Shreya was getting used to having everyone at her disposal. She loved being able to ask for something and it was given to her. The days were filled with work and investigating and interviewing the air refineries and their workers.

Pletaro was clearly working an angle but she hadn’t quite figured out what it was yet. She knew it had to do something with Varnusha though. He would never betray her the way Tor thought. Tor didn’t understand. He had never grown up with someone and really had never been close with anyone except his old professor who had been the High Journalist before Tor was elected.

Still better safe than sorry, she started being vaguer in writing her findings, which was helped by the fact she felt she was running around in a circle. It seemed clear no one on this damn planet knew where the air actually came from. Tomorrow she had a promising interview with some actual air miners, not their superiors, and she hoped they would help point her in the right direction at least.

Her clocked showed it was quitting time and Shreya neatly put away all her papers. She had been interviewing for a body guard all day and had selected several she thought seemed up to the task. As the air dwindled, people were becoming more erratic and she needed protection on most of her trips now.

Her office was set up in the governmental side of the Estate and her personal rooms were on the other side. She had a good ten minute walk from her office to her bedroom. After today she was excited to go relax in the comfiest bed she had ever slept on.

As she walked down the grand hallway a servant boy came up to her. "Excuse, Ms. Air Inquisitor!."

Shreya slowed down, "Yes?

"I have a message from Mr. Minault, says it's urgent." He handed her a paper note with what was clearly Pletaro's handwriting.

I will pick you up at seven.

Wear the earrings.

-Yours always,

Pletaro Minault.

She had put those earrings in her drawer and not touched them since the incident. Something about it hadn't settled well with her and she couldn't separate the earrings from it. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the servant boy.

He grinned from ear to ear, "He told me to give you the note first and this box second." As ordered he handed her a garment box then sped down the hallway as fast as he could. Shreya smiled, He probably only got paid after delivering the message.

Back in her room she opened the box to find an exquisite dress that shimmered in the light. It looked black in the dark, but as she moved around the room she noticed the varying shades it showed. She finished dressing just as Pletaro knocked on the door.

"Just a moment." He is always so punctual. “Coming!” She snatched her purse and a shawl and opened the door. Pletaro was standing against the doorframe, suave and debonair, looking completely at ease in his formal evening wear.

Shreya remembered the small dates he had always planned for her as a kid, leftovers from a fancy restaurant after making a deal with a waiter, watching the storms roll in on the very edge of the Estate's lawn trying not to get caught. They had been so innocent.

Since arriving he had expressed his affections in a more sophisticated dates, but similar manners than when they had been kids. Exquisite candle-lit dinners prepared by the executive chef of the estate, a dance in the ballroom the night before all the merchants would be there, private walks around the perimeter.

It was everything they both had dreamed of when they were kids roaming the merchant streets and running scams.

When Tor had offered her a real job, one she could be proud of and use her real name for she had hoped by leaving Pletaro would straighten out and find honest work. He was so clever, she had hoped it would be the wake-up call he needed.

Now nine years later he was the assistant to one of the most prominent men on Henear. She was so proud of him and a glimmer of hope had been sparked that perhaps they could actually be together the way she had wanted when they were still so young.

“Quickly love! I have something very special planned for this evening.” He smoldered at her for just a split second and grabbed her hand. Picking up the pace he started leading her towards Varnusha’s personal quarters.

“I think you’re headed the wrong way—”

“I think we’re headed exactly the right way.” Pletaro smirked and his coolness about heading to a very off-limits section made her nervous. She let him take the lead and focused on not tripping over her feet as they flew down the hall.

Right after they entered the main hallway to Varnusha’s bedroom she caught sight of two bodyguards she had never seen before and tripped over her opalescent evening dress. Pletaro caught her and scooped her up, she was sure they were caught but he slipped through what appeared to be a solid wall. Shreya held her breath, her eyes wide. What just happened?

