I barked a laugh, more out of wry amusement than because I truly found the situation funny. “I’ve been on Aran for too long,” I commented.

Elia sighed and adjusted the tie in her hair. “Why?”

I gestured at the ruins of the table, which was little more than charred bits of wood and dust in what used to be a comfortable sitting room. I’d put on an enchanted mask that filtered some of the smell out, at least, although it still couldn’t quite keep the ash out.

“I checked that there were no formations here, no qi anywhere,” I said, my lips twisting in mockery mostly directed at myself. “I didn’t even remember that there are other things to look out for. Chemical explosives are the kind of thing I really should have seen coming. Especially in a place like Adzur, where there’s actual know-how for it.” I frowned. “This is probably based on black powder, or nitroglycerin, or something.”

“To be fair, Your Highness,” Aston said, “it was your guards’ duty to secure the premises, and we failed in that.”

I shook my head, glancing the ring of guards surrounding us. “Keep an eye open,” I said, though they probably didn’t need the reminder. “Even odds there’s going to be some other shoe ready to drop.”

That was the main reason we hadn’t moved away yet, besides me not wanting to surrender the scene completely to the Adzurians. Chances were we’d be herded into something else set up to welcome us less than cordially. I was still tense, and I couldn’t help my fingers twitching at every sudden noise. The explosion itself hadn’t shaken me much, but something about the situation felt weird. It wasn’t what I would have expected to see from Isuro, too simple and prone to failure. Too sloppy.

“This has got to be the worst assassination attempt anyone’s ever tried on me,” I said. “Spirits, even if I’d been sitting on that table when it blew, I would have probably survived it.” I glanced at the guards again. With a healer close by and not distracted by a fight, that was even more likely.

“Hey, maybe the Adzurians are just amateurs?” Elia asked. “And you seem pretty used to this. Don’t tell me you keep a ranking.”

“Not really. Although Kei Weriga and the poison would definitely be on top. I think Hajake would make third place,” I mused. “The Pioneer’s spirits somewhere in the top five, assuming it counts as an assassination attempt.”

“Is that for chance of success or how much of a bother they were?” Aston asked, sounding like he was speaking against his better judgment.

“Now that I think about it, those coincide pretty well.”

The conversation stopped as another group of Adzurians arrived. These ones weren’t just guards, but had an official with them. The woman paled upon seeing the ruin someone had made of the guest room.

“Your Highness,” she said with a deep bow. “My lord and lady. This one humbly asks you to step aside so we can secure the site of this foul attack for investigation. Be assured that more security forces are on their way, and no one will be allowed to harm you.”

That might have been a little more reassuring to hear if it came before the explosion instead of after it. But I kept that thought off my face. “We’ll secure some of the material for our own investigation,” I told her. “But we’ll let you do your job. I expect to send some of my people to observe your analysis and investigation.”

Her face tightened a little, but she only bowed as I turned and took out a few small bags and pliers to take samples. I hadn’t phrased it as a question, and I fully intended on forcing the issue if the Adzurians got snappy about it. Luckily, it didn’t seem like they’d want to test the Empire in the wake of something like this.

“Elia, it’s probably best that you get to the temple of the Sun and start making inquiries,” I told her after I’d put up a small sound barrier. “Maybe look in on the other two on the way. Take some of the guards, and no arguments. I’ll tie them to you with steel chains if I have to.”

She sighed, but nodded. “Will you be alright?”

“Of course. I’ll go express my displeasure to whatever Adzurian politician deigned to show up, for starters.”

She departed quickly with a small group of guards flanking her, while Aston came to stand at my shoulder without a word. I glanced around again, then finally left the place. I didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to attack me under the eyes of Adzurian soldiers, who’d started swarming the place. Even if it was the government behind this, that would just be blowing off their own foot with a grenade launcher.

Apparently, it was the minister of the interior who’d shown up first, a gray-haired man who didn’t look much different from the other powerful Adzurians I’d seen. I received him in a quickly appropriated audience room that was probably meant to be a game room in another wing of the building, and didn’t offer him a seat but had him standing for the entire conversation. At least after he got up from his knees. He humbled himself pretty well, in my unfortunately by now somewhat experienced opinion, but it didn’t make me inclined to kindness.

