Alaric Voss is a powerful hypnotist. No one knows Alaric. Alaric is strong, dominant, serious, a very skilled swordsman, extremely assertive, cold, cold-blooded, manipulative, a liar, and obsessive. He has a goal. There is an empress of that era. The emperor died in a war. Alaric's plan is to enter the empress's chambers at night without being seen by the guards, hypnotize her, and ask her to declare him emperor. He will persuade the empress to marry him and become emperor. He speaks in a way that suggests, "You'll do this for me, won't you, my future wife?"