What Comes Next from The Empress
Heiassa, junior sister, friend
This letter can only be read by you, but I trust you in what secrets within you choose to share.
I find myself quite jealous of Ausha, that other version of myself that gets to spend so much time with you. She had many things to say about you and your journey together in the letter she sent. All I can say is that I hope for the day when I can spend time with you myself, with fewer barriers between us.
You and she have challenged me. For far too long, I haven’t deserved to be an Empress. Its one thing to guard our people so that they may live their lives safely and to safeguard against external threats. But I personally haven’t stepped free of the pain of the past to truly create our best future. My love sends her thanks for reawakening dormant shattered pieces of my heart to risk the pain that comes with greater hope again.
Soon, I will announce your position to the Empire, along with an explanation of Ausha’s existence, and the nature of our cooperation with the allies in the Outlands. I intend to recognize Ausha as a Soverign Princess because while I want the Empire to know and respect her as they should, she is Soverign to herself, without obligation to the Empire I created. I’ll be letting them know about Lilliallis as well as I recognize what is becoming a true Imperial Family.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the working I’m undertaking from Kadia and Hella. It won’t be easy and I expect it to take a great deal of time, but I intend to cleanse the Toxic Sea. It is time to make the place a second home available to those Ossyr who are awakening even now. More than that, our Empire needs the opportunities that come with a usable, navigable inland sea. Without it, we are incomplete, constrained between the mountains and the sea, and we can only be squeezed to the breaking point by the Collective. When the time comes, I’ll need your help and Teacher’s as well… along with any other allies we can call who possess vast magical reserves. For now, we make preparations for a brighter future.
As good as it’s been to have Onyx by my side again, I’d like to send him back your way for another mission. He said that flying over the barrier wasn’t precisely dangerous but it is exhausting, and it’s something that he needs several months to recover from doing. Once he’s recovered on your side, I’d like you to send him back with a few special people. More than anything, I hope you can send teachers. Dwarven, Human, even Fae. I’m instructing the Imperial Academies to prepare to teach more of our lost history from before the war that led us here. More than that, I want people here to learn from our new allies, to see them as partners to respect, in no way lesser to ourselves. You and Lillialis can be a symbol of that, but our people will need more than just a symbol.
As much as possible, I wish for you to have time to grow yourself on this journey you’re currently on. I’ll work with your remarkable family for the things that must be done. While they were not easy, my days with Teacher were among the best in my life. This time that you and my sister self have with her… I hope they can last for as long as possible. I know you and Ausha will take good care of each other, and Teacher will care for you, in her own way.
Kaide
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