; when confronted with a trek like the one we'd just done, any would tire if their skills are below that of the sixth level of power.

We then began to make our way through the stone walls, with each of my escorts and companions, taking the fortress commander's offer to a private room to rest in, with even the always proud Eve, who refused to show weakness before others so casually, being more than happy to accept the invitation.

"My liege, was that...?" Ashtad hesitantly asked, once Eve and Yara had taken their leave, following behind a couple of soldiers, who were tasked with guiding them to their quarters.

"She is your future empress." I calmly answered, not surprised that he was already aware of my recent relationship, as I suspected that word of it had reached the ears of every man, woman and child on Meathria by this point. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Which was what I also suspected my mother's letter to also pertain to, something I expect to share with Nizam, as he too had recently been betrothed.

I wouldn't even be surprised if within her letters, one of them was reserved solely for her yet unintroduced daughter in law.

Chuckling to myself at such a thought, I turned to my minister with a calm smile upon my face, as we entered the commander's office, and casually asked "I trust this sudden task hasn't delayed your mission by much minister?"

I asked not out of a mere desire for idle chatter, or a need to fill the empty silence between us, I asked because the completion of this specific administrative building would further cement our hold over the local peoples in a way no sword, tax official or agriculture officer could ever dream of; as it allowed our laws, and thus our very way of life, to more prominently permeate through their lives, bridging the gap between conquered and conqueror even further, something that would eventually only be remembered by the history books of ages past.

"Not at all, sire, I was already resting within the keep, when the messenger birds arrived with the Grand Vizier's and empress' letters. It truly was a stroke of good luck along with a superior's demand, that our paths happened to fortunately cross." He seriously answered, as both he and I took a seat opposite each other.

"Fortunately?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow, having caught on to the unspoken meanings within his words, realizing that though he had not lied to me about the manner of our sudden meeting, he had not told me the full motivations behind it, as I had now realized that he too had a matter of importance he wished to discuss with me today, and it was not a topic he seemed comfortable discussing, as he has been acting far more formal than he ordinarily would; which was absolutely absurd as the man was famous for speaking his mind when he thought he must, being bold enough to even lecture Darius Khan himself when he thought him neglectful or down right wrong on certain matters.

Taking a deep breath, feeling as though he had suddenly returned to his younger days of being a novice practitioner of law, and on the verge of undertaking his first trial, he said with the poise of a speech practiced a dozen times before hand "My emperor, though I know that you may fault me for speaking of this matter again, but I feel it my duty to once again stress the words I conveyed to you the day the Storm Kings heralds arrived with their invitation to the centennial celebration. War during the year of the Banquet is strictly forbidden under the Concordia Accords, and when discovered the ancient covenant does not allow, but demands the other signatories to not simply punish, but thoroughly annihilate the offending party! So for the sake of the empire and all it's many innocent peoples, I beg of you my liege, won't you, even in spite of the many apparent boons and benefits our empire would profit in this premature conflict, not reconsider your decision to continue treading upon this path of unlawfulness, that could leave us defenceless before the coming carrion, when they arrive with letters of condemnation and accusations?!" He finished his words as he bowed as far as his tired back would permit and slightly beyond that, until even his head dipped below his knees.

Looking at his pleading figure, that smelled of nothing but sincerity, I merely replied with a single, confident sentence "Then let them try."

"My emperor...!" Ashtad reeled back in exclamation, his eyes widened with indescribable shock, as he thought me joking for a moment.

Yet before he could continue his words, I interrupted him, coldly saying with a voice that held a paradoxical weight far too immense, ancient and horrifyingly despotic, yet undeniably wise and understanding of the human condition, to be uttered through a mortal mouth "You put too much stock in the word of law Ashtad, forgetting they were made by human hands for human need; and by human hands can they be interpreted, bent, twisted, and eventually unmade. And I will tell you now, my minister of justice, the time for the millennia old Accords has come, not because I willed it alone, but because an age of coming death and ruin, brought forth by none other than human desire and divine decree, would demand it."

Ashtad said nothing in reply for a moment, as I finished my words with the shadow of a cunning smirk drawing itself upon my lips "So you see, it matters little if I delay this coming war or not, what will remain relevant however, is how strong our teeth and how sharp our claws are when that fabled time finally arrives."

The mighty minister of justice remained in his chair, his mind reeling from such words, before his face then twisted into a mask of conflicted emotion, as though he was suddenly faced with an impossible decision, a test of faith and loyalty, that he had to make in this very moment, as he muttered to himself "I thought as much."

An ultimatum I had a fair degree of confidence I knew what it is, since very little could ever shake my always upright, and law obsessed minister; and thus I said nothing in reply to aid or influence his decision, awaiting his own personal verdict on the matter.

An answer that would not only determine the future of his ministry, but the longevity of his continued existence in this mortal plain.

And after a few moments of taught silence, his answer came with a kneel and a military officer's salute upon his chest "I shall pray for your swift victory, my liege."