Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 121: Reunion(1)

The vast imperial throne chamber was silent, save for the faint rustling of tapestries hanging from high walls. Empress Valeria sat regally on her throne, draped in royal finery that caught the flicker of the sunlight coming out through the windows.Beside her stood her son, Mesha, a boy of no more than ten winters, his young face filled with confusion. He shifted uneasily on his feet, glancing at his mother for some kind of reassurance.

Valeria caught his gaze, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. The message was clear. Mesha straightened immediately, fixing his gaze forward, his confusion masked by forced composure. The air in the chamber was thick with tension as they waited for the arrival of the one person Valeria both feared and sought to emulate—her father, the man who cast a long shadow over the entire empire.

The heavy doors at the far end of the chamber finally creaked open, drawing the attention of every courtier lining the hall. Whispers died on the lips of those present, as the man who entered needed no introduction. Marthio, was a figure known to all, though few courtiers of low lineage had the courage to speak to him or of him.

Marthio was tall, his lean frame almost deceptively thin. His eyes, cold and calculating, were the same shade of piercing green that Valeria saw every day in the faces of her siblings and hers. He remember those eyes staring at her whenever she misbehaved that seemed to knwo the truth from lie. His hair, or what remained of it, was combed forward in a futile attempt to hide his advancing baldness, though it only served to highlight the starkness of his features. His jaw was sharp, his lips thin and unsmiling.

Valeria's hand tightened on the armrest of her throne, though her face remained a perfect mask of calm.

Lord Marthio of House Acheia was known far and wide as the wealthiest lord in the southern reaches of the empire. His fortune, however, was not merely a gift from the fertile lands under his control, though those lands had long produced bountiful harvests. Marthio's true talent lay in how he leveraged his resources to accumulate wealth and power. Sharp as any blade, he understood that mere reliance on the land would never bring him to the pinnacle of influence.

In the aftermath of the rebellion, where he had steadfastly supported the late Emperor Gratios, Marthio secured numerous trading privileges that made it difficult for many to distinguish between the roles of emperor and lord. His fortune grew not only from grain but also from the shrewd use of his extensive trade networks. His influence in the empire's southern reaches stretched across borders and kingdoms, where his shipments of grain filled granaries, and his power over the north was reflected in the trade caravans that once brought riches back to his coffers, which he had almost a monopoly over.