Dread Emperor

Within the castle at Wyndham, Silat and two tapasa kneel before Ganishka, who is enthroned in the lap of a many-armed goddess statue. The emperor scolds the clan for failing to seize Griffith, orders them to report his whereabouts, and leaves the capture to his own army. Dismissed, the two subordinates fret that the Kushan forces will render them obsolete, but Silat stays confident so long as they hold to their goal. Noting the corpse-filled streets, the eerie fog and whispered horrors, the men agree their ruler well earns the title of dread emperor.

Later, borne to the Tower of Rebirth atop an elephant litter and flanked by guards, Ganishka ascends to Charlotte's chamber, where the princess embroiders beside her handmaid Anna. He orders Anna out, then voices displeasure at the heaps of needlework blanketing the floor before asking whether Charlotte is prepared to bear his child. She recoils, unmoved even when he claims a shared heir would end the bloodshed between the Kushan and Midland. He forces the issue, hurling her onto the bed.

As he tears at the curtains, Charlotte relives her father's earlier assault, thrashing and struggling as Ganishka pins her and reaches for her gown. She cries out Griffith's name, and only then does he notice that her latest embroidery, like all the others scattered about, bears Griffith's likeness. Grasping that the two are lovers, he releases her and departs, now intrigued. Escorted back to his throne, Ganishka muses that the Falcon's arrival heralds the world's transfiguration, and that the bond between apostles and the Falcon resembles being drawn into God's embrace. Yet as master of his vast empire he counts himself owner of the world, and vows to defy God in person to keep it.

Ganishka reprimands Silat's clan and reserves Griffith's capture for his army. He visits Charlotte in the Tower of Rebirth and attempts to force her to bear his child. Charlotte's cry for Griffith and her Griffith-themed embroideries reveal the two are lovers, prompting Ganishka to withdraw. The emperor resolves to oppose God directly and claim the transfiguring world as his own.

This twenty-two-page Millennium Falcon Arc chapter appeared in Young Animal issue 23 on November 28, 2003. It gives the first substantial look at Ganishka's throne, his designs on Charlotte, and his ambition to rival God. The King of Midland appears only in Charlotte's flashback.