The Expanse

Roj awoke not in a lust forest with winding rivers but in a room of dim torches and red mats.

A burning sensation still crawled its way over the rat's chest, but it was more of an afterthought than anything to worry about. The paralysis was also gone, as was that calming whiff of laced smoke that Roj would surely miss.

Wincing, Roj propped himself on his elbows, the task made difficult due to the fire in his heart and the reed mattress beneath his body. He glanced around the square room, blinking hard. It was a fairly typical bedroom, what with the reed furniture scattered throughout. Still, it was far larger than any room Roj had the privilege of waking up in.

"Hello, Roj," a voice greeted from the corner. The rat's poor heart jumped in his wounded chest, and he twisted to find the source.

Taking up most of the available space with her massive coils was Xo'Sa. She had to squeeze herself into a corner to not crush Roj against the wall, the flickering flame surrounding her making her seem like some nightmarish creature of blood and gore come to life. Only her eyes, which reflected a gentle kindness Roj was entirely unused to, took away from the monstrous illusion.

"H-Head priestess?" the rat asked. His voice was shrill, shriller than usual, and it felt as if a fire raged in his throat.

"Glad to see your eyes are working as intended," the serpent chuckled softly. "You had them closed for a while."

"S-shouldn't they be closed?" Roj wondered. He tried to rise further from the bed but failed. His shaking arms prevented any further movement. A vast exhaustion seeped through the rat's body, sapping the strength from his skinny form.

"They should, yes," Xo'Sa said. The serpent uncoiled herself partially and stretched herself forward. Worry marred her faces as she stared down at the prone figure, and she reached down with a bejeweled hand to press Roj into the mattress. "You should stay still, little one. You are far from healed."

"I-I don't understand what's happening," the rat squeaked. Fear made his heart pound, which forced even more pain from his chest. "W-where is the river? The forest? Why are you here? Shouldn't I be..."

"Dead?" Xo'Sa finished. "Yes, you should be. Your soul should have fled from your body, and your blood should have spilled, and the ritual should have continued as usual."

"T-then what happened?"

"I... don't know."

The serpent's pensive eyes wandered over Roj's body as she fell silent. He felt like a cadaver under the watchful eye of a burial priest, inspected to figure out what was wrong with his cold corpse.

"This has never happened before," Xo'Sa admitted after a pause. "Not in my 40 summers of life, and not in any of my predecessor's careers. Every single ritual has ended the same way."

Roj was speechless. It was the duty and a great honor for a member of the Undercaste such as him to spill blood for the royalty of the Empire. Granting his life to another was the only way for one such as him to achieve something. Anything to avoid being another corpse without glory...

"I understand you must be... confused," the serpent continued. Slowly, she reached forward with a claw idly to massage Roj's chest. He sighed with relief as the pain was chased away, replaced by a gentle comfort. "Believe me, little one, the Empress and I are just as bewildered. My scholars are searching for times that something like this has happened before, perhaps during the time before the Empire, but..."

Xo'Sa huffed with her left head while the other loosed a rasping sigh.

"Until then, we are to assume this is a sign of Her will. Especially considering what now adorns your chest."

"M-my chest?" Roj asked. He tried to lean forward, but the best he could do was raise his head from his pillows. Xo'Sa had to slide her hand behind the rat's back to prop him up, giving him an excellent view of the horror that graced his chest.

Roj's bed of fluffy fur had been partially burnt off, leaving only scorched hairs and a strange mark just above his heart in its place. The sign was of an odd shape; it resembled a twisting snake with a head riddled with teeth. It seemed to coil around an orb, its maw poised to devour the shape whole.

"W-what is that?" Roj gasped. His voice, weak as it was, had become colored with panic and shook in time with his pulse.

"The symbol of the Expanse," Xo'Sa answered solemnly. She placed a calming hand on his chest again, steadying the rat's heart rate. The serpent's palm was cool and seemed to suck that accursed heat straight from Roj's nerves. "It is a... sign of Her will made manifest. Each of Her children of royal blood bears the sign on their body, showing that they have been selected by divinity to rule the Empire. Normally, it is present as a birthmark. Not as a..."

"Scar?"

