Meia stood in the courtyard by a black carriage with black horses. It was not the carriage that had been part of the convoy. This carriage was a little shorter and glamorous. The paintwork was heavily polished so that any scratches would be noticed immediately, if there were any. There were other carriages under the wooden structures, but none with horses. These other carriages had already been here this afternoon, but not the black one. At the same time, the wagons of the convoy were no longer present. Maybe there was another area like this one.

The weather had changed. There were suspiciously many clouds in the sky and all the clouds were gray. The sun was still visible, but only from time to time. It wasn't cold though.

Meia was not alone in the courtyard. To her left, three palace guards stood at the front of the carriage. One of the men was dressed like a coachman. Meia still knew he was part of the palace guard, because she recognized him from a squad from this afternoon. One of the men had just brought Meia here. The last man was a woman. This wasn't the first time Meia had seen a female palace guard, but it was still somehow unusual. The three of them were gossiping about someone, but it wasn't joyful gossip, it was as gloomy as the weather.

"You should have seen her on her knees. I wanted to throw her out, but she probably would have attacked the guests."

"Depressing when you think of the rank she has anyway..."

"How do you think I feel... It's taken me eight years to be taken halfway seriously, then someone like her comes along and ruins everything."

The palace guards fell silent as Minister Schoppe came around a corner into the corridor leading to the courtyard. He had clothes like the ones he had on at noon today. It certainly wasn't the same, but Meia wouldn't recognize it if it was. It was just a robe and a scarf with a brooch, after all. The only thing that had changed was that he was carrying a thick briefcase.

Minister Schoppe was accompanied by a maid who dutifully wrote things for him in a notepad, that he dictated. It sounded as if it was about appointments for the next few days. Meia knew it wasn't a chambermaid because her uniform was far more respectable. If the chambermaid was cotton candy, this maid was a cough drop. Meia could feel the cool breeze from her gaze. Unfortunately, maids in high positions were often like that. You couldn't get to the top without strong elbows, unless you accidentally stumbled upwards.

When the two reached the courtyard, the maid stopped at the doorstep and curtseyed. Minister Schoppe briefly thanked her for her service, then she turned around and he came into the courtyard. Meanwhile, the two palace guards said goodbye to their coachman colleague and then they left. On the way to the carriage, the minister looked at his wristwatch. When the palace guards were almost at his height, they saluted him until he had passed. Finally, they left the courtyard and the minister reached Meia.

"Hello, Meiandra. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. We can leave now." Minister Schoppe opened the door and placed his bag against the bench to the backside of the carriage.

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"It's no big deal." Meia didn't feel that the minister was late. She had been standing here for five minutes at most.

"That's a lovely blouse. It's an excellent choice for this afternoon."

Meia made a slight bow with just her head. "Thank you." She was pleased to be praised for the blouse.

"Do you have everything?"

"Mhm."

Minister Schoppe helped Meia to get in. This carriage had no footboard. It was low and intended for decent streets. The minister held Meia's hand anyway.

The carriage not only looked like new. The coach smelled strongly of leather and everything was spotless. Meia naturally chose the bench where there was no briefcase so that she would be sitting against the direction of travel. Anything else would also be inappropriate, since it could look suspicious with just the two of them. While Meia made herself comfortable, the Minster went to the coachman. Meia overheard them discussing the route and destinations. The street names meant nothing to Meia, but Minister Schoppe seemed to know his way around the city.

After less than a minute, Minister Schoppe returned. After he got in, they drove off.

.../

The carriage drove through the artificial forest and over the bridge back to the city center and then on through the streets.

The carriage no longer smelled only of leather. Minister Schoppe had a pleasant scent of a gentleman's perfume. Meia didn't know what it was. She didn't know much about fragrances.

Meia enjoyed the city tour. Minster Schoppe did not. He was busy. He had a leather file in his lap and a stack of postcards on top of it. There were easily 30 of them and they all seemed to be the identical ones. The motif of all the postcards was the castle of Aoka in high gloss, as far as Meia had seen. The minister wrote on the top postcard with a luxurious fountain pen. His handwriting was very neat, but too curved for the text to be read with a quick glance. 'Dear Medina', was the only thing Meia could make out.

"I am writing to my granddaughter." Minister Schoppe suddenly addressed Meia while he kept writing. "I have not had the time yet. Do you want to write to someone as well?"

Meia felt caught out. Apparently the minister had noticed the glances.

"Yes, maybe to my father... Is it a secret that I'm in the city?"

"It is not a secret. Officially, you're under my command for now." Minster Schoppe took a small piece off the bottom of his staple and handed it to Meia. "Here you go."

Meia accepted the postcards and made a small bow. "Thank you."

There were five postcards. Meia felt a relief print on the motif side under her fingers. The postcards were also pre-franked. They weren't the cheap ones.

Minister Schoppe tapped his staple together on the file. "I'll send this off at the market." Now he put both back in his briefcase. "Do you need a pen?"

"I'd rather write in peace later." Meia almost felt bad about refusing. It felt as if she'd obtained the postcards under false pretenses.

"You can do that however you like, of course." Minister Schoppe didn't look at Meia as he continued to focus on his briefcase. He put the written postcard in his robe, then as soon as he had put everything away, he pulled a new task straight out of his briefcase. This time it was a thick file folder.

"Am I allowed to leave the palace?"

"I can't decide that. It's best to ask the Queen. If it's just about the mail, then one of the servants can do it."

Minister Schoppe leafed leisurely through the pages of the folder. Every now and then he circled numbers or wrote a comment. Meia had no idea what the papers were about. It was all full of numbers and dates. There were bank logos on some of the pages. The papers looked like accounting.

.../ End Part