Ruling an up-and-coming empire is largely an unpleasant task: there are disputes to be resolved, budgets to be balanced, infrastructure to maintain and policies to enact - and made sure they're followed through on. This isn't helped by the fact that, as a dragon, Princess Ember is supposed to perform these duties without complaint, clemency or compromise. It was thankless for her father and thankless for her, especially when they were supposed to perform duties above and beyond their normal tasks.

Ember really doesn't want to have to personally execute a traitor. But that's part of her job, part of what she's expected to do, part of how she's expected to show strength of character.

He. Must. Pay.

All of my thanks to Flashgen and Regidar for pre-reading the story.

Picture was created by bassybird, and will be deleted upon request.