"To a thousand more years under an untouched empire."


    "To a thousand more years protected by an insurmountable sea."


    "To a thousand more years under one empire, so vast yet naught but united."


    "To a thousand more years under me. Now raise your cups, and drink!"


    The festivities went off without a hitch. Everyone was drinking, laughing, indulging in conversations plenty.


    I struggled to find my way around the room, the one spot of floor where I could stand without getting compressed kept darting to a new corner every time I''d approach it.


    Eventually I found my place right before him, a king who would never even spare me a glance if not for the demanding circumstances.


    We locked eyes for no more than a moment, he could never know who I was, but he glared at me as though he could discern my motives merely with his eyes.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Too many moments spent staring at each other turned to an air of discomfort, as he picked up his cup and prepared to make a toast so we would not be trapped in an unfortunate silence.


    "Listen here, my subjects! Listen, and listen well. Tonight we celebrate the birth of our empire, and we celebrate the triumph over all our impediments."


    He quickly looked around the room at the large swaths of people leaving the floor begging for mercy.


    "As you find yourself lucky enough to engage in festivities, to drink and eat that which is so kindly provided to you, I ask you to join me in recognition of our greatest feat, the founding of this empire."


    Sounds of acknowledgement sporadically surfaced from around the room.


    "It was not so long ago that our great founder was faced with a choice, of whether to feed his people or feed himself. A lie that may have been propagated for generations could so easily have dismantled everything we would come to hold dear before it was given the chance to exist."


    He raised his drink in preparation to finish it in one sip.


    "To you who fended off hostiles, so we may eat as a whole in the land promised to us, o'' great serpent we eternally thank you."


    As he downed his drink, I made my way out of the room. My plan has been complete, and my proof would take only moments to appear in front of the crowd.


    Only he was deserving of a death so poetic, to pass away at a feast meant to celebrate the sheer violent will and accompanying power of his great empire.


    But the past yearns for completion, and I only act as its medium.