“You didn’t want this, did you?” he asked. “Well, too bad, fool. Because there’s going to be some changes around here. I’ll see to that.”
Cheron laughed as loud as he could.
Timon was dead. Cheron Priam Santos was the new king of the ATM.
****
A few days later, upon his ascension, Cheron Priam Santos welcomed in his new rule with a tradition that was abandoned for a while. In his first act, Cheron brought it back with a vengeance.
The Symbel Crystalis Banquet.
Like Nero did with his dinner to celebrate his victory of Arden, Cheron and his sisters celebrated longtime-coming vengeance and the first of many years in a new regime. As food came to the grand table of the Santos royal dining room, some of the same kinds of foods from the last recorded dinner, Cheron inspected each dish to make sure that it was delectable and not poisoned. His sisters wondered why he was risking his life like this.
"If I die from ingestion, then I'll truly become a god of dinners, plaguing dinners all over the planet."
Cheron took pleasure in what he said and laughed boisterously. Everyone at the table laughed with him, although no one knew what made it so funny.
Throughout the dinner, Cheron talked with some of his court regarding changes to the empire. Cheron invited the cameras into the talks because unlike Nero who avoided scandals due to the manipulation of the ATM media, Cheron did not mind at all. He wanted the galaxy to know all of his intentions.
That was not what the writers and cameras picked up. They made sure they picked up on anything and everything.
The two older sisters of Cheron, who for years were kept in the dark due to fear, made themselves known in the light and gained the most attention from the media. Throughout the journey of ATM media cameras picking up on events, these sisters made news.
Making up for lost time, they drank as much Hungaro wine as they could and flirted with every male count, soldier, and strator in the royal court. One of them, Rosaline Priam Santos, even went as far as taking a lowly guard to a closet in one of the Santos rooms and gave him one of the most sensual blowjobs ever in the Santos Palace.
The cameraman picked up on every angle of Rosaline's watery mouth all over the guard's small penis.
When Cheron confronted Rosaline about it, he nearly kicked the cameraman to death until Rosaline stopped him. Then, the two siblings argued with one another that got all four siblings into it.
"I won't see my sister become some soldier's whore," Cheron told her as another cameraman picked up the argument without them knowing.
Rosaline slapped her younger brother, prompting Cheron to nearly choke her older sister. Imogen found out and calmed him down by caressing his cheek.
With the latest grand dinner and inner tantrums from the family, it was cleared that a new generation had taken over and Cheron wanted to make sure the court never forgot it. The Boardwalk Santos faction was pushed to the side and the Priam Santos faction gained the center of attention.
When the dinner was over, Cheron visited Rosaline in her room, nearly in tears. Cheron sat near her and rubbed her hair.
"I'm sorry," Cheron said. "I shouldn't have done that to you. We need to be together as a family. We need to stay in control. Our father would have wanted that."
Rosaline turned to see Cheron's concerned face. "I was stupid. That was stupid."
"All is forgiven. When this is done, we start the rest of our lives in the seat of power. And no one's going to take that from us."
Cheron kissed Rosaline on the forehead, then tenderly on the lips. In the few seconds after the kiss, there was an intense stare down between the two siblings, as if they thought of what came next. They touched foreheads and Cheron decided to lie down next to her. He stayed with her for the rest of the night.
****
Once the festivities were done and his family a cohesive unit, Cheron went to the throne room straight to family business.
First, he appointed new positions. He made his adopted brother, Ichiamo Santos, a strator so that he could keep a good eye on him. He made Cesario his second-in-command and leader over the Democrat Guard. He put his older sisters, Cassandra “Cass” and Rosaline “Rosa” Santos into administrative positions in court, with the youngest in the family, Imogen, above them all. Cheron wanted her to be queen, but Imogen voted against it. She knew that it would cause too much scandal and that was the last thing he needed. He made another son of Timon, a young fifteen-year old named Pedro Santos, his heir apparent. Cheron knew that he had nothing to fear from a boy who was scared of everything.
After everyone he was close to was situated with new positions, the parties began. Cheron wanted to show all of Crystal Metropolis that the Santos clan was more than about war, betrayal, and scandal. He wanted to show that the Santos clan was not so serious about everything.
Throughout all of 65 B.E., everyone agreed with Cheron. The streets talked about how fun and cheerful Crystal Metropolis was becoming. After being involved with the treachery and rage of Timon Santos for twenty years, the people were ready for a change. Everyone was happy to have Cheron as the new king. Because of his fun-loving nature, the people gave him the nickname “Cheron the Joker.”
