He leaked the video. I thought as my feet rushed across the bridge connecting the House to Parliament. That would be the only reason I thought would necessitate my presence and the presence of all the high lords and ladies of parliament at three in the morning while my party was still underway in the skies.

"What's going on?" I asked, my heart threatening to punch its way out of my chest.

"I haven't been fully briefed about the situation, but it was regarding the Southwest border." Ly whispered to me as we walked side by side towards the pillared portal of the Parliament.

Southwest. The Peninsula?

Zabdi kept his mouth shut then... for now at least.

"Get rid of Tino please." I whispered, as the blond prince was mere inches away from me and Ilyaas, keeping our pace. He was a decent person, thinking I needed his help though this, but I didn't want him to see how I functioned around the nasties.

Ly took a look at him and smirked. "Come on, he's just practicing for his kingly duties."

"Some MP sons are also in the thirty." I came up. The excuse wasn't good enough.

"So what?"

"Tino won't like what he sees when I speak with the MPs." I usually took my grandfather's route when I addressed them, maybe even a little harsher. Upapa had favorites and was far from his supposed non-partisan stance when it came to real-life interaction. He was firm and they stood on their toes for him. They didn't like doing that for me, but I wouldn't give them a choice.

Upapa was nice sometimes and genuinely liked some of them... I, on the other hand, hated them all and could not wait for the next election. "He won't like me when he sees what I do."

Ilyaas understood. "James and Nat are at the entrance. I'll get pretty boy back to his room."

I nodded. "And come back, okay?"

He grunted and stopped on his tracks to block Tino.

"Your highness..." I heard Ly say.

I kept walking despite Tino's protests, and as far as I knew, Ilyaas won their small argument as he led the blond prince back to where we came from. I kept my back to him. I didn't want to see my betrayal on his face. I couldn't blame him for being confused.

As Ly said, James and Natasha were at the end of the bridge, guarding me from both sides as I passed them. We crossed the grand staircase down to the halls and offices of the MPs. It was much less ornate than the house, but much more opulent than it needed to be.

It was a whole slab of marble, like a really big mausoleum. I guess it was appropriate since it was where all ideals came to die.

Just when I was set to take the stairs down to the Hall of Parliament, Nat guided me down a different path. We passed a hall of mirrors, and I realized how disheveled I still looked and now I was barefoot too.

"Where are we-" I felt my pulse quicken, remembering where the hall led.

WAR ROOM.

I felt a flash of lightning hit my heart.

No. I wanted to run. It was all I could do not to bolt. I looked around for something to ground me, my pulse quickening. One. The floor was cold under the purple carpet. Two. Nat had swollen ankles, probably from walking during the rounds at her hospital. Three. The imperial guards had polished buttons.

So different from the ones I had when I served. And they were few here. Most of the guards were White Coats. They were our military, the ones who swore to me but worked for the government at large. I was one of them once, but I never got to wear the white garb they wore on duty in Eurasian soil or the purple coats they wore in ceremony or in school... only the camo, the overalls, and my crimson version of their tyrian ones.

Good. The distraction was working a bit... but then-

I'd have to shed some of their blood for a war. And so, I kept my head down as to not see and remember their faces. I can't lead a war. I was shaking when they opened the doors.

Everyone stood as I entered. I gave them a nod and a flick of my hand to make them take their seats. The tension was high. Only a few of them were dressed appropriately since some of them came from my party, half inebriated, while some of them came from their beds.

Once there, Ji Su came to whisper in my ear. "Immigrants from North Africa are at the Southwest border seeking refuge."

My sigh of relief was audible. Not a war.

"Why are we using the war room, then?"

"It has the needed amount of seats and a map at the table."

Thank God. "Next time please make sure I'm briefed before everyone."

She nodded and stood behind me, filling Ilyaas's place for now.

I took a seat at the head of the wide table, across from some people of the lower and upper houses, generals from the armed forces, representatives from the judiciary, and then my representatives from the privy council.

"Semper Invicta." I greeted.

They muttered the same as their response. Then silence.

"Begin."

"As of two thirty AM, Lesyan time, about five hundred North Africans flocked to the Southwest border, followed by another seven hundred twenty minutes later." Akim of the Privy Council briefed the members of the table, flipping through her projected tablet. "Primary scans showed they hold no advanced weaponry, only knives and makeshift swords. They pleaded to enter Eurasian Land and since then, the gulf has been crowded as riots have erupted throughout the area."

"But that's only a few miles from the Saud stronghold." Prime Minister Crawford said.

"Yes, and the border patrol is being overwhelmed as we speak." Said General Cioco, the general that replaced the late general Hori, head of air force. She zoomed into the border's live feed with hundreds of boats still on the water.

"They crossed the Gulf of Aqaba?" I asked. Egypt was much closer to Israel than the gulf, and they wouldn't need boats there. It didn't make sense. "They didn't walk to Israel?"

"From our satellite feed... no one survived the walk to Israel."

My heart broke. The breath was knocked out of me. I didn't want to know-

"How many?" Minister Chen asked.

"Almost a thousand."

