Damrina Ashurina

I don’t believe it.

Damrina Ashurina sat atop a pile of silk pillows in her chambers. Her once-turquoise scales had long since faded to black. Two mountain lions sat lazily against her body.

It’s true, said Amalek. I have returned.

Everyone thought you were dead, said Damrina. I figured you had been assassinated while out hunting.

Really, dear? asked Amalek. Who could assassinate me?

A group of us could ambush you, she said. You’re not invincible, you know. Damrina stretched her wings. I don’t fly much, these days. Leaves me too sore.

Amalek looked at the cougars. I see you’re still a cat lady.

Oh yes, she said. I do love felines.

You would have loved the black jaguar I met in the forest, said Amalek.

She looked him in the eye. Amalek, where have you been all this time?

Out west, said Amalek. Flying, swimming, hunting, wrestling with giant animals. That kind of thing.

Why on Earth? she asked. You had everything. You were emperor of the whole world — all the parts of it that matter, anyway. Why would you leave?

Ennui, said Amalek. Melancholy. I acquired the tropical lung rot. I realized I would die young, and everything I worked for would have been for nothing. So I left.

Falling ill made you philosophical? she asked.

I suppose so, he said.

But you didn’t die, she said. Here you are.

I went to a mountain surrounded by desert, he said. It was high and dry enough to keep the rot at bay for two hundred years. Then I met a man named Zebulun Koh, who healed my affliction.

I know that name, she said. The rubes keep talking about this giant who wanders around healing people and preaching some new religion. I imagined him to be a sorcerer of some kind.

He is not, said Amalek. He can heal. And he has power. I intend to put him on the throne.

Damrina gently stroked one of the cougars with her claws. He’s your new favorite pet, then?

He’s my new favorite something, said Amalek.

So you intend to take the throne? she asked. You plan to rebuild your vast empire?

Not at all, he said. This kingdom is large enough. My new challenge is to forge a small kingdom that is strong and prosperous enough to withstand the empires of the world.

Sounds like an impossible task, said Damrina.

You know I love a challenge, said Amalek.

I know you do, she said with a sly, draconic grin. That’s why I chose you, all those years ago.

How is that whelp I sired? he asked.

He’s doing well, she said. He’s a minister to one of the princes of Harlan. Not that he ever comes to see his mother and thank her for raising him to be strong.

Our kind never thank anyone, said Amalek. Not sincerely.

A little flattery and insincerity goes a long way, said Damrina.

Amalek played with one of the cougars, teasing it with his claws. What is the political situation in the kingdom, these days? What happened after I left? I’ve heard some things, but you’ve watched it happen.

You should be flattered, said Damrina. Dragons feared you enough that it took several weeks for anyone else to assert a claim to the throne. When one did, they all did. Civil war broke out, and the empire fell apart. Local and regional authorities took over. Antipater forged this kingdom out of a few warring states.

I do not remember him, said Amalek.

He was young, during your reign, she said. He had no real wealth or rank, but he had ambition. Much like yourself, in the old days — except that you had grace. King Aurelius is a sourpuss.

He is not beloved by all, then? asked Amalek.

No, said Damrina. The trads hate him for being an imp. The imps think he’s been expanding too slowly; it is this pressure that has him obsessed with building the world’s biggest navy. But he is feared enough to keep most in line, most of the time. He has no real challengers.

Had, said Amalek. Damrina smiled.

How many of those who swore oaths to me still live? asked Amalek. How many would uphold those oaths?

Some of the older ones are gone, said Damrina, but most are still around. I suspect around a third of the trads would support you for the sake of their oaths and honor. Others will say their oaths were nullified when you abandoned them to their fate, but may still support you if you can convince them of two things: one, that you have gone trad, and want no empire; two, that you can win. None of them will back a hopeless cause.

I suppose the imps are a lost cause, said Amalek. I don’t plan to expand. I may be able to win some over by promising to make them rich, but likely not many.

Likely not, she said.

I should be able to get the rats on my side, he said. I plan to end the charade.

You do? asked Damrina. What has gotten into you?

Amalek thought for a moment before replying. Religion.

Damrina laughed.

What about yourself, my dear? asked Amalek. Will you support me?

Amalek, my dear, said Damrina, You always have my support.

Happy to hear it, said Amalek. Will you call a conclave?