There were festivals in the streets as well, and Cheron led them. Sometimes, they were spurs of the moment, mostly about interacting with the people. He told his court that no matter what decision he had to make, he was going to the people. And he meant every word of it. On some of his decisions, he went to the streets and spoke to the workers and servants of Crystal Metropolis instead of speaking from the royal court or the Strator Circle. He wanted to make sure everyone knew and loved him.
The citizens of Crystal Metropolis started to compare Cheron’s first few months of ruling like the first five glorious years of Nero’s reign. Once again, there was serenity in the ATM.
****
There were signs of turmoil forming during the last months of 65 B.E.
It started with a nightmare. King Cheron was sleeping in his bed and awakened to complete darkness. He heard the spirit of Bastiannius calling his name, warning him of danger. Imogen was there to comfort him before he went crazy.
“He told me to watch out for someone,” he told her.
“Watch out for who, my king?” Imogen said.
“Someone’s out to kill me. They said that when I see him, I’ll know.”
There was a pause. Cheron’s eyes widened as if he went into a trance. Then, he got up from his bed and wandered around.
Imogen had seen this before. When Cheron was a child, he would sleepwalk. No one in the family could understand it, but it faded when he lived in the Santos Palace.
Imogen grabbed his shoulders and stopped him in his tracks.
“It’s Cesario,” Cheron said softly.
“Cesario? What about Cesario?”
“He’s going to betray me. He wants to rule. The gods told me.”
“The gods told you?”
Cheron grabbed Imogen’s shoulders, squeezing the life out of them. “They told me to watch out for men like Cesario. They’re out to get me.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Cheron blurted out, “Timon! He knows about what I did to Timon. He could use that against me.”
Ordering his guards to wake everyone up in the many rooms of the palace, Cheron brought the court together in the throne room.
Imogen was watching everyone carefully. So far, everything was normal. Everyone from curser to strator to Democrat Guard was in their right place, according to rank and file. Her older sisters stood to the front like line monitors. Then, she saw Pedro Santos come near one of the counts. He had a flustered look on his face, as if something was about to happen. Then entered Cesario in his place, right to the side of the king.
Imogen kept her cool as her brother addressed his adoring public. He started by telling them how much he adored them and the people. The court clapped and cheered. Imogen focused on Pedro for some
reason. She turned her eyes to Cesario. He was in the same defensive stance.
Before Cheron could say anything else, Pedro came to the front screaming out, “I have something to say.”
“Pedro,” Cheron said. “What’s wrong with you?”
“My lord, there’s a conspirator among us.”
Everyone started talking among themselves. Cheron quieted them down with his arms.
“Pedro, do you know what you’re saying?” he said slowly.
“I do, my lord,” Pedro said. “There’s a conspirator among you. And he’s here in this room.”
Cheron came to him. He gave him a hug. Imogen could tell something was off.
“Who’s after me?” Cheron asked him. “Who’s after my crown?”
With a worried look rising on his face, and pointing his finger across, Pedro said slowly, “…Cesario…”
Everyone commented to themselves again and stared at Cesario. Cesario was confused himself. Imogen looked at him. Cesario came down to Cheron and Pedro.
“What’s he talking about?” Cesario asked.
“Cesario wants you dead, just like he wanted Timon dead. He killed him. He was going to come after you. I…I was going to be next.”
Then, Pedro fell to his knees and cried his eyes out. Cesario was still wondering what was going on. Cheron came to his face.
“Is this true?” he asked. “Were you going to kill me? After everything I’ve done for you?”
“My lord, I have no idea what’s going on here.”
Cheron could see the sincerity in Cesario’s face. All the king did was grin and asked the guards to take him away.
But it did not end there.
Once again, Pedro cried out, “That’s not all.”
Once again, Cheron came to his cry. Before the entire court knew it, Pedro was speaking out names on the drop of the dime. By this time, over twenty names of conspirators were called; most of them were strators. The court did not understand it, but there was one who did. She was disgusted by it all.
“The gods have a plan for me,” he explained to everyone in the room. “In order for it to happen, this has to be done. There will be no treason in Crystal Metropolis as long as I am king!"
That was the end of it. From that point on, the sister never questioned the brother.
****
Cheron had found another love in his life: spirituality. Sometimes, he wouldn't make a decision without asking the gods for the help. The bad part about this notion was that he would do it out in the open so everyone could see his gestures and hear his words. It was embarrassing to some, but Cheron did it majestically without a care. He often told Imogen that they would not understand at first, but they will soon enough.
He made this point with another love forming within his heart: using execution and torture for his own means. He tried this out first on the so-called conspirators Pedro Santos called out when he was in the presence of the king. At first, it was just to get answers on who tried to take him down. After a while, something came over Cheron. Hearing the screams, seeing the blood flow from their veins, and seeing the pressure they were going through just to get answers made Cheron feel something past leaders felt many times before.
