"Your Highness!"
A silly man in a large hat with an even larger feather protruding from the side dashed across the lengthy room.
He was a one of the royal couriers, and he was currently disrupting an unexciting meeting between the emperor and the empire's council members.
The rows of arguing men lining either side of the room fell silent in curiosity as the courier fell to his knees before the emperor.
"I have urgent news!" the man exclaimed, slamming his head into the ground in a much too exaggerated bow.
"Very well," Calix sighed, pressing his fingers into his forehead. "Tell me what the news is."
For some reason, meetings with the council felt even more frustrating than usual lately. In the beginning of his reign, everyone had bent willingly to his every whim. Now that the shock of a terrifying new emperor had worn off, however, leech-like councilmen had brought his plans to a screeching halt with their irritating political stalemate.
