It was finally spring. Sayana was nearing the end of her pregnancy, only another six weeks to go, assuming Kaelea arrived right on schedule. Sayana’s size was eliciting some rude comments from people who’d never had children, but most of the courtiers with families were empathetic to her current state.
Demetrios had confirmed Menander was staying at Lord Yunus’ townhouse. The psychic had conducted a passive scan and picked up the null zone caused by an active psychic blanking themselves. Neither Menander nor Lord Yunus had tried anything openly, though they were sure they were responsible for the attack on Karis and Sayana right after the winter festival. They were waiting for something. Demetrios was sure of it. He just didn’t know what.
“My heart, are you all right?” Karis had noticed her distraction that morning. “You are picking at your food again. Do you want something different?”
Sayana glanced down at her breakfast. “No, it’s fine.” She started eating. “I was just thinking again.”
“You are brooding about Yunus and Menander almost as much as I am.” Karis shook his head. “Let Demetrios worry about them. He is the only one of the three of us that can do anything about them right now.”
“The closer we get to Kaelea’s birth, the more concerned I get.” Sayana looked at him fearfully. “What if that’s what they’re waiting for?”
Karis stared at her. “Imre, call Demetrios.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre sent the message. A short while later Demetrios arrived.
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesties?” Demetrios asked.
“Demetrios, Sayana just said something that made me think.” Karis turned to the investigation minister with a concerned expression on his face.
“What was it, Your Imperial Majesty?” Demetrios glanced between the two of them.
“What if Menander and Yunus are waiting for Kaelea’s birth?” Karis repeated what Sayana had said.
Demetrios froze as if he’d been stunned. “That is not something I even considered, Your Imperial Majesties. I will have psychic shielding up on every doctor in the lab, Your Imperial Majesty. I will have Ivanka keep shields up over you while you’re in labor, because your shields will go down. You won’t be able to keep focus. I will have someone shielding the baby as well. There is no telling what Menander will choose to do, if indeed they are waiting for Kaelea’s birth to attack.”
“Do you have enough psychics to make it work and keep shielding up on the rest of the Imperial family?” Karis asked.
“Let me talk to Ivanka. She may have some ideas on how we can do this without stretching our psychic corps to its limit.” Demetrios bowed and left the room.
Sayana finished her breakfast, still concerned about what would happen when Kaelea was born if Menander and Yunus attacked. She allowed Karis to lead her to the council chamber. She kept her mind open to her surroundings, paying close attention to the empty areas, seeking any sign of lurking assassins.
They reached the council chambers and found, to their surprise, Ethian was there. The ministers hadn’t gathered yet. “Ethian, what are you doing here?” Karis was as startled by their son’s presence as Sayana was.
“Meinard is not in the wing.” Ethian was worried and it showed. “The warmasters sent me to tell you, and to say they have some of the Imperial guards watching us looking for him, but they need Imperial permission to call in more. The Imperial guard captain will not release more guards to them than they have to protect us to search for him. Amin will not tell us anything, but we suspect he may know where Meinard is.”
Metis and Geraint walked in at that point, followed by Trenor and Mikhah. “Your Imperial Majesty, is something wrong?” Mikhah was as startled by Ethian’s presence as the emperor and empress were.
“One of my sons is missing from the enclave.” Karis looked at the two transportation ministers. “The Imperial guard captain is not releasing more guards to look for him without my express decree.”
“Go, Your Imperial Majesty. There is nothing so world shattering that it cannot wait until tomorrow. We will fill in the others,” Trenor urged. Karis and Sayana nodded. They left, with Ethian trailing along after them.
They returned to their rooms. “Imre, tell the Imperial guard captain I said to release as many guards as the warmasters are requiring to search for Meinard.” Karis turned to his son. “Ethian, when did you first notice he was missing?”
“At breakfast.” Ethian frowned. “Jair commented it was not like Meinard to miss a meal, and Benedikt went to wake him. He was not in his room and none of us could remember seeing him since we all went to bed last night. Reynard called all the enclave servants together and asked them if any of them had seen Meinard. Everyone said no, but Amin seemed a bit…off. He would not look at anyone and he was very quiet. You know Meinard. Amin is a lot like him. We immediately knew something was wrong.”
“Did Reynard send Amin to the psychics?” Sayana knew that would be the most logical solution.