I grimaced, feeling pain in my chest, heat rising at my nape. I heard gasps. I had to look down at the table to hide the pain I felt for those who perished in search of safety. I didn't want to know how many but now I needed to mourn almost a thousand. "What are they running from?"

The map zoomed in on a series of smoking debris and fires raging near Nakhl. "It's a siege." General June of the army said under his breath. "We've been monitoring activity near the borders for a month now after the order to nuke the White Raven strongholds. No Onus activity, but see, this area from the Israeli border to the Kufra district..." He traced the map. "They're full of White Raven sympathizers."

"The North Africans intend to wipe them out." I stated. Not a question. I heaved a heavy breath. The North Africans were led by a series of dictators only defied by the Onus, but Eurasia always functioned under the 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' idea and they were tentatively our allies. "So, the question is if we let them in or not."

Everyone was quiet then. Twelve hundred people's lives were to be decided at that table.

This was why I didn't want to be the Empress. I liked following orders, not giving them. The accountability tied to my throne felt like an anchor around my neck.

I turned to my right. "Crawford?"

"If we leave them out, they will die." She said, and foolishly I thought she wanted to let them in. "But imagine the diplomatic consequences of interrupting the North African war. They've been at this for generations-"

"We already interrupted the war when I killed the White Ravens." The guilt was ripping through me already.

She swallowed. "Yes, and it would not be wise to invite the sympathizers of those terrorists to our land."

She had a point. They might want me dead... but I didn't want them dead. How many of the thousand two-hundred people were children? Orphans? Childless fathers or mothers? How many had to postpone mourning in order to live a day longer?

The door opened slightly, and a lithe Ilyaas came in, his eyes widening at the map on our table. His home. I grit my teeth. His people.

"Evacuate the Sauds." I said, strength coming in the form of my best friend. "Send the king to the furthest palace from the border, send the heir apparent to Lesya."

"We can house them both here, your imperial majesty." Uncle Hassan said in a strong but gentle voice, now speaking for the first time from his palpable hush.

I held the impulse to bow to him. I wasn't supposed to.

"Yes, but their people need to know they are not fleeing their territory." Some heads around the table nodded, while some eyes rolled. "We also can't keep both in the same place or they'd be easy pickings."

"There's no need to evacuate them, we can keep the Africans at the border. Transfer troops from the East." The bald man I hated said, rolling her eyes surreptitiously. "With all due respect-" He started, with absolutely no respect whatsoever. "Your imperial majesty, we still don't know why you moved some of our troops to China. We can actually use them at this border so we should just move them."

"But the Islanders are expanding-" I said while no one listened.

"That will take half a day at least." General June said, opening a simulation of the transfer.

"Then it's settled then." One of the bald man's co-eye-roller said, starting to get out of her seat, her usually well-pressed hair now in a nest.

"I agreed to nothing." I scowled at her.

She rolled her eyes again away from me. I wanted to gouge them out. "Your imperial majesty, it's three in the morning and I would like to go back to my home. With all due respect, your presence here is nothing but a formality."

I snorted. "So is your life." I said under my breath, knowing full well everyone heard. "You would rather let people die than loose a few more hours of sleep?"

"Excuse me, your imperial majesty, did you just threaten me?" She screamed, a shrill that woke everyone at the table. She didn't even hear the other insult. I doubt she thought it was one.

Simply, I raised my eyes to her, meeting her crazed gaze with my coolly expression. I put murder into my eyes, and she saw it well. "Are you threatened?"

Her butt sank back to the chair in a thud.

Formality. I snorted. My throne was not a formality, in fact the existence of the parliament was the only formality in that room. It was an absolute monarchy dressed as a democracy. I could kill her, admit to the murder, and pardon myself the next day.

There were only about two things I could be prosecuted for: parricide and being an Onus.

I was only guilty of one.

I sighed.

"I know these people are not Eurasians but the only difference between them and us is a one-mile-thick line. If any of you take the lives of twelve hundred innocent people lightly, please send your resignations to my office in the next hour." I pierced the annoying brunette that cared more for her sleep than the lives of the refugees with my eyes. A hot flash spread throughout my back, bracing for the impact of my next words, bracing for their opposition. "Open the borders."

"Is that your official command, your imperial majesty?" Crawford asked, a glint in her eyes. She finally has ammunition for people to start hating me. She never was my ally.

I faced the minister in charge of immigration. "If we let them in, what would their status be?"

"They would be undocumented, your imperial majesty." He flipped through the phases on his tablet. "Unless they have identification cards or chips, those ones we can process."

"The ones without documents can be kept outside the border." Miss Miller suggested.

Idiot.

I bit my lip. "They were being shot at, yes? Bombed?" I looked to Ji Su for confirmation.

She nodded. "Not nukes, but shelled, your imperial majesty."

"Have any of you been shelled before?" I asked the table. Their pursed lips were enough of answers. "Well, I have. When your house feels like it's in an earthquake and when bullets fly inches from your head, it's quite hard to remember where your birth certificate is."

"Then they should all just be pushed back." Mister Young, the bald man said.

Psychopath.

