Zandrue stopped and took a moment to try to calm her rapidly beating heart, and get her feelings in order. She’d been acting a little… Disagreeable? Antagonistic? Contentious? She’d been acting a little something like that recently, and she should really try not to be, especially now she was getting what she wanted.

But if Mikranasta was still there monitoring Felitïa, she wasn’t sure she could resist the urge to strangle that conniving bitch.

Yeah, she really needed to keep herself under control.

She had always scoffed at Felitïa’s use of meditation, finding it unbelievably dull and boring, but there were moments when she wished she could use it to calm herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the patience for it.

She spent a few moments adjusting her pack, and going over the supplies she’d brought with her—anything to delay going around the corner. However, she couldn’t delay forever, especially if she wanted to find Rudiger. Finally, she took a deep breath, put on her best smile, and walked around the corner.

Thank the gods, Hedromornasta stood outside Felitïa’s door. She could handle him.

Walking up to the door, she patted Hedromornasta on the arm. “Hey, kid. I suppose you’ve heard the news?”

As usual, Hedromornasta said nothing.

“We figured out how to use the Pearl to take two people at the same time.” She knocked on the door. “Felitïa and I are going to the Hall of Knowledge to find someone to go with me. You want to come along?” She chuckled. “I guess it doesn’t matter if you want to or not. You have to follow Felitïa wherever she goes.”

The door opened a crack, and Felitïa peered out. With a smile, she then opened the door all the way and ushered Zandrue in.

“We just need a moment,” Zandrue told Hedromornasta, patting him on the arm again as she walked through the door.

Felitïa closed the door, and hurried across the room, where she pulled a heavy shawl from a stand. She was dressed in a light travelling kirtle with a utility belt. On her feet, she wore her riding boots. Not at all what she would normally wear for going to the Hall of Knowledge. Would Hedromornasta notice, or was Felitïa intending to ditch him right away?

Felitïa wrapped the shawl around herself, then bent over her bed, holding out her arm. Her two rats scurried over her hand and up the sleeve of her kirtle. Then she picked up a stuffed pack, and slung it over her shoulder.

“We’re going right away, I take it?”

Felitïa put a finger to her lips, and approached the door, leaning an ear close to it. After a moment, she backed away again and pulled the pouch with the Pearl from her neck. She handed it to Zandrue.

Taking it, Zandrue shook the Pearl out, and clutched it tightly. With her other hand, she took Felitïa’s.

“Ready?” Felitïa mouthed.

Zandrue nodded and prepared herself for whoever or whatever they might encounter when they arrived.

Nothing happened.

She looked at Felitïa, whose face was contorted in concentration. “What’s wrong?”

“Hedromornasta,” Felitïa grunted. “He’s blocking me from the Pearl. I...I didn’t know he could…” She doubled over, groaning.

The door swung open violently, crashing into the wall. Hedromornasta stepped into the room. His face, too, was contorted in concentration, but there was also a sneer on it. He titled his head slightly, his lips twitching.

Felitïa cried out, falling to her knees. Zandrue lost hold of her hand, as Felitïa held out both of her hands to stop herself falling to the floor.

Zandrue clenched her hand into a fist and lunged at Hedromornasta. A good hit to the side of his head should…

She didn’t move. Her hand made the fist as planned, but that was it.

She couldn’t move at all anymore.

With a yell, Felitïa got to her feet, and Hedromornasta cried out, falling back.

Zandrue’s arm lurched forward, trying to complete the punch she’d tried, as her ability to move returned. She stumbled catching herself. Gods damn it, she hated mentalists!

Felitïa grabbed her arm. A slight tingle passed through Zandrue’s chest, and Felitïa’s room, including Hedromornasta, vanished, replaced by the study cabinet in Felitïa’s apartments in the Royal Palace. It was fairly dark, with only a feeble light coming through the window.

Felitïa stumbled forward and leaned against the desk, knocking a couple of glass goblets over. “Thank you.”

Zandrue walked over to the desk. The room was tidy, but there was a thin layer of dust on the desktop. “I didn’t do anything. He stopped me.”

