Chapter 1

“The letter is the message.”

I had been informed I had a letter when I returned from a day at the vineyard, checking progress on Marc’s work in replanting and tending to maintenance needed since he took over managing the property. I read the deciphered note once more and then turned back to the letter from Devon.

I read the letter twice. It was more flowery than I expected, but then I guessed he wanted to convey as much meaning as possible. It was obvious that Herman was Dr. Jack Dryden, the only conspirator from Porto Bari. Lady Frederic must be Dr. Vanda Kenyon, since she was the only woman researcher involved. Reading between the lines, Devon suspected she had killed her co-conspirator. His reasoning was much less clear. I glanced at the clock and slipped the letter into my pocket without the separate decoded message that it hid. Grandmother would want to know what Devon had shared.

Minutes later, she read carefully and pondered the handwritten note.

“It sounds like Dryden wanted to strike his own deal with the King in the Clouds and Kenyon killed him for it. At least that is the most logical conclusion,” she said.

“I agree. Why would he want to make his own deal? Why would death be the only option for her to pursue?” I asked.

“That is something you’ll need to dig into,” she said. “Plans will have to change. We can’t let this trail grow cold. Devon won’t be able to follow leads in the Free Cities if he is on his way to the Kingdom as he indicates. You need to go back to the Capital. Coordinate with your father and ImpSec to find out more of what Dryden and Kenyon were working on before they dropped out of sight. Your father may already have additional details. Dryden was a chemist. You have sufficient skills to investigate his work. Kenyon specialized in botany, if I recall. I don’t know what the linkage between them was but suspect some natural occurring reaction that had beneficial effects on their rejuvenation process. She was working at a lab in the capital. Go follow the trail of breadcrumbs.”

I nodded. I had just been to the capital the week before.

“Take Samantha, if she wishes to go. You can let her know the case we are working, but don’t overshare methods we use, yet. Understand?”

“Yes, grandmother.”

“Ten spent more time in the capital, so don’t take her with you. I know you took Eleven last trip. Perhaps Twelve should go this time?”

While it was phrased as a question, I took it to be a command. I nodded.

“If nothing else, I’ll see if she can learn some under the chef at the club.”

“Lady Antonia is the general manager there. Have you met her?”

I shook my head. “No, at least not that I recall. Prior to last week, I had only visited the club in the capital briefly for specific training with mother or father.”

“You mother may be present in the club. If you interact with her, please do it privately, away from public eyes. Are you planning on staying with them again?”

“I don’t know. If Samantha accompanies me, maybe. Otherwise, I might be better staying in the club or one of our hotels. I also don’t want to visit ImpSec buildings from anyplace except the club, incase I’m followed.”

She nodded. “You know your tradecraft well. Good. Keep me posted on your planned return dates or if you need to travel elsewhere.”

It went without saying that I was not to put specific details in my messages. We did not think anyone could tap our communications but knew better than to take a chance on that. I would report back in person, just as most of the updates since the attempted coup had been delivered.

Samantha was at my apartments when I got home. Eleven and Ten were giving her a massage on the patio, with the thick curtain pulled around and the outside heaters blazing even as steam rose from the pool. Samantha had finished her project presentations for the term, endured three dinners with grandmother, and been invited to begin club floor manager training once the collegium term started. I felt she could use a little pampering on her break.

Ten was working her shoulders while Eleven was focused on her delectable derrière and upper thighs. I smiled at the play of oiled hands on her light brown skin and debated interrupting her. Instead, I turned and went to the kitchen. Twelve was working on dinner.

“Welcome home, Master,” she said. I had commanded her not to drop to her greeting position when she was cooking, and I arrived or interrupted her. I’d rather not risk ruining a meal.

“Good evening, Twelve. What’s for dinner?” I had been trying to soften my approach to my servants since Allia had moved back into her own apartment nearer grandmother. She had spent less time in my household once a routine was established and the conditioning had been complete. Now, she appeared once every ten-day or so to make sure standards were not slipping.

“Simple fare, master. Braised beef with roasted vegetables,” she replied.

“It smells wonderful.”

She smiled and I poured myself a small glass of red wine from the bottle she was using with the beef dish. It was dryer than I usually preferred, but still very tasty.

“Did you spend much time in the capital in your prior life, Twelve?”