"Or we can let all of them in and tax them for using resources." A boy, probably twenty-one, from the privy council stated.

"They don't have money." I said under my breath. How out of touch could these people be?

"We can funnel donations towards them and have that as their source of income for a while." Akim stated. Finally, someone was listening to me.

"Can we give them a sort of citizenship?" I asked the immigration guy. The combined groan of the room was audible. This was not what they wanted to hear.

"Well... that could give them the right to vote and own property..." He said tentatively. "And they'll have to pay taxes then."

"That won't work." I said. "Every democratic state under Eurasian rule would want to adopt them for the votes, and every monarchic state will object to giving any of their lands up, so they'll get ordinances for tithes... They'll be exploited either way." My hands ran through my hair in exasperation.

"Then we can do probationary citizenship." Akim suggested. "They'll need a sponsor." She continued. "A sponsor for the land, then for primary needs like housing, food, water, clothing, meds, education until the adults get jobs."

"No one's going to sponsor a thousand two-hundred Onus sympathizers." Someone chimed in.

"We can do a conglomeration of the donations, make a fund and have the fund sponsor them." The boy said.

"How long will that take?" Crawford asked.

"A few months...?"

This was enough. As we were arguing, bodies were falling.

"I'll sponsor them." I said. "On imperial land."

"But-" They all said.

"No territory will have the burden or blessing of additional population." I placed both hands on the table, a gesture my grandfather did when he made his mind up.

"Then where will we get the money, your imperial majesty? Imperial allotment?" Miss Miller asked.

I saw the generals eye each other, getting ready for the possible onslaught.

"If it's from the IA, then we have to tax them... or you, your imperial majesty." A girl from budget said, crunching her numbers.

"I can go for that, no property tax since imperial property is exempted, correct? Grant them probationary citizenship under my personal sponsorship. Protection given from the imperial guard, no human rights violations, and we treat them like Eurasians." I made my mind up already. "Make a barricade about nine miles squared around an open wall of the border and keep them all there in the desert. It's imperial land, anyway, so it's mine. Provide tents, food, water. Tomorrow we'll discuss their move to any of my lands and their documentation work. The transfer should be done in less than three months if possible. That way the kids can settle well before the next school term."

The bald man stood. "Your imperial majesty, this is not a good idea. The border should be reinforced, not open. We don't know these people."

"What matters is they're people." I said. "Welcome them and hope that if you end up in the same hiraeth, when the home you know no longer exists, and you have nowhere else to go, someone will treat you with the same measure of kindness."

Like they did when I landed in their desert.

I stood up and left before I could hear objections. I didn't know if it was a mistake.

Keeping my head down, I walked fast out of the room. Just as the doors closed behind me, I heard it erupt with arguments. That was when I started bounding up the stairs to the bridge. The Pentagon League was left to stare as I bolted.

I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to know why it was wrong to keep people alive.

They were right. Their concerns were right! But turning a blind eye when I knew they would die would have killed me.

So, I ran, but soon enough a hand grabbed my forearm and wrapped me in a bear hug, my face buried in his chest as he kissed the top of my head. Musk, bergamot, black currant...

I could hear his soft sobs in the darkness leading to the bridge.

"Thank you." Ilyaas whispered through his tears. "Thank you."

"Thank you." I whispered back, remembering his young face through the smoke of my burning hair that cold Egyptian night on the day I should have died.

×+×

Even as the thoughts of war and coup d'etats plagued my mind through the night, I somehow slept well. Almost twenty-four hours of staying awake would do that to a person. Even after I felt Ilyaas rise from the bed to pack his own things for the journey ahead, I slept.

When I woke up at nine, I heard the ruckus outside my room. It was Uncle Hassan and his team of stylists preparing the thousand outfits I would be wearing for half the year. I didn't fight them over it. It wasn't worth it.

Today would be the start of my tour. From a cursory glance at my messages, I understood that the itinerary was changed overnight. Instead of starting from the Arabian Peninsula, I was to go south, one country at a time until I got to New India, then turn around the empire counter clockwise. Thus, my last stop would be the Persian states.

Security reasons. I ruined my chances of visiting my favorite cousins by welcoming the Northerners.

I sighed, punching my pillow. It was a battle I wasn't willing to fight anymore, and besides, I missed Kyrgyzstan too.

"Jazzy." I nudged the lounging tiger. "Get up."

We had three hours until the train would leave. I had to get ready. I typed a message on my board - a request to have my chosen pretty boys in my car. One who I owed, one I needed to silence, one I wanted to speak to, one I actually liked.

At the alarm of my heartbeat hastening, I heard a rap on my double doors.

I punched the pillow again, gritting my teeth. The sleep was good but not long enough.

Once I got the courage to stand, I pulled the covers off me, petted Jazzy and walked barefoot to the door. I needed more sleep. I needed time to think. I needed to just be me. But waking up yesterday and letting them crown me was my choice. This was payment for my stupidity.

Blessing and burden.

It was Uncle Hassan, a beaming smile on his face. I wondered if it was fake.

"Are you ready for your tour?" I wasn't.

But no one was.