Extravagance was the name of the game. Colored lanterns riddled the sides of buildings, lighting up the streets that the Zalfarian populace streamed in. That night, everyone was permitted entry into the inner city, and peasants were allowed to dress like nobility and to wear masks so that nobody could tell who was who.

  Aurelius wore white coupled with a blue cape and a black and orange mask that he held atop his head as he wrote notes. Cade joined him on the balcony of their quarters.

  "You still worrying about that speech?" she asked, jumping up to sit on the stone ledge and glancing at the nightlife. "Why not just have Alexander speak for you? Isn't that his whole thing?"

  Aurelius tapped his pen on the table, looking up. "I need to be the one to speak. The people think of me as just their hero's love child."

  "Didn't seem that way when we came here."

  "Well, there was momentary relief, but then rumors started going around, and the doubts followed." Aurelius scratched his head, grumbling. "They need to believe in me so that I can have an effect on the morale. Or that's what Alexander said."

  "Why not just show off?"

  "I need to keep my most special abilities secret. Boosting morale isn't worth giving Kendrick something to work with."

  Cade sighed deeply, leaning over the ledge. "Wow, Rey. Real political." She put on her blue demon mask and threw up the hood of her black cloak.

  "You're going out with the royal family dressed like that?"

  "Who said I'm going with them?"

  "The emperor?"

  Cade snorted. "Good luck on the speech. I'll be watching. As will the rest of Alexandria." She said with a wave and hopped over the ledge.

  ***

  Aurelius watched from a platform of essence above as Alexander walked onto the platform that had been constructed in the square before the palace. It was a simple wooden platform with a red carpet laid on top. Just a moment ago it had been used for plays, acrobatics, and dance. Now the sea of people went quiet as they saw their emperor in a blue suit, tailed by two stoic guards with red capes.

  "My dear people, thank you for blessing this land with your liveliness this fine evening," Alexander began, with a sweeping gesture of his arm. "Today is a special occasion, for, as you have surely heard by now, the son of Ares has arrived in Zalfari."

  There were cheers from the audience, but nothing substantial. They were all expecting something.

  "Without further ado, please welcome my nephew, Aurelius!" Alexander exclaimed and stepped aside.

  Aurelius came floating down slowly on a platform of essence, his blue cape flying around in the high winds. He spread his arms.

  There were gasps, mouths opened wide, and excited children pointed their fingers. The technique Aurelius used was nothing special, but the effortlessness of it was evident.

  Once he let the platform of essence dissipate and landed on the stage, Aurelius took off his mask. Hissing noises flooded the audience as whispers went around, but they ceased once Aurelius cleared his throat.

  He dug into his pocket. Nothing there. He checked the other, careful to keep his expression solemn. Nothing in the other either. His notes were gone. Did he forget the piece of paper somewhere? Did it fall out?

  The audience was expecting. Aurelius returned his hands to his sides and stood straight. "Hello, uh, I'm Aurelius." What was on that piece of paper he had worked on the entire day, he had no clue. It was all foggy, blank. He could come up with the letters but didn't know what order they went in.

  Aurelius scanned the crowd. Tens of thousands of masks and even more eyes watching his every move. They were in the square, at the feet of the statue of Alexander the 1st, and on rooftops or balconies of nearby buildings. Somewhere out there, Cade was laughing her head off.

  Aurelius began pacing and talked with his gaze down. "I've heard that my father wasn't the best talker. I'm not either. And that's a good thing... because—" Aurelius looked up and lost his train of thought.

  He could hear his pulse. The exit from the stage drew his eyes to it. He kept them on the audience. Then he shut them and breathed. These were people just like him. All they wanted to hear was that he was on their side.

  His heart slowed, and he opened his eyes to a whole new crowd. He saw men with children atop their shoulders, aged pairs holding hands, and youths sitting coolly on rooftops with monster masks.

  "I look at you, and I see a unified people made up of individuals that want the best for those they love and are willing to work for it," Aurelius said. "Right?" There was no response, but Aurelius wasn't fazed. "I look at you, and I see what my father saw decades ago. What he chose to live for, fight for, and die for." Aurelius' voice cracked.

  He turned to the side and wiped his face. Feeling the silence of the people grow, Aurelius turned back with a newfound vigor. "And that was not a mistake!"

  Aurelius pumped his fist and thumped his chest. "All the brave soldiers who fell in the defense of their country fell with purpose." Aurelius paused, and his eyes fell on an old man who hugged his wife. "That goes for the youngest, most unaccomplished private like it goes for my father."

