Feodor Belone coughed hoarsely as Felitïa and Nin-Akna entered the library. He dabbed at his eyes and nose with a handkerchief, then looked up at them. He started to rise from his seat, but his wife, Siba, who was seated beside him, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something. As best Felitïa could tell, it was something like, “You shouldn’t exert yourself.”

Felitïa curtsied. “Your Lordship, I’m happy to see you. Are you feeling better? You haven’t been out of your room in several days.”

Belone coughed. “Do I look it, your Highness?” His voice was rough, almost like a croak.

Felitïa shook her head. “Not really, but it seemed like the kind of thin etiquette requires me to say, or something like that.”

He laughed and fell into a fit of coughs. Siba leaned over him.

Anita rose from her place at Belone’s other side. She curtsied. “Your Highness.”

“My Lady,” Felitïa said.

Anita looked to Nin-Akna, smiled, then lowered her head. “Akna.”

“Anita,” Nin-Akna said.

Felitïa walked over to the end of the table. “Anita, would you mind if I spoke to your father and mother alone?”

Anita shook her head. “No, of course not, your Highness. I will leave you alone.” She curtsied.

As Anita passed her, Felitïa briefly took her hand and leaned in close. “Nin-Akna would like to talk to you.”

Anita curtsied again and replied softly. “Thank you, your Highness.”

After Anita and Nin-Akna had left, and the guards had closed the doors, Felitïa took a seat across from Lord Belone. A servant filled a cup of wine for her. “Thank you.” She placed the cup on the table in front of her.

“What can I help you with, your Highness?” Belone asked.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to say. Requesting to speak with him had just been a tactic to get Anita out of the room so Nin-Akna could talk to her. She really should have thought the idea through a little more. She would have if she weren’t too tired to think straight.

“Anything?” Belone prompted.

Felitïa smiled. “Apologies, your Lordship. I was just gathering my thoughts. I just want to let you know that I’m no well either. A different ailment from you, but…”

Siba leaned in close to her husband. “I said as much, didn’t I? I said her Highness wasn’t looking well. Exhausted, I thought. Your Highness, you shouldn’t be moving about the city as frequently as you do. There are all kinds of terrible diseases you can catch.”

“You’re right about the exhaustion,” Felitïa said. “I haven’t been sleeping well. I get a little bit here and there, but I’m lucky if I get more than an hour or two each night.”

Siba leaned forward and reached for Felitïa’s hand. “You should have said something much sooner, your Highness. I know a very good apothecary who could make you a sleeping draught. He’s been providing them for Feodor. It’s the only way he’s been able to sleep with that blasted cough.”

“That’s very kind of you, my Lady.” Felitïa doubted it would do much good. There were a lot of fraud apothecaries who still managed to do good business amongst nobles. Still, if it had been effective for Feodor Belone, perhaps it would be for her too.

“I could give you a little from Feodor’s supply. The apothecary will be here tomorrow and we have loads to get us through until then. When I see him, I will ask him to prepare a larger supply for delivery as soon as possible.”

“Again, very kind of you,” Felitïa said. “A supply for Nin-Akna would be very welcome too. She’s also had trouble sleeping.”

Siba retracted her hand and sat back in her seat. “Uh, yes, I can…”

“I will cover any additional expenses,” Felitïa said. She had no idea if she had enough money for that, but she’d deal with that in due time.

Siba nodded. “Of course, your Highness. I will ask him to prepare an additional supply for the...for Nin-Akna.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Think nothing of it, your Highness. It is no trouble.” Siba motioned to one of the servants, who came over and curtsied. “Go to my rooms and have my handmaids provide you with two bottles of his Lordship’s sleeping draught. Then bring them here immediately.”

“My Lady.” The servant curtsied and hurried from the room.

“What have the doctors or apothecaries said about your illness, your Lordship?” Felitïa asked.

Belone coughed some more. “Not much.”

Siba patted his back. “They have given him draughts for that as well. Unfortunately, they have not been as effective. Early on, they gave him little as they said it was a minor affliction that he would recover from quickly on his own. But it has gone on so long now, and just gets worse. We are starting to…” She turned her head aside and sniffed heavily. “We are starting to fear the worst.” She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.

“I have no intention of dying. Danel isn’t ready to take over.” Belone broke into another fit of coughing. It took at least half a minute or so for him to get it under control.

“You see what I mean?” Siba said.

“I’m sure you’ll recover, your Lordship, in time.” It was a trite statement, but Felitïa really needed for it to be true. She hadn’t always gotten along with Feodor Belone, and there were things she didn’t like about him, but Danel Belone taking over as Lord of the province was a far worse option. She could only imagine what sort of things he would do, starting with what he would do to Nin-Akna.