“He asked for one of the guards to call for Demetrios, but he never came.” Ethian shrugged. “And when Reynard ordered the guards to take Amin to the psychics, he bolted and now no one can find him either.”
“I want to talk to the others.” Karis led the other two back to the princes’ area.
“Your Imperial Majesties, I take it Ethian’s filled you in on what’s been happening?” Reynard asked as they came in.
“He did.” Karis looked at his sons.
“Does no one know where Meinard is?” Sayana glanced around the room.
“We think Amin does, but he ran and now no one knows where he is either.” Jair was just as concerned as Ethian.
Sayana noticed that the rest of the enclave servants were still in the room. “I take it you’re not letting anyone leave until Meinard or Amin are found?” Sayana looked at Reynard.
He nodded. “I don’t want to run the risk of someone else going missing.”
“We got some more volunteers. It seems the Imperial guard captain sent reinforcements finally.” Azariah came in from the hall. “I’ve sent them out to search for Meinard and Amin as well.”
“How many did he send?” Karis asked.
“Fifty men,” Azariah said. “I don’t know if that’s going to be enough, but we’ve already got fifteen out looking so I hope someone finds something soon.”
The door to the servants’ entrance opened and Meinard slipped in. He froze as several pairs of eyes fixed on him. “I thought you would all be at practice now.”
“Where have you been?” Benedikt asked.
“I’ll go call off the search.” Azariah headed for the door.
“Out.” Meinard scowled. “I went for a walk.”
“Without your guards?” Benedikt asked.
“I wanted some privacy.” Meinard glared at his warmaster teacher. “Is that such a problem?”
“Yes, Meinard, it is.” Karis was obviously very unhappy with his son.
“Oh, hello, Father.” Meinard looked sheepishly at his father and Sayana. “I did not think they would get you and Sayana.”
“Reynard sent Ethian to get us when both you and Amin disappeared.” Karis’ stern expression didn’t soften. “Where have you been?”
“Meeting a friend, who I did not want intimidated by the guards.” Meinard was obviously trying not to answer the question.
“Meinard,” Benedikt snapped.
“Fine, I was meeting a girl.” Meinard let the information go grudgingly. “Her name is Bryn. She is the youngest daughter of Lord Maxim Kazemi. We are the same age, and I met her at the winter festival. I started talking to her for a few minutes after we all left the great hall in the evenings. At first, I thought she was just another status seeker, but she seemed genuinely to be a good person. Right before winter festival ended, I promised her I would meet her in the archives before breakfast the next morning.”
“And how did you manage that?” Benedikt asked.
“Amin helped me get out of the enclave and into the archives. He kept watch for me and got me back before anyone noticed I was gone.” Meinard sighed. “Bryn and I have met every morning before breakfast ever since. This morning was just rotten luck for me because her brother came into the archives looking for her and I had to hide. He would not leave, and I could not get past him without being seen. Then Amin got called away and I had to wait until Bryn could drag her brother off before I could start back to the enclave. I had to duck the guards looking for me, because I did not want to get caught, and I used the servants’ passages to get back here.”
“That’s why Amin made a break for it when we said we’d send him to the psychics. He didn’t want to betray Meinard’s trust,” Azariah commented.
“You were threatening to send Amin to the psychics? The poor guy is probably hiding down the deepest hole he can find right now.” Meinard looked horrified.
“I know where he’ll be.” One of the other servants spoke up.
“Timur?” Ethian asked.
Another one nodded. “Timur’s right. I know where he’ll be as well.”
“Silvan?” Fallon asked.
“You two know where he’s likely to be?” Reynard asked. The two young men nodded. “Go and tell him it’s safe to come out. Meinard has been found and he’s talking to Their Imperial Majesties right now. It’s safe for him to return to the servants’ quarters. The rest of you can all go on with your day as well.” The servants dispersed.
“Meinard, what you did was very dangerous. You know we are tracking the presence of a known assassin in the city.” Karis gave his son an exasperated look. “He has made several attempts on all of us. What in the name of all the stars made you think leaving your guards behind was a good idea?”
Meinard sighed and bowed his head. “Bryn is incredibly shy, Father. The guards are very intimidating, and she had a hard time talking with them hovering around me in the hallway after dinner. I wanted a chance to talk to her without her feeling overwhelmed by their presence. This was the only thing I could think of. Besides, I knew you would not approve of my seeing a young lady right now.”
