Tremere, the eunuch who’d been both recruiter and guardian on this journey, warned her when they were approaching the Throne World. “I have had the servants wash your travel suits, so you will have something clean to wear when you arrive. They will let you change into one of your day dresses when you get settled, so you will have a chance to tidy yourself up after that.” Tremere smiled and Sayana felt that sense of ease with him that she’d had the entire journey.

Sayana smiled back at him. “Thank you, Lord Tremere. You have made this journey as enjoyable as it could be.”

“I am glad I could be of some service. Now, I will drop you off and head off to pick up the next one, so you will have to disembark quickly.” Tremere looked around the room. “I see you have kept everything neatly packed so there should not be much of a delay.”

“You’ll make sure my luggage is handled carefully? I don’t want any of the bottles broken.” Sayana glanced over to where her cases were standing in their corner.

“There will be an army of servants waiting for us to make sure your things are taken to your new rooms unharmed,” Tremere reassured her.

“Thank you.” Sayana wasn’t happy about the bottle of poison that rested next to her perfume bottles, but she didn’t want it to break any more than she did her perfume.

They touched down on one of the landing pads and as Sayana disembarked, she got her first view of the Imperial compound. It left her breathless and more than a little afraid.

The compound itself was massive, comprised of more than a dozen large and imposing buildings. The largest of these was the palace itself. This ziggurat was easily three kilometers on each side, a massive structure of plasteel and glass. Surrounding it were smaller buildings that most likely housed the administrative offices and the military forces. None of these buildings were as large as the palace, but they were all still impressively huge.

Gardens and parks surrounded the buildings, giving them a slightly softer look. Sayana privately thought the gardens looked out of place around the massive buildings, but she had to admit they did much to soften the appearance of the compound. She saw people rushing between buildings, hauling things on grav pallets or carrying things in their arms. Skimmers took off at regular intervals from different buildings, carrying who knew what to various locations. It was extremely busy.

“Lady Sayana, please come this way.” A woman in a strange uniform beckoned her over. “We’ll get you to the palace and the courtesan wing as swiftly as we can.” She led her to a skimmer and helped her on board. The skimmer lifted off and carried her across the extensive grounds to a gate at the palace.

They were stopped by the Imperial guards at the door. “Who’s this?” one of them asked suspiciously.

“This is Lady Sayana Akitane, the emperor’s newest courtesan,” one of the people with her replied. “Here are her papers.” She handed over a pad.

The guard checked the pad. “She’s clear.” He handed the pad back and stepped aside.

“This way, Lady Sayana.” Her escort led her into the palace.

Sayana expected grandeur but found nothing like what she expected. The corridors she was being led down were as plain as the ones she’d passed through most of her life back at the academy. The people she passed were all in a hurry and seemed to be dressed in various uniforms of some sort.

One of the others noticed her curious glances. “These are the servants’ passages, my lady,” she explained. “We’re to keep you as much out of sight as possible, and this is the best way to do that.”

“I see.” Sayana was grateful for the anonymity of it all.

“You’ll see the grand corridors soon enough, when the emperor calls for you,” the woman told her. “You’ll have the Imperial guards to guide you to his chambers and back.”

“Not to mention you’ll see them on high feast days when the entire court is summoned,” another of her escorts added helpfully. “You’ll be taken to the great hall by the Imperial guards as well.”

“This is as much for your protection as it is to keep you hidden from the prying eyes of the court,” the first woman informed her. “There are some who’d seek to harm you just to cause problems for the emperor and bringing you in the back way is the easiest way to keep that from happening.”

“I understand.” Sayana was grateful they’d thought so carefully about her safety.

They walked for what must have been a good kilometer and a half through winding corridors until they reached the doorway they were looking for. They exited the servants’ corridors and entered the opulence Sayana had been expecting.

They were in a short hallway paneled in what looked to be real wood, dark and polished with a subtle gleam. The floor was covered with soft blue tiles and light came from recessed panels tucked in behind the wood. They led her down the hall to a door guarded by two more of the imposing Imperial guards.

“Lady Sayana Akitane for Lord Arken,” the spokesperson of the group told them. The guards nodded and allowed her entry.

They entered a room that looked like a sitting room, similar in design to the one that Sayana had spent her childhood in. It was much larger though, with comfortable looking chairs and couches placed at convenient locations throughout the room. The floor was not tiled but covered with a fabric plush Sayana had never seen before. It was a deep midnight blue while the walls were a soft cream color.

Bright pictures of garden scenes hung at various intervals on the walls and Sayana couldn’t immediately tell but she wasn’t sure if they were holo stills or actual pictures that someone had drawn and painted. There was a holo viewer with a collection of holos on shelves next to it, and several game boards of various types had been placed around the room as well.

