66 A visit to Nova Roma

[[Selene Gallio]]

"He is here, Your Majesty." About time. 

"You may leave." I said which made her nod before leaving gracefully. Everyone within this castle has been trained from their birth so every one of their moves is well executed. 

But he is finally here, huh? I was planning to invite him myself, but since he requested a visit, it made things easier for me.

"Let's see what you are up to, Marcellus."

…

…

[Within the Castle, Nova Roma]

[Moments later]

"This is a beautiful kingdom, My Lady." He said looking at the children playing around the palace. 

"The children of my servants are allowed to live here with their parents." This helps to keep my servants happy as well as maintain my reputation as a merciful queen. And these kids will grow up to serve me in the end, so providing them with a little shelter doesn't hurt. 

He nodded. "This kingdom is far better organized than most of our countries." 

"*Giggle* Sometimes a monarchy works better than a democracy." 

"The only reason a democracy doesn't work is because of greed." This made me raise an eyebrow. 

"What do you mean? Greed should be more prevalent in a monarchy." My statement made him laugh out loud.

"You are partially correct, my lady." He smiled and waved towards the children, who returned the gesture by doing the same. "But you are not entirely correct."

"Explain."

He nodded. "Before I answer, let me ask you a question… Why did you say that greed is more prevalent in a monarchy?" 

I hummed before answering. "A monarch is greedy. Very few times do we see a king or a queen who thinks about their subjects before themselves… Even I fall under the category of a greedy monarch." 

His calm smile said that he knew my answer. "Indeed most King's and Queen's think about themselves before their subjects. They are greedy and that greed leads to war. Where most rulers make a mistake... is in giving their councilmen too much power. If he or she monitors the actions of the servants, they can still be the richest people around while not harming their subjects."

"What do you mean?" I leaned on the railing. 

"What I mean is that if a king can choose his councilmen wisely, he could reign without fear and gain riches far more than any human could ever imagine. The best way to choose such councilmen is by looking around on your own instead of holding interviews. A person's true nature is revealed when he or she is put in a situation that they are not prepared for."

He sighed. "This is impossible in a democracy. We have to choose from people who stand on their own. We do not know much about their past as they can easily cover their tracks… also they are quite good at manipulating people through their speeches and promises. So, people end up choosing the wrong politicians and they regret it later."

True… but- "Where are you going with this?" 

"I-" He stopped. "Well, that's not what I came here for. I came here to ask for your assistance and in return, I will help you with something."

Quick to change the subject.

"And what is that?" 

"I want you to give me the location of your fellow Externals." 

…

"What!" He is either foolishly brave or a genius with a good plan. "The fact that you know about them is surprising and enough of a reason for me to eliminate you. But you have always kept the end of your bargain… and this little information is very crucial. So let me ask… what are you offering in return?" 

I might be a member of the Externals but it's nothing more than a group of immortal mutants... With quite a few strong and weak mutants.

"And why do you even want their location?" That is what I want to know. 

"That I cannot answer now. But, I can extend my offer right here." His previous smile turned evil. "Your immortality is quite interesting. You need to feed on the psionic energy of others in order to survive… basically you drain their life force to maintain your own." 

This is a secret, but even then a few selected people know about it. "I wouldn't ask where you gained knowledge about it but let me ask again… Where are you going with it?" 

"What if I can give you a better source to maintain your life force? What if I give you a way… which does not require you to drain the life force of others?" 

"Let me ask you a question before answering." He nodded at my question.

"Go ahead."

"Are you immortal?" If he is an immortal he has a valid reason to contact the other immortals, but even then I do not think that's his reason. 

He rubbed his chin. "In a way, I am… but not exactly. I have ways to keep myself alive for millennia but those methods are quite annoying." So, he is sort of like me. "I have my ways to make it better and I would like to offer the exact thing to you. Way to keep yourself alive and youthful for eternity without having to continuously drain others… In return, I just want the locations of your fellow Eternals." 

