The Emperor’s Last Night
The night emperor kyros Kallistratos died,the bells of Zorynthia did not ring.They should have,an emperor had fallen.The ruler of the greatest empire on the continent had been betrayed inside his own palace,by the very son he had raised beneath his roof.Yet the imperial Palace remained silent,no servants screamed,no guards came running,no horns sounded from the towers.Only the slow ticking of the enormous clock above the throne room echoed through the darkness.
Tick.Tick.Tick.
Kyros stood beneath it.At seventy years old, his once black hair has turned silver,streaked with white like frost across a winter field.Deep lines carved his face,not from age alone,but from decades of war,politics,grief,and decisions that had cost him more than he had ever admitted.His imperial robe was filled with blood.His own.Across from him stood a young man holding a sword.
Prince Evander Killistratos.His son.Kyros stared at him for several seconds,neither spoke.Then kyros looked down.The sword had pierced beneath his ribs.His hand trembled as he touched the wound.Warm blood slipped between his fingers.”Evander….”His voice was barely more than a whisper.
The young prince’s grip tightened around the sword.His face was pale.His eyes were red.He looked like a man standing at the edge of a cliff,knowing there was no ground behind him anymore.“Don’t call me that”.
Kyros slowly raised his eyes.”Call you what?”
“My name”.Evander’s voice cracked.”Dont say it like you’re still my father”Something inside kyros broke.Not his body something deeper,for seventy years he had prepared himself to die.He had faced battlefields filled with corpse,He had watched kingdoms burn,He had stood before armies ten thousand strong without allowing fear to touch his face.But he had never imagined dying by his own son’s hand.
”Why?”It was the only question he could ask.Evander’s jaw clenched.
”You know why”.”
No,”Kyros shook his head.”I don’t. ”
A bitter laugh escaped Evander.”You never listen”.
Kyros stared at him.”I gave you everything”.Everything?”
Evander’s eyes flashed.”Did you?” ”My crown,My name,My protection,Your future”.“I never wanted your crown!”The words exploded through the throne room.Silence followed.Evander’s breathing became uneven.For one fleeting moment,kyrossawthe child he remembered.
A little boy who had once waited beside the training grounds just to watch kyros practice his sword.A boy who used to fall asleep in his fathers study because he refused to leave.Kyros remembered lifting him into his arms,remembered promising him.”i will always protect you”His son was no longer that boy.Someone had taken him,broken him and Kyros had been too blind to notice.
”Who told you to do this?”Evander’s eyes shifted.Kyros saw it, the tiny hesitation.
Your Mother?”Evander said nothing.”Your grandfather?”Still nothing Kyros closed his eyes.Of course.The Morvaynes.Valeria.How long had they been whispering into my son’s ears?How many lies had they fed him?How many times had Evander stood before his father waiting to ask the truth,only to have someone convince him not to?Kyros opens his eyes again.
”Evander.”He looked at him”I never hated you.”Kyros smiled faintly.It was the first genuine smile he had given his son in years.”I should have told you that more often.”The sword trembled.Evander’s eyes filled with tears.
”Stop.”
“I should have been there.”
Stop.”
“I should have listened.”
“STOP.”Evander’s ripped the sword from his father’s body.Kyros collapsed onto one knee.Blood splattered across the polished marble.His vision blurred.He could hear footsteps approaching from beyond the doors.People are coming,Too late always too late.Kyros looked up at his son one final time Evander stood over him.Tears streamed down his face.His sword shook violently in his hand.
”I’m sorry.”Kyros couldn’t answer.Evander swallowed.Then,with a voice barely above a whisper,he said the words that would haunt the empire long after both of them were gone.
”The throne was never yours alone,father.”The blade descended.Darkness swallowed Kyros Killistratos.He expected death to be cold.It wasn’t.It was silent.Endless.Weightless.Kyros floated somewhere beyond the world he knew.No pain.No throne.No empire.No war.No Valeria.No Evander.For the first time in decades...there was nothing.Then he heard crying.A child’s crying.Kyros frowned.“Who’s there?”The sound stopped.Silence.
