We continued to the emperor’s rooms, and I spared a brief glance at the chambers that now belonged to the future empress. I wondered what she had thought of her rooms, and if she’d already eaten, but then we arrived in front of the emperor’s door, and I had to push away all other thoughts.
Bran opened it for me, and I strode in without preamble. I found the room dimly lit—not unusual for Altair—but as my gaze swept over the space, I didn’t see any sign of him. There was, however, someone else inside.
Bran marched past me to confront the man, looking like a dog with its hackles raised. “What are you doing in His Majesty’s private chambers?”
The man, who by his ashen robes was a lower-ranking servant than the steward, bowed quickly and offered a stuttered explanation. “His Majesty sent me to find something for him—his journal,” the servant added when Bran glowered at him. He held up the book in question, finely made but garishly appointed with gemstones.
Bran held out his hand, and the servant relinquished it without hesitation. “I oversee such matters. A servant of your station should have come to me immediately.”
“Yes, head steward,” he said with another bow, and where the light hit his hair, it shone peculiarly. It had a red tint to it, like a ruby. This was notable, as the only hair colors any Zephyrian had were either a brown so dark it was nearly black, or inky black.
“Where are you from?” I asked the servant.
“From the Spine,” he said, which was a mountain chain on the eastern coast. Although part of the Zephyrian Empire, the people there spent most of their time tending goats. Very few traveled beyond their territory, and even fewer could be found at the palace.
“You’re a long way from home,” I said.
“Yes, my family is very proud that I have the honor of serving the emperor as a servant in his palace,” he said with a bow.
Bran narrowed his eyes. “How lovely for you all, but they’d be prouder if you did your job and remembered your place.”
“Yes, head steward,” he said with another bow.
“Be gone with you,” Bran said, and he hurried away.
“I’m sorry for the delay, Commander,” he said to me.
I shook my head dismissively before continuing to Altair’s study. I knocked once at the wide door, the steward just behind me.
“Talon,” Altair said when he saw me standing in the doorway. “Come in.” He caught sight of the head steward behind me and sighed. “What is it?”
“Majesty, I have your journal that you requested.”
Altair held out his hand, and Bran hurried over to place it in his palm. Altair looked at the steward’s face for a moment. “Didn’t I send someone else?”
Bran laughed nervously. “Yes, Majesty, but I…I was accompanying Commander Talon here anyway, so I told him I would bring it.”
Altair waved his hand. “I didn’t need that long of an explanation. Please leave us. I have something I must discuss with Talon.”
Bran looked like he wanted to say more, and he shot me a pleading glance once more before bowing and doing what the emperor ordered.
“He keeps irritating me with stories about missing servants,” Altair said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve told him that it’s his problem to deal with people not showing up to their posts.”
“Majesty,” I said, “it does sound strange that seven are missing. I could see one or two, but—”
“Oh, not you, too,” Altair said with a groan, leaning back in his chair and throwing his head back dramatically. “Why should I care where they’ve gone?”
“These are the people who serve you. It’s your duty to care.”
“I’m far too busy. Why don’t you figure out where they’ve gone?”
“I will if you’d like,” I said. “The head steward would like your permission to search for them in Naharu and the palace.”
“Fine,” the emperor said with another dismissive wave of his hand.
I gestured toward one of the servants waiting nearby. “Go and tell the head steward that the emperor has given his permission to search for the missing servants.”
The man bowed and hurried out the door.
