Elara had never seen Ambassador Tazult so visibly distraught. He came running up to her, leaving both decorum and his guards behind.

  “Your Highness!” he gasped. “I’m so glad I found you in—”

  He cut himself off and glanced around. Looking back the way he had come, Elara could see his guards trying to catch up without appearing to run.

  “I apologise for the impropriety, your Highness, but I have urgent news from our homeland.”

  Elara looked at him quizzically. She had only a distant, social relationship with the ambassador due to the peculiarities of her position. As the widow of Prince Jiro, she outranked the man in the Tiatian hierarchy. As such, if they interacted in any official capacity, there was the possibility that she could direct Tiatian policy towards Zamarra.

  That wasn’t something the Empire wanted to happen, but explicitly forbidding the embassy from obeying her orders would be an insult to a ranking princess. And as useful as it would be to give orders to the Empire’s representatives, Elara had no desire to test her in-laws' patience. If Elara forced the issue, an insult—or worse—would be issued.

  And so, Elara’s relationship with the Ambassador could be characterised as him trying to stay on her good side while interacting with her as little as possible. Any official word from the Empress was relayed to Elara through letters from her husband’s brother, Prince Mazir Jiro.

  With this in mind, Tazult’s behaviour was unusual, perhaps even unprecedented. His use of “our homeland” to refer to Tiatia was more so. While it was technically correct to say Elara was a Tiatian now, she had never so much as visited the place.

  “Calm yourself, your Excellency,” Elara said, watching the man carefully. “However important the news, it has travelled far before reaching me. I’m sure it can wait a few breaths more.”

  “It cannot, your Highness,” Tazult said. “I have reason to believe your life is in danger. If you could accompany me to the Embassy, I can tell you more.”

  “You aren’t making sense, Ambassador. You want me to leave the palace, where I’m safest, because my life is in danger?”

  Tazult took a deep breath and tried, unsuccessfully, to regain his composure.

  He’s one step from panicking, Elara realised. Whatever is going on has him spooked.

  “Please, your Highness. Your safety is our paramount concern.”

  He hesitated for a moment. “And, if I may ask, your Highness, where are your guards?”

  Elara smiled and looked around. Her guards excelled at staying inconspicuous, but they had to keep her in view to do their jobs. So if she looked hard enough, they could be…

  They were…

  “They aren’t here,” Elara said slowly.

  “Please, your Highness. We need to—”

  “Ware!” one of the guards shouted. He lunged forward, his outstretched arm getting between Elara and a maid.

  A maid who hadn’t been there before.

  Elara stared as the maid’s dagger, glistening with a purple-green coating, bounced off an invisible barrier.

  Some kind of guardian Trait, Elara thought. Third Tier by the looks of it.

  “Poison,” the guard grunted, and brought his shortspear up to strike the maid’s outstretched hand. He missed, as the maid pulled her hand back with a very unmaid-like snarl.

  “I got her,” the other guard said, and brought his own spear to bear. The pair were obviously used to working together. They wove a deadly web of spear thrusts and slashes that kept the assassin back.

  But they couldn’t touch her. She moved too fast. Fast enough that Elara was having trouble following her movements. Not too fast to see, and the guards were also quite quick. But they needed to stay close to Elara, and the assassin knew that. As soon as she failed to penetrate the guards’ defence, she backed off, and they couldn’t follow. With a twirl of her skirts, she disappeared around a corner.

  “We forced their hand,” Tazult said. His face had taken on a dull, waxy cast as he dealt with his shock. “They were almost ready… we need to leave.”

  “What is going on, Ambassador?” Elara asked. She looked around for her guards. They should have moved forward… but they weren’t here.

  “Please, your Highness. If we move quickly, we can get through the gates before they think to bar them to you.”

  “Who would—” Elara stopped as the obvious answer came to her. “Answer my question as we walk.”

  “I’m not supposed to discuss operational matters outside of the Embassy,” Tazult muttered. Despite that, he leaned in closer as they started moving towards the exit and spoke in quick, hushed tones.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “As I’m sure Your Highness has guessed, we have some visibility on the internal processes of the Palace. Yesterday, Lady Mantane received a report from someone we tentatively believe to be a member of the Assassin’s guild.”

  “What? She shouldn’t—” Elara fell silent as she considered the implications of that.

  “We don’t know if this person is her spy or if he is her contact in the guild,” Tazult cautioned. “Nor have we confirmed if he is a member. Not with certainty. And we don’t know what he reported.”

  Elara could guess. The night before yesterday, Zaphar had finally succeeded in stealing the guild’s ledgers. They were encoded, so she was still a long way from finding her husband’s killer, but she had been feeling mildly triumphant.

  “Shortly after that,” Tzult continued, “A dossier was made out that contained details of your schedule for the next three days. It was sent outside of the palace, but we were unable to follow it to its destination. In addition, changes were made to the rota for your guard detail.”

  Elara frowned. “They’re not supposed to do that without my permission,” she said. “And is that all you had to go on? It doesn’t seem like much.”

  “As I said, your Highness, your safety is the Embassy’s prime responsibility,” Tazult said. “They were minor oddities, but they concerned you, so they were brought to my attention immediately.”

  He would have said more, but they were approaching the front door of the Palace.

