The sky was overcast.
Inside the imperial palace.
On an enormous square.
Banners snapped in the wind.
Tall, imposing soldiers of the Dragon Tiger Imperial Guard surrounded the square, rank upon rank.
Huge Spirit Boats landed on the square, the runes on their hulls flickering.
In front of every Spirit Boat.
Long lines of people waited.
Everyone in those lines carried the blood of the imperial family.
There were white-haired elders, women holding children, and youths in their teens.
All of them were shackled.
Link joined link, person chained to person.
As they walked, the chains clattered, the sound swelling into a chorus.
The Dragon Tiger Imperial Guard stood on either side with hands on their sabers, one soldier every three paces, their gazes icy and their armor forbidding.
The lines moved slowly.
Every so often, someone looked back toward their home in the city, their eyes filled with bewilderment and fear.
In the middle of one line.
A woman held a child in her arms.
The child was seven or eight, and the chain around his neck was so thick that its weight dragged him off balance.
"Mother."
The child tilted his head up.
"Where are we going?"
The woman did not answer.
"Mother, are we going to the Imperial Mausoleum to keep our ancestors company? That's what everyone says."
At those words.
The woman could no longer hold back her tears.
She knew the truth.
But she did not dare tell her child.
"Yes, we're going to the Imperial Mausoleum to keep our ancestors company."
"Hooray!"
The child smiled.
His smile was utterly innocent.
An old man behind them heard this.
He smiled too.
But as he smiled, tears began to stream down his face.
"Keep our ancestors company? Hahahaha, what a colossal joke..."
The child turned to