Chapter 110: The New Law For Servants

Everyone got the news of the new law that Qazaethel approved. It was a law for every servant inside and outside the palace, and every concubine was very shocked to read the letter. The law had been drafted in secret, debated in closed chambers, and signed with the sovereign’s seal before anyone outside the inner circle had even known it existed.

It granted servants the right to petition for grievances without fear of retaliation, established fixed working hours, and—most controversially—allowed servants to refuse unreasonable orders from concubines without punishment. For the concubines, it was a slap in the face. For the servants, it was a quiet revolution.

Even the princes and princesses, Qazaethel’s children, were shocked by the news. Some of them agreed, seeing it as a necessary step toward a more just palace. Some reluctantly agreed, understanding the political necessity but resenting the disruption to tradition. And some opposed totally, their voices loud in the private chambers, their arguments sharp and bitter. But none of them dared to oppose openly. Not yet.

Some of them dragged themselves to the main palace, their footsteps were heavy with indignation, their faces were twisted with confusion and anger. They had not been summoned. They had not been invited. But they came anyway, because the law had shaken something loose inside them, and they could not sit still.

When they got there, it was only Dawn. She was sipping tea, the cup was delicate in her fingers, the steam curling upward in lazy spirals. She was talking to Arielle, Liv, Xelvyn, and Yvaine, their voices low and calm, their postures relaxed.

The room was warm, lit by the soft glow of enchanted lanterns, and the scent of jasmine hung in the air. It was a peaceful scene, an intimate gathering of people who trusted each other. And then the doors opened, and the peace shattered.

Dawn took down her teacup and looked at them with sharp eyes. She did not rise. She did not greet them. She simply looked, her gaze cold and unwavering, and the concubines who had barged in felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees.

"I am aware that I haven’t sent any invitation to anyone of you, yet you all drag yourselves here," Dawn said, her voice low but carrying. "Have you had no regard for my authority that you all had the audacity to interrupt this important conversation?!"

She slammed her hand on the desk, the sound was sharp and sudden, and several of the concubines flinched. The teacups rattled. A droplet of tea splashed onto the polished wood. Dawn did not apologize. She did not soften. She kept her voice firm and full of authority, the voice of a woman who had spent months learning what it meant to rule.

"I assume you all wanted another punishment?" Dawn added.

The concubines’ faces went pale. They remembered the last punishment—the one that had stripped three of them of their titles for a month, the one that had confined two others to their quarters for a week.

They remembered the cold fury in the sovereign’s eyes, the way she had not raised her voice but had still made them tremble. And they remembered Dawn standing beside her, silent and watchful, a shadow that had turned out to have teeth.

But Herra still took the courage to stand up straight and present herself in front of Dawn, with a curtsy. Her hands were trembling, but her chin was lifted, and her voice, when she spoke, was steadier than she had expected.

"Your Majesty, please hear us out," Herra said. "What’s with the new law for servants?! Why is this all of a sudden?! Why weren’t we informed?!"

Dawn’s death stare landed on her. It was a stare that had been honed in the fires of court politics, a stare that had learned to cut through pretense and flattery and see the fear beneath. Herra felt it like a physical weight, and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe.

"You need to be informed?" Dawn asked, her voice dripping with disdain. "What are you in this palace? Do you really have high regards for yourself, Lady Herra?!"

Herra opened her mouth, but no words came out. The other concubines shifted behind her, their earlier boldness evaporating like mist in the sun. They had come here expecting a discussion, perhaps even a negotiation. They had not expected this. They had not expected the Phoenix empress to look at them as if they were insects beneath her feet.

Dawn was clearly losing her patience. Her fingers drummed once on the desk, a sharp, impatient rhythm, and her eyes never left Herra’s face. "Hear it from me," she said, each word precise and deliberate. "You do not deserve to be informed. Me and Her Majesty, the sovereign, decide the law, and it is what it is. Any opposition, you send a petition, but expect it to be rejected. And now is not the right time—the sovereign is sick."

The words landed like a thunderclap. The concubines’ faces shifted from anger to worry in the span of a heartbeat. The sovereign was sick? They had not known. They had not been told. The palace had its rumors, of course, but rumors were cheap currency and often false. This was not a rumor. This was the Phoenix empress herself, speaking with cold certainty.

"The sovereign is sick?" One of them whispered, her voice barely audible. It was Lady Vespera, who had been standing at the back of the group, her expression carefully neutral. She had not spoken until now, had not joined in Herra’s challenge. But the news had cracked her composure, and for a moment, the mask slipped.

Dawn did not answer her. She did not even look at her. She simply raised her hand, a gesture that was both dismissal and command.

The guards immediately stopped the concubines when they tried to approach Dawn. They had seen the anger in the empress’s eyes, had heard the steel in her voice, and they knew better than to let the situation escalate. They stepped forward, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords, and the concubines froze.

"Take them away and shut the door close!" Dawn yelled, her voice ringing through the hall. "You will never let anyone enter without my explicit permission!"

The guards bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty!" They said in unison, and they began to push the concubines out of the palace. It was not gentle. It was not cruel. It was simply firm, the way one might herd stubborn animals back into their pens. The concubines stumbled, their protests were swallowed by the sound of the heavy doors swinging shut.

