Kapitel 386: Chapter VI: Meeting The Imperial Council
Bow your broken backs in supplication for another has paid (in blood and sweat of course) to reach the mighty mark of the manager, the house welcomes Watoru and hope they shall not falter.
But wait there is more!
Christopher Ryan Zellers has also attained freedom from the tunnels, may he bask in the sunlight while the rest toil!
Your usual serving of soup has been replaced with canned meat for the day, may it make you work ever harder!
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"Well now." I barely contain a sigh "That is... quite annoying."
"Understatement." A grumpy Minthara does not share in my restraint.
One might find themselves wondering as to what exactly brought us such frustration so early in the morning and the simple answer would be a rather large crowd gathered in front of my manor, all of them clamoring for some kind of attention or reason.
An expected outcome really, I mean why wouldn't they want to meet the supposed heroes and shake their hands and whatnot? And it would have been perfectly understandable if not for the tiny little fact that our location was supposed to be fucking hidden.
"Or at least not immediately obvious." I mutter, my annoyance slowly growing into irritation.
"Do you wish them removed, my Master?" Akulakhan questions bluntly.
"No" I shake my head, I really didn't like how he phrased 'removing' them, and turn to my right "Jackal, find out which asshole organized this and have them brought before me when we return."
He nods immediately but pauses "And what if they are of a... more elevated disposition."
My growing scowl twists into a cruel grin as I lean in and whisper "No one is untouchable."
"As it should be" He smirks under his mask.
With that arranged I turn to the current leader of my guard detail "Anondor, prepare an escort for us, make sure no one from the crowd is hurt but do not allow them to bog us down."
The Paladin of Auri-El inclines his head and begins barking out orders.
And by the time I was done organizing this, Minthara had already stepped out into the street and was talking to the various citizens of the Elven Gardens District and answering their questions with a surprising amount of patience.
To my surprise it took her only a few minutes and a couple of well spun excuses for the crowd to ever so slowly begin dispersing... just like that. I will admit, I did feel my eye twitch at the simple solution I had discarded out of hand.
"What?" The demigoddess raises an eyebrow, smugly placing her hands on her hips.
"Nothing." I snort "I just seem to have forgotten that people can indeed be reasonable at times."
She chuckles at that "You need to get that paranoia under control, Reyvin."
"Hey!" I point at her in faux accusation "It isn't paranoia if they are really out to get you."
"My Lord." Anondor interrupts any further banter "The guard detail is prepared."
"Good." I nod and begin walking "Let's get moving, I'd rather not be late for whatever Titus has planned."
"First thing I am doing as Empress is revoking the stupid no flying ban." Minthara grumbles as we begin the deceptively long walk to the central district.
Yes, that little rule, one that I have been ignoring for years now had finally decided to make itself a problem. One could not blatantly shirk the rules and expect to have an expedient political rise, so as annoying as it was we had to slowly march to the White Gold Tower as the passers by gawked at us.
Truly, I realized after only a few minutes of walking, if I needed motivation to help Minthara ascend to the throne, the promise she had just made would have been more than enough.
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We did not head straight for the tower and were instead redirected to one of the many grandiose buildings built next to the innermost circular wall of the city, the central district housing numerous temples, shrines, manors, and high society services with the usual upscaled version of this world allowing for an entire district dedicated exclusively to pure opulence.
The husk of what was once Martin Septim almost seemed to stare at us as we made our way to what looked to be a restaurant of some prestige with the Pennitus Occulatus already stationed near every potential entrance, even the windows in some cases.
The Captain leading them immediately recognized us and quite respectfully asked that we leave our guards outside, something we had no issues complying with as Anondor swiftly moved my soldiers into position while Skirnir Stormcloak, who had been granted the honor of leading this particular detachment of the Dragon Banner, did the same with his.
We only brought one retainer each, with Alor following me and Junia doing the same for Minthara, the rest of her band currently too busy exploring the city and the Blades, who had finally begun growing into their role (or Delphine specifically as Esbern never had any issues to begin with) being wise enough not to outright show themselves.
We were swiftly lead into a large room, my sight allowing me to realize that the entire building had been emptied for the occasion as only the cooks and the Emperor's own dignitaries were present within.