Still breathing heavily, Felitïa stood up straight. “Yes, but him having to stop you gave me the edge I needed, so thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Zandrue picked up a crystal wine decanter. There was a small amount of wine in it—enough for a single glass, or two small ones.

“I didn’t know he could block my contact with the Pearl, though that was probably short-sighted of me.”

“Hmm, yeah.” Zandrue took the top off the decanter, then picked up one of the knocked-over glasses. She blew into the cup and inspected it. It looked reasonably free of dust, so she filled it with half the wine.

“He said Mikranasta warned him I might try something like this, so I guess she didn’t believe me last night.”

Zandrue picked up the second glass, and once confident it too was free of dust, poured the remaining wine into it. She held out one of the glasses to Felitïa. “She’s going to be pretty angry at you.”

“That’s the thing, Zandrue.” Felitïa took the glass. “She knows I’m stronger than Hedromornasta. If she expected me to do this, why would she trust him alone with me?”

Zandrue sniffed at the wine. “I don’t pretend to understand what goes on in that Isyar’s head.” It was the “sweet” wine Ardon usually brought to the meetings he’d had with her during her stay here. To be fair, it was sweet by human standards, and it was otherwise a very good wine.

“Neither do I, unfortunately,” Felitïa said, staring at her wine glass.

“It doesn’t matter. She can’t follow us.”

“We do have to go back eventually.”

“And we’ll deal with it then.” Zandrue held up her glass in a toast. “We made it.”

Felitïa gave a feeble smile. “I suppose we did.” She didn’t raise her glass and didn’t drink.

Oh well. If Felitïa wasn’t going to make the best of things, Zandrue could do it for her. She took a sip of her wine. It was a nice wine.

Holding her wine glass against her chest, Felitïa turned slowly around and walked over to the window. “Oh gods, Zandrue.” She placed her glass on the window ledge and leaned forward.

Zandrue hurried around the desk and over to Felitïa, looking over her shoulder.

It was still night here, but the moon was supplying some light that reflected off the snow. But instead of that snow covering lush gardens, it covered mostly ash. To the right, the servants’ building looked intact, if scorched, but several of the government buildings beyond it were nothing more than burnt shells. In the distance, the dog kennels and the stables looked intact, but it was too dark to be sure.

And only a small portion of the grounds were visible from this window. Gods knew what the rest of the place was like. The dragon had certainly done intense damage.

Felitïa leaned back against Zandrue, and Zandrue put her arms around her. “It’s weird,” Felitïa said. “I’ve always felt the Palace grounds were the perfect example of the absurd opulence of this place. Of my family. So much wealth that could be...I don’t know. I just… I never wanted this. It was so beautiful here.” She turned around and buried her head in Zandrue’s shoulder. “Oh gods, Zandrue. They’re dead. My father, Thilin, so many dead.”

“I know.” Zandrue held her tightly as Felitïa sobbed. Slowly, they slid down so they were sitting against the wall.

They sat there for a little while—a few minutes or so, maybe a bit more. It was hard to tell.

Eventually, Felitïa, her head lying in Zandrue’s lap, wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Zandrue smiled down at her. “Nonsense. I’m the last one who should be complaining about someone being emotional.”

“I thought I’d processed it. I mean, I’ve sat and cried with Sinitïa. But seeing the devastation…”

“It brings it closer to home. I know.” Zandrue lent Felitïa her hand and helped her sit up. “You might not have gotten along with your family, but they were still family.”

Felitïa wiped her nose on her sleeve. “Yeah, I suppose so.” She stood up. “We should get to work.”

Zandrue hopped to her feet. “You don’t need to convince me. I suggest we split up.”

Felitïa shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I won’t be able to hide you.”

Zandrue held up a finger. “Hear me out.” Her glass was empty, so she swapped it with Felitïa’s which was still sitting on the window sill. “Just hide me until we’re outside. I’ll head to the servants’ building. It’s the predawn hours. People will be busy there preparing food for her Bitchiness. They might have information on Rudiger or Quilla.”

“What if someone recognises you?”

Zandrue took a sip of wine. “Not likely. There’s always a lot of turnover of servants. Add in a dragon attack, and there probably aren’t many left who were here when I was. Even if there are, a whole lot of what people see in places like this is what you’re wearing. I don’t currently look like a noble. They’ll accept me as a new servant.”

