Author note: from hereon in there will be various spoilers woven into the events, certainly in the later chapters there will be references and other such to events that happen after the completion of Disc 1. Please do not read if you don't want spoilers.

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A dispatch vessel had been sent to lead the drifting cruiser into Sheliak port and the knights on guard had woken the sleeping Lyude, escorting him to Elnath castle for an audience with the king; although Lyude hadn't requested such a thing, visitors and envoys from the Empire were so rare that it was normal for an automatic audience, and unannounced envoys, such as Lyude, who had come with no official backing, were even rarer.

A glimpse of red, gold and black had caught his eye, mingling with the blues and humble browns of his own knights, and now Ladekahn, king of the cloud country of Diadem, was watching the proceedings far below him with interest from a window in a chamber high up Castle Elnath. It struck him immediately that the young man in the Imperial uniform was, in a certain way, quite attractive. It wasn't fitting to call him handsome – at least, surely not; he was far too effeminate – but he was certainly beautiful bordering on gorgeous. It was hard to believe, having met Emperor Geldoblame several times, that the Empire could produce such angelic creatures.

"What do you think, then?" The blonde addressed the commander of his garrison, who was also watching the approaching redhead. The man was known for his analytical awareness and his accurate approximations of danger in a stranger.

"He's alone, that's for certain. No one else could fit in that vessel." The knight spoke in his rough voice. He was a seasoned fighter and had earned Ladekahn's respect, and he himself believed the latter to be a strong and wise ruler. "Doesn't seem to be armed either. Looks like a little pansy, to be honest with you. He must be intelligent, though, if he's Alfard's representative. Geldy wouldn't choose any old trash to come over here. I'd say he'd be arrogant 'cause they all are over there – remember when you met with some of the officers, Sire? They treated you like a savage – but from here I can tell he really isn't at ease."

"Hmm. I'd say you're about right, but I think he's armed. You see that bundle he carries? I'd say that's a weapon, and, knowing the Empire, it's a gun of some variety. He's bound to have training with it, too, as, unless he wished for them to meet death, Geldoblame wouldn't send soldiers to Diadem unarmed and alone."

"Do you think so?"

"I shall confirm so in a few moments, it seems. I shall speak with you after I have helped our Mintakan guest settle in – after all, I must show him how hospitable we 'savages' of Diadem can be, hmm?"

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Lyude was absolutely petrified. He found himself unable to look up from the ground, where wisps of golden peach clouds swirled around his feet, to the stern, almost mistrustful expressions on the faces of his escort.

He hadn't wanted to make a scene, of course, as he loathed being the centre of attention, but that was certainly what he was doing now, being lead nearly at spear point to the castle like the criminal he knew he was. He had planned to prepare himself properly and hide in his cruiser for a while before discreetly requesting an audience with the king, but… he had screwed up again, hadn't he? He'd slept too long and the cruiser had drifted around Sheliak port, the autopilot not programmed to take him in to dock, until being lead in by a small boat from Diadem. That was when the soldiers had woken him by prodding him roughly with their weapons – he was obviously hated at sight for being Imperial – and demanded his purpose in their country.

Every step he took, he could feel the eyes on him, hateful eyes, eyes that despised him because of his gaudy Imperial colours borne on his ostentatious Imperial uniform, eyes that belonged to the inhabitants of Sheliak. What would they do to him? What torture could possibly await at the hands of the xenophobic barbarians – as he had been told those from Diadem were - ? Yet… as it struck him, the buildings were refined and upperclass… were they constructed using the riches scavenged from the dismembered bodies of half-eaten victims?

Oh, how much he would give to have Almarde here with him! She invariably lifted his spirits, took away the pain…

His escort left him in a large conference room, furbished with comfortable but modest chairs around an impressive table that was obviously made of the native wood. With a deep inhalation, Lyude realised that there was someone else in the room with him. It had to be the king… skies, what would he be like? The little redhead closed his eyes, thinking Ladekahn would be like Geldoblame – the only royalty he knew – old, perverted, evil… would he be groped? Raped again?

"Good morning. May I enquire as to the purpose of your arrival here in our country?"

He was being spoken to… dear skies, he was going to die, it was all over, it was all over! Behind that almost kind and benevolent voice surely there lurked the mind of a savage killer!

"…Ambassador? It is 'ambassador', I presume?"

…oh.

…oh!

Having opened his eyes, Lyude was, in an instant, transfixed. Great skies above, Ladekahn was absolutely gorgeous! His blonde hair, flowing, wavy, to his shoulders and beyond, halfway down his back, tumbling down like a glorious waterfall of silk… his blue eyes, deep, intense, never-ending, a pit of knowledge, wisdom… kindness?… that one might not expect in someone so obviously young – the man could not have been over the age of thirty!

