The Storm King
Chapter 1205: King and Emperor

In the Voidspace of the Demetrion cluster hovered seven fleets. With them were five legions totaling one hundred thousand warriors laden into transport arks, though only two of those legions would be moving on; the rest would stay to garrison the Demetrion cluster. Five fleets, likewise, would escort those two legions while the remaining two fleets would garrison and patrol Demetrion, ensuring that the cluster remained free of piracy and that the locals remained loyal to the throne.

For the size of Demetrion, these were small fleets even if they were large in an absolute sense. Sixty thousand warriors, likewise, weren’t much to ensure the peace in a planar cluster of several billion, but Leon was betting they would keep the peace long enough to integrate the entire cluster into his Kingdom and begin recruiting locally, which would offset that manpower deficiency.

Nine Planarchs ruled these planes in his name, with help from the local power structures. Combined with the military presence, he was confident that the peace he brought following the conquest would hold while he was off expanding the Kingdom. And given what Anzu had just reported to him, he needed to move quickly.

The Empire that ruled the three-plane cluster next on his list was in turmoil; Anzu had witnessed their arks ripping each other apart in a battle of great magnitude. Hundreds of arks that they could’ve used to resist his fleets were now scrap in the Void. Whether this Empire would surrender or resist, their bargaining position had been greatly weakened with this loss in strength.

Despite this good news, Leon still decided on one of the more conservative strategies proposed by Anshu and the fleet commanders. That this Empire had almost a thousand arks in that battle alone startled the hells out of him, even if the average size and strength of those arks were well beneath his own. It was just smart to approach slowly and control the battlefield rather than approach arrogantly and be unduly bloodied given the obvious strength disparity.

As a result, when Leon’s fleet departed Demetrion, they didn’t aim to emerge close to the cluster, but instead to appear hundreds of thousands of miles out in the black. This was a greater organizational hurdle for the commanders to surmount, but it also let them regroup in safety after the inevitable scrambling of their formation that followed these Void jumps.

Storm Herald and the rest of her ancient Thunderbird ark escort emerged right where they were expected to, while the rest of the five fleets were spread out over tens of thousands of miles of Voidspace. A day at least was required to regroup, and it was during that day that Clear got in contact with them. Thankfully, some of Tikos’ largest comm lotuses were installed into Storm Herald enabling communication over such a large distance.

It took another day for Clear to arrive, and Leon met him in Storm Herald’s largest hangar—though even that wasn’t nearly as large as even those built into the older carriers in the armada. Still, it was large enough for its purpose, and Clear had more than enough room to fly into the ark, carrying with him within a sphere of light two other figures—Yun, the nominal Emperor in this cluster, and Zhang, his bodyguard.

As Clear retracted his sphere of light, Leon closely inspected the other two, as did his Tempest Knights, Anzu, Daryun, Red, and Anshu, along with the other few dozen high-ranking officers on Storm Herald that accompanied him down to greet Clear.

Both Zhang and Yun appeared tired and winded from the day’s journey through the Void despite being carried by Clear, but the bodyguard appeared far more put together than his Emperor. Yun himself, despite his shaky legs and relatively low tier, struck the more imposing figure, however. He was shorter than Leon, and slighter too, with softer features and an aristocratically pale complexion. Yet he carried himself with grace and dignity, holding his head high and striding forward with as much confidence as he could manage after the journey and under the pressure of so many higher-tier auras.

Zhang, meanwhile, seemed put quite on edge, his dark eyes flitting back and forth across the line of Leon’s assembled knights and officers, evaluating each one of them for the threat they posed, and seemingly growing paler and less relaxed with every second that passed. He hurriedly followed his Emperor despite this, and refrained from speaking out of turn, deferring entirely to his much weaker Emperor.

‘Such adherence to duty is rare to see,’ Leon thought with an internal smile. He kept his face stoically blank, even as his estimation of Yun’s grit rose slightly in light of his determination and poise.

About twenty feet from Leon, the two halted, allowing Clear Day to easily pass them by. Clear extended a hand in greeting, and Leon gratefully clasped it, not caring how the familiar gesture would appear to the Emperor now watching him closely.

“Your Majesty,” Clear quietly whispered.

“Your endeavors continue to succeed, I see,” Leon observed.

