The following morning, servants brought Cade and Aurelius white silk robes to wear and led them to the breakfast hall. It was located on the eastern side of the palace, and the rays of sunlight flooded from windows as Aurelius and Cade entered to notice the entire royal family there, waiting.

  "Ah, here he comes," Alexander said, standing up from the opposing end of the table that was filled to the brim but untouched. "Your cousins have been dying to meet you, Aurelius."

  There were nine of them, all with their eyes on him. Counting Alexander, his brother, and sister, there were 12 heads of golden hair at the table.

  Aurelius raised a hand. "Hello, everyone."

  The oldest girls chuckled a little. The boys beside Alexander's sister whispered to each other and received a reprimanding slap on the arm.

  "Go ahead and sit. You must be starving," Alexander said, gesturing to the seat at the end of the long table as he sat down himself. "You too, Cade. Don't be afraid of us golden-haired folks now."

  Aurelius sat at the end of the table, and Cade sat on his right and next to the oldest of the girls. Her hair was organized by braids that were incomprehensible to Aurelius. "Hi, I'm Alexandra," she said to Cade with a soft smile.

  Cade introduced herself as best she could, still unused to the differences in common and Zalfarian. Having noticed the exchange, Alexander proceeded to have everyone introduce themselves briefly.

  Xeoveras started by making some joke Aurelius didn't pay attention to. Alexander's sister introduced herself seriously as Ziedania, adding nothing more than that. Her rowdy three sons imitated Xeoveras. Xeoveras' sons each said they were Aurelius' biggest fans. Alexandra introduced herself again as Xeoveras' firstborn. She was a little shy but well-spoken. Aurelius couldn't help but think that the apple had fallen to the other side of the world from the tree.

  Then Alexander the 7th introduced himself, giving his age, which was six, and announcing himself as the heir to the throne.

  "What do you like to do?' Aurelius asked the boy.

  He looked to his father with pursed lips.

  "He likes reading," Alexander the 6th said, patting his son on the head. "Don't you?" The boy nodded. Then Alexander turned to his other side and scooped an excited little fellow up into his arms. "And this here is Lucaliel. He's in his third year." Lucaliel squealed, touching and tapping his father's face.

  Aurelius smiled but cast a concerned glance at Alexander the 7th. Then a question came to him. "Will Gabriel be joining us sometime?" Aurelius asked, cautiousness in his voice in case the worst had come to pass.

  "Yes, he will. In time. As soon as he gets word of your arrival." Aurelius was about to ask how come he didn't have word already when Alexander continued talking. "My wife is also most wanting to make your acquaintance but is away on a matter related to the Senate."

  'The Senate?' Aurelius thought but didn't ask about it.

  Xeoveras seemed to notice anyway. "The Senate's just an irrelevant charade. Alexander the 1st castrated it centuries ago," he said with a wave of his hand, getting laughs out of Ziedania's boys, which in turn got them reprimands. "They worry about ratification, public honor, and the like. My wife's such a pain you'd expect her to be a part of it as well." Alexandra rolled her eyes at that. Then Xeoveras continued rambling on.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Aurelius chuckled a little, following the family's antics. They weren't all that different from others. He shared a look with Cade.

  Then they began to eat. Every fruit was perfectly fresh and juicy. Then there were pastries, cheeses, meats, wines, and things Aurelius had never seen or heard of. It was like every bite was the best he had ever experienced. He stopped eating only after he remembered there were people who starved.

  ***

  After breakfast, Alexander invited Aurelius to walk with him. Alexander gave him a quick and modest tour of the palace before they ended up walking through the courtyard in the middle of the palace.

  "This palace was built by Alexander the 1st. As you can see, he wasn't much of a friend to nature," he said, gesturing at the wide area with nothing but slabs of stone. "I understand you to be the opposite. I have a beautiful property with a garden of cherry blossom trees you must see."

  Aurelius looked around the courtyard, reminiscing about what he'd read in The Side of Ares. "This is where you do your combat training?"

  "That's correct. Ziedania's boys barely ever leave the place." Then Alexander chuckled, and as if having read Aurelius' mind, said, "I was trained here too. By your father, no less. I was standing right about here when I saw your father smile for the first time." Alexander then recounted the story of the two birds. Aurelius didn't have to pretend to laugh because he still found it funny.

  What followed, though, was a long silence. Aurelius tried to get some space in order to ask the important question.

  "What are we going to do about Kendrick?"

  Alexander turned abruptly, looking at him with furrowed brows. "Kill him, of course."

  Aurelius struggled a bit. "And what will happen to Lundkirk?"

  "The nation will collapse, and things will go to their natural order," Alexander said, as if natural was synonymous with just.

  "I know enough to know I don't want things to go back to the way they were," Aurelius said.

  Alexander laid a hand on his shoulder. "Aurelius, my nephew, there are things in this world that cannot be prevented."

  No matter where he looked, Aurelius failed to find a single good answer.

  Aurelius took Alexander's hand off of him. "I don't believe that."

  Alexander's face twitched with a hint of anger, but he calmed down with a sigh. "You will." After saying that, Alexander began walking away only to turn, as was a habit of his. "You're a Zalfarian at your core, Aurelius. Trust me. You'll see that with time, as will the populace, I'm sure."

  "I had the impression they already looked at me like that."

  "Some do, yes. But to others, you're the love child of Ares, and they're unaware of the forces you snuffed out in the eastern continent. We're holding a carnival in your honor tomorrow where you can prove those doubts wrong. Be prepared."

  Then Alexander was gone, and Aurelius was left alone in the middle of the palace's courtyard. Standing there, Aurelius felt himself at the center of the world, but weirdly enough, he'd never understood Solomon better.

  Aurelius rubbed his face up and down with a lengthy groan.

  Was fighting for the Great Zalfarian Empire really even worth it? What would come of all his efforts?

  Even if temporarily, Aurelius felt meaning drain out of even the steepest steps he'd climbed on his journey. His shoulders hung.

  At the center of the world, exposed to all its forces, he felt like a little boy again.