Delmar took a sip of wine, then drew on the hookah that stood beside him, continuing to lie on his stomach. Exhaling the smoke from his lungs, after a few seconds he took another couple of puffs, while a naked, dark-skinned slave woman rubbed oil all over his body with her enormous breasts. The usual relaxation for the son of the emperor of the great empire. He took another large gulp from his glass, finishing the wine in it, then rang the small bell that stood on the table next to the empty glass. A black male slave, also completely naked, entered the relaxation room and bowed to his master. Unlike an ordinary man, this slave was a eunuch. Almost all male slaves in the imperial palace, regardless of skin color, were eunuchs, for slaves were not permitted clothing, and to behold male genitalia, especially from new slaves who might become aroused seeing naked women, was simply inappropriate.

  "More wine," said the prince, and the man bowed again, and without uttering a word, poured more red liquid from the jug that stood nearby on the table before the imperial son into the glass. Then, bowing once more, he left the room. The usual routine, to which the young man paid no attention. "Massage my shoulders."

  The girl moved up a little, sliding her oiled body and her genitals along the prince's back, then leaned over and began to massage the prince's shoulders with her breasts, while he continued to smoke the hookah, washing it down with wine, occasionally calling the servant to refill his empty glass.

  When the bell rang again, instead of the usual black-skinned man, a youth appeared, dressed in a turquoise caftan, not very tall, with white skin—which, of course, was not rare in the Empire, but was rare within the palace. He observed the scene before him with a smirk, then approached the prince's table and poured wine into his glass.

  "Relaxing, my dear fellow?" the youth asked the prince, who continued to lie on the couch, not particularly raising his head, merely exhaling clouds of smoke in his direction.

  "Of course, Boyar Tumanov—or rather, former boyar?" the prince chuckled, answering a question with a question.

  "Oh, come on, gracious son of the sovereign Delmar, I brought you this wonderful hookah from my homeland, and you're still displeased with me," the youth smiled, clearly not offended by the prince, continuing to stand beside him.

  "If I could be bought with just a hookah, Yegor, I would have ceased being an imperial prince long ago," the young man calmly replied to the former boyar's barb. "Let's get down to business. Why are you here? You're rarely seen in the imperial palace."

  "Bokari accomplished his mission in the Kingdom of Crow," Yegor answered the prince, but with a slightly sad expression on his face.

  "Now that's good news, Yegor Tumanov. Why didn't you start with that, instead of bringing up the hookah?" Delmar said, beginning to smile a little wider. Apparently, the alcohol was finally starting to go to his head, but not yet enough to make the prince do things that people in their right mind prefer not to.

  "Well, that's the news I wanted to start our conversation with, son of the sovereign, for we shall return to it a little later, since the conversation has turned to Bokari, our dear fellow, alas, now deceased. And because of his death, we have a pretext for war with the Kingdom of Crow, when 'His Highness, Delmar the Third' died at the Royal Ball of Crow. Ironically, he was killed by creations of scientists from the Free Cities, which will clearly shake the reputation of the Kingdom of Crow," the youth said, observing the prince's reaction.

  "May the desert goddess Sarabi bless Bokari's path in her sacred sands," Delmar said quietly, the words with which they send the dead into the warm embrace of the sands.

  "The sea goddess Eshi, the desert goddess Sarabi, and the sun goddess Aching. I see your culture loves female gods—not a single male," Yegor said cheerfully, trying to hide the notes of sadness in his voice. Delmar knew that Bokari had been a good friend of the former boyar, and his death had touched the youth somewhat, so the prince tried not to press him too hard, for they still had great plans ahead for the conquest of the Kingdom of Crow.

  "Naturally, everyone loves women, Yegor, that's obvious. If people were to worship and bring offerings to a god, it would be as if the Emperor's power over the people became less firm, because people would be deifying some other god as well. But as long as the goddesses are women, the masculine role of the emperor, as one who stands alongside the gods and rules over men, remains intact," Delmar smiled, answering his comrade's question. "Besides, these goddesses are also closely connected with the birth of children and death. The sea goddess Eshi grants life, so people pray to her when a woman expects a child. The sun goddess Aching watches over life, so people pray to her while they live. The desert goddess Sarabi envelops the body in the sands when life ceases, so people pray to her when they die. Considering all this, one could say it's an allegory for a mother who watches over her child throughout its life. Perhaps that's one reason why the goddesses are women."