Sending death to a person was the closest thing to being a god. Since Cheron was feeling the spirits of the gods, he needed to tell the world.
That was why he asked architects to design execution machines specially made for the public to see executions of anyone who goes against the Santos king. The professionals of torture made execution machines and as a reward for their inventions, they were given positions as new cursers in Cheron’s court.
The first execution day was set for the end of 65 B.E at the Theater of the Starstriker. Cesario, once the right-hand man of Cheron, was among the many put in the special execution machines. The specific machine he was one was a prime example of the power the Priam Santos wanted to portray. Cesario's arms was stretched out with mechanical claws suspended above him.
The people loved it. Cheron gave a speech before the bloodshed.
“… Let all understand that this is for the people. My gift to you for your loyalty. Also, for the ones who even think of trying to take me out. Just remember this day…”
Then, the carnage began. Cesario's execution was up first. When the machine was turned on, Cesario's arms were stretched out by the chair arms. Then, the mechanical claws above him came down slow, wrapped their hands around Cesario's neck, twisted it clearly without much fuss and released from his body. Then, for good measure, his head was placed on a platform and with a massive steel hammer, Cesario's head was smashed to the point there was nothing but slabs of flesh and pieces of bone that was once a face and brains.
The gathering was wild. Food was thrown onto the stadium ground. Cheron felt it, and he made sure that the court felt it, too. However, the excitement was based more on fear than love.
Either way, Cheron adored it.
He achieved absolute power just from his little performance. For the time being, the fear of a takeover was over. He only wished that his father were here to see it.
****
66 B.E.
With a new year arriving, Cheron felt better about his thoughts and feelings, according to Imogen. Her brother was back into the swing of things. In the moment, there was another issue of another nature Cheron needed to make everything complete.
He needed a wife to bear a son.
Another party was held inside the Santos Palace bathhouse newly name the Bath of Bastiannius. Lately, it had become more of a harem with housed the most picturesque women in all of the ATM. Usually, most of the rulers were into the same women: rich aristocracy, slender, sexy, and ignorant if it came to keeping secrets. Cheron was turned on by different colors, shapes, sizes, and classes of women. There was a time he brought in a four-hundred-pound woman from Guapa into the court. She could hardly walk, so at least fifty soldiers had to carry her into the Santos Palace and into Cheron’s bed.
Cheron was a king unfazed by physical attributes on a female. To him, a female was a female. In fact, he told his court one day that a beautiful female was considered more stunning if she had discrepancies.
Worse, his sex drive was carried even to young boys. Something about a young boy made Cheron fascinated. He would bring young boys into his bedroom at nights, telling them that he was doing some sort of scientific experiment.
Still, the love of his life was always Imogen. He would tell her that no matter who he chose as a wife, she was the only one he would ever love.
He did not have that feeling when he was at the party, and Imogen could understand. It was his hormones talking.
The siblings observed different women until suddenly, everyone’s attention was pointed to a sort of master-of ceremonies of the party. He introduced, for the king’s pleasure of course, to Andromache, one of the most seductive prostitutes in the galaxy.
As Andromache approached the bathhouse throne and started dancing for Cheron, he was enticed. It was not until disrobed and she began to dance as if she were possessed by demons that everyone became outraged. The soldiers came immediately to take her away but Cheron gave them the signal to stand down. He was instantaneously hypnotized by every move she made as if she were a viper.
Imogen was not affected. She was nothing more than a common whore. In looking at her brother, however, she had no choice but to be intrigued.
The sovereign and the prostitute were in each other’s sights. Even while she was dancing, she never missed a beat. Cheron pointed at her from a distance.
“I want her, Imogen,” Cheron said like he was a child again.
Imogen took a look at the choice. Knowing that she was being looked, she sashayed her legs to the skin so Cheron could see.
“Andromache?” Imogen said. “Why would you want her? She’s a whore.”
“Exactly! Someone who knows what I’m about. She’s a queen in her trade, just like I’m a king in mine. She has a dirty mind and
so do I. Oh, we’re compatible.”
Imogen was bewildered, but somehow, it made sense. No matter what, Cheron would not be denied what he wanted. He made his mind up that he would possess that woman if it was the last thing that she could.
Days after the party, Andromache was a regular in the court. Sometimes, it was for a dance. Sometimes for more. Then came the night he made love to her for the first time. Cheron wanted to think it was all about love, but he was sure this was normal for Andromache.
What turned her on more was when Cheron told her that she would become the Santos queen. There, she would be invited to the secrets of the Santos clan.
INIQUITOUS DOMINION: The Galactic Classic Page 10