The seven of them sat in a large, airy room somewhere near the point where the palace turned into the temple, or vice versa. They were on the second floor, and could look out over the gardens through a pair of gauzy curtains that floated on the warm breeze blowing through the open windows. It was warmer here in the capital, springlike rather than autumnal, but this did not seem to improve anyone's mood.
Not that Aemilia's mood needed to be improved; her fiancé had turned out to be alive. She sat on his lap, her arms around his neck, as he fed her grapes. Periodically they went off into fits of giggles or lovey talk which made everyone else in the room roll their eyes.
Tsuga and Petro sat by the window, engrossed in a game of hounds, which Tsuga appeared to be winning. Petro, however, claimed that he had some secret theory, a stratagem, which he was waiting for the right moment to spring. Tsuga just rolled her eyes at this, and continued to dominate the board. She thought perhaps she'd let him win, just to please him.
Cinnamon sat at a desk in the corner, thoughtfully sucking on the end of a stylus. He considered crumpling up the letter and telling Vitus to write to his father himself, but with a sigh, Cinnamon bent back to his work.
Mulberry sat beside Marcus on one of the low couches. She rubbed his back soothingly, while he sat, knees splayed and head in hands, moping. He was worried, that was plain to see. And it was no wonder; he had considered Aurelia his daughter, and they hadn't returned her to him, at least, not yet.
"It isn't fair!" He finally protested, sitting up straight. "Why do we have to just sit here, for, for who knows how long, waiting to find out what will become of us?"
"Nothing will become of us," Mulberry said soothingly.
Tsuga added, "The Emperor has a reputation for being very generous. And Flora Althaea is a good woman. She was the one who recruited me, you know."
“And the one who had the key that let me out of that dank, nasty cell,” Vitus added.
"I just want my daughter back, and then I want to go home," Marcus said.
Petro, Tsuga, and Vitus all exchanged looks. Cinnamon sighed, loudly, without looking up from his letter.
"What? What is it?" Marcus complained.
"Er, well," Tsuga wiggled uncomfortably, and Petro looked away, turning back to the hounds board.
Mulberry's eyes flickered to Aemilia, who shrugged.
"The Emperor was very interested in the baby," Vitus said quietly.
"You did realise that was him, right, Marcus?" Petro added, "The old man with the beard?"
Mulberry looked surprised, "I didn't realise the Emperor was so good with a sword," she said, "especially at his age." It made her stomach hurt a little to think that she had met the Emperor, a man who any Estavacan should say was their arch-enemy, and he had helped to save her life. It was disorienting.
Marcus shrugged, "What does that have to do with my daughter?"
"Well," Vitus said, "I'm not one hundred per cent clear on the whole thing, but whatever it was that bad woman wanted the baby for, I think - I think he maybe wants her for that, too. And, uh, Marcus? I'm pretty sure he has a right to her."
Marcus suddenly sat up straight, glaring at everyone, "Well, he can't have her! I'm Aurelia's father, I have a paper to prove it, and I say that she's going to come home with me. She's going to grow up where I grew up, and I'm going to take good care of her, and . . ."
"Shh," Mulberry said, trying to calm him.
"The Emperor is supposed to be a nice guy," Petro said, "He'll maybe want her to stay here a while - "
"Or train in the temple, like we did," Tsuga added.
Petro continued, "Yes, or train in the temple, like the girls. But anyhow, I can't imagine him taking her away from her legal parent. Well, you know, if he found her real parents or something like that, maybe. But that'll never happen."
Vitus looked up in surprise. He exchanged a meaningful glance with Cinnamon, but shook his head before the slave could speak.
Salix, laughing, said, "And it isn't like there are many candidates for Aurelia's real parents. You're the only imperial I've met with a thing for Estavacan women, Marcus."
Marcus blushed in response to this, and Mulberry looked away. In fact, she physically moved away from him, sliding over so that, instead of their thighs touching, she was sitting at arm's length, on the far end of the couch. She was only disappointed that the cloth was cool on her new seat; it had been warm when she was sitting beside Marcus.
"Knock it off," Marcus finally said, glaring at the woman he doubted he could ever call Aemilia, "I don't care about any of that. I'm her father. Not the emp - "
He was interrupted by the door being pushed open by a young woman dressed in black. The young woman bowed very low, then straightened, announcing, "The Emperor and the chief of the Order of the Blossom request your presence immediately"
Everyone in the group exchanged glances, mostly of the confused variety. Only Vitus truly looked as though he understood what was going on.
The young woman lead them out of the room, down a set of stairs, and out into the gardens. They skirted the large reflecting pool, cut through the parade ground, and avoided a group of little girls taking lessons that seemed to involve using simple magic to set sacred fires in bushes. They re-entered the palace complex through an inconspicuous side door, traipsed down a long hall decorated in dark wood, bright paint, and gilding, and finally stopped at a massive set of double doors.
Each door was twice the height of a man, and their combined width was at least three times their height. They were made of heavy wood panels - Marcus thought it was oak- held together with iron bands. The iron bands were richly decorated, a raised, burnished pattern of men fighting dragons, armies battling, women kissing their husbands goodbye on the eve of battle. The young woman bowed again.
"Here is where I leave you," she said, "but please go in. They are expecting you."