Empire, Issos. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

A carriage approached slowly towards the city gates, and the coachman held his whip and shouted softly. The wide robe of the coachman could not hide the beautiful figure of the coachman - the person driving the car was actually a woman! The guard's eyes lit up suddenly, and the hormones that had been suppressed in the post for a long time were provoked by the smell of the opposite sex, and he stepped forward to stop the carriage, coughing dryly, wanting to take the opportunity of interrogation to get close to the coachman, maybe he could also rub oil by the way.

A whip slammed in front of him, its tail piercing the air with a sharp whistle. The coachman looked at the guard coldly: "Get out of the way." She had a simple iron ring around her wrist, and the blackness of the cast iron stood out against her fair skin. The guard's throat moved with difficulty, it was impossible for him not to recognize this iron ring, only the battle-hardened knights of the Immortal Knights were qualified to put this kind of iron ring on their wrists, the higher the combat merits, the more rings that could be hooped, and the leader of the Immortal Knights, Agasong, had three iron rings on his forearm!

Is this female coachman actually a centurion with a hoop? And what kind of people were sitting in the carriage? Can a Centurion of the Hoop be his groom willingly? The guards did not dare to dwell too much on it, and watched in horror as the carriage drove into the city of Issos.

The carriage stopped at the door of the Inner Fort, and an old man in a priest's burqa was already waiting outside the door, and he bowed respectfully to the coachman: "Well, Your Highness Princess Elise. Holding a scroll in his hand, he stepped forward and handed it over, "This is the passage authorization of the Holy Sepulchre. ”

"All right, High Priest Wendir." The chariot was driven by Princess Elise, the eldest daughter of Emperor Marius, who sat upright in the carriage and received the scroll. At this time, her eyebrows and eyes finally hung a little tired after a little tiredness, "Say hello to Luciana for me, I have to do my job, so I won't stay here too long." ”

Priest Wendir watched the carriage go away, and he still did not understand why His Majesty the Emperor did not return to Janos, but instead came to Issos with only his daughter, in order to enter the Holy Sepulchre where the bones of the founding emperor Osa Sauron were buried.

The carriage drove into the gardens west of the city, where the stream that flowed through Issos ford, and the sunlight cut the leaves into countless tiny specks of light that sprinkled on the brick and stone road. On both sides of the road are stone statues of the heroes of the empire. The bones of Ossa, the famous general of Cubax and the founding emperor of the empire, are buried in the most secluded depths of the garden, guarded by stone statues. This tyrant, who was known as the Archduke Alfred, single-handedly established the territory of the current empire, and to this day, his successor is only trying his best to consolidate the southern territory, and cannot reproduce the invincible and wanton expansion of the Pander continent.

"Father, here we are." Elise lifted the curtain of the carriage and whispered.

Marius stepped out of the carriage with Elise's support, the supreme ruler of the empire rapidly emaciated after the Battle of Thurbuk, and his whole human form stood like a dry skeleton crawling out of a tomb into the sun. Flickering spots of light fell on his dark cyan face, and there was a slight light in his eyes that danced, like a candle about to be extinguished. Marius gazed for a long time at the stone statues lining the road, many of whom he recognized as his mentors, his political enemies, and his best friends, but their loyalty to the Empire was unquestionable. He sighed softly, turned his head and smiled and asked Elise, "Where do you think my stone statue is more appropriate?" ”

Elise looked at her father in confusion, not knowing what to answer. Marius said to himself: "I have always thought that the political system set up by my great-grandfather is ridiculous, and it is clear that power can be highly concentrated in the emperor, but there are also consuls to check and balance. Is it just to commemorate the Bacchus Empire, which has long since existed in name only? The first consuls were all great-grandfather's confidants and generals, so they naturally bowed their heads and listened to their words. But which consul would be loyal to the Emperor today? And the emperor's children, who have such nice titles as crown prince and princess, have become a shackle for them to participate in the emperor's election. ”

"After the New Year's Festival, Baron Grave told me that I had three years left at most. At the time, I thought, three years, enough. The New Deal has been effective, the Cult of Creation has completely overpowered the Snake Cult, and even faintly shown a tendency to compete with the Sect of Order, and then what I have to do is to slowly eat away at the power in the hands of the consuls, abolish the boring emperor election system, and keep the imperial power in the hands of the Sauron family forever. The next step was for me to lead the army north and achieve the unification feat that my great-grandfather had not accomplished. Perhaps after my death, I will not have to stand at the entrance of the Holy Sepulchre, as previous emperors have done, but the bones will be carried into the Holy Sepulchre in a coffin, on an equal footing with my great-grandfather......" He covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed violently. He bent down in pain, almost coughing to the point of breath, and when he straightened up again, the center of his handkerchief was soaked with red blood. The only thing Elise could do was pat her father on the back, hoping to ease his pain.

"Elise, do you want to be the Empress of the Empire?" At this moment, Elise heard the light and fluttering voice of Marlius, as if the breeze stirred the bangs on her forehead, but its contents smashed into her heart like a boulder of a thousand pounds, stirring up a thousand waves. "Kiel is so soft-minded that even if he hadn't been poisoned, I wouldn't have considered passing on his seat to him. But Elise, you're different," Marius took Elise's hand and gently rubbed the iron ring on her wrist, "I saw it when you trained those foot doctors to be disciplined military doctors in Janos, you have the qualities of any good emperor throughout the ages, tough, ruthless, and resolute, this is a character rooted in the blood of the Sauron family, a character that you can't change after years of studying medicine, and I'm not surprised that Agathon has the iron ring on your hand." You're more like me than Kiel. ”

Elise looked at Marius sadly: "Father......"

Marius smiled disapprovingly, "Don't look at me like that, Elise, I'm more sober than I ever before." Since I could not help my children to carve out a shade of greenery, I had to invite them to join me in irrigating under the scorching sun. Time is limited, Elise, I'll ask you again," he said, looking directly at his daughter, "do you want to be the Empress of the Empire?" ”

Elise bit her lip gently, and Marius's eager gaze seemed to remove the deepest deposits in her heart, where the flame of ambition slumbered, and she could not bear to refuse, and could not refuse. Marius was right, she had the blood of the Sauron family in her veins, and the thunderous sound of iron hooves echoed in her veins, she was born to be both a pioneer and a conqueror.

"What shall I do, father?" Elise asked firmly, meeting Marius' reassuring gaze.

Marius smiled, for the first time since the Battle of Thurbuk, he smiled so happily: "Go back to Janos first, I'll tell you slowly." I still have that time. ”