The air in the tent crackled with a new, dangerous tension. The rustle of Lukan's certified parchments was the only sound for a long moment, an indictment more powerful than any army. Cassian rolled the documents with a slow, deliberate motion, his knuckles white. The cold fury in his eyes had settled into something harder, more dangerous: the quiet wrath of a professional who has been profoundly insulted. He looked at Kareem, who was still held between two legionaries, and the look was not that of a soldier to a prince, but of a predator to its prey.
Before Cassian could speak, Kareem twisted in the guards' grip, his face contorted with a vicious, desperate hatred. His eyes were fixed on me. "You," he spat. "A worm playing at kingship? You think these people love you? They follow you because they're sheep and you're a novelty. But when the grain runs low, they will remember you are nothing. You crawl out of the dirt, you build your little kingdom of mud bricks, but you can't wash the gutter from your soul. You reek of it. And Dalia… she reeked of it too. Did you really think a flower could save her? All you did was get her hopes up before she died in the filth she was born in. You couldn't even save your own sister. You will never save anyone."
For a second, all the air left my body, and the confident leader I had become was replaced by the grieving boy at an empty grave. I saw Aliya's hand twitch, her knuckles white.
Cassian watched this exchange, his expression unreadable. "You have wasted my time, boy," he said to Kareem, his voice dangerously soft. "You have wasted the Emperor's resources. You tried to make a fool of the Legion." He turned to me. "The King will be taken into my custody. He will answer to the Emperor for this… insult. As for Prince Kareem… his crimes were not against the Empire. They were against your people. He is a source of instability. I can… release him to your custody. To face the city's justice." He paused. "A public execution would be popular. Consider it a gift."
The offer was a cup filled with the sweetest wine. Vengeance. The man who had just flayed open my deepest wound, delivered into my hands. It would be easy. The people would cheer. A cold, dark part of me screamed for it. I looked at Kareem's sneering face, and then I looked at Aliya. Her eyes were searching mine, not with expectation, but with a quiet, unwavering faith. She was not asking me to be a king. She was asking me to be the man she believed I could be.
"Thank you for the offer, Commander," I said. "But vengeance is not justice. If I lead by satisfying a personal hatred, I am no better than the King. Kareem will face a trial, under the laws we intend to restore. The law will decide his fate, not me."
A slow nod of profound respect from Cassian. "A wise choice. It shows that I judged your character correctly." He looked from me to Aliya and Akram. "But wisdom must be paid for. The tribute is still owed."
"And it will be paid," I stated. "On behalf of the city, I offer a formal and sincere apology for the disrespect shown to you and to the Emperor and the King. His actions were his own, not those of the people." I laid out my proposal, not as a plea, but as a series of logical, actionable steps. "First, for reconciliation. The Council of Elders will authorize the seizure of all the King's personal holdings and the remaining assets of the monument's treasury. This will serve as the first installment. Second, we will resume all future tribute payments on schedule. I offer our new public ledger system as proof of our commitment to fiscal responsibility. It is a system of absolute transparency. Finally, for trust, we ask that you leave an Imperial Observer to be stationed in the city—an honored guest to ensure open communication."
"A comprehensive plan," Cassian conceded. He gestured to his guards. "The royal family will be taken into Imperial custody."
"Commander, wait," I said, stepping forward. The fear of a bad outcome, of losing everything we had just gained, was a cold knot in my stomach. "I ask that you reconsider. Princess Aliya and Crown Prince Akram must stay."
Cassian raised an eyebrow. "They are of the royal blood. They are part of the instability."
"They are the source of the solution," I countered. "It was Aliya who used the city's own laws to challenge her father's madness. It was Akram who risked his life to bring you the proof you required. To remove them now would be to punish the very people who sought to uphold their duty to your Emperor. Akram is the Crown Prince. To ensure a stable transition and maintain continuity of leadership, he must remain."
Cassian considered this, his gaze shifting between Aliya, Akram, and me. "The succession is an internal affair," he said finally. "If you believe their presence ensures stability, they may stay. Your city, your leadership."
Relief washed over me, but I pressed on. "Commander, one more plea. For the King."
"He tried to use my Legion as his personal assassins," Cassian said, his voice hard.
"He is a foolish old man, lost in his own vanity," I argued. "I do not believe he understood the gravity of his insult. He is not a monster, merely a man who has been a king for too long. I do not ask for clemency, only for mercy in his treatment."
Cassian was silent for a long time. "I cannot offer him a pardon. The insult to the Emperor is too great. But I can offer him my word that he will be treated with the dignity his former station warrants on his journey to the Capital. He will face the Emperor's justice, not a soldier's vengeance."
"Thank you, Commander," I said, bowing my head in gratitude. There was one last piece. "There are others. Men who served the Legion once. They were hired by one of the King's advisors to kill me, but they chose to side with the city instead. They helped secure our defenses. They are skilled men who were betrayed by their former commanders. I ask that you grant them a pardon and allow them to serve the city."
Cassian's eyes narrowed. "You ask me to pardon deserters? Men who broke their oath to the Empire?" The conflict was sharp in his voice.
"I ask you to recognize men who, when faced with a choice between a corrupt order and a just cause, chose justice," I said firmly. "Their loyalty is not to a commander who betrayed them, but to the principles the Legion is supposed to represent."
"Loyalty is not a principle, it is an action," Cassian shot back. "They are a risk."
"Then let them prove their loyalty anew," I countered. "Allow them to serve the city, to protect it. Their skills are needed."
Cassian stroked his chin, his gaze intense. "A valuable asset, if they can be trusted." He fixed me with a stare. "Very well. I will grant them a full pardon, on one condition: they will serve for two years as the personal guard of the Imperial Observer you proposed. Their loyalty will be to the Empire, through its representative."
It was a brilliant, binding move, and I accepted it immediately. Just as the guards began to lead Kareem away, Aliya stepped forward.
"Commander," she said, her voice quiet but firm. Cassian turned, a flicker of impatience in his eyes. "Please, understand. My brother… he is not well. Our mother died when he was just a boy. My father… he never saw Kareem. He only saw the son who was not the heir. His cruelty is a shield for a terrified child. I do not ask you to absolve him of his crime. He attempted to deceive a representative of the Emperor, and for that, he must answer. I only ask that when you look at him, you see not just a failed prince, but a victim of the same broken man who brought us all to this precipice. I ask for your empathy."
Cassian looked at Kareem, who stared back with defiant hatred. Then he looked at Aliya, and I saw the hardness in his eyes soften for a fraction of a second. "Princess," he said, his voice losing some of its edge. "Your compassion does you credit. But empathy does not negate the law. He will stand trial with his father before the Emperor." He turned back to me, and I saw that the final test was over. He wasn't just a soldier; he was a judge of character, and we had, somehow, passed. "Your terms for repayment are accepted," he said, the words now carrying the weight of a true pact. "My Legion will break camp at dawn."