I had all morning to groom the horses. Feed them and walk each one around the block a couple times. That took up half the morning but I still had time to myself, agonizing about getting into the castle. I had kept the ring in a loose floorboard at first, afraid to own something so important and the thought of having it while out in the city made it even worse. It was a little big on my fingers and the only one it really fit was my thumb. I would lose it if I wore it out. Eventually, I broke down and bought a sturdy chain to keep it on like a pendant resting under my tunic.

Finally the noon bell rang through the city. I went downstairs to enjoy a meat filled pastry for lunch with the muses. It was a spicy dish that Panther would make on cold days like this to remind herself of the warm, winter-less seasons in Lolathia. I finished eating and began the walk to the castle, figuring about half an hour to get there and about a quarter bell to get in and up to the library.

The walk was uneventful and as I reached the gates I was surprised to find Captain Pettypiece waiting by his guards. I approached and the captain glanced at me, seemingly uninterested. I flashed him the ring where the guards wouldn't see, though by now he knew my face fairly well and it was probably unnecessary.

"Oh, that's right. You're here with the prince's delivery?"

Clever, captain.

"Yes, sir."

"This way then." He turned briskly saluting his gate guards who saluted back. We entered the gate and went through the front gardens. Through the castle doors with another set of guards and wound through the maze of hallways to the second floor library. Captain Pettypiece stayed this time and I wasn't sure whether to be nervous about that or not. I suppose we were somewhat working toghether now. Should I think of him as I think of Dirk? Jexa? Graham? That might be asking a bit much, but maybe in time it would come easier. 

The prince was in the chair I found him in during the Harvest festival reading a book. Pettypiece cleared his throat and bowed.

"Ah, on time. Good. We won't stay here, but I knew you could find this room. I'm going to show you to the room I've recently taken up as my private offices and study. This is new to you too, isn't it, captain?" Rorik closed his book and stood up.

He wore palace finery and looked very good in it. Maybe it was the ease with which he let himself be draped in silks and jaquards, things that I would be uncomfortable wearing just because of the price of them. Another marker of the stark difference between a prince, and a girl from the slums. Even the captain wore the purple and gold of the castle guards. I tilted my chin a bit highter, telling myself I was unbothered by both my clothing and my origins.

"It is, Rorik," Pettypiece replied, '"I'm looking forward to it."

So, he was on first name terms with the prince as well. Was this forever going to be a code to know who was loyal to Rorik or not?

"This way then." Rorik turned not where I expected him to towards the door, but instead he went deeper into the library. We wound around shelves and columns into the less illuminated reaches. I had no idea how large the library actualy was, I never strayed from the wide main aisle with carpet running down the center. I quickly judged it to be bigger than Panther House and its surrounding yard. Rorik stopped at a shelf next to a statue of Sage with a cat around his feet. The cat struck me as an odd choice of companion for the god of wisdom and strategy, since the cat was usually Shadow's. But I figured out the combination quickly as Rorik pushed the shelf aside.

"Shadow smiles." I grinned as Rorik lit a candle and led us through a doorway behind the shelf.

"Blade's hilt," Pettypiece murmured.

Of course, the old soldier would call on the god of warriors.

"Not too loud," Rorik hushed them. "I don't think anyone else knows about this one and I'd like to keep it that way. It's not unusual to anyone in the castle for me to retreat to this library for hours so it will be the best location." There was a handle on the back of the shelf that helped to cover the doorway again. There was a narrow window that let some light in, but Rorik used his candle to light the wall sconces. The room was a good size, though it was bare of furniture save for two chairs and every surface was covered in dust.

"This is where I'd like to conduct our business from now on," Rorik announced. "There are a number of hidden rooms and passages in this castle, but this one seems to go unused. More than likely we are the only living souls that know of it, I came across the clues to it's location in my twelve times great granduncle's diary. An interesting man, the only royal to act as the kingdom's Master of Secrets. He started the office, actually."

"What business would you have us conduct here?" Pettypiece asked.

"The business of unseating the council and changing the laws, of course." The prince answered as if it were obvious, but it was much more than I expected. I shared a startled look with the captain and cleared my throat.

"Prince Rorik, is that some kind of treason?" I asked.