Felitïa frowned. “You’re sure?”

Zandrue took another sip of wine. “Trust me. When I’m done there, I’ll make my way to the stables to see if Borisin is there. You should use your magic to move about here. Find Malef.”

“That’s more or less what I was planning to do, though I’m not sure I can trust him.”

“Yeah, neither am I, but Rudiger managed to form a friendship with him. You don’t have to talk to him. Just follow him around. Listen to what he says and who he interacts with. Who knows? He might lead you straight to Rudiger.”

“Fine. I guess it’ll be easier if I just have to hide myself.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m terribly out of practice.”

Zandrue patted Felitïa’s arm. “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine.”

Felitïa sighed. “I hope you’re right. I also hope I’m okay without the shield.”

“You’re doing fine so far.”

“Yes, but there’s only you around.” Felitïa sighed contentedly. “It is nice, though, to be free of it. Rudiger’s fine, by the way. His leg’s looking good.”

“And the rest of him?” Zandrue grinned as Felitïa blushed.

Felitïa looked to the side. “He’s fine.”

Zandrue chuckled. “Thank you.” She downed the rest of the wine.

“You know that was my wine, right?”

“You had a chance to drink it. You snooze, you lose.”

Felitïa laughed, and Zandrue placed the empty glass on the desk. “Shall we?”

Felitïa nodded. “Stay close to me. Move at the same speed as me. Stay quiet, and don’t open a door or move anything without me giving you the go-ahead first. Oh, and of course, don’t walk into anyone or touch them in any way.”

Zandrue nodded, and moved up behind Felitïa. “Right.”

Felitïa tilted her head slightly and flexed the fingers of one hand. Nothing noticeable happened, but she then walked towards the stairs. Zandrue stayed as close behind her as she could without bumping into her.

Once they were down the stairs, they crossed the entry chamber to the main doors, where Felitïa held up her hand and paused for a moment. Then she said, “There’s no one on the other side.”

“How do you know?” Zandrue whispered.

Felitïa turned and looked at Zandrue with a smile. “The Room’s back, and there’s no one in it other than you.” Then she opened the door a crack and slipped through.

Zandrue followed.

At first, the corridors and rooms they passed through looked unchanged from how Zandrue remembered them. They were opulent and undamaged. There were fewer people though. They only passed a couple guards, and four servants in total. The early hour certainly played a role, but even this early, the Palace had always previously been fairly active, even if not as active as during the day. Right now, it was almost dead.

The small numbers did make it easier to slip past the few people they did see. The closest Zandrue got to anyone was one Palace guard standing on duty at the top of the grand staircase, though “standing” was a generous description of what he was doing. He was slouched over, with one arm wrapped round the railing to support himself. His eyes were sunken and red, and the chain armour he was wearing was far too large for him and clearly weighed down on his frail frame. He was also very young—couldn’t be more than sixteen, if that.

Gods, this place had gone to hell.

How bad things were became even more apparent as they descended the staircase to the north entrance. While the west wing that they had been travelling through was intact and in good shape, the east wing had clearly suffered considerable damage. The other half of the grand staircase that once ascended to the east wing was now nothing more than a few steps leading up from where the two halves split. The rest was a pile of rubble on the floor below. The giant chandelier that had once hung above the stairs was gone. Only its supports were still there. The entrance foyer was now lit solely by torches in wall sconces. It created a lot of shadow, but here and there along the carpet, there were little glints from chandelier glass that had been missed in the clean-up.

There were a few new plants along the railing of the staircase, so there had been an attempt to fix the place up a little, but it was the kind of damage that would take years to fix. Gods knew what the rest of the east wing was like.

Felitïa held up a hand as they neared the main doors. Two guards stood by them, one on each side. These would be the first doors they’d had to go through when there were other people around. Felitïa stood still for a few seconds, then started forward again. “Stay close. As close as you can.”

Zandrue moved a little quicker to get right up behind Felitïa, as close as she could without bumping into her.

When they were almost at the doors, Felitïa raised her arms to her sides. The guards looked away, each away from the doors, as if they were each reacting to a different noise. Then, Felitïa reached out and grabbed the door handle. She opened the door, and both she and Zandrue slipped through. They then hurried down the stairs to the north courtyard.

