Heir Apparent

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Thea

Ten days. It had been ten days since I had received word that Empress Jade Virillia had escaped the clutches of the Hired Hands. The news had come in the form of a sniveling page boy who, after telling me, had the gaul to hold out his hand for payment. I had Liviticus remove the outstretched hand, then the boy from the Empress's rooms.

In her absence, I had taken up residence in her rooms, a good and properly worried hand-maid. No one, not even the Empress-Mother had bothered to question my reasons. She had simply stroked my hair, then left in a swirl of floral fragrance that even I had to admit was comforting. That comfort had only lasted moments before I had begun picking through the Empress's belongings, searching for anything that would tell me just where she had gone, how she had done it, and why she was so special.

I was missing a puzzle piece to Jade Virillia and I needed to know what that puzzle piece looked like and just how to set it aflame.

The days were getting colder, leaves turning from their usual vibrant greens to oranges, reds, and yellows. Like a painting, they flooded one tree to the next, mixing and turning slowly. As I sat in the courtyard that Jade had yet to overhaul before her kidnapping, I hugged a shawl closer to my small shoulders. Servants past me down the only center walkway, giving small curtsies or bows. The Empress may be missing but I was still her appointed lady's maid, which afforded me some authority in its place.

If only they knew what I could do with just a few muttered words; the power I could wield.

Jade hadn't known. She had seen what everyone was meant to see: a small, obedient daughter of some long standing family. A family I had threatened and bribed for their silence and participation. For all of the stories about Jade Virillia, she really took people far too much as face value. She saw goodness when she should not, and while I certainly wasn't going to look that gift-horse in the mouth, it was disappointing to have so soundly convinced her of my service.

Her mother and Gil, however, were a different story. I found I respected the Empress-Mother for her shrewdness. She was always kind, perhaps too kind, to me, overly attentive some might venture. Her face and eyes never revealed anything except the outward concern for her daughter. Certainly, her concern was very real, but there was something else that I couldn't pinpoint about the woman. She was holding something back and it irked me that I had yet to uncover it. But it meant that I had to constantly check myself in her presence, to make sure she saw only the little Thea, her daughter's companion, who was trying to put on a brave face.

Gil would have none of my attentions. Try as I might to worm into his good graces, I was nothing but a wall ornament now that Jade was gone. I knew they had history, and their recent quarrel was quite public and much to my advantage, but I was not prepared for the lengths he would go to keep her alive in the walls of The Capital. Night and day, he was working. He either sent the 51st out on more patrols, or was down in the depths of the building interrogating anyone who might know about Jade. It was almost heartbreaking to watch: his devotion in the face of her demotion of him. And to know that if he just turned all his efforts in my direction, he just might be onto something. He would never get a word out of me, but I would respect him more for it. As it was, he was making a fool of himself over her.

I picked at the petals of one of the last blooms of the season when I heard the soft swoosh of her gown. The Empress-Mother moved with a grace that however many hours of practice I might try, would never achieve. But I watched, learning from her, for a future when I would wear a crown upon my head and command men with just a glance of my eyes.