Imperial Adviser Bakmer was always uneasy around Sarapen. Sarapen was so large and grim. As an alien in the land of the Hainusta he shouldn’t have been able to maintain his strength, but the Empress regarded him as important enough to grant him a permanent spell of maintenance. It allowed him to survive, and flourish. Bakmer doubted than any of the imperial guards could have defeated Sarapen in combat.
Why the Empress was so keen on an alien werewolf wasn’t clear. It was very irregular and wouldn’t go down well with the population were they to learn of it. Bakmer wasn’t sure whether the two were romantically linked. If so, it was even more irregular. Scandalous really, though as reigning Empress of the Hainusta, Kabachetka was not subject to the same rules as the rest of the population. She could do much as she liked, just as her mother Asaratanti had done.
Bakmer greeted Sarapen politely when he returned to the palace. “Back from the desert so soon? I’m afraid the Empress isn’t here.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Sarapen looked suspiciously at Bakmer, whom he didn’t like at all. “I thought you kept her engagement diary.”
“I keep a copy,” Bakmer corrected him. “The main diary resides with Lady Gezinka, who is, of course, Official Diary Keeper.”
Sarapen growled. There were many court officials. It was hard to keep track of them all.
“So where is Gezinka?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know. Probably with the Empress. Unless she’s with Distikka.”
Adviser Bakmer pronounced Distikka’s name as if he had a sour taste in his mouth. Distikka was another person who surely didn’t belong in the Empress’s court. She was a foreigner, a Hiyasta. She was notably uncivil, and hardly paid any attention to the normal formalities of court behavior. Bakmer was continually jealous of her good standing with Kabachetka.
“If the Empress appears, inform her I’m looking for her,” said Sarapen.
“I will,” said Bakmer, forcing more warmth into his voice than he felt. Sarapen departed, leaving Bakmer dissatisfied. He didn’t know where the Empress was, which already made him uncomfortable. Might he be falling out of favor? It wouldn’t surprise him if Gezinka was using the opportunity to criticize him behind his back. He didn’t trust her at all. She was as bad as Alchet, the Empress’s chief handmaiden. As for Lady Tecton, who’d recently risen to prominence as the Empress’s card partner, she was as bad as the rest: scheming, devious and ambitious. Bakmer sighed. Life had been easier when Kabachetka was only a princess. Then his advisory duties had mainly related to clothes, hair and fashion. He was good at that. Now she was Empress, there seemed a lot more to worry about, and the young adviser wasn’t sure he was up to the task.