"And if it was, would that stop you from your goals?" His eyes settled on me, judging and weighing. But the answer was an easy one. One I'd already asked myself before marking my skin with the dagger tattoo, before stealing my first coin and feeding my first hungry bellies in secret.

"No, it wouldn't."

He smiled. "The law of it gets foggy since we aren't actually planning to go against the crown directly. Today we clean, I want to move a proper desk in here, possibly a shelf and certainly some chairs that don't look as though they will crumble when we sit on them. I've already scouted the furniture I want from spare rooms and storage halls. We should dust first and take these old hunks of splinter to the firewood shed but I'm hoping we can have a proper talk in a bell or two."

We went to work immediately. Pettypiece got me a dusting rag and took the old chairs away since he knew the castle layout best and would be quicker. Rorik left to retrieve some things from his rooms and came back with an armful of papers, a small lock box, and what I recognized as my brother's map and the book of coded notes with the castle map. I managed to open the window though it creaked something awful. I only allowed it a small opening so I could beat the dust rag on the outside wall, hoping not to be seen. Though the castle had so many windows it was unlikely anyone would notice or even care if they saw it. Everything was reachable to dust save for a chandelier of wood and candles that hung in the center of the room. I would have to wait for chairs to arrive before I could dust and light them.

The harder part was sneaking in the furniture. Rorik, and I suppose I should have expected it from a royal, had lavish taste. The desk he had chosen was heavy. It was already on the second floor though, not too far from the library and that was a small relief. Rorik gave the librarians tedious jobs that would take them to other parts of the library and I and the captain were able to carry it in. Rorik had to help due to the burden of it, and I was impressed that he didn't shrug off the work. We had to turn it sideways to get it through the door, but when it was finally in place I had to admit, it was a gorgeously carved piece. It was wide enough to lay out maps or lists on and low enough it would be easy to work from for all sitting around it. Next were three chairs which were much easier. The prince had selected one sitting chair that wouldn't be missed from three nearby guest rooms. They all matched, a red carved wood with golden cushions that were so comfortable I wanted to fall asleep on them as soon as they were in place. Lastly was a small shelf for Rorik to keep his things on. As a final touch, I got a coat rack and a rolled-up rug from the storage to bring in.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Rorik fell into his chair behind the desk, as tired as the rest of us. 

Rorik raised more questions than answers. That was nothing new, he'd sent my head reeling since the first night I'd met him. But as much as he reminded me of Davery, the stark differences between them were startling. When had it started to slip that the person before me could have my head ten times over for what he knew about me? And yet his goals aligned with my own.

Let's just hope it stays that way.

 "Sit, sit." Rorik announced. "Rules for this room, you don't have to ask to sit down, and no bowing. Gods, I'm tired of the bowing."

We took our seats. Spreading out the map carefully, Rorik arranged candles on the corners so it wouldn't roll up. Then he spread out his other notes and lists. Pettypiece went for a pitcher of water and glasses for them, likely they would become a permanent addition to the room. Making a mental note to scout those storage rooms before I left, I figured we could use a small serving cart or table for food and drinkwear.

"Captain, what did you find out from the men you spoke to?" Rorik leaned forward, elbows on the desk. He took notes as the Captain spoke. I was surprised to find how good Pettypiece was at casually getting important secrets from men under him. Normally you aren't as free-tongued in the presence of your superiors, but if they were comfortable around the captain of the guard it just spoke even more to his character.

Apparently, the council has become very tight-lipped around their own homes, not speaking to their servants. Probably nothing too unusual, but the guests they had over in the past couple of months were. Pettypiece was able to give Rorik a list of nobles that visited any council member at unusual times or for lengthy hours. Rorik seemed to find several of them amusing and some of them came as a surprise. I recognized few of them, but in the end there were about two dozen families including the council themselves that could be conspirators. Probably at least a dozen of them were.

"Well, that was enlightening. A lot of those names have a tendency to seek Father's favor. Alright, ladymaid, what do you have for us?"

I ignored the nickname, and told him.I told him what I'd heard, the classes saying it, and which districts were the most grumbly about it. He asked for some details on how I got into certain places, particularly the Gilded Swan. He laughed at my description of the evening and the audacity of Bricker. Truthfully, I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of that night without Bricker, but now in the light of another day I could at least admit it was an entertaining story.

