Eniera looked behind her. The servants, her ‘Foundlings’, her ‘Rescues’, were ambling along on foot, it was hard to blame them. ‘They lost their stomachs on the traitor, some of them. Talk about adding insult to injury. But at least now I know what really happened.’

That bothered her. She felt the tingling on the back of her neck, the same one that happened whenever there was a hidden threat, like she was missing something. ‘Killing Gottfried in the arena, even with poison to help, that was unlikely. But maybe? Maybe it would determine potency for a later attempt on his life? He is reckless.’ Eniera’s thoughts troubled her, the hostility of their neighbor state troubled her.

And her son’s liaison with the traitor troubled her. ‘She could be a plant too, waiting for the chance to kill my son, or weaken him so he can be killed. I should have her taken and questioned.’ Eniera pondered her options as the horse trotted away, putting distance between herself and her servants. The palace wasn’t that far, a short ride only, but she could already hear her brother’s voice. ‘Never go too far without bodyguards.’ It was almost laughable. It was sweet, though. She rolled her eyes as she drew closer to home. ‘Annoying. But sweet.’ The stables came into view.

The mild roar of a dragon reached her, she knew why. ‘They smell me, and want to fly. They don’t even care where, as long as they can taste the sky.’ She couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment, riding on a horse was one thing, but to ride in the air was entirely different.

Not the smartest creatures, they were nonetheless powerful and useful. But they routinely assumed that every time she was near, one or more of them was going out. ‘Sorry to disappoint, but you’ll have to wait.’ She mentally apologized and rode toward the garden entrance. A guard in full plated steel approached with his halberd shouldered, his armor rattled a little as he did a half bow and accepted the reins into his armored hand when the Princess tossed them to him.

“Have one of the rescues take it back to the stable, tell them I’ll be in my office.” She quipped.

“As you command, my Lady.” The guard answered when looking down at her.

The fountain in the garden where she stopped was a unique place, its spout rose to the height of three grown men and the water cascaded in all directions in a constant flow creating a curtain of water that burbled without end. The fountain also led to long little artificial creeks which provided life-giving water to the many flowering plants. Bright purple hues found nowhere else outside the royal properties were everywhere, and great arched paths coated with blue and purple roses bespeckled with red and white were plentiful adornments. The smell was the perfume of nature and she never tired of breathing it in.

The faint buzzing of bees was a constant companion, and the cool air constantly rustled the leaves creating an added sense of calm and tranquility that Eniera never tired of. To be stationed there, surrounded by beauty and fragrance was a coveted reward, as a guard had only to spend his time walkling the gentle winding paths, and could drink from crisp clean waters. Fruit trees offered bright red berries with a sweet flavor, while here and there small waterfalls created by the finest craftsmen flowed seemingly without end.

The often chaotic mind of Eniera Jabara, Mother of Terror and Hammer of the Emperor, was at peace, and even troubled as she was, the garden made her smile. She walked the long path made of crushed seashells, taking her time rather than rushing. Not so for her servants.

It was almost a disappointment when she reached the door and found another guard waiting. He opened the door and held it, keeping his back straight and eyes forward, he stood in stony silence so as not to break the atmosphere.

The interior of the palace was layered with marble sheeting creating a natural tapestry of colored patterns over the floors, walls, and the many columns that the Princess walked past until she reached the steps. Servants clad in black and white maid or butler uniforms were plentiful, and they bowed in deference when she passed by.

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The great halls were wide enough for six men to pass abreast, and were decorated with a multitude of paintings, which Eniera glanced at with some perfunctory reverence. Mostly ancestors of the present royal family. ‘Probably painted far more heroic looking than they ever appeared in life.’ That made her smile a little bit. Her own paintings were like that.

A portrait of herself on a wall before a burning city holding aloft the head of a defeated enemy. ‘Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. How was the city burning if I’d just gotten on top of the wall? How did I get the head of the champion up there where no sensible person would make their best, that vulnerable. Who am I holding that head for, nobody is going to be looking up there with the city on fire?’ It was almost a mockery of the true event. ‘Try telling a bard that, though.’ She rolled her eyes. Artistic indulgence was a triviality, and she had to admit, ‘The painting is very nice.’ She craned her neck to look up at it when she came close, wider than she was with her arms outstretched, the painting showed her taller than she actually was. ‘I should be a little insulted by that aspect, I guess.’

