BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan Read Online Free

death and murderer, yet that his very niece had taken the
mantles of the Sharia Empire without first consulting him!
    After pondering her current welfare, Vaspan
said aloud to himself, “Soon enough...once the name, wealth, and
the lands of the Sharia Empire become acquired, one way or the
other, everything will fall under the banners of the Vaspan
Empire…
    “If things get acquired in a positive and
peaceful way, I will allow Brishava to rule next, instead my
firstborn son. However, if she forces us to take the other route, I
will be forced to use my secondary plan in acquiring the Sharia
Empire—war!”
    Nearly five seconds after he had finished
with his vocal statements, the guards unexpectedly opened the
double doors, which once again shown light onto his face.
    A moment later, a middle-aged man who donned
a green ruling-general’s uniform entered the room. He had a shaved
head, thin black eyebrows, a clean-shaven face, and of course, he
was built like a tank.
    Five feet from his liege’s bed, he stopped in
his tracks, snapped a sharp salute and asked, “Yes Emperor-Sedious
Vaspan, how may I serve you?”
    Even though the light from the hallway
continued to remain shining on Vaspan, he lightly returned the
salute for a second before saying, “Ruling-General Thorn, it seems
that my brother has died, which should make me the next Sultan,
but—”
    “But, Sire,” Thorn interrupted incredulously,
“how can you know this? Our spies have reported no such word!”
    Though Vaspan cast a very sharp look at the
recently-promoted commanding officer of both his army and navy
(because Flak had retired of old age about a year earlier), he
answered, “I know it from the dream I just had! Actually this is
the second time I’ve had the same dream…”
    Thorn looked thoroughly confused.
    Vaspan explained a few moments later, “The
first time I had it, I was a very young boy, but as I didn’t
recognize any of the people in it back then, I soon forgot about
the dream altogether… That is, until tonight’s dream—now I do
recognize a few of those characters, including my brother who was
murdered, which confirms to me that the time has come to inherit my
throne!”
    With ever-growing excitement, Thorn added,
“Then the Sharia Empire is already yours to command, my
Emperor!”
    “Yes…and no,” Vaspan countered neutrally.
    Thorn asked in total confusion, “What do you
mean?”
    Vaspan explained, “Let me tell you the whole
of my dream…in it, my niece had returned to Pavelus with a man whom
I believe to be her boyfriend or husband because of the way they
kept fondly looking at each other.
    “For some unknown reason, she not only
assassinated my brother, yet managed to keep his assassination
secret. Somehow she and this man have managed to dupe not only the
guards, yet the citizens of Pavelus into believing that they are
the next rulers, and not I!”
    After taking a deep breath, he added, “The
only thing that remains uncertain is whether they have managed to
sway the nobles to assist against our impeding attack, as was
obvious by all the nobles’ very-uncertain faces…”
    For a reason known only to him, Vaspan
immediately cast his gaze down to the black, red, and
gold-checkered floor tiles, which colors represented the Vaspan
Empire.
    About thirty seconds later, even though he
continued to look at the floor, Vaspan concluded, “No matter
whether my niece accepts this trivial fact or not, I am the
next-in-line to rule! We shall sweep out and annihilate all who
oppose my absolute rule as the Sultan over both Empires…”
    “Of course, your Majesty,” Thorn replied. “My
Liege, may I be allowed to ask two questions?”
    Without looking away from the floor, Vaspan
nodded his head.
    Thorn asked, “First question—in your dream,
or should I say dreams, did you happen to hear the name of
Brishava’s husband? It seems obvious, your Highness, that you must
not know who he is, or you would have already identified