The room was a nice and cozy, if understandably opulent space, a single large and curved table already half occupied waiting for us with seats prepared. Titus himself looked quite relaxed at the moment, a sharply dressed if somewhat reedy Bosmer man whispering something in his ear as the rest of his council all engaged in conversations and debates between each other.
That naturally stopped the moment we walked in, the atmosphere growing tense but not negatively so as those who had not had the time to meet us in person began evaluating us and no doubt formulating questions they wanted answered.
I naturally had no patience for such tings "Titus." I greet the old man bluntly and he smirks as his people tense.
"Reyvin" He nods, obviously holding back a chuckle and looks to his adoptive daughter "Minthara, do take a seat, you and your companions."
As we do so, I see Commander Maro of the Pennitus Occulatus eye Junia "You have returned to us whole agent." He states simply.
The young woman gives Minthara a quick questioning look, and earning a shallow nod she looks back to her superior officer "I have done my duty to the Empire to the best of my ability."
"Engaging in half-speak agent?" A heterochromatic elf of the female variety asks "My how impertinent." The Altmer-Dunmer hybrid speaks with false cheer.
"Agent Junia has been instructed to serve the Crown Princess primarily." The Commander of the PO interrupts "Your questioning is unnecessary and a waste of our time, Seneschal."
"Need I remind you Maro, that it is I who is in charge of keeping the imperial household orderly and not yourself?" The woman looks to Minthara and inclines her head, the falsely cheerful expression never leaving her "It has been some time, my dear."
Minthara visibly suppresses a shiver at meeting her etiquette teacher once more and makes a quiet gulp "It has, Lady Valena." She speaks with pointed neutrality, which seems to satisfy the cheerful hybrid for whatever reason.
"Do stop playing your foolish games woman." A dark hued man speaks with a distinctive Hammerfell accent, earning a swift scoff and ignoring said woman's retort as he looked at us "Alakim Arslan, Lord Admiral, at your service."
"You are the one who requested that massive rework of the Dawnstar dockyard?" I raise an eyebrow.
"It was indeed I, little Lord Dagoth." He smiles with genuine cheer, the massive man's address of 'little' not feeling insulting in the least "Skyrim is rich in forests and under the least risk of attack from our enemy, moving our shipbuilding operations there is an obvious choice."
"Agreed." I nod "I did tell Torygg to accept the proposal but you may have to wait while he deals with the Falkreath situation."
"Speaking of Falkreath." Another man interjects as Alakim nods, clad in traditional Imperial garb with a few ceremonial bits of armor added atop it "I hear tell that Tullius has finally gotten off his ass in Windhelm and begun rooting out the bandits tryin to take the place over." He looks at me "Supposedly he sent Gracchus' brat to do the job, he any good?"
"A bit whiny but he does the job." I answer bluntly to the man, the balding Marshall of the Empire and de facto chief of its armies, Valenicus Ionnis.
"Just like his father then." The old man, likely older than Titus himself, sneers "Bloody glory-hounding idiots the lot of them."
By this point, Alor had already taken out a stack of scroll-quality paper and began noting down everything that was being said, going almost completely ignored by most of the council and earning only passing glances and raised eyebrows from the rest.
"Peace, Valenicus." A Dunmer wearing armored robes with a scepter hanging from his belt and just within reach speaks up "Young Tiberius may be eager but his magic is mighty, he is worthy of the task."
"Which is why you do not hear me protesting the posting Caladon." Valenicus scoffs "Merely the foolish brat's mindset."
"Oh I wouldn't worry too much over that." I smirk cruelly, earning their attention "I have seen fit to beat the worst habits out of him by now, why he may even become responsible enough for an actual command in a decade or so."
The Marshall huffs, even as the slightest inclination of his head signals his approval, while the mage's eyes light up as I speak to him "Lord Dagoth." He lowers his head with genuine respect "I am honored to be in the presence of the youngest Archmage in recent history. You are a credit to your father."
"I thank you for your kind words, sir." I smile lightly.
"Battlemage Caladon Vaerith." He introduces himself fully "You may of course call me Caladon, I would not dare impose formality on one of your might."
I hear Minthara stifle a chuckle of some derision but I find myself unbothered by the apparent simpering of the elf. It felt more like he was attempting to find motivation within himself to improve further than actually trying to get into my good graces, and that kind of mindset was to be respected a the very least.
