The pillars of creation

Near the back of the room sat an ornately carved and gilded chair draped with streamers of red silks. Jennsen swallowed when she finally made herself look at the man sitting there, his elbow on the arm of the chair, his chin held by his thumb, his forefinger resting along the side of his face.

He was a thick-necked bull of a man. Flickering candlelight reflecting off his shaved head lent the illusion that he wore a crown of tiny flames. Two long, thin braids of mustache grew down from the comers of his mouth, and another braid grew from the center of his chin. Fine gold chain connected the gold rings through his left nostril and ear, while a collection of much heavier, jeweled chains rested in the cleft of muscles on his powerful chest. Each meaty finger was studded with a large ring. The lamb's-wool vest he wore had no sleeves, revealing his hefty shoulders and brawny arms. While he didn't appear tall, his muscled mass was nonetheless imposing.

But it was his eyes that, despite Sebastian's cautionary description, had her holding her breath. No words could have prepared her for being in the presence of the real thing.

His inky eyes had no whites, no irises, no pupils, leaving only glistening dark voids. Yet somber shapes shifted across those dark voids, like thunderclouds at midnight. Despite his having no irises or pupils, she was certain beyond any doubt that he was looking directly and intently at her.

Jennsen thought her knees might buckle.

When he smiled at her, she was sure of it.

Sebastian's arm tightened, helping hold her up. He bowed slightly from the waist.

"Emperor, I am thankful that the Creator has watched over you and kept you safe."

The smile widened. "And you, Sebastian." Jagang's voice matched the look of him, husky, powerful, menacing. He sounded as if he were a man who brooked no weakness or excuses. "It has been a long time. Far too long. I'm glad to have you back with me."

Sebastian bowed his head toward Jennsen. "Excellency, I have brought an important guest. This is Jennsen."

Despite Sebastian's arm around her waist, holding her, she slipped free and went to her knees of her own accord and before trepidation imposed it. She used the occasion to bow forward until her head nearly touched the floor. Sebastian hadn't told her that she was supposed to do so, but she felt an overwhelming fear that it was what she must do. If nothing else, it momentarily relieved her of the obligation of looking into those nightmare eyes.

She supposed that a man like this, a warrior who hoped to prevail against the invading force from D'Hara, had to be a man of brute strength, iron command, and grim tenacity. Being the emperor of a people hoping to be saved from the threatening shadow of enslavement was a job for a man no less than the one she knelt before.

"Your Excellency," she said in a trembling voice toward the floor. "I am at your service."

She heard a booming laugh. "Come, now, Jennsen, no need for that."

Jennsen felt her face going scarlet as she rose with Sebastian's jovial insistence and help. Neither the emperor nor Sebastian took note of her embarrassment.

"Sebastian, where did you ever find such a lovely young woman?"

Sebastian's blue eyes beheld her with pride. "It's a long story for another time, Excellency. For now, you must know that Jennsen has come to an important determination, one that will bear on us all."

Jagang's inky gaze returned to Jennsen in a way that made her heart seem to rise up into her throat. He wore the slightest smile, the smirk of an emperor looking down indulgently on a nobody.

"And what would that deten-nination be, young lady?"

Jennsen.

An image of her mother lying on the floor of their house, bleeding, dying, flashed into Jennsen's mind. She would never forget her mother's last precious moments of life. The agonizing grief of having to flee without even being able to care for and bury her mother's body still burned unabated in her soul.

Jennsen.

Rage flooded in to overwhelm any nervousness at answering an emperor's question.

"I intend to kill Lord Rahl," Jennsen said. "I have come to ask for your help."

In the dead silence, any trace of mirth evaporated from the Emperor Jagang's face. He watched her with cold, dark, merciless eyes, his brow set in warning. This was clearly a subject that tolerated no humor. Lord Rahl had invaded this man's homeland, killed untold thousands of his people, and set the whole world to war and suffering.

Emperor Jagang the Just, the muscles in his jaw flexing, waited, clearly expecting her to explain herself.

"I am Jennsen Rahl," she said in answer to his dark glare. She drew her knife, gripped the blade in her rock-steady fist, and thrust the handle up before him on his throne, showing him the ornate letter "R," the symbol of the House of Rahl.