  “Act natural,” he muttered, causing Elara to shoot him a look. He was looking much more unnatural than she was. It was still good advice, so she schooled her features, pushing aside her speculation, and acting as if she was just going into town on a whim.

  If the guards were suspicious, they didn’t have the authority to stop her. Not without a direct order from her father, anyway. Elara walked out of the front entrance, and no one challenged her. For the first time, she felt a weight lift off her as she left. Normally, she felt safe in her home. She didn’t like the thought that things had changed.

  Elara held her tongue as they walked to their destination. The Tiatian Embassy was one of the first buildings on the main avenue leading out of the palace, so it wasn’t far. There were some formalities involved when a Princess entered a foreign enclave, but they were rushed through. It wasn’t long before Elara found herself ensconced on a comfortable couch, a soothing cup of tea at her side.

  “So, what happens now?” she asked Tazult.

  He frowned. “We sent word back home just before coming to find you,” he said. “But I don’t expect an answer quickly. We are not in direct contact with the Empress, and I don’t think anyone lower in the hierarchy will dare to decide on a matter this important without her input.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” Elara agreed. “But what do we do while we wait?”

  “Secure quarters are being prepared for your Highness, and I strongly recommend that you make use of them. It is not safe for you in the Palace.”

  “I can hardly spend a day missing without questions being asked. Especially if—”

  Elara stopped, closed her eyes and took a breath.

  “I have to say it,” she said. “I can’t plan around suppositions and implications.”

  Tazult shrugged. “In diplomacy, there are many things that it is better not to say. And in espionage, supposition is often all we have to go on.”

  “Nevertheless,” Elara said. “You think my father has ordered my death.”

  “We don’t have any evidence that the order came from higher than Lady Mantane,” the ambassador corrected. “It is possible that she is acting on her own.”

  Elara sighed. “Lady Mantane is loyal to my father,” she said. “She wouldn’t act without his approval.”

  Tazult bowed his head in agreement.

  “It seems too much of a coincidence,” Elara said heavily, “for this order to come just as my investigation is beginning to bear fruit.”

  “You have been admirably discreet with your inquiries, but we are aware that something has been going on,” Tazult agreed.

  “You’ve been spying on me as well?”

  “We’ve mostly been keeping tabs on the reports your father gets,” Tazult confessed. "Until recently, they haven’t been strictly restricted. They haven’t been able to identify your agent, but the burglaries and what I can only refer to as escapades have not gone unnoticed.”

  “Do they know about the safe house?” Elara asked. The ledgers, all that she’d worked towards, were there.

  “I don’t believe so,” Tazult said. “This is the first I’ve heard about it.”

  “Good. But to return to the subject… If obtaining the ledgers caused Father to react that way, then first of all, the ledgers must contain the information I want.”

  “About who ordered the death of Prince Amastan Jiro,” Tazult confirmed.

  “And second of all… he must not want me to know.”

  “That is logical,” Tazult agreed. “Princess…the assassination of your husband was a serious concern of the Empire, but it was papered over with apologies, gifts and scapegoats. If the death is dragged up into the light, proven to have been an act of the King, then… it could well be taken as an act of war.”

  “I know,” Elara said. “And I don’t have any proof, not yet. I suppose I need more time.”

  She sighed. “I guess I will be taking you up on those secure quarters,” she said.

  Ambassador Tazult got up and bowed. “Our hospitality is at your disposal, your Highness. Our security should be sufficient to protect you from assassins, but you should remember that your father has other means at his disposal.”

  “You don’t think he would make an overt attack, would he?”

  “That would be very foolish of him,” Tazult said. “It would also be an act of war, and one that the Empire could not ignore. Attracting the enmity of the Empire while fighting your own civil war… is not wise. He may feel, however, that he has nothing to lose.”

  Later, alone in her quarters, Elara thought some more about the consequences.

  I’m just a pawn to the Tiatians, she thought. If they do invade, they’ll want a princess to put on the throne. If they kill my father and my brother, then I’m actually the legitimate heir.

  She wanted to use the Empire to get justice for her husband. If her father was responsible, who, other than the Tiatians, could bring him down?

  But do I want more than that? she asked herself. Do I want to be the Queen?

  She had thought about it a few times when growing up, but this wasn’t the situation she had imagined. She might be called the Queen, but she would really be a Tiatian governer, propped up by their troops and beholden to the Empress’s desires.

  It wasn’t the worst life in the world, but was it what she wanted?

  Her ruminations were interrupted by a faint click. It came from the window.

  Jumping to her feet, Elara grabbed a dagger from her nightstand. It wasn’t much, but as long as assassins were after her, she wasn’t going to go unarmed.

  It’s probably nothing, she told herself as she debated calling for the guards. She couldn’t see anything wrong. Not until the window slowly opened.

  It was just a crack, not more than an inch. Not enough for an assassin to slip through, and she was too far back for an arrow to reach. Nevertheless, she drew breath to scream.

  “Hey! Your Ladyship!” a familiar voice whispered intently. “Don’t shout, okay!”

  Elara choked on her scream in surprise. The window opened a little further, and Zaphar poked his head around the upper sill.

  “You’re a hard ladyship to find, you know that?”