Empress Game: The Empress Game Trilogy Book 1 by Rhonda Mason Page B

Corinth run a search for any information on him as soon as she’d gotten back from the meeting, to no avail. The ship lacked access to the imperial data stream while in hyperspace, and sensitive IDC documents weren’t stored in the starcruiser’s database. They’d have to wait until they reached Falanar to gain any insights. That didn’t mean the question didn’t sit heavily on her when she considered her new alliance, though.
    Kayla sat near the engrossed Corinth and Rigger for a few more minutes, feeling like an unnecessary bodyguard, but once Corinth assured her—again—that he was fine and happy, she shifted into gear. She had survived the meeting with Isonde earlier and had gotten both a lesson on the political structure of the empire and a homework assignment.
    Despite having an emperor, the Sakien Empire was ruled in large part by councils. The planets of the empire were divided into two groups of disparate size. The smaller of the two was the group called the Sovereign Planets. They were the original six planets that defined the empire at its founding, and the Sovereign Council was made up of their number exclusively. The Sovereign Planets were the most advanced, wealthy and powerful planets in the empire, and their council’s decisions dictated much of the goings on within the empire.
    The Protectorate Planets were, on the other hand, only loosely confederated, made up of those planets added one by one to the empire as it expanded. The Protectorate Council ruled over matters between the Protectorate Planets, but had scant power to exercise change at the imperial level. The greatest power, however, lay with the Council of Seven. They had ultimate rule over the entire empire, and as the premier governing body decided the fate of the empire. The seven council seats were filled by, at anyone time: the current emperor and empress; the heir to the throne—in this case, Ardin—and his wife, the empress-apparent, who would be chosen at the Empress Game; two members of the Sovereign Council; and one member of the Protectorate Council. Each had one vote on any decision and the majority won.
    With Ardin unmarried, his future wife’s seat was taken by a second member of the Protectorate Council. The Empress Game would mark a significant power shift in the Council of Seven.
    Kayla drifted over to the complink. With all the talk of political structures and influential members of government today, she hadn’t had a chance to ask one of her biggest questions: why an Empress Game at all? In an empire ruled by an overlap of councils, why was one of the seats on the Council of Seven chosen by means of a hand-to-hand sparring tournament?
    She accessed the ship’s databank, looking for answers. A thousand articles met her query for “Empress Game Origins,” but one came from a book titled,
How the Wyrds Shaped Our Identity
, so she started there.
    Section 4: The Empress Game
    Time and again we’ve seen how the Wyrds, in the short five months they spent in the empire before returning to isolation in Wyrd Space, influenced our traditions. Perhaps their largest contribution to imperial politics comes in the form of the Empress Game.
    When the Wyrds first made contact with the empire generations ago, the then-emperor, Shazni Tirefel, became enamored with them, as did the rest of his court. Their culture, fashion, mannerisms and customs were studied to the last detail and anything “Wyrd” became the fad.
    The emperor was especially impressed by the fighting prowess of the
ro’haar
among the group. The
ro’haars
competed against each other in friendly tournaments to demonstrate their skills and teach the empire something of
ro’haar
customs. In Wyrd Space these tournaments were common at festivals and holiday celebrations, and were often held when visiting foreign courts. It was a way for
ro’haars
to measure themselves, show off, trade techniques and earn acknowledgement for their skills.
    The emperor was so in love