Chapter Twenty

The Last Emperor of Exon

HANS

Hans clicked his tongue as he removed his outer coat. It was warm down in the catacombs. He sometimes wondered how Magnus and the others could stand being down here in their long, dreary brown cloaks and survive the stuffiness.

And somewhere deep inside, he felt a small sliver of pity for his prized prisoner who had been put in chains and magic dampening collar to prevent her from escaping. She was having it far worse than he was, having been trapped down here for days without sunlight. But that feeling of sympathy wore off almost as quickly as it had manifested itself.

His eyes darted to Elsa as she stared coldly at him. She glared back at him defiantly with anger in her deep blue eyes. She was still so resilient even in the face of absolute defeat. And he hated her for it.

"Well," he pulled off his gloves and rolled them before placing them into his pocket. "You'd be glad to know I met your friends."

"Where are they?" Elsa asked sharply.

"Dealt with." Hans answered in a cryptic fashion, drawing another death stare from the Snow Queen.

"What does that mean?"

"It means they won't be a problem anymore." Hans said, smiling at Elsa. "I must commend you for your part in the plan. If it wasn't for you, your friends would not have been baited into coming here. It saved me the trouble of having to find them and kill them."

"Are they dead?" Elsa's voice was sharp as ice, and Hans could hear a hint of fear there.

"Well, probably only one of them, if they're lucky."

"What do you mean?" Elsa hissed, and he could see the desperation on her face.

"Oh, don't worry. Your time will come when you will face certain death." Hans moved closer to her. "And make no mistake, I will kill you. Slowly. Painfully. But first, I will make sure you suffer in full for everything you've done."

"Everything I've done?" Elsa choked in anger.

"Yes. And before I'm done with you, you'll will wish you were dead."

"This isn't over." Elsa growled.

Hans chuckled good-humouredly. "You're right." He removed his gloves from his pocket and began to put them on again. "Now, if you will excuse me, the people of Exon are due to see their new Emperor in the flesh."

"I'm not done with you." Elsa hissed.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not done with you either." He flashed a smirk at her and turned to leave.

###

"Your Imperial Majesty." Captain Pyke, the head of the Imperial Blitzguard, knocked on the door of his private chambers.

"Come in." Hans called out as he checked himself out in the mirror.

The door opened and in marched Pyke. As an officer appointed to lead Hans' handpicked soldiers from every battalion of the Imperial Horde, Romaine Pyke was possibly the best specimen of an Exonian soldier. Kane didn't count, since he technically wasn't born in Exon. With neat red hair, cold green eyes and hardened features that marked the man as someone cunning and a default posture that screamed proficiency at combat, Pyke was hands down the best man to command the Imperial Blitzguard. His track record was perfect.

Former commander of the platoon that led the charge at Brunsdalt, saving his own men after they'd been captured by enemy forces, quietly uncovering a plot by his commanding officer to sabotage the battalion. He was the hallmark of a reliable, loyal soldier. Certainly more so than the mercenary Eleanor had hired to lead the now extinct First Imperials. After all, Prometheus had defected to Elsa's side and was now an enemy Hans would have to deal with.

And unlike that fool Dolan who'd taken over after Prometheus betrayed the Empire, Pyke was competent. He saluted, his form perfect. "It's time, Sir."

"Yes," Hans agreed. "It's time." Time that he rightfully claimed what was his in the eyes of the public. "It's time to give the people of Exon their new saviour."

Hans strode out of his private chambers decked out in his royal regalia. He wore a white suit adorned with all his military medals and epaulettes, and a lavender tie. Hans sucked in a long, cold breath of fresh air. Victory smelled good. He couldn't believe that after all this time of playing second fiddle to Eleanor and Magnus, he had finally worked his way to the very top, where no one could touch him. Literally. The powers that the Eternal King granted him were beyond anything he'd ever dreamt of. The wounds which the Warriors had inflicted on him were long gone by now.

Damned mercenary. Hans lamented to himself. The masked man was still unaccounted for, no doubt trying to find a way out of Exon through the tunnels. He'd tasked Jade to scour the catacombs in search of that mercenary who'd pledged his allegiance to Elsa. Perhaps he was still trying to find her. Hans scoffed lightly, making a mental note to make sure Elsa was still there later. However, it was more likely that the mercenary would lose his way somewhere down there, and end up dying of starvation. A cruel way to go, but effective.

Servants threw a long purple robe over his shoulders and put the finishing touches on his immaculately groomed hair. Stubble had begun to grow again on his face after the battle with the Warriors two days ago, but he'd given instructions to leave it as such. A mighty ruler ought to look a little older than his age, Hans decided.