“This has been either a grave breach of trust or a grave show of incompetence from Adzur, if not both,” I stated eventually. “The Empire will not suffer this lightly, Minister. We expect that every effort will be made to find the guilty parties, and that they will quickly meet justice. Inform the Premier that if he seeks audience, I may be inclined to grant it tomorrow. Or perhaps the day after.”

After that, there wasn’t much more to say, and the man departed quickly.

Unfortunately, I was too high-profile to really go about investigating this on my own. Instead, I stayed put for now, trying not to let my temper worsen too much, and called the others. Lei was happy enough to see what he could get from the forensics of the crime and the Adzurian investigation. Yarani would be feeling out those parties and companies with knowledge in chemistry and demolitions, with the help of a few of my guards that had subtler talents, as well as the lower-ranking diplomats in my retinue.

“I understand the appeal of summary executions a lot better now,” I told Aston.

“Perhaps you should wait to indulge that fancy until we’re back in our own country, unless you want to provoke a diplomatic incident,” he replied dryly.

“If I told you to kill someone — No, stupid question. Aston, have you made contact with Kariva’s agents in the city?”

He inclined his head. “Yes, my lady. They’re already hard at work trying to unearth the background of this attack as well as the Zarian deal.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d noticed that they seemed to prefer keeping me out of this sort of thing. Maybe because I was, on occasion, less than subtle. And I knew that contact between my people and embedded agents risked blowing their cover, since it was a given that we were being watched. I simply nodded and got myself a drink.

It was going to be a long few days until the winter solstice, I could already tell.

 

---

 

“Welcome, Premier Akind’la. Please be seated.” I smiled thinly and gestured at the chair opposite my desk.

He inclined his head and sat down. “Thank you, Princess Inaris.”

There was a moment of silence after he sat, and I used it to look at the politician and try to gauge his attitude. He was too good to show me more than a calm mask, though.

“You requested an audience,” I finally said.

His eyes tightened just a little. Irritated that I’m making a point of receiving you like a petitioner in your own palace? Tough luck. I’d made sure the formal diplomatic niceties were observed, and there could be no doubt this was in fact an audience granted by the crown princess of the Empire. One I’d taken my time in allowing, even. He might be the elected ruler of the City-State, but there could be no doubt about the objective balance of power. And in this world, especially, that informed matters of status.

“I wanted to personally express my shock and sympathy at the attempt made on your life,” he said. “I have ordered my people to use all tools at our disposal to make sure this regrettable matter is cleared up and the perpetrators brought to justice.”

“I am glad to hear that, of course,” I replied with a mechanical smile. I needed to be at least mostly diplomatic. “And I commend how well Adzurian authorities have cooperated with our own investigation. Of course, it does not change the facts that an attempt on my life was made while I was not just on Adzurian territory, but a guest of the City-State, residing on its grounds. Concerns have been raised, Premier. Some back home are worried about my safety.”

“Understandable, of course,” he replied easily. I noted he didn’t show any surprise at the revelation that I could communicate with the palace back home. “Adzur will do what it can to assuage those concerns. Should you agree, I am more than willing to assign a company of our finest, Adzur’s home defense force, to see to your safety.”

“I thank you for the offer, but that will not be necessary,” I replied. “Considering the location and manner of the attack, you will understand that there are concerns about trusting my own and my companions’ safety to any outsider.”

His face tightened a little, again. I hadn’t come out and accused the City-State of being involved in the attack, but I’d clearly implied the possibility was there. “Of course, I understand,” he replied. “We will still step up security in this quarter.”

I sat back in my seat. I hadn’t gone out much lately, and even my own guards were beginning to wear on me. I’d definitely had better days, and my patience for games with people like him was never high to begin with. I let the silence linger, hoping to invite him to get to the point.

“As a matter of fact, I have come to speak about another matter, as well,” he said. “May I be frank?”

“Please.” I smiled. “I appreciate honesty and bluntness would not offend me.”

He nodded. “As you say, Your Highness. Then, may I assume that you are aware of the incidents that have taken place off our shores and continental ports?”

“Most likely,” I said. “But in the interests of clarity, please elaborate on what you mean.”

“Attacks, on our trade if not lives.” He met my gaze squarely. “A ship carrying artifacts towards the southern coastal states. A ship carrying food towards Adzur. Another carrying miscellaneous items towards Dominion-occupied territory. All of them were halted and damaged, if not outright destroyed, by sudden swells of water, gusts of storms and even lighting. In none of the cases did the attackers hide.” He raised an eyebrow. “The sea dragons are harassing our shipping.”