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  Aurelius held out a hand and tensed it so that streaks began to coalesce. "At birth," Aurelius said as a ball of compression came to be, "we come to have a potential and a path." His words echoed, and the ball of essence grew. "With age, those things sometimes become unclear to us." When the ball of compression became the side of a head, Aurelius began to shrink it down. "But when we shrink, shrivel up, and die, those meanings come clear to us again." The streaks unraveled and the ball dissipated.

  Aurelius had captured the audience in awe. Then he drew their attention to his face. "Despite my age, I have seen much of death. My face is scarred, unlike that of my father's. They show the arduous path I've crawled to be here in front of you this midnight."

  Aurelius paced from side to side before stopping in the center and speaking from his stomach so all the people could hear. "My experiences of death have paved my path to this point. And as I stand here, looking at you, I see that I have come to the right place." He raised a hand in honor. "Thank you."

  Then he put his mask back on and walked off stage as the audience erupted into deafening cheers. From every grandparent, parent, and child to the youths riddling the rooftops, everyone joined in the dream for peace and a better world.

  ***

  "A wonderful speech, Aurelius," Alexander said in the carriage. "Truly."

  "Quite so." Xeoveras slapped him on the back. "I thought you had shat your pants when you started doing breathing exercises on stage."

  Aurelius smiled a little but was still mulling over the authenticity of his words.

  "Will your lady companion be joining us at the arena?" Zideania asked.

  "I'm not sure," Aurelius answered. "She knows we're heading there, but—"

  "For your information, here it is considered awfully disrespectful to abandon those you were supposed to accompany," Ziedania interrupted.

  "Right, uh..." Aurelius scratched his head, leaning to the side of the carriage. "I don't know what you want me to say."

  "An apology would suffice."

  "From me?" Aurelius asked, and Ziedania nodded firmly. "Cade's my girlfriend. I'm not accountable for her actions. If you want an apology, ask her. You won't get one, though, so better forget about it."

  Ziedania crossed her arms and scoffed.

  "Now, now, I'm sure Cade didn't mean to miss out on our company." Alexander said, giving Aurelius a questioning look. "Right.

  Aurelius nodded obliviously.

  Then the carriage came to a halt. Alexander opened the door, and Aurelius peeked outside. There, in the midst of rows of people and all kinds of little stands and shops, there was Cade threatened by a few guards.

  Aurelius pointed out the situation to Alexander, who promptly made the guards back off and let her in. When she got in, she waved at Xeoveras to move onto the other side so she could sit beside Aurelius. Xeoveras looked baffled, but when Cade was about to rip him out of the seat and Alexander was doing nothing, he gave in and moved.

  "Your guards are surprisingly competent," Cade said to Alexander.

  "It is a peaceful day when there's only a single attempt on my life," Alexander joked, but with an unprecedented reality in his voice.

  Aurelius realized only then what an achievement it was to be alive when Kendrick wanted you dead.

  The rest of the way to the arena, they sat in the carriage with Aurelius and Cade on one side and Alexander, Xeoveras, and Ziedania on the other. Nobody said a word. Xeoveras and Ziedania just glared at Cade, who looked bored. Aurelius and Alexander looked at each other with pursed lips.

  At the arena, they were guided to the imperial viewing box. There weren't many chairs there, but that wasn't a problem since the children weren't going to join them. It was quite evident as to why that was with blood stains in the bleak yellow sand on the arena floor.

  Aurelius sat beside Alexander with Cade behind them. He would've liked to sit next to her, but Alexander insisted.

  "Watch," Alexander said. "Here he comes."

  Supposedly, this was just a little exhibition for the reigning champion of Alexandria's arena. Aurelius had heard the name mentioned a few times already, so he looked with curiosity as the champion entered the arena.

  He was a surprisingly short man with a sharp jaw and dark, disheveled hair. He held up a hand as the audience burst into cheers and whistles, especially the girls by the sound of it. He grinned, flashing his prominent canine teeth that accentuated his wolfish visage.

  "That's Mephisto for you," Alexander said with a peculiar mixture of pride and exasperation.

  Aurelius was wondering what kind of person would evoke such an emotion in an emperor when he felt something was amiss. He squinted, enhancing his sight.

  He had never seen the man before, so he did not know how, he did not know why, but he realized right away, 'I know him.'