Speaking of Minthara, she was currently engaged in a conversation with an old Nord man wearing priestly robes and an amulet of Akatosh, the two of them arguing with a short-ish Breton clad in the most opulent clothing present save for the Emperor and myself, the two of them berating the man for something he had said.
Noticing me looking at them, the Breton's eyes light up and he barrels through the assault of words without a care "Ah, the honorable Archduke Reyvin." He grins as he pointedly uses the Breton denomination of my title "Would you care to give us your opinion on this matter?"
Francis Vierre, the Lord of Commerce and effective minister of the Empire's finances had been attempting to convince Minthara to begin selling items in her likeness to finance further efforts in expanding the government's influence.
The man was blatantly greedy, known to usually go far with his proposals for earning as much money as possible and yet incredibly, unreasonably competent at his job regardless. The issue was that he was also known to do so despite his understanding of the situation and the negative connotations of his proposals.
In short, he was an impressively skilled kleptomaniac.
"Selling the future sovereign's dignity like that is foolish." I state offhandedly "Some things are meant to remain sacred my good man, and whatever minor influx of coin you may receive for such a decision it would inevitably be followed by a reduction in respect and loyalty."
"Hear that, Francis?" The old Nord grins at him "Dignity."
The Breton scoffs "What use is dignity when there is money to be made!"
"Oh?" I hear Minthara shift as she leans onto her hands, her elbows firmly planted into the table "Would you like me to sell you to a whorehouse then?" She asks with a very unfriendly smile "I mean, what use is dignity if there is money to be made?"
The poor man stutters and begins waving his hands defensively before whatever rationality he had reasserted itself and he began offering apologies and assurances.
"What a foolish young man." I hear the priest whisper "So much potential blinded by simple greed."
"No one is perfect old man." I grin at him.
"Herjolfr Galefrost." He introduces himself "Archpriest of the Nine."
"And I am certain you already know of me." I offer him a wink to which he huffs in that distinct 'old man' manner everyone is familiar with "Technically a priest as well." I add somewhat less loudly.
"Yes." He hums "The touch of both Aedra and Daedra clings to you, young elf. We will see if this is a good thing or not."
This time it is both of my eyebrows that end up rising.
"Don't give me that look." Herjolfr rolls his eyes "If we want any chance of reintegrating the Dunmer then tolerance of some Daedric worship will be necessary, and I respect Talos far too much to allow prejudice to stop us."
I stare at him for a bit and then chuckle "Out of all the people here I expected you to be the annoying one." I incline my head "I thank you for proving me wrong."
"Pardon the interruption." Another voice cuts into our conversation as a rather petite looking Altmer joins us "But I have some questions for Lord Dagoth."
"You kids have fun." Herjolfr chuckles and turns to Minthara to resume their conversation now that Francis had been quite thoroughly threatened into silence.
The petite elf woman clears her throat just a tiny bit awkwardly "Ara Maeris." She introduces "I am in charge of the Empire's infrastructure, ever since my predecessor was caught in an... accident." She speaks slightly too quickly as she does her best to meet my eyes yet fails each and every time.
A new addition then, someone not yet used to a position of authority.
"And what does the Mistress of Infrastructure require of little old me?" I quirk an eyebrow "Hopefully nothing too untoward."
The woman gawks at me before realizing I was speaking in mere jest and letting out an awkward chuckle, a rather forced one at that "No, my lord, nothing of the sort. It is just that I have heard much of your work in Solitude and seek some advice in how to best exploit the now opportunity for development in the north."
The more she spoke of her actual work the more confident she became. A rather good sign after her previously meek display "It would be my genuine pleasure, my lady." I smile and we descend into a long session of planning about roads and canals, somethin I had found I quite enjoyed, especially when it came to shaping the landscape.
Ah yes, gouging my forcefully adopted ancestor's body interested me, how utterly vile.
About an hour into the meeting, Titus lightly tapped his glass with a knife and a number of cooks entered the room, all of them carrying all manner of delicacies from all around the world, ingredients both mundane and magical filling the table to the absolute brim.
By the end of the little feast, I found that I may or may not have developed a rather ravenous hunger for Valenwood salad. Valenwood, the same place where the living forest forbade its inhabitants from consuming plants, yes.
'We couldn't allow for such tyranny to persist, now could we?' I thought happily as I crunched on the magnificently refreshing bit of greenery, the concerned looks the Chancellor was giving me going completely ignored.
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