"So now we have the pieces of the puzzle, let's put them all together." Rorik opened his lock box and took out several flat, colored glass stones. He laid them out on the map over the buildings the council had bought in the last six months, I saw what he was doing and helped. He had enough colors to code which nobles had bought them too. When they were all done a third of the city was under the glass pieces.

"We have a good chunk of Unays that the lower classes can't afford. We have some city even the middle classes can't afford. We have soldiers looking for jobs that aren't there, and housing in temples or on the streets." Rorik clicked his tongue at that. "No way to treat good men who served, no way at all. Houses are going unused while Unayans shiver in the streets."

"What about the grain?" Pettypiece asked. Rorik moved his attention to the list they had made earlier.

"Ah yes, adding to the already substantial problem of the monopolized housing, let's put the fear of starvation into the people. Even bread of all things is being affected. If what Salysta said is right, I believe the same families that bought up the city have half of this year's grain harvest as well." Rorik fell back into his chair, running his fingers through his hair. "What a mess."

"We know who's really behind it," I began. "Couldn't we deal with him directly somehow?"

He looked up, a tired expression on his face.

"I know. But he has the position of Master of Secrets for a reason. He's a very careful man, he knows everything that goes on in this city and has covered his tracks well. Nothing illegal has been done per se, but if I get my way when Father comes back there will be a law regarding the percentage of the city one person can own. He's clever that one, I would have had my father and brothers back sooner but I'm fairly sure my letters would have been intercepted and I feared to send anything important."

"Would there be anything in his estate to incriminate him?" Pettypiece chimed in.

"Possibly, it would be hard to find without searching the place, but noble is practically a king in his own home. Even the crown can't search it without notice, the agreement of the meeting of house-heads, and a very, very good reason. Otherwise, we would lose the support of the most powerful families in the kingdom."

"Wouldn't they have to just, listen?" I asked. "I mean, the king orders a search of a property that's final isn't it?"

"If only, ladymaid." Rorik rubbed his temples. "What would happen if we crossed the nobles enough? They could do any number of things. They could unite their soldiers against us, most of our army is made of their retainers. They could up and leave the country, you don't think someone like say, the Winterlys who own most of the iron industry, would affect us? They could take the rights to their mines and their wealth and buy a baronhood in the empire or Lindmead or Selstad. We would eventually get the mines back up and running but what would we do in the meantime?"

"I shouldn't have asked." I shuddered.

He tilted his head, watching me as he tapped a finger on the desk. "Salysta, the people who helped your brother before, would they be willing to help you as well? If I got them the proper documents would they be willing to gather and hunt in the royal forest and feed the ones they know need it?"

My lips parted in surprise. "Yes! They would be happy to help. To have something like that to do again . . ." It would mean everything to us.

"Very good, I'll have enough for three to enter all week prepared by morning. Can you pick them up at the front gate?" Rorik seemed to direct the question at both of them. The captain and I both nodded.

"Yes, definitely." I was still grinning when Rorik steered the topic back to Lord Girault.

"Now, a little of the food problem can be relieved, how do we catch the sly old fox at his game?" The prince scratched his chin.

"What do you propose?" Pettypiece asked.

"Mason gets back next week. The week after is the Shadow Masquerade. I want to talk to Mason before we do anything. He's got a steady head on his shoulders and is much more forceful at meetings with the council than Braeton. Actually . . ." Rorik sat up and looked at me. "You heard our friend meet someone during the Harvest festival, right? In the courtyard."

"Yes," I said slowly.

"Tail him again. At the ball. It's the perfect cover to meet and talk to anyone you don't want to be seen at your house if it's being watched. And knowing him, he always assumes he's being watched. See if you can put any more names on our list."

"The ball? As a servant?"

"No, someone who won't be questioned moving around freely, and someone who won't be stopped to run an errand. Go as Lady Salysta," he mused.

I sighed. "Of course, sir."

"Excellent. Shall we meet again after I can talk to Mason? The first of the month, same time, meet here." He gathered his papers and put what wasn't in use on the shelf. He gave me some coins for my help gathering information and buying clothes and a mask for the ball. So Lady Salysta would once again make an appearance.

I sighed. Maggot blooded leech muncher nobles. I just couldn't get away.