If they had invoked heralds often and over many generations, it seemed strange that the mountain capital’s prosperity was so limited. There was also the matter of the place never leaving the realm of rumor—even if the empire had burned all of their written history and literature, you’d have expected knowledge of such traditions to have spread. But then again, I realized I was biased. Perhaps the mountain capital and its heralds were not quite as big a part of life as Nadia and Sandra believed them to be.
But that was not something to worry about. What I struggled with was whether or not what I’d heard was enough for me to connect my reincarnation with my mother’s memory loss.
And so, when we were finally done, I let out a deep sigh as Sofie and I walked toward our carriage, vegetables in hand.
“Lady Karen, what do you intend to do with all the extra pumpkins Lady Nadia gave us?” Sofie asked.
“I’m going to give them to Sir Reinald,” I declared. “I know they’re heavy, but hopefully you won’t have to carry them too long.”
“I don’t mind carrying them, but really? You’re going to give them to the prince?”
“He deserves a piece of my mind along with them, and I’ll make sure he eats his fill.”
All the maids we passed couldn’t help but react with double takes when they saw us. But then again, we looked like quite the odd couple with all the vegetables we were hefting along with us.
“By the way, Miss Sofie, did you know that Sir Reinald and Lady Nadia were acquainted?”
“I did, but I did not remember until midway through your conversation.”
“You’d forgotten?”
“It was Six’s doing. I knew that this was something that would occur upon my leaving military service, but I’d forgotten since then. A certain selection of my memories were simply locked away.”
“Well, that’s thorough...”
When I arrived at the magistrate’s office, Reinald was having a late lunch with Six. It was a rather simple meal of ham and cheese sandwiches with a selection of fruit. Reinald had just put a piece of fruit in his mouth when I made my entrance.
“Why, hello there, Sir Reinald!” I boomed. “And Six too! I see you’re both enjoying a rather relaxing afternoon!”
And lazing about while I endured all sorts of confusion, I bet!
I had too much force behind me to think about my drowsiness. Reinald barely even blinked, however, and simply took a bite from his sandwich.
“You met with Nadia, then, I presume?” he said.
“I did. We talked about so much! And thanks to you, we started on entirely the wrong foot!”
How dare you eat with such grace!
I’d had little more than light sweets whilst I chatted with Nadia, and I pined for something savory. Still, I wasn’t going to let my intense hunger get in the way of the business at hand. Unfortunately, before I could launch into my planned tirade, something was suddenly stuffed into my mouth. I bit down—reflexively, I might add—and I tasted the delicious, glorious, and subtle flavors of salted ham. Satisfaction and delight flooded my brain, but I couldn’t let it derail me.
Except that I can’t talk with a sandwich stuffed in my face!
“The girl indulges in too many sweets. A little something to refresh the palate is in order,” said Six.
“Hawarewoo!” I attempted to shout.
How dare you!
At least let me get out my complaints!
But oh my god the palace sandwiches...! Exquisite!
Karen! Focus!
Try as I might, my cries were unintelligible. Still, my rage beat out my attempts to swallow.
“Hngh!” I grunted.
“Water, yes?”
I washed the sandwich down with the glass of water Six passed to me.
Oh, how I wish I could have indulged in those flavors just a little more...
No! Get your act together!
I slammed a pumpkin on the table.
“What were you thinking, just stuffing a sandwich down my throat?!” I cried.
“You ate it, didn’t you?” replied Six.
“You didn’t want it?” Reinald asked.
“Shut up, Six,” I spat. “I am not here to thank you for this food. Do you not understand? Can you not see? I. Am. Furious! With you!”
“I see,” replied Reinald. “But they are fantastic sandwiches. Do help yourself.”
He did not look the slightest bit sorry—nor like he was listening—as he held his plate out to me.
“Oh. Why, thank—” I started. “Grr! No! Listen to me! Those are your sandwiches! Why are you making me eat them?!”
“She does have a point,” said Six. “One mustn’t overfeed their pets. Or are you trying to fatten her up? She has put on some weight recently.”
“How do you know?!”
And I’ll have you know that the weight is coming off! I’ll be back to normal in no time!
