Lanna fell into a routine. Every evening Chowa would call her to study in her tent, though a few nights after the raid Lanna received orders to attend Chowa earlier than normal. Puzzled, Lanna rushed to her tent, arriving panting and flushed.

Chowa knelt at her scroll table. The portable stove in a corner of the tent crackled. Glowing embers pulsed under the lamplight; a copper kettle placed on them for tea. In another corner, three canvas bags held the chemist's belongings and materials she had brought with her from the palace.

Lanna kicked off her shoes and bowed as she entered. Rush mats covered the floor and they shouldn't be stepped on with outdoor shoes. A detail Lanna hadn't known until Chowa scolded her. No one in Eight-Nine-Two had done this.

Chowa indicated for Lanna to move to the opposite side of her table. She made to seat herself, but Chowa rolled her eyes and tapped the table with the handle of her ink brush in irritation. Ink splattered over the chemist's fingers.

'Wrong! You are a woman. You must kneel; only men should sit in company. You will be thought of as immodest if you do not kneel.' Her voice flicked out of her thin lips like a lash.

Lanna froze, confused, then knelt. Folding her legs was easy enough but how long would Chowa expect her to kneel for?

'Only whores spread their legs for strangers to see what is between them,' Chowa sneered, and Lanna flushed. Half a year in the Empire and she hadn't known this either. She bit her lip and looked at her knees. Could she crawl under the table now? What must they have all thought of her? An apology was in order.

'Forgive me, Misra. I didn't mean to offend.' The words stuck in Lanna's throat, but she forced them out.

'Your village was filled with ox-herders and rice farmers,' Chowa sneered. Dark eyes narrowed and Lanna's heart sank. 'I'm not teaching you how to drink tea with farmers. These are the mannerisms of the palace and they are as complex as they are elegant and beautiful.' She peered down her nose and Lanna's blush deepened. 'You are no longer a farm hand. Forget your former expectations.'

Chowa's words turned to a lecture on noble hierarchy. Lanna did her best to listen but kneeling for an hour proved agony. Her legs throbbed and became numb.

'So, you see, in becoming my assistant you have neatly sidestepped the normal requirements needed to rise in rank,' Chowa intoned as she sipped her third cup of tea. 'Most would need three generations of manoeuvring and political alliances to ascend to your level and enter into palace service directly.'

Lanna nodded, attempting to look suitably humbled. All she really wanted was to stretch her legs. Should she be worried that she could no longer feel them? Were her toes even there anymore? Or had some strange Imperial rodent nibbled them off?

'That is enough for tonight. You may rest.' Chowa gave an elegant wave of dismissal.

Lanna bit back a sigh of relief and made to rise, but her legs refused to follow her order and she fell forward onto her hands. Lanna winced and attempted to drag her uncooperative legs round in front of her. In moving, blood rushed to starved muscles and sharp, tingling pain followed, causing her to whimper.

Lanna glanced upward, expecting to be scolded for the display of weakness.

'Idiot child.' Chowa sighed, yet there was no bite in her tone. Rather she seemed disappointed, a slight downward turn to her thin lips.

'You would endure pain in silence and say nothing? What do you think we are here for? How can you concentrate if you are uncomfortable?' Chowa snapped then turned to Epen as he folded clothes at the back of the tent. He had been so quiet Lanna had forgotten he was there.

'Aid the wilful child.'

Epen rose from his task to kneel with grace before Lanna. He was of an age with her father. Lanna found herself intimidated again by his height and bulk, to say nothing of his piercing eyes and almost black skin. He had lifted her so easily the night of the raid. There was pure power in the corded muscles under his tunic.

Her unease spiked when he pulled up her skirt and started to knead the muscles in her lower legs. Her eyes widened, and she attempted to pull herself from him but forced down her outraged reaction. Obey – she had to obey.

'Th-There's no need for that,' she stuttered, rather than yelling an insult.