The statue of Nature in the west pool was still there, but the pool was otherwise empty of water, filled instead with debris. It was the same with the other pool.

“Oh gods,” Felitïa said. She had turned to look back at the Palace façade.

Zandrue turned as well.

The upper storeys of the east wing were almost completely gone. Bits of wall, floor, and ceiling remained here and there. The outer walls of the bottom two storeys were intact, though Zandrue suspected there was little left of the interior. When the upper storeys collapsed, they would have smashed right through the lower ones. The debris visible through the smashed windows on the lower storeys seemed to confirm that.

Gods, how many people had died when the east wing had come down?

“I’m going to kill her, Zandrue,” Felitïa said. Zandrue took her hand and Felitïa turned her head to look at her. “I mean it. If I get the chance while we’re here, I’m going to kill her. I won’t do anything to endanger Rudiger or Quilla or anyone else, but if the opportunity presents itself…” She squeezed Zandrue’s hand tightly.

Zandrue smiled at her. “I know. You never thought you’d ever say anything like that, did you?”

Felitïa smiled sadly. “Oh, I’ve thought it many times now, but yeah, there was a time…”

“Well, just to let you know, I intend to do the same thing, so you’d better be quick about it if you want to do it before me.”

Felitïa chuckled. “Challenge accepted.”

Zandrue let go of Felitïa’s hand. “I can make it on my own from here.”

“Be careful.”

Zandrue grinned at her. “Always.”

She left Felitïa standing there and hurried across the courtyard. She must have become suddenly visible at some point, but luckily, there was no one around to see.

The archways that had provided access to the roads leading away from the courtyard had all collapsed, but the debris had been cleared in two locations on the west side. Zandrue took the southern route, which was a little closer to the servants’ building.

She hadn’t spent much time in the servants’ building when she was last here—she’d spent most of her time sucking up to Annai and the other royals and nobles, and had only come here a couple times to see Rudiger—but she was relatively certain she remembered the layout. Even if she didn’t know it perfectly, it would help with her story of being a new hire.

The servants’ building was quieter than she’d expected it to be, but that was probably yet another artefact of the recent calamity. Nonetheless, there were still quite a few people moving about, and the mess hall—the first place Zandrue went directly towards—was full of people gorging themselves on the food present. Most were guards, either those on night shift coming off duty or those on early morning shift grabbing a breakfast before starting. The servants present were mostly bringing out food or collecting used dishes. None were partaking of the food themselves. While most wore blue livery emblazoned with the bear-sigil of Arnor, there were a few that wore red with the bloody sword sigil of Plavin-Tyl.

Standing here was not likely to draw much attention, and she wanted to be noticed, so the best option was to head into the kitchens. No one paid her any mind as she crossed the mess hall and through the doors the servants were carrying food from.

The kitchen was a sprawling room filled with numerous ovens, cooking pots, and washing basins along the walls, plus two rows of counters down the centre of the room. A giant of a woman stood by one of the counters chopping meat. She slammed her cleaver down as Zandrue entered. “What do you want?”

“New hire,” Zandrue said. “I was told to report here.”

The big woman scowled. She let go of the cleaver and walked towards Zandrue. She was at least a head taller than Zandrue, broad-shouldered with muscular arms. A hint of a tattoo was visible just under the edge of her left sleeve near her shoulder. The red apron she wore had the sigil of Plavin-Tyl. “Who sent you?”

“Sorry, I don’t remember the name. I’ve seen so many people already. It’s all become a bit of a blur.”

The big woman brushed a few strands of greasy hair from her eyes. “I wasn’t informed. Still, I could use some more people.”

There were only a few others in the kitchen—two washing dishes at one of the basins, another by one of the pots, and a fourth with a tray of freshly baked bread she had just removed from one of the ovens—all of which were watching Zandrue and the big woman, while trying to pretend they weren’t.

The big woman stood directly in front of Zandrue, hands on hips, staring down at her. Zandrue recoiled a little. It was best to pretend to be intimidated. Let this woman think she was in control. This close, the woman’s scent—mixed as it was with the scents of grease, meat, and all the other kitchen smells—was easy to discern. Her sweat was strong and salty.

