Kirion Valonn gets a call from the office of Imperatrix Simianka and she attends the royal's private suite at The Palace to give a private recital. She is a young flautist in The National Symphony Orchestra and Imperatrix Simianka happened to be in the royal box at her performance that day. Kirion had been noticed and summoned!
She is asked to give further recitals to the beautiful, but arrogant and demanding Imperatrix who is part of a monarchy that believe they are selected by God and have ruled the country with an iron grip for a thousand years.
But when she makes a demand on Kirion that has nothing whatsoever to do with music, the flautist is shocked and humiliated. Simianka sees no wrong of course... she is a high ranking royal and nothing is beyond her. What she wants, she gets. But if she wanted Kirionβs affection, she has destroyed that hope and the musician loathes and despises her.
Simiankaβs continuing pursuit of Kirion, despite her marriage to The Imperator Aristido, makes the flautist even angrier and she is unguardedly hostile, risking her life to resist Simiankaβs advances.
But is that what Kirion really wants? She finds herself repelled by the imperatrixβs disgraceful use of bribery and threat to get what she wants... but infuriatingly attracted to her beauty and even the dark cynical humour that she wields like a club to batter anyone who comes into range. Well Kirion should disapprove, but then Simianka is very funny... as well as being self-pitying, arrogant and bombastic. She has no concept how ordinary people live and a scooter ride to the shops leaves Kirion bemused and enraged at the royalβs ignorance and presumptuousness - although oddly terrified that Simiankaβs stupidly naΓ―ve unwariness that the danger from her hostile subjects crowding the market could get her killed.