Dying for Glory

Word reaches the court of the Grandhaven Empire that an army of 300,000 is pressing on the border, and the chancellor's advice is to hand over territory and pay them to leave. The one man who stands up in the hall and denounces him for it is Edward, who has been in this dynasty only a short while. Back in his own time a stranger had just told him he was heir to a conglomerate, and he passed out from the shock and came to here, with a bargain attached: die a hero's death and he goes home with a large sum of money, and suicide does not count. Since then he has been looking for the fastest way to get himself killed. The chancellor moves to have him executed and the Empress stops it. He then brings the enemy's envoys into the palace to humiliate Edward in front of the court. Edward answers them back and draws a sword, and the envoys decide they would rather not press it. The chancellor gathers the ministers to lean on the Empress, and she settles the matter by naming Edward her envoy to the enemy camp, an appointment meant to get him killed by someone else's hand. He accepts on the spot. Before he sets out, the Empress puts on a disguise, rides to the border and has him seized so she can test him herself. Neither bribes nor threats get anything out of him. She lets him go, follows him in secret, and makes up her mind to keep him alive.