“Name?” the woman said.

“Tawny.”

“I’m Dolla. Where’s your livery, Tawny?”

“I haven’t been given any yet.”

With a sigh, Dolla turned away. “Gods damn! Typical. This new administration is utterly incompetent.” She rounded on Zandrue. “You didn’t hear me say that.”

“Say what?”

Dolla’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but then widened as she broke out in a smile and laughed. “Good response. Keep that up and we might just get along.” She looked Zandrue up and down, and frowned. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

Zandrue shook her head. Just her luck she found the one person in here who might recognise her. “I don’t think so. Maybe I just look similar to someone you know.”

With a shrug, Dolla turned away. “Yeah, maybe.” She sighed. “No livery. Oh well. There are extra aprons in the closet over there. Grab one.”

As Zandrue headed over to the closet, Dolla called after her. “You’re going to overheat in what you’re wearing. Wear something lighter tomorrow.”

Zandrue turned around and curtsied. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t go curtsying to me. I’m no lady. Now, hurry up. I’ll introduce you to the others and we’ll get you started. I need some tubers peeled.”

Thankfully, the aprons were all Arnorin blue. While it might have made some sense to wear a Plavin-Tyl one given Dolla’s apparent loyalties, the idea left a bad taste in Zandrue’s mouth. It was good to have an excuse not to.

Once Dolla had briefly introduced her to the other women in the kitchen, Zandrue spent the next couple hours peeling tubers and potatoes that were all well past their prime. Given the state of the greenhouses, it was actually quite remarkable they had much of any vegetables at all.

“So, what’s it like under Lady Plavin?” she tried asking once early on.

“No chatter!” Dolla yelled. “You can talk when your shift’s up.”

It was best to go along with Dolla’s rules for now, so Zandrue continued peeling, and then later, chopping. Then some more peeling, and then more chopping.

Eventually, the shift came to an end. As the next shift arrived, the other women hurried out. Zandrue tried to follow them, but Dolla called her back.

“I want to talk to you a moment. Just let me get the next shift started.”

Zandrue waited. “Yes, ma’am.” Dolla was unlikely to be as forthcoming as the other women, but there was also a good chance Dolla knew more. The trick was getting her to open up.

A couple minutes later, Dolla waved to Zandrue. “Come with me.”

They headed out of the kitchen and down a short hall. Dolla opened a door a crack, and peered inside. “In here.” She opened the door all the way and shoved Zandrue inside.

It was a storage closet—large, but filled with shelves of supplies, leaving little extra room. Dolla closed the door, plunging them into near dark, and pushed Zandrue up against the shelves, knocking several things over. Zandrue’s shoulders banged against one of the shelves and the back of her head hit something hard. Dolla’s hands wrapped around Zandrue’s upper arms. Gods, she was strong!

“I know who you are.”

Zandrue sighed. She should have gotten out as soon as Dolla had found her familiar.

Dolla shoved her harder against the shelves. “Going to deny it?”

“That depends on who you think I am.”

Dolla shoved her hard again, and Zandrue couldn’t help gasp. “Don’t play games with me. You’re one of the ones who took down Barnol Friaz.”

“Friend of yours, was he?”

With a laugh, Dolla let go of Zandrue. “Bah! Couldn’t stand the man. I’d be glad he was dead if that Plavin bitch wasn’t in charge. Friaz had one good quality: he was loyal.”

“He sold you out in the end. Well, obviously not you specifically, but most of you in the Palace.” It wasn’t surprising Barnol had left a name or two off the list he’d given the King and Queen.

“That was after he was caught. I can’t blame him for that. I’d’ve done the same thing.”

Zandrue rubbed her shoulder. “You’re being surprisingly friendly with me all of a sudden.”

“That’s because we’ve been told to look out for you, not because I like you or anything. Though you are rather nice on the eyes.” Dolla chuckled—a low rumble of a chuckle.

It was good her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark yet. Just imagining the lecherous look on Dolla’s eyes was bad enough.

“Plus, I bet you’re working against Lidda Plavin, and I’ll help anyone to take that bitch down.”

