Claude had assumed to be in a dream, or a partial nightmare. One inspired by watching ancient style court dramas when he was younger. If it hadn’t been for the voice he would have fully convinced himself. The voice was softer, more caring, like a father talking to a lost child.

  Ah. You are a stranger, I sense your surface thoughts. You have suffered. I apologise. I was told I was too forceful by my husband and wife. Do not fear.

  He hadn’t yet opened the leathery book and the last he remembered was that he had allowed himself to rest in the relative safety of the compacted dirt tunnel leading out of the room of smooth bone walls, floors and ceilings.

  And then he had wanted to close his eyes and….he woke up here. Nothing was trying to kill him, he had witnessed savagery with servants wearing black and some kind of metal helmets with bars on stopping them eating food.

  Responding to the voice wasn’t the best option so he chose to go along for the ride. This would make an interesting reprieve even if his memories and actions were becoming blurred.

  Respond to strange voices hadn’t been the best idea so far. Unless this was an elaborate trick by Kamryn who had yet to talk to him directly and offer her pieces of advice and her gift then he would go with it.

  ‘I knew there was a reason that I tolerate you in my court. The honest man and the Empress. Your spouses and children remain taken care of, do give on my wishes to them. I take so much of your time demanding preparation. War. I will consider the proposal. Come, sit next to me while I supply your response. Why, you may even be permitted to feast with us. And if I happen to hunger...then you would sacrifice for your Empress. Grand Chamberlin Linze. You will observe the setting of the banquet. With my blessing.’ said the Eternal Empress.

  The beautiful woman sitting on the throne smiled further before she raised a finger for the smaller man in red clothing to come closer to her presence. Claude saw no visible signs of guards around her which surprised him a little.

  Her smile reminded him of a predator which had been recently sated but was hungry for more. Her eyes were entirely red and her lips full and thick.

  Claude simply knew that he didn’t want to see her show her teeth, if he had grown a new layer of teeth the sight of a semi-immortal demi-goddess grinning was going to be worse.

  I will share all my memory with you stranger. May you find peace and understanding in my thoughts. I wish you no harm. She was beautiful and extremely dangerous. I believe you would call her temperamental. Forgive me, some of your thoughts are near-alien to my own. Learn.

  She was nobility, a Queen or the ruler of this place. There was a deep familiarity about her but he didn’t know if that was simply the unknown remnant of consciousness which had spoken to him in his mind who knew her or he had a connection with her.

  Wait a moment more. She will grow bored and talk with the diplomatic messenger. I know her. She will not kill me. Kill us when our back is turned. The nobility would do the same to her if they dared. Cowards.

  He simply knew things about this situation, about her, about the Eternal Empire but it was confusing. He was part of it but also not. An observer and participant.

  As Claude watched through the eyes of Grand Chamberlin Linze the Empress stood up from her throne and took hold of the arm of the diplomat as she pulled him into a side-room.

  At the moment she moved, so did the body Claude was inhabiting as he turned heel and stepped back towards the balcony to oversee the finishing touches of the servants dressed in black as they began to prepare places.

  There. You see. She truly loves the Eternal Empire but her appetite is strong in many things. This is a ceremonial banquet for the return of nobility who fought in the war.

  The smell from the hundreds of red candles on the chandelier hanging from the ceiling was familiar to Claude. He had smelled something similar when he had first arrived but this was fresher.

  Claude was thankful that his physical desires hadn’t come with his shared habitation of this body. There was only the sensation of breathing, smell and visual senses. He wasn’t able to truly control the movements nor did he want to.

  The presence of the ghost of memory or residual identity who had spoken to him wasn’t hostile, he didn’t want to take him over, simply asked him questions and explained or expressed himself.

  The sensation of observing the final set-up of the banquet as odd. He was present and yet not. The body he was in was alive, breathing but it was similar to being an unconscious passenger. His mind wasn’t being suppressed, he could talk and move if he wanted but there was a presence simply watching him.. no. Not a threat. Not yet.

  The furniture in particular was mostly disturbing to his eyes. He didn’t want to know how they managed to build it or if it came from a living or dead person.

