Chowa made the preparations. She instructed Lanna to shower and get herself as clean as possible. 'Your hair will need to come off,' Chowa said as she made up a formula to keep Lanna asleep.

'It will grow back,' Lanna muttered. Her resolve wouldn't be shaken by something so shallow.

'There may be some physiological differences. I will not know to what extent your lower mind will be affected until the implant is settled. There may be some limited memory loss.'

'I'll be fine,' Lanna replied. What did it matter?

Frez shaved her head and the brown locks dropped to the floor. Thick hair for a cold climate. She didn't need it.

'Are you sure?' he whispered while Chowa busied herself with equipment. 'This is an experiment.' That was as much of a criticism as he could manage.

'I am,' Lanna replied. 'Her voice... I can't get it from my mind.'

How could she ever forget that desperate plea for orders? Jane Franklin, a woman so revered Lanna's people had named one of the moons after her, begging to be told what to do in the midst of utter devastation.

Her concerns were minuscule.

Lanna dressed in a clean linen tunic and Chowa laid her on a metal bench brought from her laboratory. Lanna gasped as the cold metal touched her skin. She wavered for a moment when she caught a glimpse of the unfamiliar tools on a tray beside her head. Epen put a linen sheet over the glinting silver instruments. One looked suspiciously like a saw.

Lanna swallowed her fear, and Chowa smiled as she placed a metal cup over Lanna's nose and mouth.

'Thank you,' she said and brushed leather-gloved fingers over Lanna's forehead. The cup smelt sweet and in under a minute she could hardly stay awake. Frez gripped her hand, blue eyes locked on hers.

'I'm here,' he breathed. 'I'll watch over you.'

Lanna drifted off.

***

Throbbing, warm wetness dripping down her ear and neck. Flashes of blood, bone. An apron stained red.

'Get her back under!' a voice roared, hurting her ear – she could hear through only one. A stinging bite in the skin of her arm and she sank once more.

***

When she opened her eyes again, the thick grogginess of her mind wouldn't let her remember where she was. She lifted a hand to her head to find her scalp heavily bandaged.

'Don't,' a voice commanded.

The ruler of the Empire knelt on her sleeping mat. He pulled her questing fingers from her head. Ashioto's perfect face swam into view as her lazy eyes focused. He gave her a tight smile and pressed her hand to her side, patting the back of it as he did so.

'Chowa is resting, or she would be here herself. She spent four hours putting the implant in. From what I was told, it is installed correctly and should work once programmed.'

Lanna tried to ask what he meant, but he put a finger to her lips.

'Don't talk, just look.' He held up a black box. 'I've had this in my rooms thinking I would never have to use it. Yet here I am.'

He opened the box. Inside was an oddly shaped piece of jewellery, encrusted with shimmering stones. It looked like a large fishing hook and she realised it would go over her ear. An ear jewel rested on the corner of the box for her other ear, smaller in size but made of the same bright white metal. 'These belong to the Imperial seer. They're to be worn whenever you leave your room. What their function is specifically I know not, but those were the instructions left by the last of my ancestors to have a seer.' He snapped the box closed and she winced. Despite the pain remover in her blood, her right ear ached.

'I have also ordered new clothing for you. Hoods to cover your head until your hair returns. Your new rooms are being prepared here and in the other halls of the palace. You will be by my side, no matter where in the palace I go.' His hand slipped into hers. 'You will want for nothing. I cannot thank you enough. Together we will change the world and make it better.'

Lanna nodded, unable to reply. Ashioto seemed so animated. His eyes pulled her in with his conviction.

'Seer Li,' he whispered. 'Will you be that for me?'

She nodded again, not daring to look from him.

He smiled. 'Then rest. We have work to do.'

Her vision blurred and her eyes fluttered closed, as if her body already obeyed all of Ashioto's commands.

A vision, a whisper. The sting of ice-cold air against her face. White, bright. Like snow in full sun.

'L-an-na.'

A voice, perfect Southern, but with an odd twang. An accent she had heard before and recently. She couldn't remember – she was lost. She should get home. Her family would be worried.