'Nonsense,' Chowa murmured over the edge of yet another bamboo scroll. 'Epen's knowledge of anatomy is as extensive as my own. Be still and let him help.'

Cheeks aflame, Lanna eyed the man warily. A shadow of a smile tweaked at his full dark lips.

'I only surround myself with those I deem to have the potential to excel. That includes palace slaves,' Chowa muttered at her scroll.

Lanna nearly shrieked and a sudden chill gripped her chest. Slavery? In ancient times the Augmented had wanted to see all humanity enslaved. Was this what her people had sacrificed themselves for? So the Empire could enslave people?

Lanna frowned. There were no slaves in Eight-Nine-Two. No one even mentioned the possibility of owning someone. She counted slowly in her head. Clan instincts had no place in her new life.

'Slaves?' she finally enquired, trying to let no emotion colour her tone.

Chowa sniffed and pinned Lanna with a hard look. 'Get those Southern ideals out of your head,' she ordered. 'Slaves are part of how our ruling class operates.' Chowa gestured to Epen, who still massaged Lanna's feet. 'Epen's family are all slaves. Even his children are expected to choose to be such. They have received the best education. He and his wife can read and write in five languages. They have but to ask and they can be trained in anything they wish, from the defensive arts to current fashions in cookery.'

Chowa's eyes flicked back to Lanna, watching her as a fangcat did a snowhare. 'Slaves do not have to worry where their meals come from or where they will sleep. They are a status symbol – only those of high rank can afford to keep them. Abuse of them is not tolerated. A poorly kept slave would reflect badly on an owner.'

Lanna let Chowa's speech wash over her. The idea of slavery being widely accepted struck at the heart of her cultural prejudice. Slavery was despicable in any form. Her inner turmoil must have bled through to her expression.

Chowa folded her scroll and sighed as she put it on the table, seemingly frustrated at having to explain such things. 'While slaves certainly do not have the freedoms of others, most of them would tell you they do not wish for such. They live better than many do, and their position is sacred. They aid those who serve the Emperor. With them, the Emperor's officials do not have to concern themselves with menial tasks and thus serve our Emperor with no distractions.'

Lanna eyed Epen only to find him grinning. Did he find the conversation amusing?

'Do not tease the child. She is foreign, and her concern is natural.'

Epen's features softened. 'I am no captured drudge. My family came from the Haven Islands and have worked in the palace for two generations.' His fingers slipped from her skin and he sat back on his heels. 'Those that enslave themselves serve the Emperor. Our bodies are his in truth. People aspire to be us. Some sell themselves into slavery when the numbers in the noble houses are low. Only the most highly skilled are purchased; the rest are free to go. Some don't take the rejection well.'

He paused and added, 'There are suicides after every auction.' Then he turned his attention back to her feet, frowning at the scars left by the Blacklands. 'I can leave my post at any time, Misra, and become a worker or farmer.' The corner of his lips quirked up again. 'I would make a poor farmer.'

Perhaps she had not translated the word correctly? Epen seemed more like a novice in an Observatory; someone of strong faith.

'Um, thank you, Epen. I feel much better now.' Lanna flinched, not knowing how to address him.

'Epen-hem, Misra.' He corrected her with a smile. 'And you are most welcome. You should rest. Misra Chowa can be demanding, but she isn't unreasonable.'

'I am not demanding,' Chowa responded, speaking to yet another scroll. 'The court will be demanding.'

Lanna's head throbbed; her brain felt overfull of everything it had been asked to absorb. She bid Epen and Chowa goodnight. Once outside the tent, she paused on hearing Epen speak, low tones rumbling like distant thunder through the canvas.

'Misra, have a care. She is as snowblind as they come. Give her too much to accept at once and she'll break.'

'I am aware, Epen-hem. Be assured, if she breaks, I'll reforge her into something much more durable.'

Lanna squeezed her eyes shut. It seemed it wouldbe a long and difficult journey to the First City.