I inclined my head. “Ah. Yes, I have to concede that they are.”

He frowned. “Why, Your Highness? Surely you can see that such acts of unprovoked aggression are not helping anything.”

I hid a smile and shook my head. “I’m afraid you misunderstand the situation, Premier Akind’la. These are not my actions, or the Empire’s. The sea dragons are simply acting as they decide to do, and I would not and cannot claim responsibility for that.”

He didn’t look convinced, not that I’d expected him to be. “You claim that you are not connected to this sudden hostility?”

“No, I didn’t say that.” I tapped my fingers on the desk, made of dark wood they’d probably imported from far away. “This is almost certainly a reaction to my visit here and what it has brought. You know about my friendship with the sea dragons, of course. They are displeased by what I have found here — or what has found me, so to speak, and you might say they are expressing their opinion to Adzur.”

The Premier frowned again. “So you admit you did incite them to act.”

“No, Premier.” I smiled thinly. “We are speaking of friendship, not political alliance. I admit that our own previous conversation, followed so soon by the attempt on my life, has rather soured me on this whole visit. As it happens, I complained about it to Flame-In-Dark-Waters. As one does, among friends.”

“As one does,” the Premier repeated a touch sardonically. He still seemed less than pleased.

“I did not ask them for a thing,” I stated. “I could confirm that under oath, if it comes to that, not that I think it will be necessary.”

“But you could ask them to stop,” the Premier stated, looking like he wanted to grit his teeth but was too good for that.

“Perhaps, but they might not listen.” I smiled wryly. “After all, they are perfectly aware that my relationship with Adzur, especially in the current situation, is less than stellar, so such a request might not be given much weight. I would be asking them to stop acting in what they believe to be my best interests, after all, not without reason.”

“I am grieved that you think so,” he said with a passable imitation of sincerity. “I understand that such an attack would make anyone uneasy, but I assure you that the City-State of Adzur has nothing but respect for the Empire, Your Highness. We need not be at odds.”

“And you want me to tell that to the sea dragons?” I asked, my lips quirking a little.

“Of course. Surely they understand that this is a misunderstanding, and courting enmity where there is none will not help their honored friend.”

I shook my head. “They’re spirit beasts, not idiots, Premier.” At this point, even I wasn’t quite sure where the pretense started and ended and where we were talking about our own relationship, though I suspected that he thought I was less honest about this than I actually was. “If Adzur is cooperating with the Zarian Dominion to hinder the Empire, they will not believe me if I say that we are on friendly terms, and they will certainly not deign to talk with any Adzurian official.”

The Premier nodded slowly. “I see, Your Highness. This conversation has been most illuminating. I do hope we will come to understand each other.”

After that, he changed the subject. To be fair, our points had been made. I engaged with him a little more, accepted further reassurances and what I was pretty sure were a few veiled threats about further support for the Dominion, then saw him out. He probably needed to consult with his supporters before they made any decisions on how to handle this.

I leaned back in my chair, sighing. At least the sea dragons didn’t seem to be angry at me for dragging them into this. If nothing else, Flame-In-Dark-Waters had seemed amused, and I hadn’t even needed to make any insinuations. I suspected his younger kin liked the opportunity to screw with Adzur a little. In any case, the pressure on Adzur had been turned up. I’d wait to see what came of it.

I was just about to leave when a blinking light on the device I’d placed on a side table informed me I had a message. I put up a few wards, before I let it spit out a slip of paper. Using radios or telephones wasn’t feasible for our stay in Adzur, but this device my team had designed in collaboration with Kariva’s agents had some of the best security formations could provide, and used the best cryptographic algorithms I could remember. Mostly based on qi or not, it should be far ahead of anything they could bring to bear.

I glanced at the letters the mechanism had stamped onto the paper, still a bit smudged and misaligned but readable. My eyebrow raised as I realized that it was from Lei, and he had apparently found something he considered important sniffing around one of the companies he’d been making connections with.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I’d specifically told him not to try to play spy, but it seemed like he’d done something stupid anyway.

Well, hopefully he’d at least found something worthwhile. That company was heavily associated with chemical engineering, including demolition charges, and the others had been looking into it, too. It looked like we finally had a good lead.