"I was going to say tattoo for tact," Xo'Sa chuckled. "But perhaps scar is more fitting."

"H-how did this happen?"

"Do you recall the lightning that struck you when the knife pierced your chest?"

"T-that's what that was?" Roj wondered. All he remembered was a flash of light and a rumbling of stone. On second thought it was obviously lightning, but Roj had been a bit preoccupied when it occurred.

"Indeed," the serpent continued. "When it hit you, it blasted through the stone roof and struck you, little one. It shattered the blade and scored that mark in your flesh. You've been asleep ever since."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two days."

Two days. Roj had not only failed his solitary purpose in a ritual important enough to summon Tek'Vera, his venerated Empress, but he had also spent the time after comfortably sleeping. Such a waste of a rat he was...

"Roj?" Xo'Sa asked after a moment's silence. She leaned forward, the sweet smell of smoke still twirling from her mouths. A look of concern crossed her left head, although her right had twisted into open curiosity. "Roj, are you alright?"

"I-I don't know," the rat admitted. He sagged into the reed mattress, his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion and his throat burning. "D-do you have any water?"

"Naturally," the priestess said. She twisted and reached toward the far corner of the room where a water jug awaited. Despite being the same size as Roj, Xo'Sa handled it with ease, gripping the clay handle and lugging it over to the rat. Her power truly was something to behold...

"Here," the serpent said, placing a hand on Roj's back and propping him into a sitting position. The rat tilted his head up as Xo'Sa tilted a mouthful of fresh water into his open maw. It was fresh, far fresher than he was used to, and Roj relished in its coolness as it traveled down his throat.

A few more gulps were all it took for Roj to quench his thirst. Sighing, he leaned back into Xo'Sa cool grasp. The serpent's hand was large enough to cover his back completely and was remarkably comfortable, far more so than the mattress that supported him. Reed mattresses tended to be somewhat poor for support, after all.

"S-so what now?" Roj asked. He looked up at the priestess with unfocused eyes. "W-will you send me back down to the Undercaste?"

"I'm afraid not," Xo'Sa replied. "As it stands, you have... ascended, shall we say, to a new position. That lightning, that mark... the Goddess wants something from you."

"W-what could she want from me? I'm just a rat."

"A rat you may be, but a member of the Undercaste you are not. Not anymore."

The serpent rose higher, glancing at the colorful fabric that acted as a door.

"I believe I've explained as much as I can to you. If you can, you need to follow me to the throne room."

"T-the throne room?" Roj squeaked. A rat in a holy place was permitted only for rare occasions, which included the sacrifice he so narrowly avoided. To be allowed into the throne room, however, was an unspeakable act of blasphemy for one of his station. But the whole situation had already transcended the knowledge of a head priestess; who was to say blasphemy had not turned on its head as well?

"That's the one," Xo'Sa said. She rose up to a more proper height and turned toward the door. Crimson scales scrapped against the wood floor as she slid from the door. Her eyes reflected the torchlight as she glanced back at Roj.

"If you can't walk, I'll carry you," she offered. Roj just shook his head. He wouldn't have the priestess defile herself anymore for one such as him; she had already done enough by simply handing him that water jug.

"I-I should be fine," Roj huffed. Pain coursed through his body as he wormed himself off the mattress. Crawling to his feet was equally painful, but he managed in the end. His muzzle contorted, Roj followed behind Xo'Sa as she finished slithering out of the room. The look of concern was still plastered on her faces when they arrived in a hallway similar to the one Roj walked down two days ago.

"We're still in the temple if you're wondering," the serpent said. She glanced over her shoulder with a head as she slithered forward. Her body did an excellent job at taking up most of the available space in the wooden corridor, forcing Roj to walk slowly as to avoid getting crushed. Of course he couldn't walk very fast to begin with, considering his chest. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"F-fine," Roj hissed through gritted teeth.

"Clearly not," Xo'Sa huffed. Twisting around herself in an impressive display of flexibility, the priestess turned around, grabbed hold of Roj, and hoisted him into a bridal carry. The rat's protest died in his throat as Xo'Sa's breasts squeezed around him, enveloping him in a velvety, soft embrace.

