Sayana joined the women for breakfast. “Anything interesting for gossip?” Marin asked.

“Not really.” Sayana started eating. “It sounds like there was a fight among the boys last night, and the emperor is thinking of banning the instigator from the high feasts. But that’s about it. I don’t even know who fought.”

“It was probably Rhys and Meinard.” Zarina sighed. “I know those two have always been at each other’s throats. And if it was Rhys and Meinard, it’s anyone’s guess who the emperor says instigated it. I know Meinard likes to poke fun at him. He’s done that since they were young. Rhys doesn’t take it too well and attacks him. Will the emperor say Meinard was the instigator because of his usual joking nature, or will he blame Rhys for getting physical?”

“He should blame Meinard because he’s forever tormenting my Rhys.” Angharad glared at Zarina.

“Yes, but Rhys is the one who always instigates the violence,” Zarina countered. “It could be said that Rhys is the one starting the fights.”

“It was not Rhys and Meinard,” Arken told them. “It was Rhys and Ethian.”

“Ethian fought with Rhys?” Sayana knew her son’s temper. She knew a bully like Rhys would push him the wrong way. She’d hoped he’d learned enough restraint from Reynard over the years not to lose his temper but it seemed he had snapped after all.

“Yes, Sayana. I know you do not like hearing this about your son, but according to the warmasters, it was Rhys and Ethian who fought,” Arken told her.

“Ethian must have started the fight,” Angharad snapped, glaring at Sayana. “My Rhys would never have done anything to provoke him.”

“Angharad, the warmasters already confirmed Rhys was the one who started the fight. They have the word of several witnesses,” Arken told her severely. “The emperor is still considering if he is going to allow Rhys to attend the Founding Day feasts, as he does consider being beaten by his youngest brother a form of punishment for Rhys.”

“Rhys would never have done anything like that. The other princes are lying. They’re just jealous my Rhys is the heir and they’re just discards,” Angharad shot back angrily.

“Rhys is a violent bully and an abysmal human being,” Zarina told her. “He has been violently assaulting our sons since we were found. The fact that you continue to protest his innocence just proves to me you lost what few atoms of intelligence you had left while we were all out of the courtesan wing. What happened, Angharad? Did all those men you slept with erase the last few brain cells you possessed?”

Angharad turned a murderous glare on the other woman. “That is enough,” Arken snapped. “Eat your breakfast and no more fighting. It is too stormy a day to go outside, so unless you wish to visit the hothouse, you will have to spend the day indoors. I suggest you at least attempt to get along with one another.”

They finished eating. Renate and Zarina set up one of the game boards. Ji-Hye joined them. “Marin? Sayana? Are you going to play with us?” Ji-Hye asked.

“I’d rather read,” Sayana told them, settling into her favorite chair.

“I think I’ll read this morning as well,” Marin told them.

Angharad glared at the other women and stormed off to her room. “Off to sulk because we don’t fall down and worship at her son’s feet, as usual.” Zarina watched her go with some disgust. “I swear, that woman has a complex when it comes to that brat.”

“He was firstborn.” Marin watched her go as well. “She’s convinced that the emperor is going to name him the heir.”

“I doubt he’s going to choose him, not with how miserable his personality is.” Zarina snorted. “Can you imagine the empire in Rhys’ hands? It would fall apart within a matter of weeks.”

“I don’t think any of our sons would be good candidates for the throne.” Renate sighed. “They all have too many flaws.”

“Fallon doesn’t have any flaws that can’t be trained out of him.” Ji-Hye quickly pointed out what Sayana suspected, that Fallon was the one who was being watched to be the heir. “And we haven’t heard that Ethian has any terrible habits.”

“But Ethian was missing for fifteen years.” Renate pointed out the obvious issue with Ethian being named crown prince. “Surely the emperor wouldn’t pick him.”

“It doesn’t matter how long he was missing.” Marin looked at the others. “Right now, Ethian is the least problematic of the six, from what little my servants have been able to discover. Along with my Fallon. But the others, except for Rhys, are rapidly showing a great deal of improvement under their new teachers, so it’s quite possible he could still pick any one of them.”

“Except for Rhys.” Ji-Hye made a face

“Except for Rhys,” Marin agreed.

“What about the rumors that he’s already chosen his heir? That he death locked the name shortly after Sayana gave birth to Ethian?” Renate wanted to know.

“That he can change at any time if he wishes, so it doesn’t matter if he has.” Marin pointed out. “He can open the death lock with the master password and alter what he recorded. It may be he’s already done that.”

“That’s true enough.” Zarina looked thoughtful. “He could have done it two or three times, and no one would know because he wouldn’t talk about it.”

Sayana kept quiet. She had Karis’ word that he’d death locked the name and hadn’t changed it. His heir was still the same person he’d had in mind since the boys were born. It would have to be Fallon as he was the only one that was inoffensive, but Sayana couldn’t be sure who it was. It could really be any of the princes, though Karis had already told her it wasn’t Rhys.

“I wonder when he’s going to call for one of us again.” Ji-Hye frowned. “It’s been a while since one of us was asked for, hasn’t it?”

“Sayana was the last one he called for and that was a few weeks ago,” Renate agreed.

“He could be waiting until after Founding Day to start calling for us again.” Marin had a thoughtful look on her face. “Perhaps he’ll be a little less distracted.”

“Do you think that was what was bothering him?” Renate was more than a little hopeful that was all that it had been.

“Hardly.” Zarina snorted. “He’s never been distracted by Founding Day before. I think there’s probably things going on we will never know about because we’re courtesans, not courtiers, and that those are what held his attention. Unless he chooses to talk to us about them, which you know he never does, we won’t know anything.”