Then a voice.Small. Young.And strangely familiar.
“Father.”
Kyros froze.His heart seemed to stop.“Who are you?”The voice trembled.
“Someone who should have called you that sooner.“Kyros looked into the darkness.“I don’t understand.”
“You deserved better than that ending.”
Kyros clenched his fists.“Who are you?”Silence.Then the voice whispered:“Someone who watched.”Kyros’s breath caught.“Watched what?”
“Everything.”A strange warmth spread through the darkness.“I watched him grow.”Evander.“I watched him hate you.”Kyros closed his eyes.“I watched you lose everyone.“His fingers curled.“And I watched you die.“A tear escaped from the corner of Kyros’s eye.
“Why are you telling me this?”
The voice became softer.“Because I was sad.”Kyros frowned.“Sad?” “That my father ended that way.”His eyes widened.Father.The word echoed through the darkness.Kyros whispered:“Who are you?”The voice answered.“Someone who never got the chance to be born.”Everything went still.
Then a blinding light erupted around him.Kyros felt something seize his soul.He screamed.The darkness shattered.And the voice spoke one final time.“If I cannot have a first life...”The world began turning backward.“...then I will give you a second.”
Kyros opened his eyes.Sunlight flooded the room.He gasped.His body shot upright.His hand immediately flew to his chest.Nothing.No wound.No blood.No sword.His breathing became rapid.He looked around.The room was enormous.Familiar.
The carved wooden wardrobe.The silver curtains.The royal crest above the fireplace.The balcony overlooking the eastern gardens.His childhood bedroom.Kyros stared at his hands.They were smaller.Smooth.Unscarred.He stumbled out of bed and rushed toward the mirror.A young man stared back at him.Black hair.Sharp gray eyes.A face untouched by war.No wrinkles.
No scars.No silver hair.Kyros stopped breathing.He knew this face.He had not seen it in fifty-three years.His seventeen-year-old face.”No...”His fingers touched the mirror.“No.”He looked at the calendar on the desk.The date.The year.Kyros’s heart thundered.He remembered this day.He remembered exactly what happened.Today was the day of the Imperial Debut Ball.The day he had first been formally introduced to the nobles of Zorynthia.
The day his engagement to Valeria Morvayne had been announced.The beginning of the chain of events that would eventually lead to his death.Kyros stepped backward.Someone knocked on the door.“Your Highness?”He froze.The door opened.A familiar elderly servant entered, carrying his ceremonial clothing.
The servant smiled.“Good morning, Your Highness.”Kyros stared at him.The old servant blinked.“Are you feeling unwell?”Kyros’s voice came out hoarse.“What year is it?”The servant’s smile disappeared.
“Your Highness?” “What year?” “Year 742 of the Imperial Calendar.”Kyros’s heart stopped.Seventy years.No.Fifty-three.He had gone back fifty-three years.The servant carefully placed the clothing on the bed.“You must prepare quickly.”Kyros turned toward him.“For what?”The servant looked confused.“The Imperial Debut Ball, Your Highness.”Kyros stared at him.The servant continued.
“And congratulations."Kyros’s eyes narrowed.“For what?”The servant smiled.“Your engagement to Lady Valeria Morvayne.”Silence.Kyros slowly looked toward the window.The sun was rising over Zorynthia.
Golden light spilled across the palace.
A new morning.A new life.A second dawn.Kyros’s expression hardened.He had died once.He would not die the same way twice.And somewhere beyond the boundaries of life and death...a soul that had never been born was waiting.Watching.Remembering.
Waiting for its chance to enter the world.Kyros looked at his reflection again.This time, he smiled.It wasn’t the smile of the emperor who had died.It was the smile of a seventeen-year-old prince who had just been given fifty-three years of knowledge...and an entire empire to rewrite.“Valeria Morvayne.”His voice was quiet.Cold.
“I won’t marry you.”Outside, the bells of Zorynthia finally began to ring.And somewhere in the imperial city...a girl named Lyra was preparing for her first Imperial Debut Ball.She had no idea that by sunset...her life would change forever.
~End Of Chapter 1~