"There, nice and comfortable," the serpent chuffed. Roj said nothing as his brain was far too busy boiling inside his skull. "Now, let's get going, little one."

Xo'Sa moved with grace and rhythm, her body swaying from side to side as she slithered down the hall. The ride was surprisingly smooth on Roj's end and remarkably comfortable. If not for the circumstances, the rat probably would have allowed his exhaustion to overtake him. However, the inevitable arrival at the throne room kept his eyes open and his fear pungent.

The head priestess halted in front of a grand stone door after a few minutes of swaying travel. She dropped and deposited Roj on the ground, who struggled momentarily to right himself. Arcs of weariness spread through his body, threatening to drop the poor rat to the ground at a moment's notice, but he managed to fight through the exhaustion as he surveyed the door before him.

That door was a truly marvelous thing; easily five times Roj's height, it dwarfed the rest of the hallway with its sheer mass. Emerald fire flickered from the torches on either side, illuminating the hundreds of souls that crawled across the surface.

"A-are those rats?" Roj asked. He pointed at one of the figures, a tiny thing that struggled to ascend the set of stairs before it.

"They are," Xo'Sa answered. "Each and every one represents a sacrifice. You would have joined them on this door had the Goddess not had different plans for you."

"I-I see."

"If you'd like, I'll tell you about its history later," the serpent offered. She flashed a smile full of fangs before turning her attention to the gate. "But for now, you have an audience with the queen. If you can, try not to drag your tail."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Roj muttered, making a conscious effort to lift his tail as high as it would go.

Xo'Sa gave then the rat a pleased nod before rapping her knuckles on the door. The sound echoed through the hallway like a somber groan. A moment later, it was joined by the grinding of stone on stone.

The twin doors, which seemed immovable to a being as tiny as Roj, began to pull open. Light shone through the widening gap, forcing the rat to squint as he was assailed by brightness that was only possible from the Sun's illumination. It took a few moments, but eventually, the gates were open, and the glory of the imperial throne room was revealed to Roj in full.

The room was laid out much like a hallway, being far longer than its width. Pillars covered in carvings and drapery supported an arched stone roof so tall it gave Roj a sudden rush of agoraphobia. To the rat's right was a wall of etched grandeur and size, although Roj was far more interested in the grand opening to his left.

Sunlight and bird song in equal measure filtered in, warming the rat's fur and soothing his ears as he stepped into the room proper. He wasn't sure if he would ever see the golden light of the unfiltered sky again after he stepped into the temple two days ago, and he reveled in its rays for a moment.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Xo'Sa asked. The serpent slithered by Roj's side, each slide of her coil carefully moderated to not harm the rat beside her. "I'll have to sunbathe later today. Appreciate the value of Her light."

Roj briefly wondered what Xo'Sa would look like sunbathing, imagining her smooth coils and curvaceous frame sprawled atop a stone. He shook the thought from his head quickly. Such ideas were completely inappropriate, especially considering the subject of the rat's daydream was slithering right next to him.

The pair traveled down the room a bit more until they stood at the foot of a mountain of stairs. Each step was covered by red paint, which appeared freshly applied. Footprints marred the scarlet, leading up to the throne that rose several feet above Roj.

Clad of stone and draped in various golden adornments resembling snakes, the throne was clearly designed by skilled hands to draw the eye. However, Roj found his attention diverted to the figure seated upon the carved seat rather than the seat itself.

"You have proven yourself to be a very inconvenient rat," Tek'Vera said, the feathers adorning her body flashing red and green in a brilliant display. The Empress was clad in much the same way as she had been two days prior, the copious finery draping off her like a waterfall of jewelry. A lengthy, bushy tail peeked out from behind her lounging form, twitching in a manner that came across as distinctly frustrated. The silver mask that she had donned previously was gone as well, giving Roj a peak at a rather curious visage.

Much like Xo'Sa, Tek'Vera had a countenance like a viper, with a triangular, smooth profile. However, unlike the head priestess, the Empress was framed by a crown of naturally grown feathers that erupted forth like an explosion of color. Said feathers twitched as if alive in their own right, constantly shifting as Tek'Vera stared down Roj with those silver eyes.

"So, little Roj," the Empress hissed. "How much of the current situation has Xo'Sa explained to you?"