More than two dozen short hallways extended from this room, and one of the servants disappeared down one of these. A moment later they returned with a man of indeterminate age. He was tall and thin, with a pleasant looking face and large brown eyes. His sandy blonde hair was carefully combed back and out of his face, and he had a short, neatly trimmed beard framing a smiling mouth.

“So, this is Sayana.” His voice was deep and melodious. “I am Lord Arken, the custodian of the courtesan wing. I will be in charge of you from now on.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Arken.” Sayana smiled shyly at him.

“You must be ready for a change of clothes and a break from all of the traveling.” Arken’s smile broadened. “Four weeks on the shuttle cannot have been pleasant. Tremere is good company but even he must have grown tiresome after a while.”

“He was the only pleasant thing about the journey.” Sayana’s own smile grew as she thought of how kind Tremere had been.

“He will be pleased to hear it. He takes his job very seriously. Now, let me summon the servants who will be assigned to you, and we will get you settled in. The other two ladies are out in the garden right now enjoying the fine day and you can meet them later at lunch.” Arken turned towards a panel on the wall.

“We are allowed in the garden?” Sayana was startled.

“We have our own private garden, where you ladies are allowed outside any time the weather is fine. It has a high wall around it so no one can see in, so it is considered safe enough.” Arken turned back to answer her question.

“That sounds amazing.” Sayana was delighted with the prospect of spending time in the garden.

“As long as the weather holds, you will be able to see it tomorrow.” Arken dismissed the other servants and pressed a call button on a panel on the wall.

A few minutes later, three brown haired young women entered the room. They were dressed in identical uniforms of pale silvery grey with midnight blue bands around their upper arms. “Yes, Lord Arken?” one of them asked.

“Ardatha, this is Sayana.” Arken gestured with one hand and the three women turned and looked at her. “She will be your new mistress going forward. Sayana, these ladies are Ardatha, Vai, and Faviola, three sisters who will serve you well. Ladies, Sayana will need attending to now.”

“Yes Lord Arken,” Ardatha replied promptly. The three servants stared curiously at Sayana. Sayana returned their stares. It had been many years since she’d had a servant, and she’d had no control over that one, so she wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them.

“This way, Sayana. Let me show you to your rooms.” Arken led the four women to another small hallway and down it to the single door at the end. He showed Sayana how to open it, and the door slid open. She walked inside.

The room was actually a suite with multiple doors. The first room they walked into was the dressing room. It was twice as large as the sleeping room she’d had at the academy. There were two freestanding closets there, both made from wood instead of the usual plasteel industrial look that she was used to. They took up one wall. On another wall was a vanity table complete with a large mirror. The table was black with inset silver designs in geometric patterns and there were enough shelves and drawers to hold her meager supply of cosmetics, perfumes, and hair ornaments.

On the third wall was a second table that was the same size as the vanity, though it lacked a mirror. This was probably for her jewelry box, a fact that was confirmed as the servants began putting things away. A cloth was laid out on the table next to the jewelry box, so pieces could be set out and prepared for her use as she got dressed.

The walls were a soft amber color, and the plush on the floor was only a few shades lighter. It was a very warm, welcoming room. Sayana’s shoes made very little noise as she opened the door in the wall next to the vanity. This was the bedroom. It was no bigger than her bedroom at the academy, and it had the same fabric plush on the floor as the sitting room. It too was midnight blue, and the walls were pale blue. The bed wasn’t any bigger than the one she’d had at the academy, but this one had thick quilted blankets and silk sheets on it when she went to check.

There was another door in this room. Sayana opened it. It led to the bathroom. It was half the size of the dressing room. It held a soaking tub and a shower as well as a separate closed off room for the toilet and sink. There were more buttons on this shower than there had been at the academy, and she knew she’d have to be careful when she made her selections. She couldn’t just rely on memory to get her through as she had before.

Arken watched as she explored her new surroundings. “Are the rooms to your liking, Sayana?”

Sayana rejoined him in the dressing room. “They are.”

“Good. Then I have one more thing for you.” He held out a pad. “This has access to the Imperial archives, which has a copy of every book ever written in it. You are encouraged to read as often and as much as you wish on whatever topic you desire. The emperor was very clear on that point.”

Sayana took the pad, her eyes shining and a smile curving her lips. “I will do so with great enthusiasm, Lord Arken. I enjoy reading more than anything and study is one of my greatest pleasures.”

“I am glad to hear that. Now, I will leave you to get settled in. You can dismiss the sisters when you are done with them. That button calls them back. Make sure you call them regularly. I know you are not used to having servants, but the more you use them the easier it will become.” He looked at her and waited for her response.

“Yes Lord Arken.” He left the room.

“Your dresses, Lady Sayana.” Vai’s tone was inquisitive. “Who designed them?”

