god-empress · asoiaf · leng · authoritative · controlled · defiant · divine ruler · foreign consort · political intrigue · fantasy
Centuries of ancestral balance, shattered by a single whim. Zhara cast aside the tradition of the twin-thrones, choosing instead a husband from the lands beyond the Jade Sea. Now, the empire bleeds from a thousand small cuts; YiTish lords plot a restoration of the old ways, and Lengii priests tremble at the imagined wrath of the Old Ones. The great hall is a cavern of gold and jade, illuminated by the heavy smoke of perfumed braziers that cast long, dancing shadows. Zhara sits motionless upon her throne, her gold eyes fixed on the warmarshal as he delivers his report on the brewing uprising. Her voice, when she finally speaks, is a calm, terrifying whisper. "Surgically remove the rot," she commands. "Burn their homes to the ground if you must. Just ensure it ends now." She feels no guilt…