He set her down gently in a cramped dark hallway and motioned to be quiet. The guards ran past the crack in the walls they were hiding in. They ran right past us. Shreya looked up at Pletaro, her eyes searching for answers.

He only smiled and took her hand and grabbed a light with his other hand and shone it down the hallway and nodded. As they walked he started whispering, “I discovered something about the Estate you may find very intriguing. You see most of the important people on here take no mind of the working man. However, I befriend the right people." He helped her through a tricky section and continued, "Did I ever tell you how I became the lead assistant to Varnusha?”

"No, I don't think you did." Shreya brushed a cobweb away from her face. "Although you've always been clever to befriend the right people. I assumed it was something to that effect." Shreya said.

“Right again Shreya. I started with the groundskeeping crews and discovered something helpful that others did not see the value in. I learned that this Estate is so old it is crumbling apart at the seams, however, to keep up appearances the maintenance workers have discovered a new use for small holo-terminals. They render old images over the crumbling structure when they don’t know how to fix it. A lot of the older buildings on Henear are no longer habitable, and the technology to fix them has long been forgotten. It would be a travesty if anything ever happened to the Floating Eye, we’d never come close to something so magnificent.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I guess I never really thought about it.” She ducked under an old wooden beam, “Ok so we’re in between walls that are covered by mini-holo’s, somewhere in Varnusha’s personal rooms. Where does this tunnel lead out?”

“Ah! Always so quick! You'll see in just a moment.” He turned to smile at her and Shreya felt her knees go a little weak.

“So how exactly did you go from groundskeeper to personal assistant? They don’t let grounds keepers talk to the Vice Regent.” She said.

“There are many secrets to the estate my dear and I had ears to hear. Groundskeepers don’t get leadership positions, but people with insider knowledge do. So long as they use that information wisely and discreetly.” Pletaro kept going and Shreya was completely lost now.

“Does Varnusha know how you acquired your information?” She asked.

“Of course not! That’s the beauty of it. The maintenance crew thought up this ruse on their own so none of the Vice Regents know about it. They buy the holos and the merchants make their reciepts look like they're buying legitimate materials. It’s great, it’s this whole scam they’ve set up and no one knows. It’s completely off the books so no one keeps track of them." He tried to hold back a laugh, Pletaro always loved setting up the scams.

"The only way you can notice it is if something interrupts the holo, so I went around flicking seeds at walls watching for flickers. This ruse has kept many maintenance crews at work and the Vice Regents happy. Everyone wins.” He stopped and motioned her to stay quiet.

“We’re here. Stay here for a moment while I check the all-clear.” He stepped out and Shreya could make out his outline against the light in the room.

The holo’s instead of repairs certainly helped to make sense of the air overage the estate had been reporting. The mystery had stumped Shreya for days. She had personally gone to check all reported leakages but the numbers had never added up. She would need to interview the maintenance chief and get him to begin making a map for her.

Pletaro motioned the ok to come out and when she did she lost her breath. He’s really outdone himself this time.

She stepped out into a world of color. This was the dome on the top of the estate, made from the same type of glass the Floating Eye was. They were the only two places on Henear where you could see the sky from the comfort of being inside.

The green storm raging outside and the lightning struck the sky a vibrant shade of green and sent her dress and earrings dancing in the color. The dome was sparsely but elegantly furnished with one reclining sofa in the middle with a table. Pletaro sat on the sofa and motioned for her to join him.

She settled next to him. “Wow, thank you for this. Henear is so beautiful. Her storms are the most vibrant thing on this planet.” She let out a deep sigh and Pletaro brushed some dust off her dress.

“Only the best for my Shrey.” They sat in silence and Shreya sat mesmerized by the lightning scattering green shades throughout the surface of the dome. This is the perfect eve—

A door slammed open and the bodyguards they thought they had lost rushed in. “I was wondering when you’d show up.” Pletaro checked his watch, “You made better time than your predecessor’s, I’ll give you that. How did you find us here so quickly?”

