Shadows in the Smoke - 6 - Really Should Have Brought a Servant

"Prior to our glorious revolution, one of the great failings of the Kingdom of Itria was its abject refusal to make proper use of its population. By far the most obvious aspect of this was its oppression of the commonborn to the advantage of the nobility. However, that ignores another less obvious omission. The women of the Republic may be physically weaker than its men, but they are nevertheless strong, capable citizens with their own contributions to make. The pre-Republican kingdom's refusal to acknowledge the talents of its women left its society weaker and poorer than it might otherwise have been. A failing that the Republic in its quest for equality does not share."

The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

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After two days on the river, Ester was already bored. There was so much going on in places like Trevayn or Vass Karan. Even traveling overland was more interesting. There were actual hills and occasionally towns and villages. On the boat there just wasn't much to see. Flat grassland for mile upon mile as the Karan Queen's oarsmen and the wind combined with the river's sluggish current to pull them on to the west.

She leant against the railing at the edge of the deck and pretended to watch the scenery go by. The Undying Queen's subjects had died for this land when the Republic invaded, but part of her couldn't help but wonder whether it was worth it.

Ester had already spoken to most of the other passengers, although some of them seemed to be too busy, or hiding in their rooms. At least Velxe was entertaining, when she could get hold of him. He seemed to be spending a lot of time talking to his friend, Lord Nemsu, though.

She'd tried to speak to Velxe more, but he'd been a bit awkward and Lord Nemsu clearly hadn't been interested, so she'd left them to it. Anyway, he was mostly talking about nobleborn things like trade deals and politics. She knew she should be paying attention to them, but honestly couldn't bring herself to. There were so many other, more interesting things to think about!

Ester would have liked to corner Jahangir Amini, but Velxe sulked whenever she mentioned him and if she tried to speak to the man without him, he'd pop up out of nowhere. Just for long enough to put her off before he went back to his other conversations. She was starting to think that Velxe was deliberately trying to stop her speaking to the man. It didn't make any sense. She really didn't know what he had against him. Even if Velxe didn't like his writing, that was no reason to react so negatively to him.

Almost as good as Jahangir Amini would be to go and find somewhere to plot out ideas for Schemas, away from everyone else, but even that wouldn't work. Her cabin was just too small and everywhere else on the boat was too noisy and distracting. Anyway, the motion of the boat, even in the calm waters of the Karan, made her feel a bit ill.

With an irritated huff Ester looked away from the swaying grass of the riverbank and scanned around the boat's main deck again. Her eyes landed on Velxe speaking animatedly with Jaen. Probably about how pretty and rich Metli Velia was or something equally vapid.

She wasn't sure why the thought was irritating her so much. She wasn't jealous was she? That made no sense. She didn't care who Lord Nemsu married and she'd rather be a Mage than some stupid nobleborn girl anyway. There was no way Metli would ever have been sent on a delegation like this or be allowed to serve the Empire. Her job was to look pretty and run her husband's household. Presumably. She wasn't actually sure what normal nobleborn women did with their time.

She pursed her lips. She was being unfair actually. Lady Rutane, Caia, had been very nice to her and certainly wasn't stupid, quite the opposite. This really wouldn't do. Just because she was in a bad mood wasn't a good reason for her to get herself into a snit about a woman she barely knew.

Straightening up from the railing, Ester decided. She'd go and speak to Lord Nesmu and Velxe. Lord Nemsu had been rather cold, but if Velxe liked him he couldn't be that bad and she did need to make some new friends for this trip or she'd spend the whole journey bored. She certainly wasn't going to be able to do much thinking riding a horse or wagon once they got off the boat. Great Spirits, if she could befriend Lord Nemsu she might even be able to make friends with Metli. She couldn't quite hold in a slightly bitter laugh at that idea. She'd thought that with some of the nobleborn girls at the Academy too.

Although, now things were different. She was a Chartered Mage, not just an awkward apprentice. She also needed to stop procrastinating!

With that, Ester headed over to Jaen and Velxe, plastering a polite smile onto her face.

"Lord Velxe, Lord Nemsu, I hope you are enjoying the journey."

Velxe glanced at his friend and then back at her. "Lady E…"

"You should greet me before Lord Velxe," Jaen didn't even try to sound friendly.

Ester took an involuntary step back. "I sh…" She cut herself off. What kind of a response was that? Why would she greet Jaen first? She knew Velxe far better.

Her eyes flicked to Velxe, he was frowning. Her heart sank, he didn't look at all impressed. Had she just committed some grave social error? There'd been etiquette classes at the Academy, but it was all so complicated and pointless. Especially at the Academy, where apprentices knew exactly where they ranked - right at the bottom. Who cared if the second son a baronet should kiss the hand of the niece of a count when there was magic to learn?!

"My apologies, Lord Nemsu. I made an error." He was probably right about the etiquette. As if anyone should care about something so trivial, they were all lords and ladies and wasn't that enough? Neither he nor Velxe even held titles in their own right. Unlike her!

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"No harm done." He smiled. "How are you enjoying the trip? It must be nice for you to get away from your indenture with the Watch for a bit."

Ester hesitated. She actually quite liked being in Vass Karan these days, although it wasn't quite what she aspired to, but there was something in his tone. "I am excited to be traveling to see somewhere new, yes. What is it that brought you along?" Why was Velxe looking awkwardly at his feet?

Lord Nemsu waved a hand dismissively. "Trade. Nothing so important that it requires my father's attention, but there are opportunities to be had in the Republic. I doubt they would be of much relevance to someone like you."

Ester almost nodded her agreement to that, before her mind caught up with his double-meaning. Was he trying to be rude or just commenting on Mages? "I must confess that I have little time to worry about such things, but we all serve Her Eternal Majesty in our own way."