She couldn’t help but wonder if there was something unnatural about Lord Belone’s illness. There wasn’t much to point towards that other than his doctors had thought it minor at first. But many people died from illnesses that seemed minor at first. There was no reason to think this was any different—apart from the coincidence of its happening at the same time as her and Nin-Akna’s...illness? Condition? Whatever it was. His illness was completely different from theirs.

Hell, it was probably just her exhaustion talking, causing her to see patterns that weren’t there.

Belone had another coughing fit, and this one didn’t go away for some time. Belone motioned to his wife several times before she finally brought out a small bottle of liquid.

“It’s only been an hour since the last one,” Siba said. “We only have so much. We need to conserve it.”

Belone continued to motion to her through his coughs. After another moment, Siba gave in and handed him the bottle. He popped the stopper and drank down the contents. His coughing subsided. He placed the empty bottle on the table and took a deep breath. “That’s much better.” His voice was just a little bit less hoarse and raspy than it had been.

“Impressive results,” Felitïa said.

Belone nodded. “It only lasts for so long though.”

“And that time has been getting shorter and shorter,” Siba said. “He has to conserve it as much as possible. The apothecary can only make so much.”

“Understandable,” Felitïa said.

The door opened and the servant from earlier entered, and curtsied. Siba motioned her forward, and the girl placed two tiny bottles just like the one Belone had drunk from on the table.

“Thank you,” Siba said. “You may return to your regular duties.”

The servant curtsied again and moved off to the side.

Siba slid the bottles across the table. “There you are, your Highness. Drink a full bottle before you go to sleep. It is not the most pleasant tasting, but the apothecary says it’s safe to mix with wine to make it more palatable. I’m sorry we can only spare two bottles at this time, but as I said, tomorrow, I will ask the apothecary to prepare additional batches for you and Nin-Akna.”

Felitïa picked up the bottles. “Thank you, my Lady. This is more than generous of you.”

Siba bowed her head. “Now, if you will excuse us, your Highness, my husband should get some rest. I hope we will see you at dinner tonight.”

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“I will try.” There was still so much to do today. Felitïa doubted she would make it. Still, she had missed a lot of dinners. For appearance’s sake, if nothing else, she should try to show up more often.

Siba rose from the table, then helped her husband to his feet. They shuffled to the door, a servant opening it for them. Lord Belone coughed a couple of times just before the servant closed the door behind them.

The servant who had gone to fetch the medicine came over to the table, curtsied to Felitïa, and began to collect the wine cups left by the Belones. She reached for the empty medicine bottle.

Felitïa held up her hand. “Wait. Leave that, please.”

The girl curtsied. “Yes, your Highness.” She collected the remaining cups, leaving only Felitïa’s, which Felitïa had not drunk from yet. Then she knelt to pick up something from the floor. “Do you wish the stopper as well, your Highness?” She held up the stopper Belone had tossed aside.

Felitïa nodded, and the girl placed the stopper on the table. Then she curtsied and withdrew.

Felitïa picked up the empty bottle and held it up to her nose. It had no smell. She had always been interested in herbs and herbal remedies, but had never really had much time to learn as much as she’d wanted. Meleng would know more if he were here. She plugged the bottle with the stopper and placed it and the two sleeping draughts Siba Belone had given her in one of her pockets.

She was being ridiculously paranoid, but she wanted to get these medicines analysed. She needed to know what was in them.

She rose from the table and left the library, the servants curtsying and the guards bowing as she went. She was getting much too used to that.

She was almost at the exit when she remembered Nin-Akna. With a sigh, she turned around. Nin-Akna would probably want to stay with Anita, but Felitïa had promised to always let her know where she was going. Oh, and there were the prayer beads, too. She had almost forgotten about them as well. Gods, she hoped this sleeping draught was what it was supposed to be. Maybe then she’d be able to think straight.

As she moved through the palace in search of Nin-Akna and Anita, she spotted Plavistalorik and called out a greeting to her. The Isyar nodded her head in recognition and continued on her way. To this day, Felitïa had still not gotten any more out of Plavistalorik than that one night in the library.

After some asking around, Felitïa tracked Nin-Akna and Anita to the conservatory at the far side of the palace. The guard at the entrance bowed as she approached and opened the door for her. Nin-Akna’s and Anita’s voices were clear as soon as Felitïa stepped inside, although they were concealed by the grapefruit trees.

“You should have seen her this morning,” Nin-Akna said.

Was there something about acoustics in a conservatory Felitïa had never noticed before? It wasn’t like she spent a lot of time in glasshouses, but Nin-Akna didn’t seem to be yelling or otherwise speaking loudly.

“She just exploded at Corvinian.”

Felitïa stopped moving and listened.