'L-an-na.'

'Who's there?' she called out. 'I can't stay; I must return.'

'There is no going back; you have made yourself a slave. They will reach into your platinum cage to pluck the bright feathers from you. One by one.'

She frowned and gestured with her mittened hands to the empty landscape.

'I am in no cage,' she said, her voice echoing as if she were in a cave.

'Your prison is your own mind.' The voice moved closer. 'You cannot escape. In their ignorance, they will use what they cannot understand, and you shall suffer for it.'

Lanna jumped as she felt hands fasten around her forearms. Was there someone behind her? Yes, she could feel the breath on the back of her neck. Warm breath – warmer than she expected in this cold place. The hands on her fur-covered arms were so pale they were almost the same colour as the snow.

'Who are you?' Lanna demanded as she shuddered. She pulled against the hands that held her arms, but they didn't move.

'I am the only one who knows what has been done to you. I am the only one who can liberate you and teach you to control what you now are. Before it kills you,' the voice whispered into her ears like a breeze.

The hands crossed her arms over her chest. She did not fight as he— Wait, he? Yes, yes, he pulled her into an embrace from behind. Warmth seeped into her furs. His hands and arms weren't covered against the elements. She could feel him, even though her furs.

'L-an-na,' he breathed in her ear once more. 'Strength of the wind... in the old language. You are aptly named. They haven't even asked you what your name means, the ones that own you. They are ignorant and arrogant. Be on your guard. Always keep in mind that these are the ancestors of those who watched your people die so they could save themselves.'

Lanna stiffened, awareness hitting her with the full force of lucidity. She didn't stand on the great ice fields. She lay on a sleeping mat in a palace, recovering from having a device put in her head.

'My time is short.' The voice cut through her alarmed thoughts. He pulled her to him more tightly. 'While I am your salvation, you are also mine. None here but you can hear me. I don't know where I am, but I am kept within the palace. I hear voices, including yours.'

The voice deepened and almost growled.

'Free me, Lanna. Free me, and we will leave this place.' His words weren't a request: he demanded her assistance.

The dream cut out and she sat upright from her mat, panting. Lanna wiped the sweat from her brow with a trembling hand, avoiding the metal staples that held her head together on the right side. At least the swelling had gone down, and the bruising had faded from her face and ear. The fuzz of new hair prickled over her scalp.

Lanna got to her feet, legs unsteady. She would see the Emperor in a few hours. They were going to test her.

For this test, Lanna did not have to do or know anything. If the test worked, she would be 'Seer' or in High Imperial 'Gisenni.' Lanna frowned at the term, then shuffled to her small rack of scrolls in the corner. She would not be in her assistant's quarters for much longer if she passed Ashioto's test.

Shuddering hands extracted a basic translation guide for High Imperial and then she knelt to puzzle out one convoluted symbol at a time. Squinting in the oil lamp light she rubbed at the back of her neck. The end of the symbol 'nni,' she knew already – sight. But it the first part of the symbol puzzled her.

High Imperial was a mess of brush strokes. The simplified forms in everyday use bore some resemblance to the characters, but were cleaner and uncluttered. She eventually stumbled over the reference she sought. Lanna stared at the symbol for a long time.

'Gis – sacrifice,' she whispered.

Her full title in High Imperial meant 'sacrifice to sight.' Her dream clouded over her awareness, hot breath in her ear whispering, 'I am the only one who can liberate you and teach you to control what you now are. Before it kills you.'

She swallowed and put the scroll away. Everything had a cost. Was her life part of that? She did not know.

Lanna dressed and slipped a white silk hood over her head. Epen came to collect her. The man looked through her, rather than at her.

'Come, they wait.' She nodded to him in response and followed meekly behind the big man. The silence felt awkward, and Lanna wanted to squirm. What could she say? She should ignore him. A good Imperial did not grieve openly. Epen would want no public acknowledgement of his loss – still. Lanna was not a good Imperial.

When they turned through yet another anonymous corridor that seemed empty, she pulled at his sleeve.

'What is it?' he asked without energy.