"Ambassador?"

"Oh!" Remember, Lyude, no matter how beautiful he is, he's still probably going to kill you and eat you. Ye skies, look how tall he is! "Um…"

"Are you ill?" There was an obvious note of concern in Ladekahn's kind voice, but Lyude refused to let himself relax, the words of the gaolers playing over and over again in his mind. "You are flushed… the journey from Alfard was stressful? My knights have harassed you?"

"No, not at all… um…?" And, at that moment, Lyude realised what Ladekahn was talking about. He was blushing, damn it, blushing and still terrified. Nervously, he held out the letter from Geldoblame to Ladekahn, swallowing to ease his dry throat.

"I, um, I'm to be, ah, I was appointed as the new ambassador for Diadem, and, ah, I hope to keep the peace between Alfard and your fair country, um…" It was obvious how scared he was from his stuttering, but he couldn't find the words. The only thing he could remember at the moment was that he must not, under any circumstances, let slip that he was a convict… a common criminal… an exile…

Ladekahn's blue eyes flickered with something indescribable and he opened the letter, reading through it, his expression tensing more and more as he approached the end. By the end of the letter, his brow was furrowed with something akin to annoyance.

"Please, do me the courtesy of not lying to me." He spoke with none of his former friendliness and Lyude floundered – how could Ladekahn possibly know? Could he read minds? But that question was answered by the king's next words: "This letter from Emperor Geldoblame tells me that I may dispose of you as I see fit, in no terms giving possibility to misinterpretation unless on assumes he has sent me the wrong letter, which is nigh impossible, as this is addressed to me and bears an excellently accurate description of you. So shall we start again… Ambassador… with your name and your true purpose here?"

"Oh…" Lyude swallowed, cheeks reddening with shame. "I… er… I'm a convict, Sire, I was… supposed to be executed, but instead, um, I was exiled to Diadem…"

The blonde king stared at the nervous redhead incredulously. "What did you do?" He asked after a moment. "To anger the Emperor that much?" It was unbelievable – how could this soft-spoken young man do anything wrong? He just couldn't imagine it, no matter how hard he tried. Yet… from the tone of the letter, Geldoblame was certainly irate enough with Lyude to demand that Ladekahn kill him.

Ladekahn knew he wouldn't kill the timid redhead, no matter how serious the crime he committed against the Empire was. For the first reason, it was not really in his nature to kill anyone unless that someone had committed a direct attack or assault on himself of his country, and secondly he despised Geldoblame's view that he was an uneducated subordinate and was to be ordered about as such.

"I, um, betrayed the Imperial army and, um, turned on my commanding officer…" Lyude gave the official reasons for his sentence, those he had been found guilty of at his court-martial. In truth, he had only opposed the orders, he hadn't attacked his commander, nor had he given or sold information to the Azhanis… just think! They could still be alive if he had, even if it had spelled his death… he was such a coward, so worried of losing his life or his rank… He found himself speaking without intervention from his brain, just speaking his innermost feelings to this new king to whom he had hardly spoken: "And cowardice… I was… am… a terrible coward…"

He couldn't kill and couldn't fly, not with his wings in the state they were in…

Maybe the Empire was right. Maybe he really did deserve to be dumped with those from Diadem and excommunicated from his family and his homeland.

"Betrayed the army?" Ladekahn's voice had taken on a slightly cynical tone as he casually tossed the letter from Geldoblame into the fire, where it flared briefly and then burnt out. "What did you do, refuse to kill in cold blood? Tell others not to kill in cold blood?" A small sigh escaped the king's lips when he noticed that Lyude was cowering, so close to tears – he knew he was right. "Have no fear, I am not planning to kill you unless you harbour those same intentions for me or anyone in my country."

"I, I…"

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

"I, um, am officially an ambassador, Sire…" Lyude allowed himself to show the merest hint of relief – Ladekahn wasn't going to kill him!

"Really? According to that letter, in Alfard, you are officially dead." One thin eyebrow was raised, as though to confirm this fact.

"Um. Everyone was told I was just being demoted to ambassador from colonel… um. That's so you could kill me and his Lordship's hands wouldn't be sullied with my blood… um."

Ladekahn sighed and regarded the little Imperial for a moment too long, causing Lyude to squirm beneath the firm gaze, before he suddenly smiled.

"Ambassador it is, then. Welcome to Diadem, Ambassador."