“Quite so,” Clear replied. He held out a Stone of Many Tongues, which Leon took and unhesitatingly pressed against his forehead. A sharp, momentary pain followed, after which the closest thing to a common language within the ‘Empire of the Heavens-Blessed Planes’ took root in his mind.

“Please,” Clear Day continued in this language, the words sounding alien despite how clearly Leon could now understand their meaning, “introduce yourselves to my King.”

Yun took two steps forward and Leon handed the Stone of Many Tongues off to Anzu beside him, intending for the stone to make its way down the line and ensuring that all of his entourage could understand the language, even if they missed some of the opening dialogue.

For a moment, Leon and Yun stared at each other, vermilion unwaveringly meeting gold. Seven tiers and Apotheosis itself separated them, but Yun stood proudly before Leon, almost defiantly, with all the dignity of a monarch. His clothes were torn and ragged, his black hair was matted and tangled, and no small amount of dirt was splotched on his face, but Leon appreciated the sight—it showed that Yun quite literally wasn’t above getting dirty if the situation demanded it. After that moment passed, Yun spoke clearly and concisely.

“I am Yun, Emperor of the Three Great Stars, the three Heavens-Blessed Planes. I thank you for your hospitality.”

‘Grandiose,’ Leon thought with amusement, ‘but not nearly so much as others…’

“I am Leon Raime,” he responded. “I welcome you aboard Storm Herald.”

He broke ranks with his entourage and approached Yun. Zhang stepped forward to intercept, but Yun waved him back, showing clear and endearing bravery in the face of Leon’s advance. Fortunately for him, Leon meant him no harm.

Leon clapped his shoulder, smiled, and said, “Come on in, rest, get comfortable! Let’s talk in a few hours when we’re all ready to posture and use ten words when five would do!”

The ghost of a smile flashed across Yun’s face, and he nodded in acceptance. Leon waved forward a few attendants and had his two new guests assigned quarters close to his own. They were led away, Yun continuing to show as much dignity as possible while Zhang kept his head on a swivel, checking anywhere and everywhere for threats to his Emperor.

Clear’s power brushed against Leon’s mental defenses, and he let the tau in.

[That went well,] the red-eyed tau stated.

[Well compared to your expectations?] Leon responded with a shallow grin.

[Well for… everyone involved. Nothing is guaranteed when an Emperor meets a King.]

[Day’s not over yet, Clear; plenty of time for this shit to drop faster than a diving eagle.]

[Hm. A crude metaphor, but I take your point. Let’s make sure this shit doesn’t drop…]

Leon nodded, and with his entourage, he and Clear Day made their way to a conference room close to his and Yun’s quarters. Before any talks could begin, everyone had to get on the same page, and more than that, Clear had to tell them everything that happened in detail after departing from Anzu’s ark…

---

“I don’t trust them,” Zhang stated quietly once the doors were closed.

Yun sighed from the bathroom. Their quarters were sizable despite space being at a premium on an ark, even an ark of this spectacular size, more than enough for two people. Their bathroom, especially, was of enviable size, and Yun wanted to make good use of it to get clean and relax while he was still able to before he faced one of the biggest challenges of his life. He began running a bath, the water enchantments bringing hot, fresh, clear water from seemingly nowhere and filling the large tub in moments.

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“Trust them to look out for their own best interests,” Yun said as he undressed and quickly began washing with a nearby marble basin—he didn’t want to soak in dirty water, after all.

Zhang, dutifully taking up a position just outside the bathroom door, replied, “Their best interests might see us killed.”

“Their best interest would see me as a political puppet,” Yun corrected. “It’s our job to make them see otherwise. To see that leaving us alone is worth more than anything else.”

“That… I don’t see how that’s possible…”

Yun froze, half-clean, the knowledge that the eunuchs and their cronies were marching through his palace unhindered, ruling in his name despite trying to kill him.

‘Or perhaps they’re being honest with the people and setting up a new Emperor? Wouldn’t that be something…? They’ve certainly killed enough of the Void Corps that a naked coup isn’t out of the question…’

His hands went back to scrubbing off the dirt and grime of his flight from Jiaxing. Changing the subject, he asked his most loyal servant, “What did you make of him? Of them?”

“Powerful enough to listen in on us if they wished.”

“Hm. But are they weak enough to bother?”

“Elevated One?”

“Zhang!”