“Where did you get that idea?” Karis asked. Sayana was relieved he was safe, angry he was so foolish, and empathetic to his plight. He was obviously smitten by the young woman, and he wanted to spend time with her. He just needed a better outlet to do it with. Her mind began to churn with thoughts.
“I am not even supposed to talk to anyone in the court yet. I have until this fall and Ethian turns eighteen before I am allowed to do anything like that.” He sighed again. “Besides, our meetings are over with. Her father is arranging a marriage for her. She is not happy, but she cannot really do much about it. A daughter does not get any say in who she marries after all.”
“Would you like us to put a stop to that?” Sayana startled Karis with her question. “And make arrangements for you to meet with the young lady in a more appropriate manner, under guard, in your free time in the evening after your scholar lessons?”
“You would do that?” Meinard looked hopeful. “I know she would appreciate it. I would dearly love to spend more time with her as well. Time where I am not sneaking around and at risk of getting caught again like this.”
“The guards have to be there, Meinard.” Karis held up one hand warningly. Meinard’s shoulders drooped. “But we can have them stand outside the door, so they are not immediately in the room with you. Did you at least take your vibroblades with you?”
“I am only partially a moron, Father.” Meinard drew one of his vibroblades. “Not a complete idiot. I did not go unarmed.”
“At least you were somewhat sensible,” Benedikt grunted.
“We’ll let you keep meeting in the archives for now.” Sayana pursed her lips. “As it seems like safe, neutral ground.”
Meinard looked at Sayana as if she were the most brilliant person in the galaxy. “Thank you, Sayana.”
“We will go have a word with her father now and then starting tomorrow evening you can meet with the young lady.” Karis relented enough to smile at his son.
“Yes Father.” Meinard smiled back.
Karis led Sayana out of the room. “You do not think he is too young to have found a young lady he is attracted to?”
“Karis, I’m surprised she’s not already married.” Sayana shook her head. “Our courtiers are selling off their daughters as soon as they start having their monthly cycles from what I’ve observed. If Bryn is willing to wait for Meinard to settle into his life, and the two of them are meant to last, then no I do not think they’re too young.”
Karis made a noise between a snicker and a snort. “You are not far wrong about our courtiers, my heart. Let us go talk to her father. Do you remember his name? Or do I need to send Imre back to Meinard to ask him again?”
“Lord Maxim Kazemi.” Sayana had paid attention to that.
“I know that name.” Karis thought hard for a moment. “The fact Bryn is still single is something of an oddity. He is one of those lords who bargains his daughters away as soon as they hit puberty. I remember him offering me one of his daughters for Fallon when she was thirteen and Fallon was just barely back home at ten. I turned him down then. I wonder if something is wrong with Bryn that he has not found her a husband yet.”
“We’ll find out when we ask him about her.” Sayana grinned to herself. She was betting the girl was headstrong and independent. Those were always the last to get married at court, other than the plain or ugly ones.
“True.” He seemed not to be too concerned about it, so Sayana wasn’t either.
They reached their rooms and settled into place, Karis on the couch and Sayana in her favorite reclining chair. She didn’t lean back yet because that would look odd when Lord Maxim arrived. “Ardatha, can you please find me something other than citrus juice to drink? That’s all I’ve had for the past week. I need a change.” Sayana made the request as Ardatha went to bring her a glass.
“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.” Ardatha picked up the pitcher and left.
“Imre, could you please send for Lord Maxim Kazemi? Tell him we wish to see him at his earliest convenience.” Karis made the request and Imre nodded.
“At once, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre sent the message.
“At his earliest convenience?” Sayana was amused.
“It is a test, my heart. I want to see which kind of courtier he is.” Karis looked amused as well.
“Which kind of courtier?” Sayana was now confused.
“There are two kinds.” Karis saw her confusion and reached over to touch her hand. “I will explain later.”
Sayana nodded and waited. Ardatha returned with a pitcher of a dark purple juice. She gave Sayana a glass of it. Sayana took a hesitant sip. It had a deep, rich flavor and she decided she liked it. Perhaps fifteen minutes later, someone chimed at the door. Imre answered it and let a tall, well-built man with salt and pepper hair and sharp brown eyes into the room.
“Your Imperial Majesties.” The man bowed.
“Lord Maxim, thank you for coming.” Karis regarded the man with a faint smile. “I know you are a busy man, so I will keep this brief. As I understand it, you have a daughter named Bryn. What can you tell me about her?”
