The audience chamber had been stripped of its usual refinements. No refreshments waited on polished side tables, no fire crackled in the hearth to ward off the morning's chill. Zeke had ordered the space left deliberately austere, save for two chairs positioned across from each other like pieces on a game board.
Through his Sphere of Awareness, he tracked Azra's approach long before the man entered. The ambassador moved with measured steps, flanked by two figures whose faces vanished beneath heavy veils. The fabric wasn't ordinary cloth—it shimmered with enchantments designed to deflect casual observation, though their identity would be obvious to anyone who had spent time in the Empire.
Mind Mages. The Emperor's shadowy fingers sent to pry into thoughts that didn't belong to them.
Zeke's lips curved upward.
Let them try. With Akasha maintaining her silent vigil over his mental defenses, they might as well attempt to crack a mountain with their bare hands. Neither of these puppets had reached the heights of an Archmage. Against the combined might of his will and Akasha's protective shroud, they were children playing at war.
The door opened without ceremony.
Azra entered first. Gone was the affable smile, the practiced ease that had charmed Tradespire's elite. What remained was a face carved from winter stone, eyes that burned with barely leashed fury.
The two veiled figures followed, taking positions behind their master's chair like gargoyles flanking a throne. Their presence pressed against the edges of Zeke's consciousness—probing, testing, searching for cracks in his mental armor. He felt their attempts the way one might feel raindrops against thick glass.
"Ezekiel." Azra's voice carried none of its usual silk. Each word emerged clipped and precise, stripped of pretense.
"Ambassador." Zeke settled into his chair with languid grace, the very picture of a man without concern. "You look tired. One too many drinks at a late-night banquet?"
Azra's jaw tightened, a muscle flickering beneath the skin. "Let us dispense with games. You know why I am here."
"Do I?" Zeke leaned back further, fingers steepled. "The esteemed Azra von Hohenheim, ambassador to the mighty Empire, seeks an audience with a humble merchant such as myself. One can only speculate."
"The Wraith."
Two words, sharp as a drawn sword. Azra's hands rested on his knees, but Zeke noticed how the knuckles had gone white.
"Ah." Zeke's expression brightened with feigned understanding. "The ship everyone's talking about. Remarkable piece of engineering, from what I hear. Though I couldn't possibly comment on its origins."
"Don't." The word cracked like a whip. "We both know you're behind it. This pretense insults us both."
"Flattering, that you'd credit me with such innovation." Zeke's smile never wavered. "Though I fear you overestimate my humble capabilities."
"Humble." Azra repeated the word as if tasting poison. "Nothing about you has ever been humble, boy. Not since you crawled from whatever hole Maximilian pulled you from."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. Zeke's golden eyes flickered with something dangerous, though his relaxed posture never shifted.
"Careful, Ambassador. Some words are grounds for ending an audience prematurely, regardless of your station."
"No offense intended." Azra's lips pulled back in what might have been a smile, had it reached his eyes. "Very well. Let me be direct, then. The Empire requires one of these vessels."
"How fortunate." Zeke's tone turned to exaggerated helpfulness. "I happen to know they are available for purchase. Assuming, of course, one can meet the price."
"Name it."
"One million gold." Zeke delivered the figure with the casual air of discussing the weather. "Non-negotiable. Delivery in four months, assuming no complications."
Azra's expression didn't change, though Zeke caught the slight widening of his eyes. The sum was astronomical—enough to purchase a small fleet of conventional vessels or fund a private army for years.
"Acceptable," Azra said after a moment's pause. "We'll take three."
"Excellent." Zeke's smile widened. "Though there are some formalities to address first. Documentation, you understand. Tradespire's bureaucracy demands its due."
He raised one hand, and the door opened immediately. A servant entered, struggling beneath the weight of what he carried. The stack of papers reached from his waist to well above his head, bound in multiple volumes that thudded against the floor as they were set beside Azra's chair.
The ambassador stared at the mountain of documentation, his expression cycling through disbelief to fury and back again.
"This is your contract?" His voice had gone dangerously quiet.
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"…Standard purchase agreement." Zeke waved dismissively. "Terms and conditions, liability waivers, technical specifications, warranty details. All quite routine, I assure you. Though given the Empire's renowned efficiency, I'm certain your people will have no trouble reviewing it."
Azra's gaze shifted to the veiled figures behind him. Without words, he issued his command. Both Mind Mages moved forward, each taking half the stack.
What followed was a masterclass in cognitive enhancement. Pages flipped at inhuman speed, the Mind Mages' eyes tracking information faster than any normal person could process. For the first few minutes, they maintained an impressive pace, documents sorted into neat piles as they progressed.
Zeke watched with barely concealed amusement, his fingers drumming a lazy rhythm on his chair's arm.
The first sign of trouble came after twenty minutes. One of the Mind Mages paused, flipping back several pages with a frown hidden beneath his veil. He cross-referenced something, then checked again, then began searching through earlier sections.
Akasha's devious workmanship slowly revealed itself, the trap beginning to show its teeth. Each clause referenced others in an ever-expanding web of legal language. Subclause 4.7.2a required understanding of Appendix J, which itself built upon principles established in Section 11.3, which couldn't be properly interpreted without first grasping the modifications introduced in Addendum 7-B.
