“That damned mage, always poking and prodding and pushing people’s buttons...!” I growled.
“Once he gets onto a topic he knows will draw a reaction, it’s over. If he sees it on your face, say your goodbyes to peace and tranquility.”
“You mean to say that Six has toyed with you too, Sofie?”
“Not me, no. He’s never set his sights on me, though I’ve seen him toying with a guy I know.”
“And...was he okay?”
“Thanks to Six, the woman he was on the verge of calling his fiancée dumped him, and he fell into alcoholism.”
The inner palace was different from the rest of the palace. While the palace proper was the very height of luxury and decorated in lavish furniture and expensive paintings, the inner palace was comparatively modest. Decorations were kept to a minimum and largely came in the form of neat carvings. The maids we passed all bowed their heads politely and got out of our way, their faces expressionless. There was something tense about it all.
“The empire is under the rule of the emperor, but it’s no exaggeration to say that half of the palace—particularly the inner palace—is run by the empress,” said Sofie. “It is very much its own world.”
“But you don’t know the particulars, Miss Sofie?” I asked.
“Please, just Sofie is fine, Lady Karen,” she replied. “They do not like rugged, hardy women like me here, and so I have never had much chance to spend much time in the inner palace. But there are a great many rules that only those who live here are aware of, and I did not think it would be so difficult to meet with the fourth empress.”
“You mean it would be different if I were meeting a different empress?”
“Far easier, I’d wager.”
Sofie was trustworthy and reliable, but she largely underrated her own talents. That said, if anybody else had recognized her worth, we never would have had the chance to employ her, so in that respect I was, in fact, grateful!
The two of us were made to wait for a short while, and eventually an older, slightly plump maid came to greet us.
“Allow me to guide you to the fourth empress,” she said.
Clearly, the maid was of a significant rank. As we followed her to meet with the empress, I couldn’t help but take in the faces of the various maids and guards we passed by. That the maids were pretty was perhaps to be expected, but the fact that the guards were also just as good-looking made me groan internally. But as I thought about the state of things in the inner palace, I became aware of something quite intriguing—the fourth empress’s standing within the inner palace.
I had known that she had long been a concubine within the emperor’s harem, but her rank within that hierarchy was made clear when even another concubine stepped aside and allowed us to pass. She did this begrudgingly, but there was no denying the reason she had no other choice—the fourth empress’s maid outranked her. Some clicked their tongues in frustration at having to step aside, but the maid leading us paid no mind to any of the displeasure shown by those around her. When we were free and clear of the concubine in the palace, the maid spoke.
“Do not worry yourself with the attitudes of the others,” she said, her gaze still on the corridor ahead. “Lady Nadia has long been among the emperor’s favorites, and there is no escaping the jealousy of the inept new arrivals.”
“Inept? But they have all earned the emperor’s favor...”
“Do not worry. The woman we just passed has only been here about half a year, and she still doesn’t know her place. Clearly, she hasn’t been heeding the advice of her maids either. She will not maintain her position very long.”
The maid’s words cut like the sharpest, most unforgiving of blades. I had heard that turnover within the inner palace was commonplace—rampant, even. Among the citizenry, it was often joked that, outside of a select few, the emperor’s concubines were little more than disposable playthings. Most who became concubines were ambitious, and the one we’d passed was no exception. She’d planned and schemed to win the emperor’s heart, but as far as our maid was concerned, it was just a matter of time before he lost all interest in her.
“This is quite the walk,” I commented.
“Please forgive me; we still have a ways to go.”
The fourth empress’s abode lay deep in the inner palace. It was, in fact, a literal house plonked right in the middle of it, complete with trees surrounding its perimeter. For a moment, I felt as if we’d returned to the streets surrounding the palace, but the walls surrounding this particular house hastily dashed that illusion. Around the walls was a moat, effectively making the empress’s home a cage.
The house had a small garden in which there were rosebeds and the empress herself, working with a pair of gardening shears. She wore not an expensive silk dress, but rather more simple clothing—one might have even called it cheap and rugged—that put an emphasis on freedom of movement.
“My lady!” shrieked the maid. “I told you to expect guests!”
“Oh, are they here already?” asked the empress. “You’re earlier than I thought.”
The empress peered at us from under the brim of her straw hat. She wore no makeup, but she looked far more full of life than she had when we’d met at the party.
“Must you always be like this?! I told you to get ready! I know I did!”
“But I discovered a few diseased branches,” explained the empress. “We both know the trouble that could cause if we left it too long, no?”
“That is not the issue at hand! You’re the one who told me that you had invited guests in the first place!”
All the dignified elegance that the maid had shown earlier seemed to melt away in the presence of the fourth empress. Nadia, for her part, laughed the woman’s frustrations off.
“The guests are here!” cried the maid. “Why aren’t you properly dressed?! It’s time to get changed! Hop to it!”
“This is fine, I assure you. Nobody who comes here wanting to hear about the mountain capital is the usual kind of guest.”
At the very utterance of the words “mountain capital,” the maid’s eyes seemed to swim in confused circles. She immediately looked at once defensive, and yet, at the same time, like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Her expression stood in stark contrast to Nadia’s smile.
“Sandra, too, hails from the mountain capital,” explained Nadia. “She’s watched over me since I was but a girl, and she is rather sensitive when it comes to matters of our former home. She might appear frightening, but do forgive her.”
This news came as a shock to me. It was my understanding that only the royal family still remained. Still, before I asked about anything, I had a present for the empress.
“Lady Nadia, please first allow me to thank you for inviting me to your home today.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. And I did promise you, didn’t I? I’m most curious about those flowers, however. They’re of such a rare color.”
“They’re from His Highness, the prince. When he learned that I would be visiting you today, he asked that I give them to you.”
“A most kind gift, though I must admit that purple flowers do little to buoy up my spirits.”