“Don’t like her much, I take it. I would have thought from your apron—”

“I wear this because she insists I do. I can’t stand her. She’s a traitor.”

“Traitor to who exactly? It would be good to know who’s not on her side.”

“Our next Dusk Supreme, of course. Dyle Aderman. I believe you’ve met him.”

“Yes, yes, I have.” It was probably best to not mention Dyle was dead.

Light entered the room as the door opened a crack.

“Fuck off!” Dolla yelled as she pushed the door back shut again.

“Sorry, Dolla!” a voice from outside said.

“I take it they won’t wonder what we’re doing in here?” Zandrue said.

Dolla chuckled again. “They think I use it for sex. To be fair, sometimes I do. But mostly, I use it for meetings with other Servants—and by Servants, I mean Servants of Sunset. It amuses me, though, that they think I fuck so many different people.”

“Who told you to watch for me?”

“Ulises Quinton.”

“Of the Emporium? He’s a Servant too, is he?”

“You didn’t know.”

Zandrue shrugged. “I had my suspicions, after Laänne Friaz tried to kill me.”

“She was a traitor, too.”

“So I gathered.”

“Ulises wants to see you.”

“What about?”

“How the hell should I know? I’m just following instructions.”

Zandrue sighed. It was probably a trap, but Ulises might have information. Though Dolla might too, and if she could get it out of Dolla… “Do you know anything about Rudiger Fonivan or Quilla Steranovist?”

“Oh right, you were General Lord Fonivan’s fiancée, weren’t you?”

“General?” What the hell had Rudiger been up to?

Dolla laughed. “That’s a weird situation. First, he was Lidda Plavin’s prisoner. Held in the Palace in Princess Felitïa’s apartments, but still a prisoner. Then, all of a sudden, Plavin makes him the head of the new Kingsguard. Dumb bitch likes pretending she’s Queen already. Even has people calling her Majesty. Anyway, he pledges her his servitude.”

“Probably a deception, or under duress.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter, ’cause then he disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Official word is, he’s on a special mission for her Majesty, but that doesn’t make any sense. As head of the Kingsguard, he should be with her at all times, not off on special missions. Though with Lidda Plavin, you never know. Still, if you ask me, I think he’s probably dead. Oh, sorry, forgetting your relationship for a moment.” Dolla chuckled some more.

Zandrue rolled her eyes. “It’s all right. I know he’s not dead. I just don’t know where he is. What about Quilla?”

“Dyle Aderman’s wife? Don’t know, but I’d guess she’s with him. Ulises will probably know.”

“I guess I should go see Ulises, then.”

Dolla nodded.

“Thank you, Dolla. I appreciate the help. I better be off.”

Dolla continued to block the door. “You know, you’re really not that bad on the eyes. Some good muscle on you. If you wanted, we could…”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

Dolla shrugged. “Your loss.” She turned and grabbed the door handle. “Before you leave, mess up your dress a little. Make it look like you’ve just hastily put it back on. Then make a show of fixing it as you leave. Don’t report back for work tomorrow.”

Zandrue rolled her eyes as Dolla left. She waited a moment to let Dolla get farther away, then tousled her hair a little. She didn’t bother with her dress; she’d been through situations like this before. It didn’t take much. Most people would have already made up their minds about what had been going on in here. Besides, her dress was probably rumpled already anyway.

She opened the door and headed out of the servants’ building.

She should wait for Felitïa before going to see Ulises. If it was a trap, having both of them together would make it easier to avoid—or to escape afterwards.

So Rudiger was off on some mission for Lidda Plavin. That seemed incredibly unlikely. It had to be a deception. Maybe Rudiger had escaped and Lidda had just made up the story of him being on a special mission to cover it up. Oh gods, what if he was already on the way to Quorge? That would be just her luck. She’d missed him.

Oh well, it would mean he was free, and he’d arrive in Quorge eventually.

But what if he really was on a mission for Lidda? He wouldn’t be doing it willingly—unless she had some sort of hold on him. But what?

Borisin.

Of course. That would be it.

Well, there was one way to find out. If Borisin wasn’t here at the Palace, Rudiger had probably escaped and was on his way to Quorge. But if Borisin was here… Hopefully, Felitïa would succeed in killing Lidda. Hopefully, Felitïa would succeed in that either way.

