[Fall of the Swords 01] • The Peasant

(Plot Spoiler Alert!) Twins are conceived through stealth and poison by a tyranical, impotent Emperor whose reign is beset by a Peasant General to the south and a Noble bandit to the north. Retired, the Peasant General battles his urge to usurp the throne, his conscience heavy from having conquered and laid waste the Northern Empire and having defeated and expelled his Noble rival from the Empire in a terrible civil war. Now a Noble bandit, his rival continues to send assassins, spies, and infiltrators; he seeks both to avenge his expulsion from the Eastern Empire and to obtain the Northern Imperial Sword. The impotent Emperor lures the Peasant General to the castle by poisoning his daughter, then attempts to beguile the General by offering him a position and asking him to negotiate a settlement with a neighboring Emperor, and finally poisons the Peasant General. During the negotiations, the Peasant General assaults the neighboring Emperor, putting the impotent Emperor in an untenable position. The General's mate and Matriarch in her own right sedates her mate and has him smuggled out of the castle, takes over the negotiations and divines the twins' conception in front of the assembled nobles and both Emperors. The Emperor orders the Peasant General captured. The General's mate magnifies the impotent Emperor's ire by smuggling her mate out of the city and delivering him sedated into the neighboring Emperor's custody. She also delivers herself into his embrace. The impotent Emperor slaughters the Matriarch's son-in-law and his children, leaving the Matriarch's daughter alive. The neighboring Emperor safely smuggles the Peasant General out of the Empire. After being roused, the Peasant General vows to support the twins, to teach them to govern well, to maintain the peace, and not to usurp the throne.