Much of this rings a bell, now that you have reminded me. But Mycroft, the evil anti-emperor? This, I don't recall. Would you care to reveal more? But maybe we should take this off-line.

[Editor's note: Apparently my empire notes are in Idaho; I'll try to find something the next time around.]

And about the "we were weird kids" line: there's an implication here which is puzzling me. Do you think the weirdness slipped away somewhere along the way?