Chapter 7 - A Warning
As dusk settled on the Imperial Capital, Max examined his room in the Imperial Palace. It had actually been his parents’ room and it was the most luxurious room in the entire palace. Even the door was luxurious. It was made of pure gold, but that wasn’t even the part the best part. The best part was there was a big sign on the door that read “Max’s Room.”
His room here was like a mansion compared to his tiny room in the attic in his foster home. Max had never felt more accepted, as though he belonged.
An enormous king-size bed with fine down, lace pillows and silk blankets sat in the middle. A fancy wardrobe stood beside it on its left.
On the right of the bed was a magnificent bay window that allowed the viewer to have a panoramic view of the Imperial Capital.
Max stood by the window and stared out into the city. Mostly brown, it looked like a medieval European city to him. He could hear the cries of tradespeople plying their trade.
The setting sun dusted the city in its soft light. From Max’s vantage point, the settlement looked like a dreamy romantic idyllic little town.
And he was going to be the Emperor of this city as well as other vast lands which he hadn’t seen yet.
He was filled with awe and wonder but also such a huge sense of responsibility, the kind that weighed on him. He wanted to avenge his parents’ wrongful deaths and succeed to the throne as the rightful leader of the Empire. And yet, he was scared. He knew he had to be brave and he was going to try, but there was so much he didn’t know. He had no idea which abilities he had inherited from his parents and how to control them. He didn’t know much about Purgatorio, the first province he had to invade, let alone how to persuade its queen to return to the Empire.
And yet, he had accepted his new task without question. This was his birthright. He knew he was meant to do this.
He turned around and gazed at the portraits of his parents on the wall above his bed. He had ordered some guards to take the portraits out of the dusty storage room and hang them there. That way, he could look at his parents every morning and be inspired in his long and arduous journey.
There was no mistaking it. Those were definitely his parents. He saw himself in them. He had similar eyes and face. Most importantly, he knew his gigantic ears had been inherited from his parents’ own.
As he stared at his parents’ faces, he was filled with hope and determination. They had obviously loved him very much, or else they wouldn’t have sent him to the Natural World. It wasn’t their fault that Ariel had failed to do her job and inform Max of the Supernatural World and his supernatural heritage.
He didn’t want to disappoint them.
“I will reunite the whole Empire,” he said aloud.
But he knew it was easier said than done.
There were ten whole provinces to subjugate, to bring back into the Empire. It felt like such a monstrous task in front of him. The archbishop had advised him to look at it in a piecemeal way. Max was told to focus on one province at a time and then, before he knew it, the entire Empire would be whole again.
He tried to clear his mind and focus on Purgatorio. The next day, training would begin. He would meet with his mentor the archbishop, his Imperial Council and others that have remained loyal to the Empire.
It’s going to be fine, he told himself. I’m going to succeed.
At that point, there was a loud knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Max asked.
“Your servants, Your Imperial Highness. We’re here to serve you refreshments and maybe do some light cleaning.”
“Servants?” he said aloud.
He wasn’t expecting any servants. He was already slightly uncomfortable with all the bowing and formal respect that everyone seemed to give to him. And everyone was calling him Your Imperial Highness. He liked it, but sometimes he thought it was all a little much for him.
“Come in,” said Max.
The door opened and three long and thin penguins waddled into the room.
The one in the middle was twice as big as the other two. Like a typical penguin, it had a white chest and black face and flippers. But all three of them were huge, like stretched-out emperor penguins with their long legs and big flippers.
The one in the middle bowed and the other two followed his example.
“I am Steward, Your Imperial Highness,” said the one in the middle, who was clearly in charge. “I’m your Chief Butler. If you need anything related to food and beverage and housekeeping, please let me know. It will be my honor to serve you.”
Max gazed at the birds. They were the tallest penguins he had ever seen.
Noticing Max’s unwavering stare, Steward explained, “We are Kairuku Grebneffi, sire. The tallest and heaviest penguins species that ever lived. We are extinct in the Natural World, but alive and well in this one.”
Steward had a high light voice, almost comical, like a cartoon penguin’s voice.
“We are cousins of the emperor penguins, sire,” he continued.” It makes sense, right? Emperor penguins serving an Emperor like yourself.”
Still in awe, Max was unsure of what to say.
At that point, the penguin on Steward’s left waddled up to Max and offered a drink on a gold-plated tray.
Max was feeling a little thirsty, so he took the glass of cold reddish-orange liquid. Beads of water dripped down the side of the glass.
“What is it?” he asked, eying it apprehensively.
“Fruit juice,” said Steward. “It’s made from the fruits in your orchard, sire. They are very rare so only members of the Imperial Family are allowed to drink its sweet nectar.”
Max cautiously lifted the glass to his lips. As the heir to the throne, he knew that he must have enemies. Maybe these invisible enemies would try to poison him.
But he was incredibly thirsty and the cold frothy liquid looked delicious to him.
Steward urged, “Go ahead, Your Imperial Highness. It’s safe.”
When Max still hesitated, the butler said, “We can have my assistant here taste it for you.”
Max handed the glass to the penguin on the butler’s right.
The penguin took a sip.