Reinald reached out to replace the lost slice of his sandwich with one of Six’s. I’d assumed that half a sandwich wouldn’t be enough for someone of his build, and I’d been right! Still, I felt a little awkward about giving him back my half-eaten slice, and so I realized I’d just have to do the work myself.
“At least sit down,” said Six, watching me. “It’s bad manners to eat standing.”
I took a seat as Reinald appraised the pumpkin on the table.
“It’s from Nadia’s garden,” I said. “I received one too. She’s set to send more than that, so do make sure you eat it. Apparently, they’ve a delightful sweetness to them.”
“From Nadia, you say...? So she took a liking to you, then.”
“Please, do make sure you eat the pumpkin I brought you,” I said, repeating myself.
I felt the topic of conversation sliding away from me and endeavored to ensure my point was sufficiently made. I didn’t know why I was so insistent, but what was the harm in one pumpkin? That said, it was rather big. It’d be tough work alone.
“Please eat all of it,” I requested.
“I’ll eat a meal’s worth.”
“At least eat half.”
“Six, I can’t work out why Karen is so mad. Is this your doing?”
“Don’t look at me. But how about making a soup of this? I bet it’d make a great pie too.”
“A wonderful idea,” I commented. “And something I assume you could eat too, Sir Reinald?”
“The man sometimes indulges in sweets, but pumpkin is too intense a flavor for the man.”
“Oh dear.”
“Don’t spread lies, mage,” said Reinald.
“I’ve seen what you leave on your plate, and how you essentially swallow what you don’t like the taste of.”
Six shoveled his food down as though he were racing against time and chased it all down with overly sugary tea. Reinald could only watch on, troubled by the sight. Seeing as I’d let off a little steam, I thought it a good time to take my leave.
“Look,” I said. “You could have at least told me that you were in cahoots with the woman. We both thought we were meeting for entirely different reasons, and it made for the most awkward opening to a conversation ever.”
“All I did was loop you in. You asked to be involved, did you not?”
“Yes, and we just assumed you’d be fine and handle it like a pro,” added Six. “It’s a sign of trust, if you ask me.”
“That wasn’t trust, it was more like a dirty trick. You don’t just send someone into a situation like that without so much as a word. It’s about being prepared! Being ready! If she didn’t choose to trust me, then I would have been sent packing and wouldn’t have had any idea why!”
Ugh. Neither of them feel any remorse whatsoever. Oh, how I wish I could catch the two of them off guard and turn the tables some day, but can I even count on such a day eventually coming?
I let out a deep breath to quiet my heart.
You just wait, the both of you... I’ll get you...
Realistically, staying angry at the two men was a waste of time and energy. Six was the way he always was, and Reinald looked unfazed—my minor frustrations meant little to either of them.
“So, how long have you known about Lady Nadia, Six?”
“Known what? You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Don’t play dumb. There’s only one thing I could possibly be asking you about!”
“Wow, you’re so blunt when you get emotional, hmm? Nadia? Well, I’ve known since the very beginning, of course.”
“Since then?!”
“But I didn’t say a word of it to Karl! There was a precarious period in there, admittedly, but I never uttered a thing!”
Thanks to Six staying quiet, Nadia still wasn’t under any suspicion, but this struck me as odd. Why? Because a simple investigation would have sufficed—the whole plot would be uncovered, just like that. I realized then that the emperor was slack about these things because he had the convenience of the box to rely on. And rely on it he did.
“The rebels barely stand a chance,” said the mage, “but there was always the slim possibility that they might kill the emperor for me. Reinald agreed to put them to use, and it was the right call.”
He spoke of it all as though it was just some bet he’d put a few coins on, but it nonetheless came with substantial risk. If Nadia were discovered to be a traitor, that in itself would reveal the current weaknesses in the box that Six was hiding. I had a feeling this was the reason that Reinald was moving cautiously when it came to the fourth empress and avoiding direct contact where he could.
“You have to laugh, don’t you?” said Six, grinning. “The emperor is a man with near unlimited power and his choice of any woman in the empire, yet he’s being betrayed by the one woman he’s truly head over heels for. Pitiful, really, and helpless to boot—no matter what he does, she won’t even give him the time of day.”