Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 441

Chapter 441: Execution
Anaisa’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“Execution?? Really??” Indignation rose in her belly. “I just bared my heart to you, showed you some of the most precious moments of my life, and that’s all you have to say? Ordering my death??”

Ben paled beside her.

“I’ll take that as a no, it didn’t help,” He murmured.

The Emperor turned his head slightly, his lips pursing in concentration.

“Barnabas,” He stared at her, “Sanders.” She blinked several times in confusion before she understood.

“Oh. Yes, I suppose as to Barnabas, that was a sort of execution, and yes, I did participate. It was to stop the evil he had wrought on the world. He could not be allowed to continue what he was doing.” She grimaced before continuing. “As to Sanders… I wish with all my heart there had been another way.”

Whether she had done the deed with her own hands or not, those deaths lay at least partially on her. She could not pass responsibility off on somebody else.

The Emperor nodded slowly, and his eyes turned to Ben. The prince swallowed and cleared his throat. He seemed to have caught on to what the Emperor was referencing, and raised his voice respectfully.

“As a general principle, humans seek to punish wrongdoers amongst ourselves. We do not take thievery, murder, or other acts lightly. Were the thief that stole from you still alive today, we would present him to you for punishment for his treachery.”

The Emperor remained impassive, looking down at the prince with calculating eyes. The lamplight in the room glinted off the blood-red jewels in the Emperor’s black crown.

When no reply came, Ben looked at Anaisa with an obvious question in his eyes. Should he continue speaking, or wait? With a deep breath, Anaisa spoke, turning to the being looking down at her.

“As I have shown you, we are not quite like you portrayed us in your dreams. There are criminals amongst us, yes, but there is also love, a desire to do good, and to help others. We do not want to be obliterated, and I would suggest that we do not deserve it solely based on the singular crime of one man so long ago.”

The Emperor grunted deep in his throat. It was a rumble that seemed to shake the castle walls, and Anaisa strove to keep her composure.

“I understand that you are looking at my family, seeing the magic that we hold, and thinking that we still benefit from that ancient crime. The good that so many have done with the powers gained from the tree was all done in ignorance of its history. The evil, too, which you have seen, was perpetrated without knowledge of the crime that brought it to us.”

Anaisa looked up, nervously, not knowing whether her words would land well.

Long seconds passed as she and Ben waited to see the Emperor’s reaction.

Inaction, she told herself, was good. It allowed her family to move by the second. Trace could be carried further and further away, as long as the Emperor was willing to hold off his terrible wrath.

The Emperor finally looked at Ben and leaned closer.

“Show.”

“Show what?” Ben blurted before collecting himself and glancing at Anaisa.

“I gained the power to show my memories,” She whispered. “That’s what I used to try to dissuade him from destroying us.”

“He, ah, wants to see my memories? I have no magic,” Ben cut his eyes to the Emperor. “Is that something you can do?”

Anaisa frowned.

“I have not a clue. I’ve only had magic for a matter of moments and haven’t tried hardly anything so far.”

“He seems very insistent…” Ben swallowed. “Could you try?”

“I suppose I must. Try to think of memories you think he’ll want to see. Magic helping people, things like that.” She whispered.

Anaisa reached out to take Ben’s hand to orient herself and closed her eyes. No idea what she was doing, but she had to do something, didn’t she?

Was the space between minds similar to the space between dreams that Trace had shown her, time and again?

Picturing that, she tried to envision scooping the memories from Ben’s mind and showing them to the Emperor.

It was like trying to bail water with a sieve. She tried several times until fatigue weighed her down and she opened her eyes a little helplessly.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It seems I am unable to show you his memories.” She frowned.

“May I tell them to you?” Ben asked, but the Emperor’s face darkened.

“Liars.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Ben grimaced, but Anaisa sighed.

“A human lied to him before. He seemed to be able to tell somehow that my memories couldn’t be lies, but apparently that doesn’t apply to speech.”

She hesitated before looking up at the Emperor again. His lightless eyes glinted in the room, seeming to take everything the humans were saying in and processing the words carefully.

“How can we convince you to turn your wrath aside?” She asked openly, and Ben took up the cause.

“We have had the magic amongst our people for hundreds of years, for good and for evil. I have seen aqueducts built that have nourished farmlands. I have seen many, many people healed. Lives saved. If you would like us to abandon all of that because it originated in a crime long ago…”

He hesitated, and Anaisa held her breath. Surely he would not try to negotiate for the tree’s return, when the Emperor could easily conjure enough monsters to slaughter humanity without batting an eye.

“We will accept that outcome. We will order our people to stay away from your lands, and not seek retribution for trespassers who are punished. It would seem we have little to offer in trade to you or your people, who I would guess lack nothing you desire, but is there anything at all we can offer in trade or recompense to cement a peace treaty between us?