Wedding bells!

Weddings were a big deal on Tasim-4. A royal wedding even bigger. Stan was told that maybe 90% of the kingdom's 30 billion subjects would be watching the ceremony on the farcast screens. The remainder seemed to be present here in the capital, he thought, as he watched the huge crowd from a balcony in the royal castle. He guessed that they didn't have much choice. This was, by all definitions, a dictatorship.

King Assertos was already 54 years old, Stan had learned, and it would appear that Serrah's harsh description had not given him disservice. The wealth and power seemed to have corrupted him from birth. In the hours leading up to the wedding, Stan had witnessed many times how the monarch threated common people like trash. His physical appearance hinted a life of gluttony and sloth. He was despised by most of the staff at the castle, but the noblemen and rich protected him to keep the Tainee empire stable. With no heir, they feared civil war would erupt if the well-established king was removed. Propaganda kept the majority of the population on the king's side, disgruntled locals had said.

Although the king had been married four times already, no heir had been born, and thus all of the wives had been thrown off the main bedroom balcony as punishment for their supposed infertility. Officially, they were considered "unfortunate accidents".

Luckily, the king could find some comfort in his harem. Since the year of his crowning, Assertos had ordered each planet under his rule to send him their finest young woman. If a tribute disappointed him, the planet was harshly punished. Needless to say, those unfortunate girls were the king's to exploit as he wished.

Still, at least they didn't have to give birth to the king's illegitimate children. A strict regime kept them on birth control. Apparently, a woman named Myrah took care of the harem, and handled any problems with the girls.

Suddenly, bells started ringing, so Stan quietly entered the cathedral. Now they were just waiting for the bride to show up. He knew Serrah was with her, helping prepare the fallback tactics, in case plan A didn't work. He put his hand in his right pocket and made sure plan A was safe.