Thirty minutes in, their progress had slowed to a crawl. Zeke was certain that by now, sweat was beading on their foreheads as they struggled to hold the growing network of interconnected requirements in their enhanced memories. Pages that had flown by now required minutes of careful study.
An hour went by. One of the Mind Mages swayed, steadying himself against his chair. His companion's hands trembled, the papers in his grip rustling with each movement.
"Enough of this farce," Azra snapped, his composure finally cracking. "What game are you playing?"
Zeke's brows rose. "Whatever do you mean? I'm merely ensuring both parties understand their obligations. Surely, the Empire would not want to enter an agreement without proper review?"
He sensed that one of the Mind Mages reached out to Azra telepathically. The message was coded, but the man's body language betrayed the contents: They would be here for a while.
About time they realized.
Zeke rose. "I apologize, but I have a prior commitment. Perhaps you've heard? I've been sharing magical theory with the common folk, just as Maximilian always wished. Quite rewarding, really. The hunger for knowledge among the working class is truly inspiring."
The barb struck home. Azra's face darkened as Zeke went on.
"Please, take all the time you need with the documentation. My staff will see that you have everything required for your review. When you are finished, simply send word."
At the door, he paused and added lightly, "Oh, and do help yourselves to the water. Intensive mental work can be rather dehydrating, I am told."
Hours later, Zeke returned to find the Mind Mages still at their task. Through his sphere of awareness, he observed their pitiful progress. They were barely a third of the way through despite their enhanced capabilities. Both figures drooped with exhaustion, their movements mechanical and graceless.
Rather than interrupt, he withdrew to his study. His new Blood manipulation techniques demanded his focus far more than Azra's predictable frustrations.
Again and again, Zeke launched a variety of projectiles, each one born of his Blood Magic. There was no shortcut to mastering a concept, not even for him. The mind had to grow accustomed to it, just as with learning a new spell or any other craft, there was no substitute for hard work and endless repetition.
Night bled into day.
Servants brought word that his guests had requested food, then coffee, then stronger stimulants. Zeke approved each request with magnanimous generosity, never mentioning the mounting bill he was quietly tallying.
Twenty hours in, one of the Mages collapsed. Not dramatically, but simply folded forward like a puppet with severed strings, saved from hitting the floor only by his companion's quick reflexes. The remaining Mage endured another hour before he too succumbed, swaying dangerously despite Azra's sharp commands.
Thus began the torturous cycle of working, collapsing, and then being forced to continue under Azra's increasingly harsh words. If only he could understand the true strain these two were enduring. Yet the full extent of Akasha's contracts could only be grasped by those who had attempted to read them themselves.
In a misguided attempt to gauge the difficulty, Zeke had once experienced the brain-melting word salad firsthand. He had vowed never again to force himself through such an ordeal. Within minutes, his head had felt ready to burst. He could not even imagine what these two poor souls were suffering now.
When the servant's knock finally came, a full day and night after their arrival, Zeke set aside his experiments with great reluctance. Though the prospect of what was to come next quickened his steps.
He found Azra much as he'd expected: fury radiating from every line of his body, exhaustion written in the shadows beneath his eyes. The two Mind Mages looked worse, their veiled figures trembling with the effort of remaining upright.
"Finished?" Zeke's tone dripped with false concern. "I do hope everything was in order."
Azra's finger stabbed toward the mountain of papers like it was his arch nemesis. "Everything is filled out, and we are in compliance with every single clause."
"Excellent, excellent." Zeke's expression was all smiles. "I knew the mighty empire wouldn't be intimidated by a few sheets of paper."
Zeke couldn't see their faces, but he somehow knew the two Mind Mages were glaring at him. He didn't begrudge them their anger. If he had been in their position, he likely wouldn't have been able to hold back nearly as well as they had.
This had to be the legendarily cold temperament of a pure Mind Mage. If he had been in their place, his blood would have been boiling before even reaching the halfway point. But somehow, their rationality was still clinging on.
"Now that you have completed all the necessary steps, we can continue with the… Oh."
Zeke slapped his forehead, as if he couldn't believe his own foolishness. He reached into his jacket and produced a single sheet of paper with theatrical slowness. "Just one final page to review, and we can proceed to the actual sale."
The temperature in the room seemed to plummet. Behind Azra, one of the Mind Mages swayed, catching himself against the wall. The other's breathing turned shallow, rapid. The telltale signs of prey sensing danger.
Azra's eyes narrowed to slits. "What hoops would you have us jump through now?"
"No more hoops." Zeke held the paper between two fingers, the parchment catching the morning light that filtered through the windows. It appeared innocent enough, a single page with perhaps a dozen lines of text. No dense paragraphs, no legal terminology that would require a Mind Mage's attention. "Sign, and you can have the ships."
"…Read it," Azra commanded.
"Oh, I think you should read it yourself." Zeke extended the paper toward him, arm outstretched.
Azra impatiently snatched it, his eyes darting left to right across the page. For a heartbeat, his expression remained neutral, the mask of a seasoned diplomat holding firm. Then his pupils dilated. The color drained from his face as if someone had opened his veins. His hands began to tremble, not with exhaustion like his companions, but with something far more primal.
"Bastard…"