Chapter 17 - Part II

The day was busy with appointments and annoying servants trying to make the Emperor feel good about his new hair-do. He didn’t believe them. The only words echoing in his mind were Adelaide's and they were saying he looked like a manly paint brush. The thought made him smile but at the same time angry. How could he have hired a hairdresser so incompetent?

As the last guest left the hall – one servant carrying his head and two guards dragging off his body – he found himself finally alone. He sat on his sencurium throne for a few minutes just staring at the red floor being cleaned by an elderly woman. She had gray hair and her skin was wrinkled but she was fast and her movements precise. It was clear she had plenty of experience. She didn’t allow the Emperor's look to bother her. Many of her younger colleagues made the mistake of getting nervous around their ruler, they allowed it to disturb their work. Their incompetence sometimes amused the Emperor, on bad days it could cost someone their job, on terrible days someone's life. He was easily irritable and he knew it. It’s always good to be aware of your weaknesses, he thought.

He stood up from his throne and strolled down the stairs. As he passed the woman, she bowed mumbling “Your Grace!”

The Emperor ignored her display of loyalty and walked off. Whenever he was feeling sad or angry, he would visit his father's chambers. He had always been idolized by everyone, especially Hugo. As the new Emperor, he often found it hard to be worthy of the title. He opened the thick and heavy wooden door that led to a small room. There wasn’t much – his father had preferred minimalism but he also enjoyed expensive things. There was a small bed on one side of the room, a desk by the window and a leather chair standing next to it. Hugo sat on the bed and stroked the exotic handmade fabric covering it. The rules stated that Hugo’s son would get the room but there was no son, not even a chance for a son. He was already nearing fifty but no wife, no family, not even a mistress. His father had implied many times that maybe he might be into the other gender. Hugo had laughed at those accusations. He wasn’t into men nor women, he had eyes and feelings only for one person. No one else could compete.

There was a lovely statue on the table. It looked a bit like a candlestick but it was there to hold eggs instead. There had originally been three but now only one stood on its place. The golden and silver one had been stolen but the copper egg was still there. It was the smallest of the three and held the biggest fortune in the world, worth even more than all of the sencurium that had ever fallen from the sky. A Stone Bird, he thought as he stroked the shell. He had never understood why they were called like that. They didn’t resemble stone and their shells were made out of metals. It would have been so much more logical to call them Metal Birds instead.

His father had made his life goal to bring all of the three eggs back together. That way they might still hatch. He had failed his mission and Hugo had thought it best to let it go. The last news was of the silver egg whose thief had been caught and put to Sencor when his father was young. The Night Ravens were able to take the egg back but it had gone missing again before it could reach its brother. His father had to replace all of his bodyguards then. After that, every lead, every clue led to nothing.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. How can they always find me? he wondered.

“Come in!” he ordered with tiredness in his voice.

Fowler peeked in looking as annoying as ever. “I’m sorry to bother you, Your Grace, but there has been news from Carran.”

“What is it, Fowler?”

“The local guards report that the rebels from Sencor have established their headquarters there and are heavily recruiting the camps that have been able to reach the city.”

The Emperor rolled his eyes. Whenever he thought he was finally free of the Sencor trouble, it would come back surprising him.

“Anything more specific?” The Emperor asked.

“They are calling themselves the Stone Birds, Your Grace. And wearing the Cirren symbol of hope, the white raven Thoth,” Fowler seemed proud of being able to share knowledge and most of all knowing more than the Emperor himself.

“Why Stone Birds?” The Emperor felt incompetent for being in that position. He didn’t like not knowing or understanding his enemy. He could understand the symbol, they were obviously trying to be the opposite of his Night Ravens but the Stone Birds analogy was unclear.

“Well, they do claim to have one of the eggs, Your Grace. The golden one,” Fowler responded with a smirk.

“That’s impossible,” the Emperor thought but then realized he had said it out loud.

“That’s what it says in their letter.”

No Your Grace this time? The Emperor was surprised. Fowler was growing more and more dangerous with his knowledge. Hugo often didn’t even read the letters Fowler brought in, he had been satisfied with the retelling of their contents.

“Send for Adelaide, Fowler. I’ll be waiting for her in here,” he ordered.

“Yes, Your Grace!”

As soon as she arrived, he felt better. Her presence was enough to calm him down sometimes. She could sense his nervousness and picked up the letter Fowler had left on the desk. When she finished reading her face looked confused.

“The golden egg has been missing for a century. They must be bluffing,” she said.

“I hope so,” Hugo responded. “If they do have it, they might try to make the bird hatch.”

“Even if they do try, there no chance of them succeeding. I mean, we’ve tried it for years. Professor Licor thinks it might be too late already.”

“It’s never too late. There’s proof of eggs surviving thousands of years. These three are only a little bit over a century,” Hugo appreciated Adelaide trying to comfort him but he knew the theory behind Stone Birds, he had been crazy about them as a child, looking up every book that contained any information about the magical birds.

“We’ll need to send spies to Carran,” Hugo finally said. “We need to find out if the stories are true.”

“I can organize someone if you wish,” Adelaide offered.

“No. I can’t trust anyone about this,” Hugo said. “Only you, Adelaide.”