But she didn’t mind, because behind it, when she looked to the opposite wall before passing through a door on the way to her office, was her favorite. Done by the same artist, it showed her holding her son when he was a mere infant. A little dark haired boy with wide happy eyes, herself dressed in a bright purple dress, a smile on her face beside Gottfried’s father, ‘They didn’t exaggerate ‘his’ height!’ She noted, not for the first time, ‘They did increase my breast size though… or did they? I was nursing then… but still those look a little large…’ Her hardy way of life left little to fat and her body was naturally slender, lean, and athletic. But what she liked best wasn’t the bright sun streaming in through the window, or the array of treasures shown around them, or the clothes she wore or even the little ‘enhancements’ in the artist’s mind. It was the supreme happiness on her face. A smile that was as wide and truly genuine as it was rare. The arm around her waist, her body pressed close to him, the way they shared in holding the young boy, it was almost dreamlike, but it happened.

She turned from the painting, and passed through the door a guard held open patiently for her, and went the short remaining distance to her office.

One of ‘The Arrows’ was already waiting for her inside. A maid outfit hung on the wall and a small pack sat on the floor where it hung. ‘One of the servants in disguise.’ She realized, as she looked over the spy. A young woman with short brown hair and green eyes, she wore a mottled set of clothing that was black and gray. Practical pants, a black silk wrap around her lower face that left only her eyes exposed, and a hooded cloak. “Mistress. Your Arrow stands ready in your service.”

True to Eniera’s expectation, despite arriving after her, they reached the palace interior before her. The Princess held out her hand, and placed it on the head of the short haired woman. “Good. I have a task for you. My son seems to have become incautious… as if that were a surprise to any of us. He’s fallen in with an Abacleon whore at an establishment called ‘The White Stag in Shazen,’ I want you and two more out of my Quiver to go there. Observe her, see if she is a spy, or try to turn her into one. See if you can get her to divulge information about Gottfried, whatever he confides to her. See if you can trap her into an assassination attempt. When she betrays him…” Eniera’s eyes clouded over, she removed her hand and turned away.

‘He’s not a little boy anymore… this will hurt him. Maybe badly… but he has to know now when he will not be exploited, rather than later when it may cause his death…’ Eniera told herself, stilled her throbbing heart, and steeled it to a state of resolve.

She looked down at the waiting Arrow agent, cleared her throat as if she had never stopped speaking, and continued. “...When she betrays him, report it to me, I will be visiting the governor… quietly. For a few days.”

“Mistress, what do we do to or with the whore after she turns on him?” The Arrow asked in a refined and silken voice.

“Buy her from the establishment, and have her brought to me in chains.” Eniera gave the order, and then the agent asked an unexpected question.

“And if she does not, my Lady?” The question was higher pitched, drawn out, and open, and it gave Princess Eniera Jabara pause.

She thought it over and paced to the window, she looked outside over the horizon to the distant south where the once great city of Abacleon was still being rebuilt. Eniera tried to imagine one of the old Abacleon nobles in a favorable light, and could not. Her hands folded behind her back, her eyes dropped when her head bowed with her chin against her chest. Unimaginable or not, clarity had to be given. So finally she answered, “Then do nothing. Observe and report. You’re authorized enough of whatever metal you need for whatever magic you require.”

“As you command.” The agent replied.

Eniera then went to the wall and laid her hand on the surface, the place she touched glowed briefly, and the hidden door opened. “Go, take as many of your own with you as you need.”

The servant rose to her feet and then with a deep bow, she departed.

Eniera closed the secret exit on her own, and the door was closed again as if it was never there.

“So much to do… and so little time.” The Princess thought as the echoed rushing footsteps of her agent disappeared into nothing until they were still heard only by their maker, ringing out in darkness.