Lilith woke up four days after the attack, weak and hungry as her vision spun from just opening her eyes. She groaned out loudly, not realizing she wasn’t alone as she heard several voices shouting out her name. She whined out, turning in the bed, curling up, “Stop yelling~~~” chuckles filled the air before the bed dipped beside her and she felt a hand brushing her hair from her eyes and she managed to open them, thankfully without the room spinning, seeing Araline smiling down at her gently, “Welcome back to the land of the living, Lilith.” She managed to give her a small smile before she turned to turn, her body locking in pain as she groaned deeply, feeling every inch of her protesting. It took her a while to sit up, drinking a healing potion offered by Araline, as the high concentration of herbs would help her body regain her magical energy faster.
Lilith sat with all of them, Araline, Josar, Vosit, Otto, Bolar, Bramrac, and Fenian, as she ate, all of them explaining everything had been happening since she defeated the Cataclysm, from nobles being driven out of power, those ones who hid, and how the empress had locked Jiles in his office, as he had hid as well. Lilith scowled, her gaze falling as she shook her head, disappointed in him, “Roland would… he would have been so disappointed in him, running when he should have been helping protect others. That’s what my friend would have done.” All of them, minus Josar and Araline teased Lilith for this secret, keeping it from them as her strength and power made sense now. However, after explaining why she hid, did they understand, hearing how she had been treated so long ago.
Two more days later, finally back on her feet, Lilith used her healing spell, one that fixed the earth and healed wounds in those that potions couldn’t handle alone. She couldn’t rebuild what had been destroyed, like buildings and the city wall, but the empress wasn’t bothered, “We can rebuild Lady Lilith, you’ve done us a great service, risking your life to save us. I, and all of Droart, thank you.” Lilith respected the empress, bowing her head as the people around cheered for her, all of them praising and thanking her for what she had done. It felt overwhelming, but also it made her feel at peace, a warmth growing in her chest as she smiled, grateful for their praise as she humbly took it, thanking them all for their kind words.
When the decision arose about what was to be done with Jiles, the delegates, Lilith, and the empress all took court in the throne room as she commanded Jiles to be brought before them all. The emperor was screaming as he was dragged in, “I’m the emperor! I’m the descendant of Roland! Unhand me!!” He was released and he saw those before him and he grew angry, seeing his wife sitting alone, “How dare you imprison me! I’m your emperor- your husband! You have no right!” The empress, Titania, looked calm, but Vosit could sense her anger, but she kept a good lid on it, “Be silent, Jiles.” He was stunned, hearing her command as he glared, seeing the delegates, the royal delegates all glaring at him as he grew even more enraged, “You are all guest in my empire- you all need to respect me!!” Vosit laughed loudly, holding his belly in amusement, “Respect you, boy? What have you done to earn respect?!” hearing the laughter, hearing their disrespect only made Jiles more and more angry.
Jiles spotted Lilith and he grew desperate, grasping at straws, “Lady Lilith- when I saw you had returned I was overjoyed. You saved our empire- you saved all of us! You are amazing!! You knew my grandfather, Roland- you were in the same party together, Rising Sun! With you by my side our people would no longer have anything to fear! I’ll divorce Titania and marry you! It’s my birthright as Roland’s descendant to marry you!! We’ll rule over everything- together, just as Roland would want!” Everything seemed to freeze, hearing his words, eyes going wide in shock. Titania rose and approached her husband, holding her skirts up, looking elegant, but in a single move that instantly made everyone in attendance respect her more, she punched him hard, knocking him on his ass, fury coursing through her body, “You- you bastard! How dare you insult me like that- how dare you insult Lady Lilith like that! She is nobody’s right! She is the hero of Gihai! Go fuck yourself!!” it was surprising to hear such language coming from the empress, but the orcs and dwarves were quickly laughing.
Roland clutched his bleeding nose, gasping in pain as Lilith stepped forward, no longer hiding behind a disguise. He tried to speak, but his words caught in his throat, staring up at her as she glared down at him, “You may be the kin of my dear friend Roland, but that is the only thing you have in common with him, boy.” Her words seemed to shake him to his core, hearing that she was disappointed in him, to have that final blow that his grandfather’s only surviving ally was disappointed in him. He was taken away, thrown in the dungeons with the other nobles to await their fates once a decision had been made, screaming the whole way, demanding to be set free as he was the emperor, but his cries all fell on deaf ears, refusing to listen.
