This chapter is narrated by Melkor, the Lord of Famine and one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
What is the price of fealty?
The Emperor bought mine with a million Human souls. All mine.
They call me the Patient One. I am Melkor, that which is most ancient, one of the Four Horsemen, though I doubt I could ride a horse. Some old myth, I suppose; a Human myth, of course. They make the laws, they write the stories. K’Malbec, that was the name of the tribe. I remember them; I was already old when they stepped out of that festering swamp on the Eastern shore and into the pages of history. They became the Empire, the Empire became the law, and to obey the law one must show fealty.
What is the price of fealty?
A crown, a promise, a gold coin, a life, power. All were offered to me; all were refused. And so the Emperor asked me, not even a lifetime ago, what I wanted. What did I want? I wanted nothing. They call me the Patient One; yet I wait for nothing. I want for nothing, and wait for nothing; I am Melkor.
What is the price of fealty?
I have no price, and my fealty cannot be bought, but after all this time, it amused me to see a mortal believe his rule could transcend that which transcends all. All needs sustenance, all needs replenishment, but not I, not that which is mine. I am Melkor, Lord of Famine, the Unstarveable, the Black One, the Slender One. A King of Nothing, but it is Nothing that kills all mortals. When mortals do not consume, they die. A King of Nothing, the Dry One, the Cautious One, a King of Sand, the Lord of Husks. The King in Black.
What is the price of fealty?
Sustenance, that is the price of fealty. The Empire needs sustenance, just like any organism. In fact, it needs many; but the Emperor came to me asking for just one: stability. What could I do to give his Empire stability? The answer is simple: nothing. By doing nothing, I create stability. It is the nature of famine to devour all that does not devour, but the Empire was not built upon devouring. Not the Empire of this new Emperor, anyway. It is built on compromise, cooperation, promises and other false, temporary things. It is built on fealty.
But what is the price of fealty?
Nothing. The Emperor could have bought my fealty with a hat and a handshake, although I do not have hands. But because it amused me, and because I saw something in him, I asked him for something else. A million somethings. A million of his people.
What is the price of fealty?
Everything. Absolutely everything. Everything that one million humans, the K’Ogari, the Diraqine, the Darosi, are, have been, and will ever be. He has promised me their lives, and I will consume them. I will consume them all with my Nothing. The husks shall take them, and the husks will consume. He has promised me my souls, and I will collect them. Every single one.
What is the price of fealty?
A civilization, a history, a people, a way of life. A million Imperial citizens and Darosi tribesmen reside in the mountains bordering my lands, the Plains of Blood beyond them, and the cities of Daros and Al-Diraq beyond the plains. The Emperor has promised me them all, and I hope he will make good on his promise. Oh, not because a million lives matter to me, or because I would enjoy any kind of leverage over the Emperor. No. As I said, I have seen a potential in the Emperor, the potential to understand, at least for a time, before he dies, before the Famine takes him, as it will all mortals.
What is the price of fealty?
Knowledge. If the Emperor is to make good on his promise he will know. Know what it is to be immortal, if only through the proxy of his deeds. In the end, a life is nothing. Nothing can take a life. Lives are nothing; given enough nothing, you can kill everything. The Emperor will understand that lives are inconsequential, if you want to build an Empire that is immortal. He will understand that any number of lives can be given for no reason, and yet an empire, a true empire, will survive. Before the end, before the Famine takes him, I will tell him that his people died for nothing. He could have bought my fealty for a hat and a handshake, although I do not have hands. I was just trying to prove a point.
What is the price of fealty?
Entities are bought with things, I am an Entity, the Emperor is a thing. His people are things, but if the Emperor is willing to buy me and my fealty with those things, his empire will not be a thing; it will be an Entity. An entity worthy of Melkor. And now he sends his emissaries, his followers to placate me, to reassure me, to ensure my fealty. And I will play his game, but I will make him understand the meaning of Forever. The meaning of Empire. The meaning of Fealty.