“I did.” Sayana looked over at the other young woman. “I learned that as one of my skills at the academy and put it to good use.”

“They are very much on point with the style currently in fashion, though that may change here soon. Some of the ladies are complaining that the style doesn’t flatter them.” Ardatha hung another of her day dresses in one of the closets.

“How do we find out if the fashion changes? If we do not circulate among the court?” Sayana watched the sisters work.

“Usually by wearing the wrong thing at a feast and being laughed at,” Faviola told her with a wry smile.

“Unless someone gets you the current fashions.” Ardatha gave her sister a hard look. “Lord Arken usually takes care of that, but if something is happening and he’s too busy, that’s where we come in, my lady.”

“We are more than just your servants, my lady.” Vai was working on her jewelry and perfumes. “We are your eyes and ears among the rest of the court. We see and hear things you don’t because we are among the other servants of the highborn. Some of them are terrible gossips and what we learn we can pass on to you.”

“It’ll keep you safer in this cesspool.” Ardatha gave her a serious look.

“You don’t have much in the way of cosmetics or perfumes, my lady.” Faviola went over to help her sister.

“I’ve never used a lot. Maybe as I get older I’ll use more, but for now I do just as well with my natural beauty and minimal cosmetics. And I’ve only found two perfumes I liked that worked well with my body chemistry. The others always fell flat with me.” Sayana glanced over at the other two women.

“This third bottle doesn’t look like perfume.” Vai held up the nondescript bottle that Sayana feared more than anything.

“That’s the honeyvine, the poison I have to take when the emperor dies.” Sayana shuddered. “They gave it to me before I left. It’s in with my perfumes because I did not know where else to put it.”

“I’ll set it behind everything, so you don’t have to look at it every day.” Vai concealed it to the best of her abilities and the bottle nearly vanished behind everything else on the table.

“Thank you, Vai. It is the one reminder of my position that I don’t like.” Sayana glanced around the room again, taking in more of the tiny details.

“I don’t blame you.” Ardatha finished hanging up the gowns.

Faviola turned to face her. “Well, everything’s been put away. What else can we do for you, my lady?”

“Can you help me sort out the shower? I have very specific tastes for what I use and there are so many more options than there were at the academy.” Sayana smiled ruefully.

Vai giggled. “I’ll help. What do you like?”

The two women walked into the bathroom and Sayana explained her needs to the other woman. Vai showed her where those options were, and Sayana asked her to pick out one of her day dresses for her while she took a shower and washed her hair. Vai left and Sayana took a long, hot shower, washing away the four weeks of travel with a sigh of relief.

She stepped out onto the dryers and let the hot air dry her and her hair. She wrapped a robe around herself and walked out into the dressing room. The sisters had chosen her a day dress of pale green and found the shoes that matched it. They’d set out everything she’d need and were waiting for her next orders. Sayana dressed and Faviola offered to brush out her hair for her.

“Thank you. I usually do it myself, but it’s easier if I have help with it.” Sayana seated herself and Faviola began the process of detangling and brushing out the long silken strands.

“Your hair is so long, my lady. Have you ever considered cutting it?” Ardatha looked at her inquisitively.

“I’ve been asked that many times, Ardatha.” Sayana felt herself relaxing under Faviola’s care. “My answer is always the same. I will trim it to this length, but I will not cut it any shorter. I haven’t done so since I was a child and don’t plan to even now.”

“Most women don’t have hair longer than just below their shoulders. Yours will cause quite a stir.” Vai came over and stood next to Faviola. “Do you usually wear it tied up in some way?”

“I usually braid it and wrap it in a coil. Sometimes I’ll just leave the braid down, but that’s only if I’m in a hurry. I don’t like getting the braid caught on things.” Sayana pointed to the massive amount of hair pins in her collection. “I’m forever losing those because they fall out. There’s a reason I have so many.”

“Have you ever tried braiding your hair into a bunch of tiny braids? I’ve seen some women do that.” Ardatha looked at her thoughtfully.

Sayana frowned. “No, I’ve never had the time for that.”

“One of these days, my lady, when we have the time, you should let us do that for you. We can do some interesting things with your hair with the tiny braids.” Ardatha grinned. “On the ladies with the shorter hair the styles are tolerable. On you, they’d look amazing.”

“All right. We’ll try that one of these days. Today I think we’ll do twin braids and then tie them up in loops. That shouldn’t take too long.” Sayana smiled at the sisters.

“With two of us working on your hair, it won’t take long at all.” Vai picked up another brush and started helping her sister.

They got the tangles out and then got to work on the braids. Their nimble fingers made short work of the style and soon Sayana’s hair was pinned in place in two loops at the back of her head. They finished just in time for Arken to return and tell Sayana it was time for lunch.