"I would not have sent you to aid Vero on Earth if I didn't trust you. That is not why you are here today," Najeer said.
Anne's eyes grew as she breathed out in relief as she remembered Vero telling her that the Emperor could not be lied to as he could sense intentions.
She didn't understand until now.
Najeer had the ability to sense people's aura. Auras often revealed their intention or emotions, sometimes both. If you lied, he most likely knew. If you spoke the truth he could judge.
He could stare into people from the inside out. Many wore masks, most had ill intentions, and few were good. Everyone were liars. The most dangerous of them were the ones who lied to themselves. Unknowingly Najeer had learnt to pay attention to body language those who deceived often made unintentional movements and twitches.
He didn't grow up with his grandfather so he had to learn how to control his Aura perception the hard way. But it took years of listening and being invaded by the dark thoughts and emotions of strangers before he could block certain people out. It tortured every part of his mind, night and day.
Growing up, he was like an open book for the darkest and impure aura to taint. He felt things he didn't ask for, heard whispers he didn't want to hear. The council revealed that Najeer was 'blessed' with a spirit more sensitive to aura than any other In'er before him, so even the worms had strange passed of their emotions. He hated that they used words to paint his curse in a light.
His mind was never his own. And it would never be.
Even after learning how to suppress his aura perception. There was no turning it off. Najeer could still feel the aura of beings that shared the same space as him whether he liked it or not.
Party why, Najeer chose Roma to be his advisor and secretary. Roma was a rare creature who had stable emotions and a somewhat pure intention towards work.
Najeer could stay around him for long hours.
The sight was particularly useful tool to stay above against deceivers. It was why people found it impossible to deceive the every Emperor before Najeer. There was a saying; you could not backstab a Great Emperor.
But not impossible. Anyone mentally strong enough to control their inner emotions, and believe their own lies could slip through the cracks. For a normal being that was quite difficult. It was easy to mask one's face and expressions but the inner voice and mix of chemical hidden inside one's own soul from certain actions was another thing.
Najeer knew Valyha was who she said she was, the moment she said it, because her aura was everywhere. Not just from her expressions. It was why he set her in a time block the moment she broke out of the ice. She had a strong aura of malice, so alarming it practically flashed red.
The sole reason he brought Anne to his side was because she had pure burning hatred, lingering all around her towards her own kind. A vengeful aura, one so strong he was amused by it.
"The queen most likely destroyed all her monuments and built new ones to confuse." Anne added. "I wanted to tell you all that she was queen. But I... I... I didn't think." It would matter. She didn't think the war would halt like this.
"We did our own investigation on the data collected from earth. It was partly our fault, we were over reliant on Vero's ability to pay attention. The Queen's people had printed fake news," Roma said.
"Distributed fake books," Najeer added.
"Relocated her military base and people so the maps would be inaccurate. She knew us, but she made sure we didn't know her," Roma continued. "Vero wasn't attentive. Neither were we."
Anne figured, she must have burnt all the command centers and changed everything in the Empire the second she smelled something off.
"She was stalling until she could use her trump card," Najeer said. It pissed him off that she was successful. "The Gates may have closed by her doing. You were are her general, do you know how she could have possessed such magic?" Najeer asked and Roma turned his head, focusing on Anne.
Anne's eyebrows furrowed. "I have never seen her do such magic before." Come to think of it. "I have only heard tales of how she invaded Kingdoms. I've never actually see her fight. All she ever did was give orders to the generals to do her biddings. We did all the work for her."
Najeer rested his head on his palm. "What breed is she?"
"I do not know?"
"Who are her own people?"
"I... I do not know."
"What then do you know about her?"
"Nothing. No one really knew anything about her. The other Generals were scouted, just like I was... wait," Anne remembered. There was one. Marten. He most likely knew the most about the Queen.
"It is strange not even her own soldiers know her race."
In that moment the realization of Commander Vero's death sank in. Another person she lost to the queen.
It wasn't Vero's fault. She worked with Vero to help take control of Earth. She told him everything she knew, military secrets, locations, but each time they were met with a dead end. The bases were either abandoned or it was trap. He downplayed how stressed he was about disappointing the Emperor.
It wasn't the Emperor's fault either. He was unaware what was happening on Earth. Even Anne knew Vero wasn't entirely transparent about the audits he sent back to Royal Palace.
"Well. What's done is done." Najeer ended. He knew dwelling on things for long never solved a problem. It was more necessary to get through it and prepare for the next course of actions. The next invasion would not be anything like the last one. He was going to take over command, whether the council liked it or not.
"I never expected her to be able to manipulate the Gates," Anne's said in surprise.
There was one thing he needed to confirm. "The Earth Queen what does she look like?"
Anne was taken aback by the question.
Najeer needed to know if he was wrong. And he hoped he was. In'ers could tell lies from Truth, but there were extremely rare cases of people who believed their own lies. Those ones had blurred aura.
Valyha's aura was far from blurred. However...
This could be the one time his senses were wrong.
"She had golden brown skin, long pink hair and black eyes." Anne answered. Not sure why the Emperor needed her description.
Najeer was suddenly thankful, he had made the decision not to kill her. The woman used hybrid spells. Those were practically impossible to crack from scratch. Not impossible —but, it could take a century. He did not have a century. The only way to shorten the time period is if he learnt all the spells. No one else but the creator of it could aid better.
Fortunately there were ways to break information out of people. But...
Anne noticed the sharp silence in the room.
"Is there a problem?"
"No, that will be all," Najeer answered. That was the confirmation he needed. "Roma, escort her out. Make sure you treat our guest especially well today. After, take her to the steel house."
Roma's eyes widened, understanding the assignment.
"Is it time, Your Majesty?" Roma asked discreetly.
Nobody ever entered the steel room and came out. Not with a sane mind. But he doubted she would even be one of the lucky ones to come out of it.
Anne failed to understand what they were talking about.
She had always been sheltered by the Emperor. After the war, he gave her a nice place to stay on a faraway world. She hardly knew anything about the Central Palace.
He was kinder and treated her better than any of the queen's hosts. Better than the queen.
To think that creatures who ate her own kind would be more welcoming than the ones who ruled her own realm.
"Grant her everything she desires," Najeer responded lightly gazing at the red head.
He had been storing her on a whim.
Now it was her time of harvest. He needed an overwhelming amount human blood and energy to serve as a link to open Earth's gate. He still need to test for the possibility of that working.
It would spare him a lot of effort.