Valkyrie ? Chapter V ? The Contract
The Emperor''s steward, Sven, led Eira through the grand halls of the Union Palace, past elaborate frescoes and opulent chandeliers, until they arrived at a private chamber adorned with heavy tapestries depicting scenes of valor and sacrifice. Within this secluded space, Eira was left alone to peruse the contract that awaited her.
As she unfurled the parchment, Eira''s heart raced. The ink flowed in even strokes across the pages, forming a legion of demands and expectations that would define her life as a Valkyrie. She had expected to relinquish many liberties. She was to give away her civil rights, her freedom, and had to surrender herself to a life within the Empire''s grasp. She knew all that already. But only the contract revealed the true weight of her decision.
Eira''s eyes scanned the meticulous inkwork, tracing the words that outlined her oath of chastity, her many duties to uphold the Emperor''s will, and her pledge to fight for the Empire until her final breath—and even beyond that. The terms were unyielding, unforgiving, and seemingly endless. Each line she read felt like a shackle that tightened around her, binding her to an existence from which she could no longer escape.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
The weight of these words hung heavily upon Eira. Her eyes, filled with awe and admiration for the Empire, also brimmed with tears of sorrow and resignation. A path lay out before her, one of glory but also one of confinement within the gilded walls of the Union Palace—a path demanding constant vigilance, constant fighting, constant devotion.
As she held the contract in her trembling hands, Eira understood that her choice was final. The journey from Kasthra she willfully took has led her here, to this moment. She stood on the brink of signing away her past, sealing her fate as a Valkyrie, bound by oath and honor to the Empire that she would serve faithfully forever.
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In that private chamber, illuminated by sunlight streaming through ornate stained glass windows, Eira cried for what was lost but also for what awaited her. Her heart ached with a mix of sadness and anticipation. This contract, once signed, would mark the end of her life as she knew it and the beginning of a new existence in service to the Emperor and his Empire.
And so, with resolve yet also with weightful tears and a heavy heart, Eira put down her name—a name she would no longer be able to claim as her own. She was forever changed, forever bound, but also forever part of an elite order of warriors that is etched into the ether of history. The contract, now signed, seals her fate, and Eira knew in her heart that she could never look back again.