I cast my mind toward Gasni’s office. No one was inside. Perfect. Maybe he’d gone to breakfast. Maybe he was out interrogating someone. Whatever the reason, I just hoped he’d stay away for a while.

I blinked inside and went straight for his desk. Maybe I’d find a note or something, anything, that might give me a clue about what happened to my family. I dug through the drawers, checking for hidden compartments, and skimmed through the papers on his desk. Nothing relevant. A tablet rested on the desktop, but of course it was locked by both password and fingerprint.

I turned to the steel footlocker tucked under the window and flicked the mechanism, popping open the lid. The contents made me wince—weapons, syringes, and an assortment of small knives and tools—but no documents, and nothing else caught my eye.

I glanced at the shelves, but who was I kidding, he wouldn’t have anything too damning out in the open. He’d have to know I could easily come looking. The information I was looking for was likely on that tablet, and he’d left the thing out to taunt me. I was wasting my time.

I tried to blink back into my bedroom, but I didn’t move.

Curses. I fished my knife out of one of the desk drawers and drew it from its sheath.

The knob turned, and Gasni stepped inside with an eyebrow raised and smoke swallowing his right hand. “You should know I have sensors arranged around the room. I assumed it was you sneaking about.” He eyed my knife. “Do you intend to do something with that?”

“I might.”

He stepped around his desk, unbothered. “And what have I done to earn your wrath?”

So calm and arrogant. I laughed. “As if you don’t know what the Councilors did to me.”

He froze. “Pardon me?”

“Having Jesun take me from my room? Threatening to sic a feral on me?”

He scowled. “I assure you I knew nothing of that. The Council likes to keep secrets even from me.” He dropped into his chair. “They have Jesun under their control. Hmm.”

“She said they took Mother and Ranine.”

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“I received the news this morning that your family had been ambushed on the road, but my spies lost track of them.”

“So you have no idea where they are?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then find out!”

“If only it was that simple.”

“They have my family! They’re forcing me to marry Yesida! What am I supposed to do?”

He sighed and leaned back. “You keep your head down and do as they say. Marry the emperor. You moved too quickly, pressed too far, too fast. You can’t expect any change to happen overnight. You still have a chance to influence Yesida, but you must take it slow. His decisions must be his own ideas. If the Councilors have even the slightest suspicion that you’ve planted those ideas…”

I shuddered. “I can’t risk it. I can’t. Please, just find my mother and sister. Please help me.”

“I will do what I can, but I must be discreet, or the Council’s suspicion will fall on me. I make no promises.”

Sniffling, I sheathed the knife and threw it at him. The smoke around his arm vanished, and I blinked back to my quarters. I sat on the bed, and a note on the nightstand caught my attention.

“I would be thrilled if you would join me for breakfast when you wake. -Yesida.”

I crumpled it up and slapped it back down onto the nightstand. I had no appetite, not to mention no desire to step out of my room at all. Then there was the issue of my forced engagement to him, assuming he hadn’t refused. I wasn’t sure if he could refuse. Would he even want to? Until recently, he’d been planning to propose, after all.

Someone knocked at the door. “May we enter, my lady?” one of my guards asked.

I looked at the clock. Gods, it was already time for the search. I groaned. “Yes.” Two guards stepped inside. “Where is the servant?” I asked.

“She is ill today,” the imperial guard said. “The Councilors asked me to perform the search in her stead. May I?”

My blood chilled as he stepped closer. He reached for my arm, and I jerked back. “Don’t touch me.”

He took a step back. “I didn’t mean to startle you, my lady. But I am under orders from the Council.”

“Then tell them you found nothing. I have nothing on me.”

He exchanged a look with the other guard, who’d been busy digging through my wardrobe and drawers. He jerked his head toward me, and the other man approached me, too.

“I’m afraid we can’t disregard our orders. Please don’t make us restrain you.”

“Restrain me?” The feral’s shrieks echoed in my ears. “Just find another servant.”

“Our duties cannot be transferred to another, my lady,” the imperial guard said, growing impatient. “Please, stand.”

He reached for me again, but all I could see was a faceless armored man holding me down onto blue tile. I shoved him back and blinked across the room, slamming into my wardrobe.

He sighed sharply. “My lady, we will have to report your lack of cooperation to the Council if—”

“No!” I turned back to face him. “No, please.”

He held his arms out to either side. “Then let me search you. It will only be a moment.”

I had to do this. I had to let him touch me. For Ranine’s sake. I nodded, but as both men stepped closer, my vision spun, my chest ached, and I began to hyperventilate. Gloved hands gripped my arms, and everything vanished into blackness.