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  "You speak so confidently about this, sovereign's son Delmar, as if you founded this religion yourself," Yegor admired the prince's knowledge.

  "Hah, if only, then I would be considered the greatest man of this time, or even a messiah. I just read a lot. Did you know that in the Kingdom of Crow, their god has no name at all? They simply call him God, although in neighboring countries he may be called the Nameless God. Anyway, let's leave discussions of religion for later; let's get back to our business."

  "As you say, my dear fellow."

  "Was Professor Munib eliminated?"

  "According to the report from my dear friends in the kingdom—yes. So far, everything is going according to our plan. Bokari's death wasn't part of it, but it has created an excellent precedent for us. Just imagine, where did the Emperor learn that this Munib was the son of Professor Garib?"

  "An old crow whispered it," the prince smiled broadly.

  "What kind of crow?" Yegor asked in surprise, tilting his head slightly.

  "The unchanging Katerina, Duchess Blood."

  "Those overseas witches, whose generations of young girls are given the same name?"

  "The very same. Even her daughter and granddaughter were named Katerina. Although if my memory serves me, her daughter died, and her granddaughter is listed as missing."

  "Not so, Delmar. The granddaughter has been found and has enrolled in the academy in their capital for nobles."

  "The Royal something-or-other of Crow?"

  "Indeed."

  "These upstarts from Crow do love to flaunt their importance, naming everything in their own honor," the prince chuckled. Suddenly, he rose from the massage table, thereby throwing off the woman who had been sitting on his back. "Now massage my lower part."

  The slave obediently rose and took a position on her knees before the prince, beginning to massage his groin with her breasts. Yegor winced slightly at the sight but said nothing to the prince, as there was little he could do in this situation.

  "Before I forget," the prince continued. "Are there any white slaves for me? I'm sorely lacking exoticism in this palace."

  "Yes, Boyar Kozlovsky recently acquired a beautiful slave from the Kingdom of Crow, with delicate skin the color of white roses, just as you like, my prince," Tumanov quietly replied.

  "Can you get her for me? As always, I won't remain in your debt," the prince smiled predatorily, meanwhile lowering one hand onto the girl's head and pressing it towards his groin, so that the slave's toothless mouth might engulf his imperial dignity. With his other hand, he took the hookah mouthpiece and took another drag, and after exhaling a cloud of smoke, continued. "Yegor, be so kind as to ring the bell, let my slave give me more to drink."

  "Allow me the honor, sovereign's son Delmar," Yegor said, taking the glass from the table and bringing it to the prince's lips.

  Delmar took several large gulps, pressing even harder on his slave's head, while Yegor watched as the poor girl convulsed, trying to escape the prince's strong grip, pushing her hands against the table. But over time, her grip weakened, and she went limp. Then the prince let out a moan, tightening his grip on the girl's hair, and then shoved her body aside.

  "Thank you," the prince smiled. "I haven't relaxed like this in a long time, and I doubt I'll get to sit so easily again anytime soon, for great deeds await us!"

  Delmar stepped over the slave's corpse, paying no attention to the dead woman. Yegor, noticing this, understood that the lives of slaves held no value for the imperial family—they were merely things to satisfy their needs. He liked that girl who had appeared at Kozlovsky's, but the youth understood that if she fell into the prince's hands, she would end up like this maiden lying at his feet. Yet it was unlikely his comrade would refuse such an offer to curry favor with the imperial son.

  The naked prince, meanwhile, stepped out onto a small balcony, from which opened a view of the entire Imperial capital of High, surrounded by vast amounts of sand, but built around one of the few known oases in the Desert of Despair. His gaze stretched into the distance, where the kingdom approximately lay, and then he extended his hand in that direction and clenched it into a fist.

  "The whole world will submit to us, for we are its true rulers," the young man said quietly.

  "Well said, sovereign's son," Yegor followed him. "Even now, some boyars still believe it would have been better to remain under the rule of your glorious empire."

  The young man merely smiled at the words of the man who had betrayed his Tsardom and immediately defected to the Empire's side. Indeed, no matter how strong and advanced the Free Cities might be, no matter how far away the Kingdom of Crow lay—it mattered not. This world would belong to him and his children, just as it had belonged to his father, his grandfather, and all the other generations of the imperial family.

  "Let us begin our tale of war and the great victory that shall follow," the prince chuckled and walked back into the palace.