Bardas walked through the palace and threw open the doors to the throne room. Seeing Theodosius at the end sitting on his throne, he walked down the long corridor that showed the past glory of the Empire. The states of the previous Emperors looked down upon him with their cold marble eye, judging him and everything that passed them. It was a glorious sight to anyone who laid eyes on it for the first time they saw it, but to Bardas, it was a sign of the decadence and slow collapse of the Empire.
What was once fine craftsmanship, showing every minute detail within the statues, slowly deteriorated as the craftsmanship took less and less care in capturing each small detail. From the first Emperor, whose face was filled with arrogance that they had deserved for carving the continent's mightiest power, he watched as each following state lost the detail that showed what type of man they were, until only empty husks that only existed to follow tradition remained.