“I… Yun…”

“Better. Now… if they’re strong enough, if this King is strong enough, he might not care how we strategize as he’d be in a dominant position no matter what strategy we settle on. Do you believe he’s that strong?”

“… Clear Day is stronger than I am. Post-Apotheosis, easily.”

“He brought us through the Void, so I’d say that’s easy enough to believe.”

“Yes. And he swears loyalty to this King. I also sensed another back there who’d achieved Apotheosis, and she seemed to pay deference to Leon Raime, too. That entire room was filled with mages of concerning power, each able to turn over an entire country just by flipping their hand if they so chose. And Leon Raime is the master of them all. His strength is… significantly greater than ours…”

Yun breathed deeply as he lowered himself into the hot water and did his best to relax—a feat of herculean proportions given what Zhang was saying.

“Not promising,” he neutrally stated. “Fighting against the forces they have wouldn’t be easy even if we hadn’t had to come here through a cloud of bodies and debris that, just a few days ago, were loyal defenders of the Empire. However… we are their best bet to gain three planes with minimal effort. The only question left is what does the dragon have to give to pacify the eagle?”

“Are you… thinking of abdication?” Zhang’s voice trembled, his hesitation speaking far louder than his words did.

“Would you support me if I said yes?” Yun asked.

A short pause followed, but Zhang eventually said, “Yes.”

“Thank you, my friend. I’ll be honest with you, then. I don’t want to die. I want to keep my Empire. But of these two, I’d rather live than remain an Emperor. I’ll do what I have to kill my family’s enemies, to rid the Empire of those damned eunuchs, to see their heads placed on spikes above the Imperial Gates… But I don’t see how that’s possible anymore, not without help. Leon Raime can conquer the Empire, and there isn’t much we can do to stop him, so… with all that’s happened… what choices do we have left?”

“… Many would expect their Emperor to lay down his life for his Empire.”

“How many of them are dead, their bodies interred in the Void? How many of those with expectations for their Emperor are now feasting in my palace like pigs in a tiger’s den? Even if I reclaim my throne and retain my independence, who can I trust? What left is there for me to rule? Who would accept me? I don’t have easy answers, but I know that I can expect a poisoned blade in my back at some point. Yes, I am thinking of abdication, though I haven’t decided on it. If Leon Raime demands it, then it had better be a compelling argument…”

“What do you want from him?” Zhang pointedly asked.

“Security, ideally. If we could be allies, that would be best. For me, at least, I’m not sure he’d agree. Failing that, giving him tribute to leave us alone would be second-best. Annexation by his Kingdom is pretty far down the list compared to those two.”

“Dragons do not bend their knees easily…” Zhang stated proudly.

“We are not dragons,” Yun soberly replied as he closed his eyes. “We only pretend that we are.”

Silence fell for a few more minutes, both of them losing themselves in thought. Yun eventually broke the silence, saying, “Clear Day said that King Leon might be able to fix your spear. I’ll ask him to do so.”

“Yun, you can’t! I’ll take responsibility for it, it’s the spear of my ancestors! To ask my Emperor to indebt himself with a foreigner would be—”

“For a friend and loyal retainer, one who has been charged with my personal safety, it is the least I can do,” Yun sternly responded, his voice hard as iron and brooking no argument; Zhang quieted his disagreement.

“I… am indebted to you, Yun.”

“You have earned it. If you disagree, then you can repay me as you have always done: with your friendship and good, loyal service. Now, let’s rest as much as we can. We have a King to impress…”

---

Leon stoically watched as Yun and Zhang were escorted into a small sitting room close to his quarters. Unlike the meeting in the hangar, he wasn’t meeting them with dozens of his retainers at his side, but instead only with Anzu, Red, and Anshu. Clear Day joined them after escorting the Emperor and his guard to the room, leaving the seven of them alone with each other.

Once the doors were closed behind them, Clear crossed the room to sit with Leon. He now had a fairly good idea of Yun’s current situation, and he couldn’t help but feel rather bad for the young man. He knew well how terrible it was to be attacked in his own home. But that wasn’t going to be enough to have him turning around and leaving; he had an objective for coming so far, and he wasn’t turning his armada around until they’d achieved operational success.

In a show of admirable and endearing wisdom, Yun began their negotiations plainly and straightforwardly.