"A-as much as she could, my liege," Roj replied. He shifted his gaze downward under the weight of the serpent's piercing stare. "I survived the ritual and was branded with the mark of the Expanse."

"Indeed. Which, as I'm sure you could have guessed, was not something that should have happened."

"Y-yes, my liege."

"Good, you're not quite stupid," Tek'Vera muttered. With divine grace, the feathered serpent rose from her throne, her claws clacking against the steps as she descended. She arrived just before Roj's partially prostrated form and leaned forward. A talon that more so resembled an obsidian blade pressed against Roj's throat, forcing his gaze upwards at Tek'Vera's lest he impaled himself on the sharp claw. "Now, we need to discuss some things, rat. Namely, what to do with you."

"Your existence proves a challenge to the hierarchy of the Empire," Tek'Vera continued. "The caste system has existed for hundreds of years and has remained as steady as the stone we stand upon. Rats are the Undercaste, hounds are the Artisans, jaguars are the Warriors, vipers are the Priests, and quetzals are the nobles. You know this, I trust?"

"Y-yes."

"Now, it is possible for one to move up in their station but not leave their station. It is the law as ordained by the Goddess, and it is the law that has been reinforced by my lineage."

"What you have done," the Empress hissed, jabbing Roj in the chin with a lazy flick. "Is broken that system. You have received the mark of the Expanse and perhaps the largest one I have yet seen."

Tek'Vera grabbed the side of her loincloth and tugged upward, revealing a great swath of her thigh. A furious blush colored Roj's face, but he could not look away; the Empress had grabbed the rat's face in an iron grip and forced him to stare.

"You see this?" the Empress continued. She pointed at the ample meat of her thigh. There, branded across the flesh, was a black-green mark that looked identical to the one plastered across Roj's chest. The only difference between the two signs was the size; Roj's was nearly twice as large as Tek'Vera's.

"Mine is diminutive compared to yours, rat. Do you know what that means?"

"N-no, my liege."

"It means," Tek'Vera's venomous tone faltered for a moment. "It means you are of greater connection to her will than I. My siblings have smaller marks than I, and thus, I became Empress upon my father's passing, despite being the youngest. It's how it's been and how it will be until this Empire crumbles to dust."

"S-so, what does that mean for me?" Roj asked, although he already had an answer formulating in his whirling mind. He wasn't sure he liked it, though.

"For now, nothing," the Empress sighed. A look of exhaustion crossed her face as she turned to Xo'Sa. "Once the priestesses figure out a solution, then we'll do something. Until then..."

Before Tek'Vera could utter a final statement, the rasping sound of scales against stone sounded from behind Roj. His ears perked as the rat turned, his eyes wide. A solitary viper had slithered into the throne room, a book clutched in his arms.

The viper possessed only one head and was far less ornately decorated than Xo'Sa, although his cerulean scales still caught the sunlight beautifully as it approached the throne.

"Empress," the priest greeted with a reverent bow. He didn't so much as glance at Roj, although who was to blame him? Tek'Vera's presence was far more demanding than a rat, even one as branded as Roj. "I come to you and the head priestess with news."

Slowly, the viper presented the heavy tome in his grasp, its weight obvious thanks to the tremor in the priest's arms as he held it aloft. Clad in some form of red leather, the book was clearly designed by a professional. The fanciful words that graced its cover shone in the sunlight, almost as if the book itself was alight with a small fire.

"Ki, what is this?" Xo'Sa asked. She had been dead silent during Roj's exchange with Tek'Vera, and the rat jumped as her voice rang out next to his ear. He'd actually managed to forget she was there.

"A collection of books known as the Usurpation, priestess," Ki said. "The other priests couldn't find anything in the past that matched what happened to our... friend here, but they were able to find records of potential laws and rituals of events that might happen."

"And what would those laws be?" Tek'Vera asked. The serpent's voice was measured, but Roj could practically hear the poison waiting to be unleashed with her following words.

"W-well... if an individual is marked by the Goddess through an action that isn't their own, with eyewitnesses, then."

Ki swallowed hard before continuing.

"T-they are to become the next ruler of the Empire, as ordained by Her will."