The Imperial Food Taster - Chapter 2

“Did your parents name you after the Capitol, Arion?” asked Estelle. “Well, I never met my parents but the old man who raised me used to joke that they named the capitol after me. They looked at the star that represented the capitol and named me Newborn Star In The Sky (Arion).” He replied dismissively as he swallowed the delicacies one by one.

“Were they killed?”, She asked.

“I do not know; my caretaker never told me anything about it and I was young and unaware then, by the time I was old enough to realize I should have a father and mother, he avoided answering my questions altogether. I was not stupid though, I knew that I was most likely rejected and abandoned by my parents, and the old man probably felt pity and picked me up. That is why I left as soon as I came of age, I wanted relieve the old man of the burden of taking care of me; I wanted to live my life by my own capability.”

“He let you go after taking care of you for so long!?” Estelle’s shock seemed to resonate with the stars floating in the hallway as they shone more brightly and vibrated. Her samian suit glowed red, the vertical stripes on it’s surface hardened into something metallic protruding from her suit, and the buttons lining her suit grew into small spikes.

“He didn’t get a chance.”

“Well, as long as you do your duties properly the Empress will treat you well. You will feel at home here.” she said as she calmed down, the lights of the stars dimmed and her suit eased back into it’s regular state.

This time it was Arion’s turn to be shocked, he exclaimed, “You are aware that she is the Celian Empress?” He was shocked beyond reason. As though the starlit hall understood the depth of his emotion, the stars flashed about in multiple colors and beamed down on him.

“Of course I do”, She responded with supercilious look, a light shined at him from from the depth of her black eyes, “I have been a servant and guardian of the Celians since the 54th Celian Dileena found me and made me her servant. Even after she ascended to the Higher Plane with her Gorchellian partner Agrivaen, I have continued upholding my duty to the proceeding generations of Celians.”

“Did you honestly believe that you were the only privileged one to be entrusted with the Empress’s secret?” She mocked, “Although I do not understand why she revealed herself; as long as I am around, you will have to earn her trust and your position as her advisor! Do you understand?” she asked him with a glare.

“I-I do”, he stuttered, surprised at her sudden hostility. A silence ensued till they finally reached a corridor to the left of the endless hall that they had been walking on. A diamond door slid downwards revealing a simple room with basic furniture. A galderone table faced the east wall. There was a window right above that table that let the dawn light of the Triumvirate Sun into the room. ? Arion thought in surprise. The table was a smaller version of The Varied Table, but connected to the same massive network of information that the Empress possessed.

The galderone crystal was too expensive and difficult to find and harvest, so the common people and even nobles used the cheaper Yilderene crystals to create wrist watches and tables. That connected to the Multi-Dimensional Network. This network created the space to contain massive amounts of information in various forms, and allowed for communication through space. There was also an engraved jewel-wood wardrobe and a silken bed by the north wall. Arion was not able to identify their hidden features.

A rectangle outline appeared on the west wall and slowly transformed into a plain wooden door with a brass knob.

“There is a cleansing chamber behind that door, so clean yourself and there will be clothes on a platform to the right for you to wear after you are done. I will be waiting here; we have to head to the morning court soon.” instructed Estelle.

Arion proceeded to enter the room and looked around, there was a white court uniform on a marble platform to the right, and tunic to wear underneath. The cleansing chamber was a transparent human-sized pod, as soon as he walked towards it, the glass door dissolved into a haze. He stretched his hand through the haze, feeling the light cloud-like texture with his hands. His body got sucked into the pod almost instantly, and the haze solidified into the glass door. The pod darkened and warm lights flashed onto his body. He could feel every nook and cranny being cleansed, suddenly the lights then shut off and the glass door shifted to haze again and he was ejected out off the chamber. He was launched a few feet like a projectile and landed on his posterior.

He stood up in frustration. , he grumbled. He quickly dressed himself in tunic and then the court uniform. As he buttoned the centerline of his uniform, a symmetrical pattern of winged dragons holding a seven-pointed star in their mouths appeared on either side. The hem of the court uniform reached his feet, and the sleeves reached his hands. With no rags or filth to cover his appearance, his features shone with otherworldly characteristics. His indigo-purple hair sat on his shoulder, and his golden eyes sparkled. When he stepped out of the room, Estelle immediately approached him but stopped to give him a second look, then reached out and passed him a galderone wrist-watch. “Your first assignment from the Empress” She emphasized, “Turn on the communicator”. He tapped the communicator button on the side of the watch, and a hologram hovered above the watch. A beautiful feminine face looked towards him framed by silver hair and bearing purple eyes; the empress must have been in the middle of changing into her masculine appearance. As she gazed at his appearance through the communicator she frowned, “You bear Gorchellian features, you must have descended from a runaway branch family of the Dynasty. This makes it easier to explain your elevation in status as my food-taster, Arion”.

“I called you to inform you of your first assignment before you entered the court. Not to admire your appearance. A few days from now, that is the fifth of Octurn, it will be the Day of First Offerings of the annual harvest season. Representatives and leaders among nobles, merchants and commoners will arrive and present their first harvests in the form of food, so that I may eat it and bless the harvest season. But I fear that Millard’s assassination attempt on my life was not a one-off, and that there may be some who will take advantage of this opportunity to poison the food that they offer me.”

“This is where you come in! You will discreetly test their offerings for poison, and also keep an eye out for any other attempt on my life. You will inform me or Estelle of any such findings. Anyone who threatens my life will be arrested after the ceremony, and their offering will be disposed of. This may seem simple but there is a problem. This ceremony has a significant symbolic meaning to my Divinity, only I may eat the food offerings and bless them. Thus you cannot use your mice or test the food yourself. In the few remaining days you have, you will have to devise another method to test the food for poison. Use today’s morning court session to find people who seem suspicious or have malicious intent and report them to me. That is all.” The hologram faded away and the communicator turned off.

Arion felt the onset of a splitting headache, , ! !

I am grateful to everyone for reading my story. I hope you enjoy it. Initially, I will try to publish at least one chapter a week. Thank you!