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Prince of the Dominion - 2

  Zai Tianci is dead.

  Slaughtered in his bed, a ceramic blade tearing through his neck to leave him gurgling beneath her blood soaked sleeping gown. A lock picked in the dead of night. A blade taken from the armory of her living weapon. The driven ambitions of a silver demon.

  Shot down in the gardens, the brutal chatter of gunfire resounds through the mansion; his corpse bleeds out, riddled with lead from an Impericutta’s storm rifle. A living weapon ordered to kill, the biological machine simply following the directives of its god.

  Poisoned in a lapse of concentration, his body slumped over the dining table, foam bubbling at his lips; a fast acting cyanide slipped into a teacup during one of their long study sessions.

  A dozen ways. No—a hundred. Each one simple, each one effortless. All left untouched by the Fourth Princess of the Ensolian Imperium, with Zai standing here still very much alive.

  “I’m not dead.” Prince Zai Tianci states as a matter of fact.

  “Yes, I’m glad your perception is still sharp. You, Sire, are not in fact, dead.”

  Prince Zai Tianci of the Dominion exhales, his gaze drifting toward the now setting light entering through the partially blocked windows. A distant lesson, a parable spoken quietly:

  "There was once a wandering monk who came across a tiger in the forest. The beast had just finished its meal, its belly full and its hunger sated. Seeing no threat, the monk marveled at its beauty, even daring to pet it. The tiger, content, paid him no mind."

  A smile pulls on Mori’s lips, patiently listening to her charge as he continues.

  "The monk returned the next day, and once more, he found the tiger, but this time its belly was empty, its hunger sharpened by the night. The monk approached it—just as he had before—only for the tiger to devour him whole."

  Zai lets the words settle before glancing at his Guardsman, his voice steady. "The monk mistook contented mercy for safety. I would rather not make the same mistake."

  And Mori instantly annihilates him as she swallows another bite of this fluffy pastry in her hands. “Well, this particular Ensolian Tiger’s quite full on doughnuts at the moment. So I doubt she’s ready to devour you just yet.”

  Zai closes his eyes, exhaling through his nose. "Perhaps I should start fearing the day when she runs out."

  Mori only grins, taking another slow, deliberate bite. "Then, Prince Zai Tianci, I’d suggest keeping that ‘Priestess’ under your employ for the foreseeable future."

  That Priestess Elodie, that individual that Sophia Elise had personally hired, was perhaps the most egregious of that Princess’ activities here in Port Azuru.

  “I objected to her.” Zai coldly tells his Guardsman. “She’s a member of the Silver Hand. And she was sought out by her.”

  The mention of the Imperium’s quite well known intelligence service holds over the room for a silent, tense few seconds.

  “Unconfirmed member.” The Guardsman corrects. “And I seriously doubt that this Princess went to town specifically to…”

  “Mori, Elodie Chasseur does not exist.” The Crown Prince darkly tells her. “You heard what our Apparatus Contact said; Dominion Intelligence couldn’t even find a trace of the name before she ‘entered’ seminary, except for one birth certificate that could’ve been her… and that was for a stillborn girl on the Etheryn Coast.”

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  Mori shrugs. “The Silver Hand does have its ways~”

  “And every day, you sit in the kitchen and gossip with her. You drink the wine she brings, you eat the donuts she slips you.” He’s frustrated, almost angry at her dismissive tone; pacing the room trying to gather himself. “Guardsman, she’s one of them.”

  “I know.” Guardsman Fushimi answers.

  “Then why do you converse with her… why do you even try to speak to that ceramic demon of theirs?! Why do you consort with those that want me dead?!”

  Mori’s expression darkens at that implication: her voice speaking cold words at her liege. “If you mean to imply something Zai, say it to me directly.”

  Silence.

  Long, awful silence between the two.

  And Mori’s voice breaks it, her tone softer than before as she quotes that parable of her home state; staring off into the distance of this seemingly crowded room of two:

  "There was once a Queen who ruled over a grand kingdom. One year, a great flood came, swallowing her palace in water. As the floodwaters rose higher, the Queen found herself trapped on the roof of her palace. The royal guards and her people all gathered below, desperate to save her.

  "Several times, her subjects called out to her, offering help. They stretched out their hands, reaching for the Queen, telling her they would pull her to safety.

  "But the Queen, paranoid and distrustful, turned them away. She feared that those who reached for her had ulterior motives—she believed they would kill her, once they had her in their grasp."

  Zai opens his mouth to object, but Mori silences him with a raised hand; her tone growing somber.

  "Eventually, the flood claimed everything. The Queen remained on her roof, alone, watching the waters rise until they consumed her. And in the end, she drowned—not because of any treachery, but because she refused the help she was offered."

  Zai almost chokes on his breath, exasperated at this useless lesson. “Mori, you know they want me dead. You’ve had to save me from them many times. The Axials, the Amorians… the Southerners. Mori, please…”

  And then Mori says it. “Zai, you’re not just the son of the Dominion anymore. You’re an Imperial too. You’re part of the Elise family now. You have ties to their Silver Throne.”

  You’re a traitor Zai Tianci, more than anyone else in the Dominion could ever be. Says Zai’s internal monologue. You are one of them now.

  “If someone were to eliminate you, then it would be an act against the Imperium. Not just the Dominion.” She continues, “Sire, have you considered the possibility that the Imperium doesn’t seek to have you removed from the Throne?”

  Zai almost snaps, tears on the edges of his eyes as he tries to reason with this… traitor. “You’ve read the reports, Mori! You’ve been briefed on those five monsters, on her! You’ve seen how she behaves here! You’ve… you’ve seen…”

  Mori’s harsh bark cuts him down, a brutal interruption as she takes a step closer. “...And I’ve seen the mess in her room. I’ve seen her eat her doughnuts when she thinks no one is looking, and I’ve seen her manically try on those dresses in the hours before your lessons with her. It is not the behavior of someone who wants you dead.”

  Zai panics at that statement, his chest tightening as this final wall was now falling to leave him utterly open for death. “T-that’s what she wants you to think.”

  Mori stares him down, those eyes cold and calculating; filled with the abyss of her own position. “No, it's what you refuse to see in her. It’s what you refuse to see in yourself, Zai. And in that way, you’re becoming just like your father.”

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