Marry, Breed, Obey—Or Else...

if Joana had been in the Mother's place, perhaps she would have made the same choice.

Joana keeps her gaze on the looking glass, watching the flicker of candlelight reflect in her storm-grey eyes. "Have you ever met His Majesty?" she asks, her voice soft but curious.

Meria remains silent. Joana looks up. "The Emperor," she clarifies.

The older woman nods. "I have known him since the day he was born."

Joana studies her carefully. It is strange to think of the Emperor as a child, small and helpless, cradled in his mother's arms. A boy before he became a ruler. "What is he like?"

Meria arches an eyebrow, and Joana exhales, already knowing her mistake. "What is His Majesty like?" she corrects herself.

"Confident," Meria replies, her voice measured. "Self-assured. Intelligent. Ambitious. Sociable and charming."

Joana tilts her head. "And physically?" she murmurs. "Does the Emperor look like his mother?"

The Gracious Mother is a striking woman, with delicate features and a presence that demands reverence. Small and elegant, but unmistakably powerful. Joana wondered if the Emperor carried her beauty.

But Meria shakes her head. "The Emperor took after his imperial father, may the Seven have him," she says. "His Majesty is very tall but lean. Handsome."

Joana considers this. She has never had the luxury of imagining a man before. "Does the Emperor have kind hands?" she asks suddenly. "Is he cruel to his women?"

Meria does not hesitate. "The Gracious Mother would not have allowed her son to grow into a tyrant," she says firmly. "She raised him. The children of the dynasty remain under their mother's watch until they come of age. She chooses their tutors, their attendants. Such is the way."

"I see," Joana murmurs. "Is that what I will be expected to do, if I bear a child to the Emperor?"

"Yes," Meria answers. "But the Gracious Mother can do it for you if you are for any reason unavailable. Or any other member of the imperial family. There is a precedent for motherless heirs."

Joana frowns. "What happens if I die and my son becomes emperor? Who would rule the harem in my stead?"

Meria's lips twitch as if the thought itself is foolish. "No emperor has ever come to his throne without his mother alive beside him," she replies. "It is a mother who advocates and who works to put her child under the crown. Without a mother's hand, no man can be crowned emperor."

"Even if he is his father's only son?" Joana presses.

Maria shakes her head. "It is rare for an emperor to have only one son," she says. "The harem prevents that from happening by providing him with many women to bear him heirs."

Joana nods slowly, then asks, "Did the current Emperor have any brothers, then? You said His Majesty was his father's only son."

"I said His Majesty was his father's only son at his death," Meria corrects. "But yes, the Emperor did have brothers."

Joana stills. "Where are they now?" She has never heard of any imperial brothers. Only Princess Rhaenys, Princess Daenerys, and the deceased Prince Viserys.

Meria's expression darkens. "Dead," she says simply, and a chill runs down Joana's spine.

"The Hated Emperor saw to the end of his eldest son's line, but the Gracious Mother saved her youngest son from the purge and helped Prince Rhaegar take him down. That is why she is so beloved—by him, by the gods. She saved the dynasty from extinction at the hands of a mad tyrant."

She touches her heart, an old gesture to ward off evil spirits.

"The Hated Emperor had Prince Viserys," Joana whispers, though she is not sure why she says it aloud.

Meria nods. "It would not have been long before he turned his eyes to him as well," she says grimly. "The Emperor did not kill only boys. There was a daughter lost in the fight and a baby, but he did not care. He sought to eliminate all with a drop of his hated son's blood."

Joana grips the looking glass tightly.

"With a creature like that on the throne, the empire would have collapsed into ruin," Meria continues. "Once you kill your grandchildren, you spill your own blood. And once a man spills his own blood, nothing stops him from doing the same to his sons."

Joana exhales slowly.

She had thought the upper ranks of the world ruthless.

But Now...she knows.