“King Leon… let us not mince words. Why have you come here? What do you want?”

Leon’s lips twitched upward, and he conjured a map of the region of the Void that Yun’s Empire found itself in, the relatively sparse zone between a pair of enormous strands of planar clusters around it.

“Your Empire lies between my Kingdom and the planes that my banners will soon fly over. Its strategic value is… significant, especially so given your Empire’s population and wealth. It would be a great boon to my Kingdom.”

“And if my Empire would prefer to retain her current Emperor?” Yun pressed, his face mirroring Leon’s stoic dispassion despite coming perilously close to speaking of his own dethronement.

“Then we’ll have conflict,” Leon stated simply. “I want these three planes to act as a waystation for my fleets and for her people to contribute to my Kingdom. It’s that simple.” Yun looked like he wanted to say something, but Leon continued regardless, cutting straight to the point. “Emperor Yun, I will make you a generous offer. Accept me as your overlord, and I will make you Prince of these planes. In effect, little will change; you can run these planes as you’d like. But you will answer to me, you will host some of my fleets, and your citizens will become citizens of my Kingdom, too. There will be other nuances, too, that we can get into, but right now, I assure you that the position would come with significant autonomy. I don’t want to deprive you of your home, I just want these planes to meet my limited demands.”

Yun stared blankly, apparently taken aback at Leon’s offer. His bodyguard, meanwhile, looked outright stunned. Leon could understand; it was a generous offer.

“I believe you have a problem with dissidents in your Kingdom,” Leon continued. “As my vassal, I would, of course, help in restoring you to your former position. As a Prince, not an Emperor, but with almost all of your old powers returned to you. What do you say?”

“You… this is… You ask me to give up my Empire? And just accept?”

There was some anger there, but Leon didn’t think it was all that genuine. Yun’s tone was wooden and almost performative, as if he were simply playing the part out of obligation than actual belief.

“No,” Leon replied as his lips spread into a confident smile. “I can’t ask you to give something up that you do not currently possess.”

Yun visibly grimaced while Zhang pointedly glared at him.

Leon continued, “Is my offer so onerous? Is your pride so great that you wouldn’t accept me as your overlord? You are a guest of mine and free to leave whenever you please, but based on what I know of your situation, there aren’t many places you could go if you did. But I’m offering to give everything back to you in exchange for little. What is vassalization, nominal tributes, shared citizen rolls, and basing rights compared to three entire planes?”

“You said there was more than that,” Yun pointed out, his tone choked and unsteady.

“I am no slaver,” Leon stated definitively. “There are other laws I feel strongly about. I would expect all of my vassals to follow those laws, few in number though they are. Are your people slavers?”

Yun looked a bit conflicted for a moment before answering, “No.”

Leon nodded slowly. He was sure there was some nuance there, but Yun was likely telling the truth, at least about blatant slavery.

“Good. So, what say you to my offer?”

“I… I would have to think on it. I wanted to negotiate an alliance with you, but your offer of vassalization is… not an easy thing to accept.”

“Of course, the pride of an Emperor is no easy thing to give up. But do decide quickly; my fleets draw ever closer to your Empire. Should it fall completely into my hands before you’ve decided… the deal may change.”

Yun stood frozen for several seconds, his eyes flitting all over the room but not lingering on anything in particular. Zhang, meanwhile, hovered over his shoulder, his black eyes focusing on Leon, Clear, Anzu, Anshu, and Red in turn, still as a statue otherwise. His aura was tense, however, taut as a drawn bowstring, ready to burst out into violence at a moment’s notice.

“I… would be amenable to such a deal,” Yun stated, surprising Leon to no small degree. “But first, let me state clearly: I want my palace back. I want the traitors in my Empire dead. I want control over these planes restored to me. If you can do this, then I will acknowledge you as my King and accept a demotion to Prince. This price is easy. But before we go any further, let us discuss more of these ‘nuances’.”

Leon grinned and nodded, waving Clear to take over in the same breath, then momentarily projected his magic senses out into the Void. Getting Yun to agree was easier than expected, but he supposed that was a result of the situation the young man found himself in. Corpses and ark debris choked the skies above Yun’s Empire, but there were still several hundred arks scrambling to form a defensive formation as his armada crept closer and closer.

Yun accepting was the easy part; actually taking the Empire was still going to take some doing…