I would never allow them to treat another species the way they had treated us. And we were a rich and powerful species. What would they do to someone far less powerful?
Slak disappeared the moment he left the defense control room in the palace. Perhaps he’d taken another secret passageway, one even I wasn’t aware of, but either way, he was now gone. Still, I felt uneasy with him out there, hatching his plans and running his spindly fingers through his long white beard.
I dispatched a special unit of trackers to comb the heavens, discover his location, and bring him to me.
So far, they had been thwarted.
No one had seen a ship take off after the Changelings ran with their tails between their legs. It meant the traitor could still be out there somewhere. I wouldn’t fully relax until he was locked safely away behind bars.
I received many messages of thanks for sending my message of support to the empire. I had never sent a letter personally before and they appreciated it greatly.
It was Hazel’s idea.
I smiled at the thought of her and everything we had achieved together. The empire would not be the way it now was if it wasn’t for her. I dreaded to think what my life would be like without her.
I would likely still be in the hospital, dead and dying after the initial Changeling attack, or else drowned in the river or dead from the frost in the forest.
I was nothing without her.
With Slak gone, I was left with a gang of rotten advisors. I knew they must have played some part in Slak’s traitorous plans but none would ever admit to it. Their undoing turned out to be their own natures.
They were quick to blame every other member of the council. The best part was, they each had evidence on the others in case such as occasion transpired and they needed collateral to play against the other members.
Through their deceit and dishonesty, they provided enough evidence for them all to be convicted and sent to jail.
I stripped them of their position, rank, and titles and gave them to the Titan chieftains instead. Qi wasn’t happy with the promotion as it didn’t involve cracking skulls or destroying their enemies.
He changed his mind when I told him he could crack skulls—only with laws instead of cudgels. He was much happier after that.
I was surprised to find Hazel interested in taking up one of the positions herself. Health advisor caught her eye.
I was unsure at first, as it was highly unusual for a female—and a non-Titan—to take up the position.
But she insisted.
She could be very… persuasive when she wanted to be.
The senior doctors and nurses weren’t happy with her being appointed until they discovered she was a nurse and she had a very close connection to me. No doubt they had heard a rumor, something Hazel hadn’t realized yet.
But she would discover it very soon. In fact, I intended on telling her tonight.
It was a week after the Changelings’ defeat that I took her to one side and suggested we take a break and enjoy a nice meal in the evening.
“I have some ideas I want to share with you about the health situation in the empire too,” she said.
I couldn’t believe someone so beautiful could be so smart. She never stopped thinking and was up late into the night reading books on our history and physiology. She pumped me for funds that would go to the honest and hardworking doctors and nurses in the empire.
She pumped me very often.
And she pumped very hard.
We ate our meal on the balcony of the apartment we shared in the upper reaches of the second tallest tower. Hazel decided my usual rooms on the other side of the palace—which were still being rebuilt—didn’t have the best views.
I had no preference.
So long as I was with her, I didn’t care.
We took a seat at the dining table and a servant poured us each a glass of Titan wine. She’d grown accustomed to its flavor already, and it didn’t have the same effect on her as it did most alien species.
Each time I looked at her, I worried the next words out of her mouth would be that she wanted to return home. Despite telling me she no longer loved her fiancé—in fact, that she never had—I still feared she might change her mind and decide to go back to her people.
I didn’t mind if she chose to visit friends and family. I would even go with her. But I simply couldn’t bear the idea of losing her.
It was just too painful.
“I have something I want to ask you,” I said.
I took a Healer’s Touch flower petal from my pocket and got to my knees before her. She seemed confused. I suppose she hadn’t learned about what a wedding proposal looked like in Titan culture yet.
“A Titan is sworn to honor,” I said. “His heart knows only kindness. His blade defends the weak. His might upholds the helpless. His word speaks only truth. His wrath destroys the wicked.”
She frowned, very confused.
“That’s… very nice,” she said.
“We call it the unbreakable pledge,” I said. “It’s what Titans say when they give the emperor their word that they’ll follow me no matter what. It’s a pledge they will keep or pay for breaking it with their lives. As the emperor, I’ve never said these words to anyone. And I hope I’ll never have to say them to anyone else ever again. They’re the words an emperor says when he proposes to his fated mate.”
Tears began filling her eyes soon after I started.
“Are you… Are you asking me…?” she said through halting words.
“Hazel,” I said, “will you do me the honor of being my empress?”
The word “empress” took her by surprise.
I suppose it wasn’t every day someone asked you to rule over sixty billion Titans. Although she was touched, she took a moment to take a sip of her wine and then placed