Give something that might or might not harm them and get a better source of immortality… or not give him the information and stay alive by leeching off others.

Not a very difficult decision.

"You better keep your end of the bargain, Marcellus." 

He smiled. "Of course, I would. But there is another thing that I want to offer you." 

Another thing?

"And what might that be?" There is no reason for him to offer me anything… unless he wants something in return.

"I want… you to be the first member of the High Table."

What?!

…

…

[[Marcellus]]

The seat within the 12 families should only be given to the most trustworthy people. But that is not exactly the case. There was a reason for me to create a few loopholes... 'flaws' within the rules that I made for The Order. And this is one of them.

There is no Gallio family so she should not be able to inherit the seat but she has a kingdom… and that's good enough. 

And making Selene a member of the 12 has multiple benefits for me. 

A smile appeared on my face as the things that I would gain flashed through my eyes. 

"I already told you about the High Table when we went to the underworld. And you already know what having one of the seats for yourself means." She looked amused.

"What will you gain from this? Because if you want my kingdom's support… you could have simply asked." True, that she would have agreed as she will not lose much by helping me a little.

But that's not the reason for me to give her the seat. 

"Indeed, but I believe if you have the seat… we can work on a mutual relationship. Both of us will profit from it without losing much."

Actually, I have a better reason… but she doesn't need to know about it.

She contemplated for a while. "I agree. But what do you want in return?" She smiled. "You would not give such a position for free… So, what is that you want?"

You do not need to know about it for now...

"I am trying to create order within the underworld, and having someone with powers and abilities as strong as yours… I wouldn't have to worry much about maintenance. Order is all I want." She didn't believe me but nodded nonetheless. 

"Very well." She lets go of the railing. "Since you are a guest, let me give you a little tour of my kingdom."

"Oh, I would love that." I want to see what's so special about this place… other than being ancient.

[Minutes later]

We were walking down the street as my eyes fell upon one of the orphanages. 

"You are not a bad ruler. Setting up such a beautiful orphanage, that's quite noble of you." 

She giggled. "Well, I thought that's one of the few things that I could do. It doesn't harm much to build something for my subjects."

Looking at the orphanage made me think of something. 

"May I ask you something, My Lady?"  

She nodded. "Yes. And you can drop that honorific. We are basically business partners so there is no reason for you to call me " My Lady."

"Well, you are still the queen of a kingdom." I shrugged. "But it indeed is a bit inconvenient to call someone 'My Lady' all the time."

She laughed as I said that. "You can address me as Selene."

I was getting tired of adding 'My Lady' at the end of every sentence. 

"Very well then, Selene." I looked at the orphanage once again. "Do you have… mutants within this kingdom." 

Her smile faded instantly. "Why did you ask." It was not a question from her side.

"This kingdom might be hidden from the outside world, but it still has a good population. So there is a high chance that there are a few mutants in here." I shook my head. "You don't have to worry. It was just a curious question… no hidden agenda." 

Saying that there is no hidden agenda… increases the doubt, but I honestly don't have one for asking this question.

She looked at me skeptically. "There are a few. Some are dormant while some are active. The active ones mostly kept hidden. Some of them are my personal guards." 

I did sense something when I entered the castle… it makes sense now.

"Why do you have them hidden?" 

She frowned a little. "No matter where you go. Mutants are a feared species… even if the people here are quite open, I still believe that revealing the existence of mutants might cause chaos. So, I told them to hide… or live as normal humans."

*SIGH*

My loud sigh made her raise an eyebrow. 

"Is something wrong?" 

I shook my head. "No… it's just I am quite annoyed that the world rejects its own creation." 

She puts on a sad smile. "True… But life isn't fair. Anyways… We should go and eat. It's almost noon."

I nodded. 

But thinking about the mutants… Looks like I will have to increase the pace of my project 'Eutopia.'