The grand doors closed with a resonant thud that echoed through the hall, and then there was silence. The kind of silence that followed a storm, heavy and expectant. Dawn stood where she was, her hand still resting on the desk, her chest rising and falling with controlled breaths.

She had not lost her temper. She had not raised her voice more than necessary. But she had made her point, and she had made it with the precision of a blade.

Arielle, Liv, Xelvyn, and Yvaine remained silent while watching Dawn with admiration. Arielle’s tea had gone cold in her cup, forgotten for a moment. Liv’s hand had drifted to her sword, an instinctive reaction that she had not acted upon. Xelvyn and Yvaine exchanged glances, their expressions were a mixture of awe and something that looked almost like pride.

Dawn was really doing her job as the Phoenix empress properly. She had not asked for this role. She had not wanted it. But she had grown into it, had learned to wear the crown even when it felt too heavy, had learned to speak with authority even when her voice wanted to shake.

And in this moment, watching the doors close on the concubines who had dared to challenge her, she felt something she had not felt before: certainty.

She turned back to her tea, her movements were calm and deliberate. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip, the liquid still warm enough to soothe her throat. Then she set it down and looked at Arielle.

"Where were we?" She asked, as if nothing had happened.

Arielle blinked, then smiled. "You were telling us about the new trade agreements with the eastern provinces," she said.

"Ah, yes," Dawn said, and she continued as if the interruption had been nothing more than a minor annoyance. But the truth was that the interruption had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. She had known the law would be controversial.

She had known there would be pushback. But she had not expected it to come so soon, or so boldly. The concubines were scared. They were scared of losing their privileges, scared of losing their power, scared of a world where servants could say no. And scared people did stupid things.

The law was not just about servants. It was about power. It was about who had the right to speak, who had the right to be heard, who had the right to say no. And Dawn was determined to see it through, no matter how many concubines tried to stop her.

She took another sip of her tea and continued her conversation, her voice steady, her mind already moving on to the next problem, the next crisis, the next battle. The Phoenix empress had work to do.

The afternoon wore on, the sun shifting across the sky and casting long shadows through the windows. Dawn, Arielle, Liv, Xelvyn, and Yvaine remained in the main hall, their conversation drifting from trade agreements to the upcoming harvest festival to the delicate matter of the sovereign’s health. It was a quiet, productive meeting, the kind of meeting that had become rare in the palace since the new law had been announced.

But the peace did not last. It never did.

Just as Dawn was finishing a sentence about grain shipments, the doors to the main hall creaked open. A young servant, her face pale and her hands trembling, stepped inside. She bowed low, her forehead nearly touching the floor.

"Your Majesty," the servant whispered. "There is a... A situation."

Dawn set her teacup down with a soft clink. "What kind of situation?"

"The concubines, Your Majesty. They are... They are refusing to leave the outer courtyard. They say they will not move until they speak with you again."

Dawn’s eyes narrowed. She had expected resistance, but she had not expected this. The outer courtyard was a public space, visible from the palace gates. If the concubines were gathered there, refusing to leave, it would not be long before rumors spread through the city. It would look like a rebellion. It would look like the Phoenix empress had lost control.

"How many?" Dawn asked.

"Twenty nine, Your Majesty. All of them."

Dawn stood up slowly, her movements deliberate. She did not look angry. She did not look afraid. She looked like a woman who had been expecting this, who had prepared for it, who was ready.

"Arielle, Liv, Xelvyn, Yvaine," she said. "Come with me."

They rose without question. Liv’s hand was on her sword again, but she did not draw it. Arielle’s face was calm, but her eyes were sharp. Xelvyn and Yvaine exchanged a glance, then nodded.

Dawn led them out of the main hall, through the winding corridors, past the guards who bowed as she passed. The palace was quiet, the servants having retreated to their quarters, and the only sound was the echo of their footsteps on the marble floor.

When they reached the outer courtyard, Dawn stopped. The concubines were gathered in a loose circle, their voices were low and urgent. Some of them were crying, some of them were angry, and some of them looked like they did not know why they were there at all.

Dawn stepped forward, her presence was cutting through the crowd like a blade. The concubines fell silent, their eyes turning to her, their expressions a mixture of fear and defiance.

"You will disperse now," Dawn said, her voice carrying across the courtyard. "You will return to your quarters, and you will not gather like this again. If you have a grievance, you will submit a petition through the proper channels. If you do not, you will be removed by force."

For a moment, no one moved. The wind rustled through the trees, and the fountain in the center of the courtyard bubbled softly. Then, one by one, the concubines began to leave. Some of them bowed as they passed Dawn. Some of them glared. Some of them simply walked away, their shoulders are slumped while their defiance were spent.

When the last of them had gone, Dawn turned to Liv. "Double the guards on the eastern palace," she said.

Liv nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Dawn looked at the empty courtyard, at the trampled grass and the scattered petals from the flower beds. She thought of the servants who would clean up the mess, who would work late into the night to restore order.

She turned and walked back toward the main hall, her footsteps were steady, and her head was held high. Arielle, Liv, Xelvyn, and Yvaine followed in silence, their respect for her was growing with every step.

The Phoenix empress had work to do.