The slanted, gaping hole in the ground utterly dwarfed Anzi. Five meters across at least, perhaps more, and now that her eyes were finally adjusting to the faint light, she saw it was not a hole at all but a long, long tunnel sloping down into some unknown abyss. The angle was such that she could barely see any illumination inside the giant passageway unless she crouched down and peered sideways. But the Emperor had no interest in her misgivings about entering the darkness. When she glanced back at him, there was a surprised gleam in his eyes, and she realized at once her hesitations were tantamount to disobedience. With a sharp, hasty exhale, she pushed herself off her knee and back to a stand.
“Yes, Your Excellency,” she said, and while she remembered just in time that the man disliked being saluted, she couldn’t excuse herself from his presence without a bow, at least.
“All right, all right, enough, get up. Don’t disappoint me, now.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned and left with his long,