She glanced up from her pots and shook her head. “No, master. This slave visited the capital a couple of times but had no friends or close associates there. This slave’s former husband spent a ten-day a quarter or there abouts at the capital for business.”

I nodded. “You’ll be accompanying me there in a couple of days. I’ll give some more details tomorrow. Eleven may join as well. I’m not sure how long Lady Samantha and I will be visiting yet. Ten will remain behind and can eat with my grandmother’s servants, so don’t overstock anything that won’t keep.”

“Of course, master,” she said. I imagined there was almost enough sass in her voice to warrant a correction but decided to let it go this once. The kitchen was her domain, after all. She did not really need me reminding her how to manage it.

I took my wine and returned to the master bedroom, settling in a chair with a clear view of Samantha receiving her massage. The sight of Ten and Eleven oiling and rubbing her smooth skin was enticing and relaxing at the same time. I thought about the investigation I would need to undertake at the Capital.

We had compiled a dossier on each of the researchers involved, so I knew Dr. Kenyon’s passion had been the use of natural botanicals with medical application. Dryden had specialized in organic chemistry, and had several targeted anti-viral drugs credited to him. There was no published research to which both had contributed, though each had published at least one study with each of the other members of the cabal before disappearing. I would need to look into all of their papers, a task I had put off while focusing on my own studies.

I retrieved a notebook and started jotting down some notes to follow-up on. Father could get the published papers for me at the capital, if he did not already have them. I’d send a message after dinner.

I thought back on what else we knew about Kenyon and Dryden. Working on the same project requiring them to flee the empire, but never publishing together made me think they either never published because their findings were kept secret, or that they had some pre-existing animosity. I made another note. I would need to see where and when they studied. Perhaps there was personal animosity between them. Finally, I thought about the company they had worked in. Dryden had been in the pure medical research part of his former company. Kenyon had moved around more. I couldn’t recall if they had ever been in the same company or reporting structure. Father would likely know that as well.

“You look very serious, darling,” Samantha said as she entered the room, wrapped in a thick white towel. She came over and kissed me soundly.

I gave her a smirking leer and flicked my fingers at the bottom of her towel, barely touching the warm skin of her thighs. “I’m serious about admiring you,” I teased. “Can I see more?”

She laughed and stepped back. “Perhaps, but you’ll have to do it in the sauna.”

I agreed to that stipulation and followed her to the small sauna in the bathroom, next to the shower. She dropped her towel and looked back over her shoulder with a smile.

“Don’t let me get too hot without you,” she teased before opening the door and stepping inside.

I hurried to strip down and was handed two towels by Eleven as I joined Samantha in the dry heat of the sauna. She was stretched out on one of the benches, with her back against the wooden wall and legs stretched out before her with her ankles crossed. I took the opposite bench and corner, facing her.

“What were you working on so intently?” she asked.

“I’ve got to return to the capital again,” I said. She frowned and I knew what she was thinking so hurried on. “Do you want to join me on this trip?” I asked.

Her look softened. “How long will we be there?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I need to meet with Father and some others. We’re trying to make sure the last conspirators in the most recent coup are accounted for.”

“Coup?” her eyes were wide.

I had not previously told her details of what sent me to Cardino. I deeply breathed in the hot air surrounding us, exhaled slowly, and began my story.

“You went to school with Eleven?” she asked as I covered how I gained my household staff.

I nodded.

“And now she’s your indenture?”

I nodded again.

“I never would have guessed, based on how she and you act. Were you involved with her at school?”

“Not really, but there is a story there. We can talk about it later. Let me get on with the tale of the researchers and what is going on there.” I did not really want to get into conditioning of our servants. That would tell her more about how we did some things than grandmother or I would be comfortable with her knowing right now.

Samantha listened raptly as I told her of Devon’s letter and what I needed to do in the capital. “So, it could be a few days there, or it could be longer, depending on what we can find. It’s possible, we’ll need to go to Porto Bari from the Capital before returning here.”

Samantha was quite for a minute, with her eyes closed while she thought. “You mentioned needing to visit both the capital and Porto Bari clubs anyway,” she said. “Did you ever learn what your grandmother expected you to look at while doing those visits?”

