"Allies?" Marshal Tharn and the others exchanged puzzled looks, brows furrowing deeply. "We have allies?"
The word alone seemed foreign to them, a concept that hadn't belonged in this empire for centuries.
Today's meeting was filled with more astonishment than anyone had anticipated…
When His Majesty Hedric had first established the empire, he declared to all who would listen that betrayal had come not from his enemies, but from those closest to him. From that day forward, he swore he would never again take allies — only followers.
He believed loyalty could be bought with duty and faith, not promises or negotiations. Even after he encountered Verilion, and every strategist in the empire urged him to form diplomatic ties, he had chosen otherwise. Instead of alliances, he built an army of his own — trained, loyal, and absolutely obedient — until his forces grew into the monstrous might that now commanded the entire Crumbled Dreams Empire.
Allies? The very word was meaningless.