What is the price of fealty?
The Emperor bought mine with a million Human souls. All mine.
They call me the Patient One. I am Melkor, that which is most ancient, one of the Four Horsemen, though I doubt I could ride a horse. Some old myth, I suppose; a Human myth, of course. They make the laws, they write the stories. K’Malbec, that was the name of the tribe. I remember them; I was already old when they stepped out of that festering swamp on the Eastern shore and into the pages of history. They became the Empire, the Empire became the law, and to obey the law one must show fealty.
What is the price of fealty?
A crown, a promise, a gold coin, a life, power. All were offered to me; all were refused. And so the Emperor asked me, not even a lifetime ago, what I wanted. What did I want? I wanted nothing. They call me the Patient One; yet I wait for nothing. I want for nothing, and wait for nothing; I am Melkor.
What is the price of fealty?
I have no price, and my fealty cannot be bought, but after all this time, it amused me to see a mortal believe his rule could transcend that which transcends all. All needs sustenance, all needs replenishment, but not I, not that which is mine. I am Melkor, Lord of Famine, the Unstarveable, the Black One, the Slender One. A King of Nothing, but it is Nothing that kills all mortals. When mortals do not consume, they die. A King of Nothing, the Dry One, the Cautious One, a King of Sand, the Lord of Husks. The King in Black.
What is the price of fealty?
Sustenance, that is the price of fealty. The Empire needs sustenance, just like any organism. In fact, it needs many; but the Emperor came to me asking for just one: stability. What could I do to give his Empire stability? The answer is simple: nothing. By doing nothing, I create stability. It is the nature of famine to devour all that does not devour, but the Empire was not built upon devouring. Not the Empire of this new Emperor, anyway. It is built on compromise, cooperation, promises and other false, temporary things. It is built on fealty.
But what is the price of fealty?
Nothing. The Emperor could have bought my fealty with a hat and a handshake, although I do not have hands. But because it amused me, and because I saw something in him, I asked him for something else. A million somethings. A million of his people.
What is the price of fealty?
Everything. Absolutely everything. Everything that one million humans, the K’Ogari, the Diraqine, the Darosi, are, have been, and will ever be. He has promised me their lives, and I will consume them. I will consume them all with my Nothing. The husks shall take them, and the husks will consume. He has promised me my souls, and I will collect them. Every single one.
What is the price of fealty?
A civilization, a history, a people, a way of life. A million Imperial citizens and Darosi tribesmen reside in the mountains bordering my lands, the Plains of Blood beyond them, and the cities of Daros and Al-Diraq beyond the plains. The Emperor has promised me them all, and I hope he will make good on his promise. Oh, not because a million lives matter to me, or because I would enjoy any kind of leverage over the Emperor. No. As I said, I have seen a potential in the Emperor, the potential to understand, at least for a time, before he dies, before the Famine takes him, as it will all mortals.
What is the price of fealty?
Knowledge. If the Emperor is to make good on his promise he will know. Know what it is to be immortal, if only through the proxy of his deeds. In the end, a life is nothing. Nothing can take a life. Lives are nothing; given enough nothing, you can kill everything. The Emperor will understand that lives are inconsequential, if you want to build an Empire that is immortal. He will understand that any number of lives can be given for no reason, and yet an empire, a true empire, will survive. Before the end, before the Famine takes him, I will tell him that his people died for nothing. He could have bought my fealty for a hat and a handshake, although I do not have hands. I was just trying to prove a point.
What is the price of fealty?
Entities are bought with things, I am an Entity, the Emperor is a thing. His people are things, but if the Emperor is willing to buy me and my fealty with those things, his empire will not be a thing; it will be an Entity. An entity worthy of Melkor. And now he sends his emissaries, his followers to placate me, to reassure me, to ensure my fealty. And I will play his game, but I will make him understand the meaning of Forever. The meaning of Empire. The meaning of Fealty.
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