“He was being a bit of a brat, admittedly, but he had a point. The poor kid is treated like a slave. All Felitïa wants to do with him is subject him to endless tests to find out about his abilities, and when he’s not running the tests, Agernon has him doing all kinds of errands. Corvin’s stuck doing everything for those two. He deserves a chance to do something for himself. He wants to learn to defend himself, and I’ve been teaching him in the rare moments we can find for it. Felitïa caught us and had a fit.”

“Sounds like she’s really stressed out,” Anita said. “You’ve said she’s having as much trouble sleeping as you.”

“I know. But it took until today for her to even admit that maybe it isn’t natural. That something’s going on. She insists there are no signs or something. Magical mumbo jumbo.”

“So what do you think that means?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s too exhausted to find the signs, or…”

“Or what?”

“She’s lying.”

Anita laughed. “Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know,” Nin-Akna said. “I half wonder at times if, maybe...maybe she’s the one doing it.”

“Now, you’re being paranoid.”

“Probably. It’s just…”

“What?”

Nin-Akna sighed.

Wow, the acoustics were amazing in here if Felitïa could hear that. She couldn’t even detect their emotions yet, but she could hear a sigh? Then again, her telepathy was near useless these days anyway.

“She’s supposed to be this all-powerful Will-Breaker,” Nin-Akna said. “I don’t know exactly what that means, but the priests in Ninifin—the ones who knew the Secrets—seemed to think it was a really big deal and that she was massively powerful. She says there’s a block of some sort on her powers, but I’m starting to wonder how much I really trust her. You know?”

“I think you both need to figure out how to get some sleep,” Anita said. “Once you’re properly rested, you can look at these things with a clearer head.”

“I suppose you’re right. Still, if...if I needed to...that is, if I need to confront her in some way, would you...would you support me?”

“It it was necessary, yes, but Akna, you desperately need to figure out how to get some sleep because you are seriously paranoid right now and not thinking straight. If you want, I can go with you to talk to her, help you reason through the situation. I think both of you need to stop doing everything you’re doing during the day. Stop the research, the tests, whatever you’re doing, even training Corvin. You need to rest and get rid of all the stresses. Then maybe you’ll be able to sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Nin-Akna said. “Again.”

“I have to be useful for something. I’m not an all-powerful Will-Breaker or a warrior like you. I guess wisdom is my special skill.”

They both laughed. Then they fell silent.

Felitïa stood where she was a little while longer. She felt a bit guilty eavesdropping on them like this. Their conversation also concerned her. Was she really behaving in such a way as to make it hard for Nin-Akna to trust her? Yes, she had been unfair to Corvinian, and she had apologised to him for that, but that couldn’t be enough to lose trust in her, could it?

“Mm.”

Felitïa wasn’t sure which one of them that was.

“Mm.”

Maybe it was both of them.

“I’m so glad you came back to me,” Anita said.

Felitïa took a deep breath. It really was time she either made her presence known or left.

“And think about it. Felitïa can’t be all terrible. She let you come to me, even encouraged you, like you said.”

Felitïa took a couple steps forward.

Nin-Akna sighed again. “That’s half the problem, Anita. She let me. I’m stuck doing what she says all the time.”

Felitïa stopped moving again.

“She makes decisions for me all the time. I don’t think she even realises she’s doing it. It just comes naturally to her or something. But I am so fucking fed up of it. I totally understand how Corvin feels. We’re both basically her slaves.”

“I shouldn’t have said let,” Anita said. “I honestly think she was just trying to help there.”

“She was just trying to get her fucking prayer beads back.”

“Akna…”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m being paranoid. Fine. Let’s get out of here. She’s probably looking for me now, and I need to give her this stupid necklace back.”

“Akna, please just wait a moment…”

“You coming or not?”

“Yes, just give me a moment. I’ll be right behind you.”

Felitïa’s first instinct was to cast a spell to hide her presence, but then she remembered she didn’t have the focus for spellcasting right now. She should just confront Nin-Akna.

No, not like this.

She stepped off the path and ducked behind a tree trunk. A moment later, Nin-Akna stormed past.

Maybe she should show herself to Anita? That would still mean revealing she’d eavesdropped on them, and that would just make it even harder for Nin-Akna to trust her. So she stayed where she was.

A few moments later, Anita hurried past.

Once Anita was out of sight, Felitïa stepped back onto the path.

Gods, she’d screwed things up. She needed to slow down and rest.

Still a few things to do today first, though. They just couldn’t wait.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, she’d rest. Maybe the rest of the week. Agernon would understand; she’d make him understand. He was always complaining she wasn’t rested enough anyway.

Now then, what were those things she still needed to do today?

Oh right, find out what she could about Belone’s medication and the sleeping draught. Just to put her mind at ease. And the prayer beads. She had to collect the prayer beads. That meant finding Nin-Akna again.

Nin-Akna first.