“That’s very true.” Marin looked down at her pad. “We just have to be patient.”

“That is the hardest thing to be.” Ji-Hye brushed a few strands of her hair back behind her ear.

“I agree.” Renate nodded.

Sayana again said nothing. Being patient was all she could be. They wouldn’t understand why she was so melancholy these days. She knew from what little gossip of the council Ardatha brought her that they were urging him to marry, and they’d picked out a handful of wealthy young women for him to choose from. He would have to choose one of them and she would be left to linger in the courtesan wing, yearning but never drawing close to Karis again. Why couldn’t she have been born a courtier, been more suitable as a wife for the emperor, instead of just being a courtesan?

Be sensible, she told herself sternly. If you were a courtier, there’s a chance you’d have been married off before now and would never have gotten a chance at the emperor. So don’t get all weepy over it.

Telling herself this didn’t help, but it did stop the wandering thoughts. She returned to her book and resumed reading. It was hard to focus but she wanted something to talk to him about when she saw him again, so she tried to bring her mind back to what she was studying.

Lunch came and Angharad emerged from her rooms long enough to eat and then vanished back into her rooms again. After lunch, Sayana and Marin put aside their books and joined the other women in their game. The conversation was lively and Sayana realized how much she’d missed the other courtesans during those fifteen years she’d been gone from the wing.

Dinner came and Angharad left her rooms to join the women. She didn’t say anything to them and as soon as the meal was over, she retreated to her rooms again. Sayana resumed reading. The others decided to read as well, so the main sitting room was quiet as the women lost themselves in their studies.

“Where is Angharad?” Arken came out of his office.

“In her rooms, where she’s been since breakfast.” Marin looked up from her book.

“I saw her servants go in there about an hour ago,” Zarina pointed out. “She’s probably gone to bed now.”

“I will have to check on that.” Arken glanced at her door. “Speaking of bed, it is late. You ladies need to wrap it up and go yourselves.”

“Yes Lord Arken.” They saved their places and went to their rooms.

Ardatha gossiped about court that night, and Sayana listened with only half her attention until Ardatha mentioned something about the council’s chosen ladies. Sayana turned and looked at Ardatha. “The emperor has turned them all down?”

“He has.” Ardatha nodded firmly. “He reminded the council he already told them he is marrying one of you ladies next year. The council is uneasy because of what happened with Lynet, but the emperor assured them that it wasn’t going to end like it did with her because he wants to marry this woman. He never wanted to marry Lynet, so he treated her as a nuisance.”

“What did the council say to that?” Sayana was curious.

“They asked him which of his courtesans he wanted to marry.” Ardatha was solemn. “He told them he would tell them next year, when he was ready to ask the lady to be his wife.”

“I wonder which of you ladies he’s set his heart on.” Faviola looked thoughtful.

“We won’t know until he announces it. Unless he comes and tells us himself.” Sayana kept what she knew to herself.

“That’s true.” Ardatha was concerned. “He’ll be very careful about not letting it get out who he favors out of fear of assassination. Even with Lord Vasco gone, there are those in court who’d kill you just because they want to forward the interest of their daughters or their sisters.”

“All the more reason he’ll keep it quiet until he’s ready to make a formal announcement.” Sayana knew Karis would do what he could to protect her.

“Once he does, he’ll have to refrain from calling for her until the wedding.” Ardatha looked suddenly afraid. “Otherwise, she could go the same way Tekla did.”

“He’ll take every precaution, I’m sure.” Sayana felt a stab of fear. Would Tekla’s fate be her own?

“You’re right, my lady.” Ardatha shook her head, and her expression changed to one more pleasant. “He’ll know all of this. He’s probably already making plans.”

“I wonder how that’s going to affect who’s the crown prince.” Faviola had a speculative expression on her face.

“It won’t affect that at all.” Sayana regarded the other woman with some amusement. “The crown prince isn’t necessarily the son of the empress. I know the history of the empire well enough to know that at least a dozen emperors have had heirs with their courtesans and later married another woman. They didn’t have children with their empresses, and their sons became emperor after them.”

“That makes sense then.” Faviola nodded. “Besides, you ladies are getting too old to have children safely, aren’t you?”

“We are in our late thirties, Faviola.” Sayana laughed. “We’ve got until we’re in our mid forties before we have to seriously think about stopping having children. Of course, that doesn’t matter. We aren’t going to have any more children. We provided him with his sons. That’s all that he needs from us.”

“But if he marries one of you, that one could have another child or two.” Faviola was right. She and Karis could have another child or two besides Ethian.

“That’s true.” Sayana shook her head. “Let’s not borrow trouble before it comes, Faviola. We can’t do anything until the emperor announces who he plans on marrying, so we shouldn’t speculate about it.”

“That’s absolutely right, my lady.” Ardatha’s voice was firm. “We aren’t in the emperor’s confidence. He’s not telling his servants anything. Until he lets the court know, we shouldn’t worry about it.”

“Exactly right, Ardatha.” Sayana was grateful for Ardatha’s sensible nature.

They continued gossiping about other people at court, and Sayana lost interest again. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t need her servants gossiping about her being the woman the emperor was going to marry. It seemed that he was going to keep his promise to her after all. She was cautiously optimistic about her odds on that score, if they could keep the assassins from realizing which one of the courtesans he favored.

She got ready for bed and sent her servants away. She daydreamed about a possible wedding until her eyes grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep. She was haunted by nightmares of what happened to Tekla.