His words sunk with an intensity that Twilight could hardly stand to think about.
"I- I don't-" she began, "No! You are still in charge! I only came to-" her words died, "You don't really- you didn't really- I need you in charge! I can't just-"
"I am dead in the eyes of the law and my people, and my line is yours. There is nothing for me. Allow me my pride, and do what is necessary."
"I am not going to kill you! I spent a lot of effort making sure no one had to die during the invasion, and I am most assuredly not going to get blood on my hooves now!"
The Emperor jerked his head upward, glaring at her with such intensity that despite herself she took a step back.
"This is not for you or your morality, you must secure your position for the good of the Empire!" He shouted, "You may not know what you have done, but you shall take full responsibility!"
"Perhaps then it would be best to inform her."
A she-griffon announced as she made her way into the chamber from a hidden door ironically lost amongst the remains of the blasted main doors.
The Griffon Emperor growled at the newcomer.
Undaunted, she made her way further into the hall, "Perhaps she should be made aware of the situation, for the good of the Empire."
Twilight could tell the female was middle aged, but quite fit, and by any sight a fairly attractive griffoness for her age. Twilight was about to ask about her before spying the manacles around her talons. They were not linked together, but they had loops ready to accept chains as needed.
"You are not to be here!" The Emperor shouted suddenly, absolutely enraged.
"Woah! Whoa! Whoa!" Twilight interjected, throwing barriers around both griffons, before it could come to blows "I have no Idea what is going on! Please, just tell me what's happening! I only came to make peace! I don't want to kill anyone, so why are you insisting I kill you!" Twilight pleaded.
"I do so precisely because it is what is needed to ensure peace!" He growled at her.
"Killing you won't solve anything! I need you alive to make the treaty!"
"You-!" The emperor shouted, before the she-griffon cut him off.
"By your will," she announced, "I will explain."
Twilight wasn't about to let the Emperor interrupt her first decent source of information, so she snapped his beak shut with magic before he could interrupt and egged her to continue.
"The Emperor here, is trying to get you to kill him in order to avoid becoming a ghost."
"Ghost?" Twilight asked.
The she-griffon nodded.
"He is dead through his defeat, but he aims to take advantage of your ignorance for his own pride."
"What? Why is he dead?" Twilight asked, looking him over just in case she was speaking less metaphorically than logic would presume.
"By the absolute oldest of traditions, the strongest of a tribe is made leader. The "strongest" being the one most fit to rule. Over time, it became practice that if two clans went to war, the victorious clan had the more fit ruler and all griffons of the losing tribe would join the victorious. Many times though, the losing leader or his family would seek revenge, killing the victor later in an attempt to re-seize power. This was not just a personal crime though, the killing left the whole unified tribe without the most fit leader, a terrible situation that many times lead to costly power struggles or the destruction of the whole clan. Seeing this so often, it eventually became common that the losing leader and his family would be slain by the most fit leader, or if he refused to do it, oftentimes the members of his own clan would do it as a show of loyalty to the new combined tribe.
"That's horrible!” Twilight blurted, momentarily forgetting her audience.
"It is," the griffoness continued, "which is why true killing has not been practiced for hundreds of years. Well, there have been some cases, but other than where it was made clear that being kept alive really was a clear and present threat to the clan, it has been all but abolished. Instead, the losing family would die metaphorically, becoming ghosts, or those dead to society and kept in the service of the most fit leader where he could keep track of them."
Twilight paled, looking to the griffoness's manacles again. "Is that what you are? A ghost?" She asked.
"Yes, sworn to my master." She responded matter-of-factly.
"What does ghost-hood entail?" Twilight asked fearfully.
"That is entirely dependent upon the will of the master."
Twilight fell silent for a while, processing everything she had just been told.
"So what you're saying is that because I 'won' against the emperor, the population wants me as their leader." She asked, receiving a nod.
"...and tradition wants me to kill him, metaphorically, for losing? Can't I just not kill him, he stay emperor, and just sign the treaty?
"No, the population would reject him, they have already shifted their loyalties to the more fit ruler: you. If he were to be discovered by the populous, alive and unbound, he would be seen as a threat to the peace of the nation, and likely killed."
"...but he can become one of these "ghosts" but if he does that, not only will he not be in charge, he won't be considered a person anymore?"
"It's not as bad as you make it sound. The conditions of the bond are dependent upon the master, and from what I can tell, you are not going to be too harsh." she said, smiling almost to the point of chuckling, "and as alternative to beheading now or a lynch mob later, there is a reason that this is the modern practice."
"Then why would he lie?" Twilight asked, looking over to the still beak-bound Emperor.
"The coward wants to avoid the shame of ghost-hood by dying." She said, shooting him her own angry glare.
"So how do I avoid it? Having to kill him I mean? I won't do it, but I don't want him getting killed in the streets either. Is ghost-hood the only option? Is there something else?” Twilight asked.
The griffoness returned her focus to the princess, "No, while to become a ghost is to lose all honor, it's an even greater shame to be labeled a coward or traitor. He is already yours in the common eye, but without an outward sign of his ghost-hood he may still face such things. He'll submit to ghost hood before any alternative."
Twilight heard out the griffoness' explanation, "Is this all true?" She asked, turning to the emperor and releasing his beak.
She noticed a second too late the anger in his eyes.