Chapter 267: Meeting the Beast Emperor (1)

They waited in a side chamber of the middle ring for nearly an hour.

The stone walls were thick, but not thick enough to kill the distant sounds that rose from below.

Oil lamps burned steadily in iron brackets.

Marisa stood near one of the narrow windows, cloak drawn close around her shoulders, amber eyes fixed on the dark courtyard outside as if the view held answers.

Kane leaned against the opposite wall, Mjoldr resting beside him, arms loosely crossed, expression unreadable.

The silence between them stretched, broken only by the occasional muffled noise from the lower levels.

Kane spoke first, voice quiet.

"You’re quieter than usual."

Marisa did not turn from the window.

"I am calculating how many ways this first meeting can go wrong."

"And?"

"Most of them end with you in chains or bleeding on the floor. A smaller number end with my brother deciding you are interesting enough to keep alive for a longer game. I am trying to steer us toward the smaller number."

Kane’s mouth curved slightly.

"Comforting."

"I did not bring you here for comfort."

Marisa finally glanced at him.

"I brought you here because the visions stopped giving me any other path that left this empire standing. Try not to waste that by saying something stupid the moment you see him."

"I’ll do my best."

Another stretch of quiet.

The distant sounds continued, low, rhythmic, occasionally broken by a sharper cry that echoed faintly through the stone.

Kane’s gaze drifted toward the floor as if he could see through it to the levels below.

"He’s been down there the whole time we’ve been waiting?"

"Most likely. He prefers the underground when he wants to think, or when he wants to forget the upper halls for a while. The packs know better than to interrupt him there unless the matter is urgent."

Kane shifted his weight against the wall.

"And a summoned outsider walking in with his sister counts as urgent enough?"

"It counts as interesting. That is not the same thing."

The door opened before Marisa could say more.

A soldier stood in the doorway, dark armor marked with the emperor’s sign, face carefully blank, posture rigid with discipline.

"The emperor will receive you now. Follow."

Marisa pushed off the window ledge without a word. Kane took up Mjoldr and fell into step beside her.

The soldier turned and led them out of the side chamber toward a wide descending stair.

The moment they started down, the air changed. Warmth rose to meet them. The clean, cold scent of the upper palace faded, replaced by something heavier and older: blood, sweat, musk, and a thick, cloying undercurrent Kane already recognized from the outer pens.

Kane kept his voice low as they descended.

"He has his own breeding ground down here?"

Marisa’s eyes stayed on the steps ahead.

"He’s the emperor. So yes. The outer pens are for the packs and for bloodline management. These levels are personal. Convenience. Demonstration. Sometimes punishment. He has never seen a reason to keep them far from his own chambers."

"And the sounds?"

"Are exactly what you think they are. Keep your eyes forward. Looking too long is the kind of curiosity he notices."

They continued deeper.

The stair opened into a broader underground hall lined with heavy doors and iron grates.

The sounds were clearer here: muffled moans, the wet rhythm of bodies, the occasional rattle of chains, a low laugh from someone who was not in chains.

Kane kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.

He already knew what the chambers contained.

He had no interest in examining the details further.

The Empress’s Mark under his skin burned in a low, steady warning, reacting to the atmosphere of control that saturated every breath of the lower levels.

The soldier led them past several junctions without slowing.

Other guards stationed along the hall watched them pass in silence.

A few nostrils flared when Kane walked by.

One of them muttered something under his breath to his partner; the partner gave a short, humorless chuckle and then fell quiet again when Marisa’s amber eyes cut in their direction.

Kane spoke again, still quiet.

"They’re already talking about the scent."

"Of course they are. You walked into the outer grounds carrying me, Kessa, the winged one, and residual mutant blood. Now you are walking into the underground carrying all of that plus the fact that I spent a night on the road with you. Tongues will move faster than messengers."

"Does that help or hurt the measurement?"

"It depends on whether my brother decides the scent is an insult or a provocation worth answering properly. I have never been able to predict which way his pride will jump when I am involved."

They reached a reinforced section built into the far corner of the hall, thicker walls, better lamps, a heavy door left half-open.

The soldier stopped, inclined his head once, and stepped aside without entering.

Kane halted a few paces short of the doorway.

Marisa stopped beside him. For a moment the only sounds were the distant activity behind the grates and the soft crackle of the oil lamps.

Then she spoke without looking at him, voice pitched low enough that it would not carry through the open door.

"My brother will not like your smell on me. When he asks, I will tell him it is only because I accompanied you on the road. Nothing more."

Kane’s mouth curved in a small, humorless smirk.

"He will be jealous?"

"He is more than jealous."

Marisa’s voice stayed even, but something tighter moved underneath it.

"He has waited years for me to accept the old tradition. Finding another male’s scent on me, especially a human who walked into his territory carrying an axe, a claimed tiger warrior, and a fallen angel, will not sit quietly with him. Be prepared for that. He may ignore it. He may make it the center of the first conversation. I cannot tell you which."