It was my turn to nod. “Yes. She wanted me to meet the general managers, review the personnel in the management team, and evaluate operations with an eye toward rotating and promoting people across the regional clubs. She thinks some of our more senior people will be retiring in the next year or two and wants to make certain our regional succession plans are solid.”

“Is that something I could help with?” she asked. “It might free up your time for the investigation while giving us both reason to visit clubs and ask nosey questions.”

It was a good idea and I said as much. “We’d need to give you a crash course on how we train, rotate, and promote people, but you could definitely help once we do that. It’s an excellent idea. I’ll invite ourselves to breakfast with grandmother in the morning and we can discuss it further then. Thank you,” I added.

She smiled, uncrossed her ankles, and lifted and spread her knees enough to show me the dark strip of hair above her delicate womanhood. “It’s too hot in here to do much,” she said. “But I could give you a little show, if you like?”

I liked. By the time her fingers were done, she had not only shown me her delightful body, but she had also proven it was not too hot for her to feast atop of me on the wooden bench while I lapped her to several orgasms. We were both very relaxed by the time we exited and showered before dinner.

The lab building was chained shut, but father had provided keys and a letter from the current lien holder allowing me to inspect it for possible purchase. Twelve gave a shudder as she read the name on the placard beside the door while I removed the lock and unwrapped the chain from the door handles. A second key unlocked the door.

“Are you alright, Twelve?” I asked as I slipped the lock from the chain into my pocket.

She was wearing a warm work coat, a dark stocking cap, loose gray pants and a pair of hastily acquired work boots. I was dressed as a low or possibly hard-working high-guilder, ready to inspect a disused property.

“Yes, master. This slave just remembered how vile a man she was married to previously.”

Her former family name was on the building.

“Well, that is behind you now. While he is the one that caused your current placement, I for one am glad to have met you. You are a remarkable woman.”

She snorted as we stepped inside. “You are the remarkable one, master. This slave was an arrogant, self-entitled prima donna. You are a protector of the empire, even if no one knows of it. This slave is pleased that she can be of service to the empire and you, despite what her former husband plotted.”

I thought to speak more but demurred. “Let’s see what there is left of Dr. Kenyon’s office here,” I said.

We took the stairs upward, unsure which floor the good doctor had her offices on. I suspected it would be closer to the top, fourth floor, but wanted to look carefully, in case anyone was keeping an eye on us. I needed to appear to be genuinely interested in the property, not just looking for scattered clues.

We had arrived in the capital two days ago and settled into a small suite at the club. I’d met with both father and our ImpSec contact to start pulling the threads on Dr. Kenyon and Dr. Dryden’s former life. Samantha had taken on the club management audit after three intense days of training with grandmother and Master Geraldo back in Cardino. I still had a role to play in those reviews but had decided to take a brief trip to a suburb of the capital to see the last known workplace of Dr. Kenyon.

The lab had been closed and the property confiscated as part of the judiciary proceedings against Twelve’s husband. I knew Dr. Kenyon had not worked here for several months prior to the coup attempt being unraveled, but still wanted to see it with my own eyes. She had worked from this building for nearly seven years. If nothing else, I wanted to at least get a feel for her environment.

Twelve and I walked through the first two floors, seeing old pages scattered across the floor where they had fallen during the arrests and confiscations. Indentations in carpet showed where desks and filing cabinets had once rested. ImpSec was still going through most of the files collected from this and the other properties. I doubted they would find anything.

On the third floor, I was surprised to find a corner office with Dr. Kenyon’s name plate affixed by the open door. Why would she have an office here if she had left well before the seizure? I stepped inside but held up a hand to keep Twelve at the doorway.

“Master?” she asked.

The room had a built-in desk. The drawers were opened and empty. There was a sun-stain showing where a terminal and possibly desk blotter had been placed for an extended period. The chair had been taken, which seemed strange. I stood where the chair should have been and slowly surveyed the room.

“Why would the doctor have an office kept here after she fled the Empire?” I asked I searched the space methodically with only my eyes.

Twelve frowned.

One wall was the windows looking outside to overlook greenspace behind the building. A glass wall without blinds separated the room from the open office space of the main floor. A third wall was covered with empty bookshelves. The last wall was covered with a beige sound absorbing textile. I saw some additional shadows there where pictures or plaques had shielded the fabric from the afternoon sun that must have flooded the room.