Waving off the servants, he followed Captain Pyke out of his personal chambers and down the long hallway of the palace. Soldiers and palace staff alike stopped whatever they were doing, saluting and bowing deeply in reverence of their soon-to-be-announced Emperor. He paid them no mind. After all, they were inconsequential, but necessary to sustain the inner workings of the empire.

Striding down the hallway, a few more guards flanked Hans' sides and with Captain Pyke at the head of the entourage, they walked through the castle and down the stairs that would lead to the South Wing entrance. The huge palace doors were pulled open by two servants, revealing the entire courtyard to be packed to overflowing with Exonian citizens.

"How many?" Hans asked politely.

"Two thousand and five hundred in attendance, Your Imperial Majesty." His nervous secretary reported. "And a lot more outside the gates we did not manage to count."

"Sounds about right." Hans glanced around. There were so many more outside the castle courtyards, extending all the way through the town square and even across the bridge, spanning as far as the eye could see. The crowd probably stretched all the way to the south of the capital, and then some more in both directions. Imperial Blitzguard soldiers lined the courtyard's width and length to enforce security and peace, dressed in their white ceremonial uniforms. Muskets with bayonets were shouldered, and boots were so shiny that Hans was sure he could see his reflection in them.

Putting on his best smile, Hans lifted a hand. The crowd erupted into cheers and affirmative chants. Taking his spot at the speaker's rostrum set up for him right outside the doors of the castle, he glanced at the front row of his audience. There sat the ministers that made up Eleanor's cabinet. They were evidently uptight, but looked a hell of a lot more relieved that Eleanor was no longer in command.

His lip quirked slightly. Oh, how he'd worked so hard for this. Gaining the trust of every count, duke and businessman in the cabinet. How he'd slowly turned them against Eleanor and rallied them to his side. And now they were his. The perfect government for a perfect Emperor.

Once again, he lifted a hand to signal that he was ready to speak. The crowd lapsed into silence almost immediately, and the only sounds left were the morning birds chirping cheerfully around the recreation yard. Though it was still bitterly cold thanks to Elsa's blizzards, the sun shone beautifully, signifying the dawn of a brand new age. My age.

"Citizens of Exon." Hans began in a booming voice. "Thank you all for gathering here today. Many of you know who I am. I am the former consul to the Empress, and most recently, the former Chancellor of Exon. I regret to inform you that due to unforeseen, tragic circumstances, Her Imperial Majesty is no longer able to serve the Empire in any capacity. Last night, our beloved Empress passed away in her sleep." He paused to shed a fake tear and choked back a lump in his throat that wasn't there.

Out in the crowd, he heard a couple of cheers which were quickly quelled. Then, he continued.

"Many of you may not have known, but Her Imperial Majesty and I shared an intimate relationship, and we were married in secret."

There were a couple of gasps of astonishment as Hans fished out perfectly forged papers which showed proof of his marriage to Eleanor.

"And thus, it is with a heavy heart that the crown has fallen upon my head." Hans went on. "I have sought the counsel and approval of my cabinet, and all are in favour." He glanced at the front row, where the men seated there nodded stiffly and pompously.

He sighed and took a moment to wipe away his false tears. "Hence, I pledge my loyalty and allegiance to you." He said loudly to the masses, his voice a little shaky. "I will carry on Empress Tal Yin's dream; to build this great empire. And my first goal is to finish what she started. To end this war and crush the enemy Coalition which threatens to destroy everything we stand for!"

The shouts and cheers began to grow louder, and Hans finished with a loud shout. "I promise you, the Thousand Year Empire will be born! I will establish Pax Exon! We will have peace!"

"Long live the Emperor!" Came the unified shouts of the masses. "Long live the Empire!"

Hans smiled. The Last Emperor was born. And now, after all the years of being told by his father and brothers that he was worthless and would never succeed, after having failed in his first coup, after all this patient building and waiting, his life had finally truly begun. Deep inside him, the Eternal King stirred.

Author's Commentary:

From this point on, this book probably has the darkest tone out of any of the books I've written thus far. And for good reason too. If you want a point of reference, think of this book as the "Avengers: Infinity War" of the series.

Hans has been slowly building towards his endgame all this time, his schemes going undetected by the Warriors. They just don't realise it until it's too late. Now will they be able to stop Hans and reverse what he's done?

I think it's really cool that this book takes on a whole fresh goal. In the first four books, the Warriors' ultimate goal is to beat the villain and save the day. This time, they'll be happy to escape with their lives.