  The scent of the food and drink below the balcony both beckoned him and sickened him. He was certain that he had seen plates of eyeballs, the fact that there were multiple shades of coloured irises on each was concerning.

  There could have been a plate of honey-soaked hands as well. They had been well-presented but he hoped that wasn’t the case. If possible he wanted to stay on the balcony above the palace dining area and avoid all contact with the odd food and drink.

  You still do not speak stranger? I will guide through my memory. Behold the glorious past destroyed by a war and a living god of flesh. I understand our culture is different but observe. We eat the entirety of the body as a blessing. This is no madness but the culture of a once-mighty power. I will share knowledge with you. Be at peace.

  Claude understood he was inside the main palace of the Court of the Eternal Empire, where the Empress held sway. This was a sacred location, guarded and protected by silent guards who had been altered through rituals to become more or less than human.

  Even the servants in this place had been taken as children and changed, their behaviours and minds altered to adapt. Those rare few who came from the outside offered fresh insight. He understood that this was a closed off palace, the nobles who resided stayed there, outsiders came on a temporary basis unless brought into the royal court by the Eternal Empress.

  The body he inhabited was one such figure, a man who was once the Grand Chamberlin, only directly answerable to the Empress of the Eternal Empire. Even the nobility had to respond to his will.

  Our ways are clear. Your mind has suffered trauma. I do not blame you. Time will heal you before you bleed out. You are infected with the fungus, it will preserve you after a fashion. Do not fear. I enjoy living once more, even as a shadow of an echo of a forgotten dead memory. Will you not respond to me stranger?

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  This was deeper inside the Capital City, removed from the worst excesses of the war and the nobility had retained enough power, influence and wealth to protect their way of life.

  Ah…I believe you would call it personality bleed. I understand. You found my book. You were injured, your dying corpse ended on my book and your blood and genetics, combined with the fungus ended with you trapped. This is my life. This was my world. A place of memory. Did the giant die? Did my plan work? Hah...I’m dead. But at peace. Until your brain stops working then we can...exist in a conscious form.

  A pain came from a gloved hand. He clutched in, keeping his face stern. An itchy pain came once more from his wrist, he had injured it previously when he had prepared himself for the feast banquet earlier. His children had wanted him to play with them and he had obliged but when one of them had fallen he had sprained his wrist.

  The Eternal Empress smiled at him. Her expression was one of ever-hunger, she wanted more and accepted little when asked for less. If Grand Chamberlin Linze was honest then she was the main reason that their island Empire hadn’t been entirely overrun by the two opposing island kingdoms of sea merchants and fisherfolk.

  Fear not stranger. I do not seek to take over your mind. Observe the might we once held before the giant devoured out and the fungus corrupted the rest. I would weep to see the island you beheld with your own eyes. Learn from our mistakes. And if you would, establish your own dominant will. I will not fight you. Observe in your dying moments.

  Her drive, her sheer ambition and desire to consume had driven the populace to create and build wonders with few resources. She had delved the island, the depths and the coasts and the skies in her younger exploring stages and discovered untapped resources and potential.

  Even the throne she sat on was built from the harvested bodies of her own kin when she had won the war of succession rights against them. I heard that she had chosen to devour them alive in full sight of her Royal Court decades ago to establish her power and control over the nobility. Given the fact that she had done the same with rebellious nobles and their families who had attempted to commit high treason against her I would be certain that the old stories were true.

  Listen. I will share more with you. What I can. The fungus preserved flesh and memories and incorporated me. As far as I know though my remains were digested by a giant I hoped to kill through poison and sacrifice. Your lack of response is...disquieting. I can see your surface thoughts but will not press further.

  As far as I was aware she had no children or her own, nor chose to adopt any to establish a clear line of succession. Her youth and beauty continued onwards though with no sign of her ageing. Physically she was inhuman, she was far faster and stronger than any of her personal guard.

  I had seen her fight once, during the early stages of the invasion of those who despised our culture, our way of life. The merchants who dug in the dirt for gold, gems and precious minerals and the fisherfolk who harvested the bounties of the surrounding ocean.

