Page 72 of Empire of Wrath and Ruin
The frustration was eating me alive. I was a soldier, trained to fight, to protect, to find solutions through action. But there was no enemy I could face with a sword here, no clear path to victory. Just impossible choices and the slow destruction of everyone I cared about.
Part of me wanted to grab Livia and run. Take her somewhere far from crystal chambers and shadow magic and Imperial games. Find a place where we could live in peace, where she could smile without the weight of the world on her shoulders.
But I knew that chance was long gone. Had probably never existed at all.
"Maybe there's another way," said Jalend suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over our group. His voice carried a note of desperation that made me look up from my own dark contemplations. I turned to look at him, noting the tension radiating from his shoulders. Whatever he was about to suggest, it was clearly something he'd been wrestling with. All eyes turned to him, and I saw something flicker across his face—determination mixed with what looked like guilt.
"What do you mean?" Livia asked, lifting her head from Taveth's shoulder to look at him.
Jalend took a deep breath.
"The games. The Emperor's grand spectacle." His voice grew stronger as he spoke. "He'll be there, in person, presiding over the massacre. Completely exposed."
I felt my pulse quicken as I suddenly understood where he was going with this.
"More than that," Jalend said, his eyes bright with sudden intensity. "A coup. We show up at the games, we kill the Emperor in front of the entire Empire. We turn his moment of triumph into our declaration of war."
Livia just stared at him.
"Jalend..."
"Think about it," he pressed on. "The Emperor will be there, in person. He has to be—this isn't just entertainment, it's a demonstration of his power. He'll want to be seen presiding over the destruction of the Talfen people."
Septimus straightened. "You're talking about assassination."
"I'm talking about opportunity," Jalend corrected. "The Emperor rarely leaves the capital, rarely puts himself in a position where he's vulnerable. But for something this significant, this symbolic, he'll have to be present."
"We’d have to infiltrate the Imperial Arena," I said slowly. "Get close enough to the Emperor to kill him while surrounded by thousands of Imperial guards."
"I know it sounds impossible," Jalend said quickly. "But think about it—they're expecting a spectacle, not an attack. Security will be focused on containing the prisoners and managing the crowd, not protecting against an assassination attempt from within the arena itself. We could fight back and free the Talfen prisoners before the massacre begins."
"The chaos alone would be worth it," Septimus said slowly. “But it would be suicide.”
“Unless that’s the moment Taveth faces the crystal,” Tarshi said quietly. “There in the arena.”
Taveth’s eyes flew to his brother’s, and I stared at Tarshi, my mind reeling as the implications crashed over me. He was talking about Taveth attempting the crystal ritual in the middleof the Imperial Arena, surrounded by thousands of witnesses, while we tried to assassinate the Emperor.
"You can't be serious," I said.
Tarshi's black eyes were bright with a desperate kind of hope as he looked between his brother and the rest of us. "Think about it. If Taveth could use the crystal during the chaos of the assassination attempt, if he could free all the dragons while we're fighting to save the prisoners..."
"The confusion would be perfect cover," Jalend said. "We free the prisoners in front of everyone. Show the citizens what their Emperor has really been doing, how he's been lying to them. Start a coup right there in the arena. Imperial forces scattered, trying to protect their Emperor, trying to contain an uprising. They wouldn't know where to focus their attention."
"Insane," Sirrax growled. "Death trap. Imperial guards everywhere. And Imperial dragons. Two free dragons cannot fight so many."
"And that's exactly why it could work," Jalend interrupted. "Tarshi’s right. Taveth chooses that moment to attempt the crystal. He removes the curse from the shadow mages, releases the dragon shifters from their collars, all in front of thousands of witnesses. Show the people exactly what kind of control their Emperor has been wielding."
I had to admire his audacity. It was either brilliant or completely mad—possibly both.
Tarshi leaned forward on his bench, his expression thoughtful despite the insanity of what was being proposed. "The resistance has been building support within the Imperial ranks. There are commanders, centurions, even some Praetorians who've been working against the Emperor from the inside. If we coordinate with them..."
"You're all out of your minds," I said, though I could already see the terrible logic in it. "Even with inside help, the risks—"
"Are enormous," Antonius agreed, but he was looking at his notes with new interest. "But so is the potential impact. If we could actually pull something like this off..."
"It would change everything," Sirrax finished quietly. "Not just for the Talfen, but for the entire Empire."
I looked at Taveth, expecting him to shut down this madness immediately. Instead, he was staring at something in the distance, his arms still wrapped around Livia. When he spoke, his voice was eerily calm.