“Bryn, Your Imperial Majesty?” Maxim seemed shocked by the question. “She is my youngest daughter, my youngest child in fact. She turned seventeen last winter. She is feisty and opinionated, and unfortunately that has put off some of the men I would choose for husbands for her. I have recently found someone who does not mind her attitude and have been in talks with him.”
“Those talks end now, Maxim.” Karis was very firm in what he said. “My son Meinard has indicated he is interested in Bryn and would like to get to know her better with the very strong possibility of marriage in the future.”
“Prince Meinard, Your Imperial Majesty? I did not even know any of the princes knew of Bryn’s existence.” Maxim seemed startled by the fact that any of the princes had noticed his daughter.
“Meinard indicated they spoke briefly a few times at the winter festival, and he found her quite pleasant to converse with.” Karis didn’t tell him the whole truth, which Sayana was glad of. No sense in getting the children into trouble.
“He is most eager to continue these conversations.” Sayana added her own voice to the conversation. “With an eye to pursuing something more long term as the end goal.”
Maxim looked at them and nodded. “I will put an end to my negotiations and let Bryn know of this fortuitous turn of events.”
“Tomorrow evening, Meinard’s servant Amin will come to fetch Bryn. You may send her with a chaperon to the archives where the two will meet in the evening to talk until it is time for Meinard to return to the enclave. I keep my sons on a rigid schedule, so their time will be limited.” Karis knew this needed to be established early on. “This will continue until the princes turn eighteen this fall, when a more suitable time for courtship can be arranged.”
“I will let Bryn know this as well, Your Imperial Majesty.” Maxim bowed. Karis indicated he could go, and Maxim left.
“So which kind is he?” Sayana looked at him curiously.
“He is the first kind.” Karis was pleased by that. “The two kinds of courtiers, my heart, are either they will come immediately, or they will take it to mean it is not that important and they can come at a time when it is more convenient for them. Usually when I am trying to get ready for the audiences or court as that is when they have free time. I find the second kind is not worth the effort to deal with because they have no respect for me as the emperor. I dealt with a lot of those early on in my reign. Now I do not get as many, probably because I have established myself more firmly on the throne.”
Sayana sighed. “I will leave you to summon people, because I have a feeling if I were to call for anyone it would be a variety of the second type that I’d get. For all they’re learning to accept me I’m still not that popular.”
“I think everyone still remembers Lynet, my heart.” Karis shook his head. “They are waiting to see if I will cast you off as I did her. Do you know most of my courtiers still have not noticed the courtesans are no longer attending high feasts? That lord during the winter was the first to comment on it and I think he was one of the few actively discussing it.”
“It was a popular topic where I was listening, but then again, it could just be I overheard a very animated cluster of people.” Sayana tapped her fingers against her lips. “It was so hard to tell if it was a large group or a small group talking loudly during the winter festival with how many people were crammed into the great hall for the regular dinners, let alone the high feasts.” She scowled. “I detest the winter festival, and I am not looking forward to those two weeks of pure misery for the rest of my life.”
Karis got up and walked over to her. He put a hand on her arm. “At least you will not be pregnant this winter.”
Sayana made a face. “That probably didn’t help my feelings.”
“Well, we have had an exciting morning. Want to see what the ministers sent us to work on while we were dealing with Meinard’s disappearing act?” Karis grinned.
“More paperwork.” Sayana sighed. “Always more paperwork.”
“Always, my heart. If you want a break from it, I can manage it all on my own again.” Karis turned serious and he watched her closely for signs of strain. He didn’t want her or Kaelea coming to harm.
“No, I’m fine. This is something that will be a part of my life as long as I’m empress so I may as well get used to it. And don’t cheat and send me less than you usually do either.” She glared at him. Seeing the sheepish look on his face, she nodded. “You were planning on doing just that, weren’t you?”
“Yes. I do not want you to put a lot of stress on yourself. It could hurt both you and Kaelea.” He tried to express his concern without coming across as too overbearing. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her.
“I don’t find the paperwork all that stressful, Karis.” She gave him an exasperated look. “I just find it tedious.”
“All right.” He sat down and pulled up his pad. “Everyone is asking about the Meinard situation. Let me send them an update quickly and then I will flash you your share.” He tapped out a message and sent it to all the ministers and then went through what was in his inbox. He sent her a sizable portion of what he’d been sent and Sayana got to work.
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