Zandrue headed straight for the stables.

She avoided taking a shortcut through the dog kennels, however, so technically didn’t go quite straight there, but close enough.

The stables were quiet and not as smelly a she remembered them. They were still smelly, but it was less intense. The reason quickly became clear. The majority of stalls were empty. These stables could hold hundreds of horses and were rarely full to capacity, but usually a significant number of the stalls had occupants. Now, she counted only a handful of horses on her way to where Borisin’s stall had been. It felt weird, though the quiet was nice—especially since it was only a handful of horses whinnying nervously at her presence.

Borisin’s stall was empty, and it didn’t appear as though it had been used for quite some time. That was assuming she was at the right stall. The stables were huge, and she hadn’t come here often. It was possibly she was in the wrong spot. It was also possible Borisin had been moved to another stall. She would have to search the whole place.

“Can I help you?”

Or she could ask the staff.

She turned slowly to face the stablehand and curtsied. “Yes, I’m looking for General Lord Fonivan’s horse, Borisin.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

Zandrue flashed him a smile. “So sorry, I should have introduced myself. I’m Tawny, one of her Majesty’s new handmaids. She sent me to check on the horse.”

The stablehand looked her over with a frown.

He was clearly doubting her. She needed to take charge quickly. “Is there a problem?”

“It’s just...you don’t look like a handmaid, ma’am.”

“Oh really? And just what is a handmaid supposed to look like?”

The stablehand shuffled his feet a little. “Well, I’d expect you to be better dressed. You look like a servant.”

Zandrue made a show of looking down at herself. “Am I wearing livery?”

“No, but…”

“Do you have a problem with how her Majesty chooses to have her handmaids dress? She picks out all our clothes herself, you know.”

“No problem at all. I just…” He gave a slight bow. “Apologies, ma’am. I didn’t mean to cause offence.”

“Just take me to the horse.”

He motioned with his arm. “This way.”

Thank the gods. If Borisin hadn’t been here, the handmaid routine would have never worked.

Borisin stuck his head out of his stall with a snort as they approached.

“That’s him, ma’am,” the stablehand said.

“Thank you. You can leave now.”

The stablehand hesitated. “Can I ask what her Majesty wants?”

“Just for me to check him over and report back. This is an important horse for her, you know.”

“You know horses, do you?”

Placing her hands on her hips, Zandrue turned to face him. “You think her Majesty would give me this task if I didn’t?”

He took a step back. “No, of course not. Apologies again, ma’am.”

“Good.” After a moment of him just staring at her, she waved her hand dismissively. “Off you go, then.”

He bowed and started backing away. “Of course, ma’am. Just so you know, he can be a difficulty horse. He…”

Zandrue waved her again.

He laughed nervously, and backed farther away. “Right. If you need me…”

She waved her hand yet again. “I won’t. Goodbye.”

When he was finally gone, she turned back to Borisin. The horse stared at her with slowly blinking eyes. She reached out and patted the side of his face. “Hey there. Bet you’re glad to see me.”

Borisin snorted.

With a sigh, Zandrue wiped her face with her sleeve. “Yeah, thought so. Thanks for that. Look, I know Rudiger’s not here, but I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I’m with Felitïa, and we’ll come back for you soon. I promise. I just needed to know where you were first. Once we’re out of here, we’ll find Rudiger. Got it?”

With a grunt, Borisin nodded.

“Good.” She patted his head again. “I can’t say for sure when I’ll be back, but probably after nightfall. See you soon.”

Borisin snorted again as she walked away.

She discovered the stablehand form earlier waiting by the next aisle. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

She paused and glared at him. “No. He’s a disgrace. His mane is a tangled mess, full of knots, and don’t get me started on his feathers and tail. For his coat, it looks like you’ve done nothing more than a quick curry comb. I didn’t bother looking at his hooves. I bet you haven’t picked them.” Suggest she didn’t know her way around horses, would he?

He gulped. “He won’t let us. We try to groom him and—”

She held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. He’s a disgrace and her Majesty is going to hear of it.” Then, she turned and walked away, ignoring his continuing protestations.