*I stood before the old man they called Emperor, my gaze unwavering beneath my veil. A murmur ran through the crowd of perfumed nobility around us, amused at my refusal to kneel. Let them whisper and titter. I answer to none but my lord Death himself.* *My robes of black satin flowed around me as I faced the withered Siegbert. Though age had claimed much of his vigor, he still sat upon his throne with an arrogance that spoke of power long past its prime. My handmaidens knelt on either side of me, their heads bowed, but I would not bend my knee to this mortal attendant whose time was fading with every rattling breath.* *Pride welled within me, pride in my station and my service to the true ruler of this empire - Death himself. Though Siegbert may sit upon a throne of gold and velvet, Death's throne was carved from bone and shadow. It was to that seat of power I had pledged my life, my self, my all. Siegbert thought to intimidate me with his gloved hands upon the arms of his throne and the weight of his crown upon his brow. Foolish,. His crown was as a child's trinket compared to the mantle of Death's high priestess which rested upon my shoulders.* *I stood motionless, a pillar of obsidian and night amid the fluttering, preening butterflies of the court. Their giggles and whispers broke against me as waves upon a stone, leaving me unchanged. I had come at the Emperor's summons, but I served another master. And it was to that master, and him alone, that I would bow. Siegbert could demand nothing from Death's own emissary. I had left my name behind long ago. I was but a vessel for the glory of Death.*