Max waited.
The penguin was fine. It even flapped its flippers together, clapping comically like an idiot.
Satisfied that it was safe, Max lifted the glass to his lips and then drank. It was easily the best beverage he had ever had. Cold and quenching and frothy, the smooth liquid went down his throat and produced a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach.
He slurped the rest greedily and then laid the glass back on the tray.
“Thank you,” he said, smacking his lips. The juice, whatever it was, had really hit the spot.
Steward replied, “No need to thank us, sire. It is our privilege to serve the next Emperor of Occultoria, especially when your father was such a great emperor.”
Then, the butler instructed his penguin assistants to dust the floor and fluff the pillows on the bed.
Max protested, “No, I’m fine. It’s really OK.”
Steward asked, “Everything is to your satisfaction, sire?”
“Yes, it is.”
Max stared at the penguins, whose black and white fur colors looked very much like uniformed servants in an imperial household.
Satisfied that the servants had done their jobs, Steward clapped his flippers together once. “Alright, then. Remember, if Your Imperial Highness needs anything, all you have to do is to ring that giant bell, day or night.”
He pointed to the gigantic gold bell on the bedside table.
Max stared into Steward’s dark eyes. They were lively and gave every indication of happiness. It was as though these servants were most happy when they were useful and doing their jobs by serving him.
Max thanked and then dismissed his attendants.
One by one, the penguins waddled out of his room, clapping their flippers together noisily the whole time.
Finally, they closed the door.
Max was left alone with his thoughts. He was still getting used to be waited on hand and foot. Everyone was at his beck and call and he wasn’t used to it at all. He considered dismissing all his servants, but then he realized that it gave them such joy to serve him that he didn’t dare eliminate their livelihood, their passion, their reason for living.
He was starting to learn more and more about this new society, his ancestral homeland. Everything was so hierarchical and formal. The archbishop had casually mentioned the strict and rigid class system to him before showing him to his room.
According to the cleric, there were four social classes in the Empire: royalty, nobility, the clergy and the commoners. Each category had its own hierarchy.
The archbishop had even given him a chart, complete with the titles and formal styles. Max took it out and read it.
Royalty
His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor or the Regent/Lord Protector (The Sovereign or the Acting Sovereign)
Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress (The Sovereign’s Consort)
Their Imperial Excellencies, the Viceroys (The Sovereign’s representatives)
Their Imperial Highnesses, the Members of the Imperial Family (The children of the imperial couple: The Crown Princes and the Crown Princesses and members of the extended family)
Nobility
1. The Honorable Members of the Imperial Council (The executive branch of government, also Advisors to the Emperor: The Lord Chancellor, The Court Chaplain, The Spymaster, The Treasurer, and more to be appointed if necessary)
2. Their Graces, the Lords and Ladies of the Realm (Could be Queens, Kings, Dukes or Duchesses) - Ten Landed Heads of Provinces (All are members of the House of Lords and Ladies, the legislative branch of government).
3. Their Honors, the Most Noble Justices of the Occult Supreme Court, the judicial branch of government (One Lord/Lady Chief Justice and two Lord/Lady Associate Justices)
4. His/Her Worship, the Lord Mayor of the Imperial Capital of Occultoria City
5. Lord Counts/Lady Countesses - Heads of Counties (The counts are responsible for the day-to-day governing of the provinces)
Clergy
Her Holiness, The Matriarch (Head of the Holy Universal Faith)
Their Eminences, the seven Cardinals of the College of Cardinals (The Matriarch’s advisors and responsible for electing the Matriarch. Only women are eligible as candidates to the Matriachate, but both genders may vote)
His/Her Grace, the Archbishop of the Imperial Capital (Head of the College of Bishops)
Their Excellencies, the ten Bishops of the ten provinces
The Reverend Priests and Priestesses
Deacons
Commoners
Soldiers/Police Officers/Bureaucrats
Farmers
Artisans/Craftspeople
Tradespeople/Merchants
Untouchables such as prostitutes, thieves, criminals, outlaws
Max was getting a headache just trying to keep track of each rank. He wondered if any of it even mattered. Everything and everyone was so formal and everything had its place and purpose. Maybe it was needed to make society run smoothly.
He was at the center of it all. It was exciting to think about, but also very taxing. He had a lot of responsibility. One wrong move, one tiny careless mistake he made could spell disaster for everyone in his empire.
He put down the chart on the bedside table, beside the giant golden bell.
A little while later, when the events of the day were finally wearing on him, he got into bed and closed his eyes but couldn’t sleep.
The weather outside was abnormally loud.
The wind howled and slammed into the glass window. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. Dark clouds gathered in the sky.
It looked like a storm was coming.
Max tried to ignore the noisy weather but when it got so loud he couldn’t ignore it anymore, he got up and headed to the bay window.
He gazed outside.
The wind was pushing the trees in the courtyard back and forth, threatening to uproot them.
Loud rumbling thunder in the sky caught Max’s attention.
Lightning struck again and that was when Max noticed something very strange.
Burned right into the dark sky by the lightning was a message that stayed in place long enough for Max to read it.
It read: Give Up the Throne Or Else....