Jade Empire by S.J.A. Turney

Author:S.J.A. Turney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Books
Published: 2017-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Late summer, Velutio

General Flavius Cinna took a deep breath, preparing to try again.

‘Majesty—’

‘No, Cinna. There will be no peace. You have shown that even a force of men outnumbered and with less effective artillery can hold the west against the great army and the thunderous cannon of the Jade Emperor. And now you expect me to believe that you cannot win this war for me? That I must agree terms with that cadaverous green-eyed monster in the east? No. A thousand times, no, Cinna. I will give you a simple choice…’

Cinna recoiled from the emperor’s spite. The man’s eyes were rolling like a mad dog’s. The rest of the court had pulled away and were leaning back in their seats as though sitting any closer might make them the next target.

‘You will take my commission as it was given and bring me the Jade Emperor’s head on a platter, Cinna, or you may take your own life here and now and I will find a more competent officer to take your place.’

Cinna felt his anger settle in the pit of his stomach and form there into a diamond of hatred. In the blink of an eye he measured the number of paces between him and the madman on the throne. He had no sword, but the emperor always had one next to his seat for when he felt the need to cause bloodshed on a whim. Around the hall’s shadowed periphery there would be hidden archers with their arrows ready. Fifteen paces. He could cover it in three leaps. A few more heartbeats to snatch the sword and then a single blow would free the empire.

He straightened with a sigh. It was a dream. Nothing more. He felt certain that the moment the emperor lay on the floor bleeding out his life, Cinna would be lauded as a hero by the room’s various occupants. But Bassianus had a madman’s hold on his people. As long as he was hale, they would do nothing against him. Cinna would sacrifice himself readily for the empire – he had sworn to do just that many times as a soldier – but even at the height of his physical power, he would have been unlikely to cross that distance without taking at least one arrow. By the time he grasped and drew that sword one would become six. He would be a hedgehog before he could land a killing blow, transfixed with dozens of arrows. And all for naught.

Still he would have tried, but for the other consideration: if he were to die with no direct heir in place, which psychopathic sycophant would be promoted in his place to stomp on the Inda? Cinna had been largely unsuccessful in his attempts to bring the natives on side, and Dev had vanished without trace in the northern mountains. Cinna had requisitioned what he needed from the natives and tried to conduct the war with the minimum damage to them and still they suffered. Imagine what would happen under a man who cared nothing for them? No.

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