  They had craved our forests, our livestock and our rich fertile soils which our crops and plants grew plentiful. When diplomacy had failed they had sent a single warship with an entire contingent of armoured soldiers in direct challenge.

  Our beloved Empress had torn them apart with hand and tooth, some had become bewitched by her beauty and stood there as she tore their arms off, others she simply threw back into the warship nearby off the coast.

  The Empress was a demi-goddess. But she was corrupted. I do not blame the war on her, she simply lived her nature, but the people. She forced them to adapt. To learn the ways of the high nobility.

  No. The war wasn’t her fault but if Grand Chamberlin Linze had an issue it was with the newcomers who had entered the court, outsiders with ideas and notions which encouraged her behaviour in excess.

  Your will remains strong young man. I see your name. Let us be introduced. I am Linze. A delight to meet you stranger Claude. You are an oddity. Not a giant among humans though eh?

  The nightmare or dream was a welcome relief for him. He was thankful for the temporary escape but the words inside his soul and his lack of control over the situation was disconcerting.

  He decided to respond. His own voice was distorted as though he was talking underwater which make sense granted he was trapped inside a dream state.

  ‘Linze. Am I heard if I talk? Does your body speak my words as we stand by the balcony?’ said Claude as he he failed to hear his own voice in any physical manner.

  The figure of Grand Chamberlin Linze remained stood at the balcony, occasionally moving but fully observing the actions of the servants dressed in black with face masks with bars on to stop them eating the food.

  At intervals, one of them would stop and glance up at him before carrying on with the task.

  He talks! A miracle. I must admit, having someone inside my head is an interesting experience. Those servants, the Empress bred them herself. We used some of the old alchemy to breed in obedience and taste. Did you know that there are many ways to flavour humans according to how they live? Ah. You show disgust. I said this but your mind has some alien concepts entirely foreign to me.

  Claude observed through the eyes and senses of Grand Chamberlin Linze as laughter from both men and women echoed from a distance below them.

  The servants wearing black had stacked enough plates of foodstuffs and drinks across the massive table to fill a hundred people at least. He noticed a complete lack of cutlery aside from a single sharpened fork placed on the table in front of each table space.

  Chairs were carried in similar to the stool that Claude had seen next to the throne of the Eternal Empress. Each one was fixed with an oversized human spine as backing but with a soft red cushion and adorned with bones which had been warped and twisted to form patterns.

  Yes. The bone smiths know their craft well. Ours was a kingdom built on...what is the word you are familiar with. Biological. Yes, we practised the biological. Each dish on that table is considered a high delicacy, I do believe that it is a sad occasion though. We used up the last of the war prisoners for this feast. The Empress ordered the larder-dungeons emptied. She knew the end of the war before any of us. Even me.

  A series of what Claude considered as nobles came in, their clothing was a similar style to that of the Empress. As Grand Chamberlin Linze’s eyes were fixed on certain locations, he could see the barest edge of the dining hall. The floors were a dark red wood as were the walls but there was minimal adornment aside from images vaguely similar to the ones he had seen inside the bone room with Kamryn.

  ‘We don’t eat people on Belphus. Nor prisoners, they are get sent to be rehabilitated or join work programs. Even experimental ones for one of the main organisations like the Facility of Myth Reduction.’ said Claude as he wished that he could close his eyes of Linze when he saw next what the servants were carrying in.

  The nobles, a mixture of men and women, all wore militaristic style tunics but with the addition of rosettes which were made from a bloomed flower.

  Large metal hooks which took at least three servants each to carry hanging off heavy bases with darkened patches of metal were struggled in as the servants in black desperately tried to avoid either bumping into or coming into any physical contact with the nobility who were taking their seats at the massive dining table.

  The left hand of the Grand Chamberlin ached once more as he pulled off the glove revealing grey flesh.

  This is….strange. This is not the fungus. But...interesting. I sense your thoughts young man. Your distaste and disgust. I do not think you care to see fresh meat prepared for the banquet. Read my book, learn my words and my ending a little and we will talk again. Congratulations, you’re not entirely dead. There is hope. Become the killer of the poor, pitiful god we built. Wake up Claude. Wake up and breath.

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