'Thank you,' she said in a small voice.

He tipped his face towards her. He seemed puzzled.

'For what?'

'Everything. You have taken care of me and aided in my education; it occurred to me that I had never once said thank you. I appreciate your kindness and only wish I could repay you.'

He stared at her.

'You are in pain,' she continued. Resting a hand on his forearm. 'I see it. Should you need aid, I am here.'

The man continued to stare at her and Lanna's heart fell. He must think her insane. What could she possibly do that could help? He did not even like her.

'My thanks,' he said at last. A large hand covered her own. 'My life is yours, Misna.'

The title startled her. Misna? She was not a concubine or married.

A tiny smile pulled at Epen's face.

'It shall be the correct form of address when you are elevated. You will be bound to the Empire. No others may lay claim to you. The nation itself will be your spouse.'

Lanna moistened her lips. It sounded bigger and more intimidating than she had expected. The tool of the Emperor, Chowa had said, not servant of the entire country. Lanna resolved to do a little investigating next time she visited the Hall of Law. Ignorance could be lethal if her dream was anything to go by.

'Come,' Epen said, letting go of her hand and turning to walk away. His tone was a shade warmer. 'Your fate awaits; I hope for your sake it is a favourable one.'

They made their way before the massive doors of Ashioto's rooms and the sword maidens bowed low, then admitted them. Chowa stood next to the screens. Green silk covered her, though she had her work apron over the top.

A covered dish rested on a marble bench in front of her. The screens to the garden were firmly closed, afternoon light filtering through to give the alabaster flooring a warm glow.

Lanna swallowed her nerves and approached the bench. Ashioto rose from where he sat in the corner of the room and gave Lanna a smile. His eyes moved over her from slippered feet to hood.

'You are rested enough? You still seem to lack your normal... vibrancy,' he muttered as he moved closer and looked up at her.

'I am well, Your Highness,' she whispered and bowed before he could say anything else.

Chowa strolled towards her and pulled the hood down. Lanna frowned. It would have been nice if she had a warning. The Emperor's eyes flew to Lanna's scalp and he winced.

'It is necessary,' Chowa said. 'The staples will come out soon.'

Sympathy filled the boy's face. Lanna could not tell if the emotion was real. She took nothing for granted with the boy emperor, having been duped already.

Ashioto raised a hand, and a finger ran lightly over the puckered skin between the staples. Lanna had to force down the instinct to pull away.

'Are you in pain?' he asked, eyes still on what would be a scar she carried for the rest of her life.

'No. Weak, tired, but not in pain.'

The Emperor turned to Chowa. 'How is this done?' he asked, fingers dropping from Lanna's scalp.

'If you permit me, there will be pain for you to endure, Your Highness.'

He nodded as if he had been expecting as much. 'Do what you need to,' he intoned, resolution in his eyes and posture.

Chowa took his hand and lifted the cover on the bowl at her side. From it, she took a fine needle. Then pierced one of his manicured fingers. Blood welled from the tiny wound. The Emperor did not flinch. Lanna had half hoped the pampered boy would faint.

A tube, fine as a reed and made of glass entered the drop of blood. The red liquid moved up the glass, as if by Chowa's will alone. No force that Lanna could see pulled the blood upwards.

The tiny cylinder filled with a sample, Chowa set it to one side before cleaning the site of the pinprick. Ashioto rolled his eyes and demanded she stop. He placed his finger in his mouth and sucked the blood away, heedless of Chowa's glare.

'Hush, I get worse shaving, and you are not there to cluck over me then. Attend to our potential seer.'

The chemist took Lanna by the shoulders and grabbed the sample of blood. Then she felt Chowa pull the shell of her ear forward to get to the small metal stud behind it.

Slight pressure pushed against her skin and then Chowa breathed two words in Lanna's ear, so quiet the Emperor could not have heard them.

'I'm sorry.' Chowa stepped away, the blood gone. A buzz started in Lanna's ear, like the clouds of mosquito that plagued the gardens in the rains. She rubbed at it. Her finger came back clean. Where was the blood?