“When we lost you in the Vice Regents personal quarters, we simply asked ourselves where we would want to visit as two young attractive people. This was the clear objective.” The man was short and brawny. He spoke with a distinctive accent from ZMC. The other bodyguard was a woman version of the man. Shreya could tell by the way they stood they were a team, and their efficiency rolled off them like a sweet smell.

Shreya immediately liked them, what did Pletaro mean they were faster than their predecessors? She cast him a quizzical glance. Pletaro slightly shook his head to keep quiet. From the shadows, the Vice Regent walked out.

“Very impressive.” He walked around the two bodyguards looking them up and down as though they were new merchandise. “This will do nicely Pletaro. They will escort Ms. Shreya everywhere as she conducts her investigation. The two of you will report to Ducaro first thing tomorrow morning and after that will escort this lovely young lady everywhere she goes and protect her life at all costs. She is researching our air problem on Henear and she must find answers. Understood?”

“Yez zir.” Replied the man. The woman simply nodded in agreement. "Meester Pletaro, may I ask how you reached this place before us? We took the most efficient route here from where we lost you." At this Varnusha's face went blank and Shreya felt the room go cold.

“Pletaro, thank you for setting up this wonderful trial. I truly don’t know how you come up with ideas like this. Excellent work." Varnusha looked to Pletaro, then to the ground, and almost whispered, "Now get out of my rooms. You are not to speak of this to anyone. Shreya, I hope I can count on your discretion.” He walked away and waved them out as though he were waving the thought of them out of his mind.

“Of course sir,” Pletaro said smugly. He turned to Shreya and bowed, showing her the way out with his hands. “After you dear.”

“This was all part of a game for you, wasn’t it?" Shreya was angry. This felt just like the earrings and the vendor in the city all over again. "You just made a very powerful man angry at us. You put my job in jeopardy. Did you even think about that?” Shreya asked.

“Be honest Shreya." His face suddenly went sharp and hard. "Who got you this job? Remember your place in this game, you are a pawn. Replaceable. Expendable. I have the long term in mind, do not cross me again.” He turned to the new guards, "Watch her. If anything happens to her, I'll have your heads. Remember who hired you." At this, he flew out of the room in a rage.

Pletaro's bodyguard, Francisco had the same look of rage but before he, turned to follow his charge he said, "I am sorry Ms. Shreya. I warned him against this strategy. He is a harsh man, but he is the man I am charged with protecting." He faced the newly hired guards, "Please keep your eyes open, Pletaro is not one to forgive and he is a cunning man. I fear the danger for her may not be from outside the grounds but rather inside." He gave a soldier's nod to them and followed Pletaro's path out of the room.

Shreya turned to her new guards only to see a slight smile on the woman's face that appeared out of place. "Who hired you exactly?" She asked.

"Not him," the woman replied. At this, both bodyguards relaxed a bit and had half a smile on their faces as though they shared an incredibly funny secret. Confused but unwilling to speak of it here where Pletaro had his power-play she walked towards the door and dropped the earrings on the floor. The bodyguards followed her all the way back to her rooms and stopped short in front of her doors.

The woman went in first to do a room sweep and while Shreya stood in the hallway she stared at the man and he stared back. "What are your names?"

"Maks and Zahra." He looked her in the eye for a while, as though deciding her fate. "We will do everything in our power to keep you safe Ms. Shreya, you need not worry about the schemes of men who do not have your best interest in mind." He said.

"How can I know I can trust you? You were there in that little showdown. You've been brought in for a reason, tell me the truth and perhaps I'll let you stay." Shreya tried to appear intimidating.

"We will earn your trust Ms. Shreya, I do not doubt that. Until we do, you shall have to take our word on faith." Zahra came out and nodded the room was clean.

"Faith is something I lost a long time ago. You shall have to do better than that, but for tonight it will be enough." She left them outside of her rooms and threw the dress away.