Chosen By The Emperor

THE ISLAND OF AMOSTRA

“I wasn’t the unborn servant, so there's no way I'll go now.” Those were the words she had uttered, her eyes filled to the brim with anger. She turned away from the pleading eyes of her beloved mother, making up her mind that whatever was going to happen, she wasn’t going to the Imperial World.

Her mother walked up to her and softly took a hold of her hand. “You mightn’t have been chosen, but the only way to save us all is for you to go, Sevim.”

She slightly took her hands away from the cold and grazing hands of her beloved mother and looked away. Because she knew that if she kept looking, there was nothing that her Mother’s eyes couldn’t make her do. Going to the Imperial World included, and becoming the soul-less servant.

“Mother, you’re just trying to waste your time with me. What’s there? Tell them the truth, maybe they can help us find him. You can’t just force me to go there as his replacement.” The pain of what had happened was still afresh in my mind. And even though she mightn’t be able to avenge for him, hell, to even start looking for him, she would.

“How many times do I have to tell you this, Sevim?” Her eyes were no longer pleading as she walked up to face her, she was shedding a few tears now. “Your father died in the hands of those men, do you want that to be our fate as well? They won’t believe me. They’d say I knowing hid my son and won’t accept a no for an answer. This was a millennial promise, Sevim. We have to fulfill it at all costs.”

She watched as her mother wiped at her tears. Something so strong and painful struck at her and she couldn’t understand what kind of fate their family had. “Why did it have to be just our family, Mother? I can’t comprehend how it’s only us that are chosen to be the soul-less servants! We want to live too!” She bellowed angrily and that gave way to her tears.

Her Mother yet again wiped at her smile with a painful smile on her lips. “It’s not just our family, Sevim, it’s the entire Aanakocra Tribe, can’t you see? And this time, it’s our family’s turn to sacrifice one of us to be the soul-less servant...”

She softly cut her mother off, realizing that whether she liked it or not, she had to step up and do this. “That’s basically like killing me, Mom. Of what use would I be for myself or my family if I'm soul-less, Mother?” No matter how much she tried to be strong and not give way to the pain ripping at her heart, a stubborn tear rolled down to her cheeks.

“For the last Emperor, it came from the Polaze household, and can’t you see how their lives turned out?”

“That’s before the Emperor killed her, Mother! He killed Narcisa and then what? Not even her body was brought back to them and now they’re outcasted because whoever got himself killed by the Emperor meant he has sinned greatly and they aren’t to be associated with. Do you think that should be the reward of being the soul-less servant? If I'm going to sacrifice that much for one man everyone choose to call an Emperor, at least my family should reap the benefits of my labour.”

“Narcisa’s case is different, there was an Imperial war at that time...”

“Caused by the current Emperor, am I right? What makes you think that he, too, won’t find a reason to kill me? Mother, I'm not going to be the soul-less servant. And in fact, didn’t they say that he chose Rezi because he had an unquenchable hatred for women? What do you have to do about that?”

She watched as her Mother got lost for words. Looking around their tiny hut, Sevim thought of what she would do to escape this situation. The best thing she’d have to be doing right now was planning how she could find Rezi’s killer and she believed it was none other than the Emperor himself. Who could kill a Soul-less servant other than it’s owner?

Yes, Rezi mightn't have been officially the soul-less servant yet, but he was born as the unborn servant. He was chosen by the Emperor 200 years ago to be his servant, even before they were born...that brought a pause to her thoughts...

Sharply, she turned to look at her Mother that was still thinking. “And what do you plan to do about the Unborn Servants mark on his shoulder, which I don’t have? And do you think the Emperor is a fool not to recognize a soul he had chosen himself? Please, make it believable, Mother.”

“For the mark, we could go to the God Of Souls and have him sort it out. And for the soul, you’re his twin sister, Sevim. You two share the same soul, there’s no way he’d distinguish between the two of you...”

“And for these, what would you say about them?” She pointed at her blossoming breasts and her Mother flashed her only a single look and looked away.

“We’re going to meet the God of Souls tomorrow. You should sleep on time.” She wondered what had gotten into her Mother’s head, can’t she see all that she was trying to point out?

She watched as her Mother acted as though she had fallen asleep, even though Sevim knew for a fact that she would never be able to sleep. She had known that she hadn’t been sleeping for a while. Since the day it was announced that the red moon had been sighted, which meant the days left until the Unborn Servant left for the Imperial world were closer.

She got up from her bedding, if a pair of blanket and woven mat could be called a bedding and walked out of their tattered hut. She stared at how in shambles their house was and felt as pain tried so hard to lacerate her entire being. Theirs was the most wretched household in the entire Island of Amostra. They were said to be the poorest and it was all due to her Father’s death. Dead in the hands of these monsters and her Mother wanted her to go and serve their Emperor? She couldn’t.