'The command words,' Chowa instructed. 'Make contact and say them. If all is installed correctly, the bionic implant will integrate with the neural circuitry.'

Ashioto stepped forward and took Lanna's right hand in both of his.

'Command override, unlock code 6289,' he intoned. 'Access intel on genetic match.'

For the first time in her life, Lanna felt herself mentally shoved to one side. Her mouth moved without her say so. She could not see. A darkness confined her, enclosed her. Like... a prison. Every moment seemed a year. She struggled, tried to cry out, tell them she could not see. Tell them she could not move, paralysed, locked in a body that would not obey.

Panic, utter panic, flooded her with no outlet. She could not run; she could not fight. Her heart would not even speed up in response to her distress.

Trapped.

A blinding flash heralded her return. Lanna's eyes opened, she groaned. The floor at her back chilled her shoulders. Her head rested on one of the silk cushions from Ashioto's canopied bed. Chowa hovered over her, a small smile on her face.

'It works,' she whispered. The chemist seemed to be on the verge of tears. Lanna frowned. The experience had not been too dissimilar from her seizures, except she felt no pain and her body did not twitch.

'I-I thought I was lost,' she stammered.

'You will get used to it,' said Chowa.

'What happened?'

'You gave us a foretelling.' Chowa's, eyes shone with emotion. 'Ashioto left for the Hall of Law. Plans need to be set in motion to counter the threat.'

'Threat?'

Chowa placed a cup of water to her lips and Lanna drank greedily.

'That is what the implant does, or what I hoped it would do. It enables you to be the most precious of people to the Emperor.'

Chowa helped her sit. Surprisingly, Lanna didn't feel dizzy. There were gloves on her hands that hadn't been there when she'd dressed. Supple leather and skin-tight.

'You were able to foretell who is going to assassinate the Emperor.'

Lanna gawked at Chowa. The chemist put a hand to Lanna's cheek with affection, then remembered herself and the touch slid from Lanna's skin.

'Everything will change. You are now the most powerful woman in the palace. This is my gift to you; in return, you will serve Ashioto and help him establish a firm grip on the throne. An emperor with a seer is difficult to remove.'

'While I live,' Lanna said, her dream still heavy on her mind.

Chowa flinched as if struck and, for a moment, Lanna saw a flash of guilt in her expression.

'We all die,' Chowa said at last. 'How many of us will be remembered as you will be?'

'How long do I have?' Lanna asked. No, just like her dream, she demanded. This woman who manipulated and plotted as easily as breathing, she would answer her. No more concealing the truth.

'That depends,' Chowa replied. 'Master the implant and you have as long as any of us. Fail, and you have around five years, perhaps less.'

Lanna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. 'The meditations?'

'Designed to change your mental state so you would not reject the implant,' Chowa replied.

The chemist sat back on her heels and then slowly pressed her forehead to the floor beside Lanna.

'For any and all falsehoods I have undertaken in the name of making you Seer I am sorry. You will be elevated before the entire palace in a few days' time. When that happens, Misna Li, you will outrank me, and I shall be your servant. Please treat me with respect and allow me to continue my work. It will benefit us all.'

Lanna remained silent for a long time; her head spun. Chowa would be her superior no more? Part of her mourned that. Who would guide her? Who would shelter her from the thorns of the palace and spare her from barbs she couldn't even see before they drew blood?

'I have requested of the Emperor that I oversee your medical care. Together we will master the implant, should you agree to work with me.'

Lanna nodded, not even able to countenance the changes yet. She needed to come to grips with what had happened – something had shut her away from her body while she foretold of the death of the Emperor. Could she see the future? She doubted that. The histories spoke of no such capability of her ancestors.

A sudden thought struck her.

'This implant isn't human technology – why does it work on me?' she blurted out.

Chowa didn't move from the floor.

'It is captured ancient technology of the Aug,' Chowa replied. 'It works for you because of your heritage. You are of mixed race. Somewhere, in your ancestry, there is Aug blood. A crossbreeding to bring their talents to your human bloodline.'

It was too much. Blackness roared up and Lanna fainted.