"As do we all, I am sure. It must be quite exciting for you to be going to the Republic though?"

"Well, I do like to see new things." Despite her words Ester frowned slightly. "And I have my role in this delegation like everyone else."

"Indeed we do. I have no doubt you will do an excellent job there."

"Thank you, Lord Nemsu." She inclined her head politely, but he wasn't finished.

"After all, I would have thought a lady like you would enjoy many of their ideas."

"Jaen…" Velxe cast Ester a worried glance as anger flared up inside her.

"What exactly do you mean by that, my lord?" She couldn't help the way her voice had gone cold. Was he suggesting she was some kind of traitor? Or was he just mocking her?

Lord Nemsu took a step back, eyes widening in mock surprise. "Oh, please do not be offended. I merely thought that given your birth and attitude, there might be some appeal in their ideas, we all strive to improve the Empire in our own small ways of course. I can see from your face that I was wrong of course."

It took Ester a second to get her temper back under control. How dare he! The Empire had given her everything, she'd nearly died for it! She would die for it if necessary!

"I am loyal to the Empire and Her Eternal Majesty," she ground out through gritted teeth. Velxe was turning red beside him.

"I never had the slightest doubt." Lord Nemsu's bland smile was almost as aggravating as the amusement in his voice.

"Thank you, Lord Nemsu." If she kept talking to him she was going to do something she'd regret. "I have a lot to do, I shall leave you to your conversation, my lords."

"Indeed, it must be difficult looking after everything yourself. If you would like me to lend you a servant, you need only say the word. Or perhaps you could ask Velxe for his."

"I manage perfectly well thank you." Ester glanced behind her, looking for a way out.

"Well, if you prefer it that way…" Lord Nemsu shrugged. "I wish you a good day."

"Good day."

Ester spun on her heel and strode away. Velxe hadn't even said anything. He was probably embarrassed by the whole thing. She didn't know why she'd bothered trying to speak to them. She was going to go to her cabin and come up with ways to ruin Lord Nemsu's day. Fire would be good. Fire always worked for that.

As Ester stalked towards the stairs to the lower decks, she heard Velxe hiss.

"Jaen, what the fuck is wrong with you? That was incredibly r…" His voice faded into the hubbub of the boat. It still made her feel better though. At least Velxe's silence hadn't been approval, that would have been so much worse.

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Ester glanced left and right, scanning the deck in the fading, dusk light. Velxe was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he was busy reading something in a little box cabin like hers and not laughing with Lord Nemsu. They really needed to talk about that, once she could get him alone anyway.

With the coast clear she moved carefully out from the doorway and onto the boat's deck and started sidling towards her target. No one intercepted her, although a couple of sailors did give her odd looks as she slunk past them.

With a surge of triumph she stepped in front of the grey haired man. He was busy explaining something to one of the boat's officers, so she didn't interrupt, instead waiting for him to acknowledge her.

"… so that is why the Empire's borders stopped where they did in the east. Further expansion would simply have been a waste of resources and against the interests of Her Eternal Majesty. Now the north is a different question al…"

He trailed off as he noticed Ester. He met her eyes and gave her a slightly confused look. "Can I help you ah…?"

Ester had to force herself to let go of her dress. She was a Mage, not an overexcited apprentice!

"My lord, I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed your books. In particular, 2,000 Years of Empire has been inspirational to me and helped me so much since I left Trevayn. I am a huge admirer of your work." It perhaps gave a little bit of an optimistic view of the Empire in places, but the Empire's ideals were why it was worth serving.

"Oh." He looked bemused for just a second but then a warm smile spread across his face. "Why thank you, young lady, I am always gratified to meet someone who appreciates my work." His brown eyes seemed to sparkle as he met her gaze, it was nice to see a proper Trevayn face after all the pale skin and bright blue and green eyes typical of Vass Karan. Lord Amini leant in closer to her as if he was about to share a secret. "I would be delighted to discuss it more with you across this journey and during our time in the Republic, it is rare to meet a lady who is such a connoisseur of literature. Please, may I ask you name?"

"Oh, of course." She wasn't going to let herself get flustered just because he actually wanted to talk to her! Ester bowed. "I am Ester Mazar."

"Ester Mazar, what a lovely name, a proper Trevayn lady then, may I c…" He paused and something flickered in his facial expression. "Lady Ester Mazar. the Chartered Mage? Of course!"

"Yes, Lord Amini." He actually knew who she was too! Ester could hardly wait to tell Velxe that Jahangir Amini had actually heard of her!

"Ah, ha ha I am no lord, my lady. A mere knight, but we all serve Her Eternal Majesty in whatever capacity we can." Something had changed in his body language, but she couldn't quite work out what. He was still smiling, still engaged with her, but something was gone from it. Ester mentally shrugged, she had better things to worry about, like finding out more about his writing. She barely noticed the officer bow and step away from them.

"Ah, my apologies, Sir Jahangir. You have clearly served the Empire in ways hardly anyone else has or even could. If you could spare the time I would be delighted to hear about how 2,000 Years of Empire came about." She'd read it more times than anything that wasn't one of the Academy's spellbooks. "Most of what I know about the Empire probably comes from that book." Although perhaps she should mention some of the inaccuracies to him. Not right away though, that would just be rude.

Sir Jahangir's smile widened at that. "I am truly honoured, Lady Mazar. I would be delighted to talk to you about my books. After all, there is nothing that an author loves more than to talk about their work." He laughed self-deprecatingly. "Now let me think… 2,000 Years of Empire was many years in the making, but I believe it all began when I was meeting Lord Saghi Tarquan. You have probably never heard of him, this was all before you were born, but he was Her Eternal Majesty's treasurer at the time."

As he spoke Ester did her best not to look too excited.

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