The next morning I woke up early and went to the library. The two women who I had seen the day before were still on duty at the front, and they gave me a lanyard that gave me access up to the platinum level.

One of the biggest reasons I had wanted to come to the capital was to see if there was any way to block blood magic from tracking me down. Up until this moment I had been going where my father dictated, moving under the unstated threat that if he wanted too, he could locate me any time he wanted.

Another concern was that my sixteenth birthday was coming up soon and I was worried about my coming of age ceremony and the day I got my status magic. As far as I could tell that was the day when Twice-Lived were revealed and… well… as much as possible I didn’t want to be exposed. If I had to root around the Imperial library, or even take some risks and dig into the official Inquisitor Headquarters or official Imperial House of Status Headquarters for some sort of clue to avoid detection, so be it. It was a risk worth taking.

My only regret was that I only had months for my search and not years.

To my surprise, the Imperial Library had an elevator system that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see in a high-end Manhattan office building or ultra-modern condo. Lots of gold leaf and mirrored walls.

A woman was standing in the elevator dressed in an elegant uniform. “What floor would you like to visit today?” She said to me when I stepped inside.

“I would like to go to the up to the Platinum level where they have books on blood magic and life magic,” I said.

“Hold out your hand and touch this tablet,” the woman held out a tablet and adjusted a switch on it to indicate platinum. When I put my hand on it, it glowed yellow for a second and then both the identification on my lanyard and the tablet she was holding burned green.

“Thank you,” she said, and then pressed the button for one of the upper tiers.

The elevator rode up, and when it stopped, and the doors shimmered open, I saw a faint shimmering light like a thin shield filling the entrance to the level.

“Go on, it’s safe. You have the right status for the floor,” the elevator operator said. Seeing no reason not to, I walked through the shimmering light and felt a faint tingling through my body. The ID they had given me at the counter again lit up for a second, but nothing else happened.

The contents of this floor were mostly books about magic grouped by their traditional subjects: mind, body, life, nature, elemental, force, space, light, sound, dark, death, ritual, storage, arcane, and anti. The floor smelled like dust and paper.

If what I was looking for hadn’t been purged from the library, was probably in the life magic section, the arcane magic section, or the mind magic section. There was a real chance that the runes that I was looking for were not here. But this was as good a starting spot as any.

The first place I wanted to start was in the life magic section. I wanted more information on that shield I had come up with when I had been hanging out with Hener the force mage a few days back. The big question was did it keep out life, did it keep out the living, or did it keep out life magic. In each of the three circumstances it would be useful, but right now the most utility would be keeping out life magic, most importantly blood magic.

After about eight hours of searching, I eventually did find a variation on the life shield in the detection portion of the section of books on life magic. Detection magic worked like a radar sending pulses of life magic out to find similar life. It worked on the idea that different types of living things had different kinds of life patterns. Humans were different than birds or plants or antelopes. Powerful life mages with a lot of practice could even tell the difference between humans and elves, or chimpanzee, or goblins. Life drew life, and so when the pulse of life came back, the empty spaces were where the thing you were looking for was hiding.

The shield spell that I found, listed in only one exceptionally poorly written spell book that was 90% filled with absolute gibberish and covered with layers and layers of dust was a spell that used something similar to the force shield runes to disrupt the casters outward appearance of their life patterns.

The spell itself was filled with runic mistakes. Whoever had written this book was either a madman or the book was a copy of something that had been written in the early days of runic magic. It would actually take me a couple of days to rewrite the spells and fix the flaws, but it was doable.

Taking out some stationary and a pen, I spent another hour copying out the critical information about the spell and then putting the book back on the shelf I decided to call it a day.

When I stepped out of the elevator on the first floor and was about to make my way out the door, an elderly man came up to me and said, “Lynx Elm?”

They had found me, seeing no reason to deny it, I said “yes?”

“Your brother and sister would cordially appreciate having your presence over dinner tomorrow at the family manor,” the man said. “I am under the impression you have never been to the villa before, would you like us to send you a guide?”

“That won’t be necessary. Just write down the address, I can probably find it myself. What time would you like me to arrive.”

“Dinner is just after sunset, though you are welcome to come any time you like. Your brother and sister expressed surprise that you chose not to stay at your home.”

“Tell them, I apologize. How did you find me by the way.”

“When the library submitted your blood sample, we were informed. I imagine the inquisition was alerted as well, you might want to check in with them too.” The family servant said.

I didn’t say anything about that, but he was probably right. It was too much to expect that my presence would have gone entirely unnoticed. “Is that everything? I will try to visit the family tomorrow. Is anybody else in the city. Mother? Father?”

“You are related through birth to quite a few branches of the imperial family. Do you want me to list their names and relationships to you? As for your mother and Father. No, as far as I know, your mother is at your family estate in Umberge, and your father is on duty somewhere.”

I left the library. Instead of heading back to my apartment I went to the mercenary guild for a beer and to think about my next steps.

When I got there, Nynaeve was behind the bar just like she had been the day before. I sat down on one of the stools and ordered a draft.

“Thank you for directing me to your mother’s practice yard. Her method of testing to gain entrance is umm… interesting. Does she make everyone go through that, did I irritate her, or did she just kind of sense that I am awesome?” I said to Nynaeve.

“Most of her clients either come with recommendations from the Guild or are nobles who are recommended by trainers she trusts. You are the very first one, as far as I know, who just walked in off the street. I hear you beat Kylny and are a better Life Mage than even old Tovias. That’s pretty impressive. I always wanted to be a healer, but I don’t have the magic for it.”

“I’m so sorry. I know what it’s like to just want to live your life the way you want and being unable to because of your family or circumstances,” I said. “You know, I just spent a few years helping the physicians out in Devotion Valley, and for the most part, they don’t use a lot of mana. Good old fashioned surgical techniques and potions. There are simply too many soldiers to treat everyone with life mana. Have you ever considered trying either of those routes? You wouldn’t be able to perform the miracles that a life mage would be able to pull off, but life mages aren’t always around when you need a healer. Of course, you would only have to smile, and most people around you would feel better.”

Nynaeve groaned and then thought about it for a moment and then said, “Quit it with the cheesy lines. But really, I never thought about it like that. I don’t know, I would have to save up money, and take time off my job here in the Mercenary Guild, and then there is all the trouble of having to get accepted into one of the colleges.”

“Couldn’t your mother help you? If it is something, you really want to do? She must have contacts and resources. If you want, I can show you some of the basics. I’m completely awesome with alchemy and herbalism, plus I can wrap people up in bandages like the best of them.” I said.

She was about to say something when one of the tables full of mercenaries called out for another round of beers. She looked away from me and at the table, and then Nynaeve began to unconsciously tug at her braid, before starting to pour another round of beers.

“Think about it,” I said. “And if you are interested, why don’t we talk some more over dinner? When do you get off tonight?”

As Nynaeve was pouring, she said, “I close so unless you wanted to wait until two in the morning, I probably will not be able to do anything tonight. I have tomorrow night off, and I have next Tuesday off. Do any of those days work for you?”

“I’m having dinner with my family tomorrow night. Why don’t we agree on dinner next week? Which doesn’t mean that I won’t stop in to say hi, during the week.” I smiled at her.

“Lynx you know, mercenaries try to pick me up all the time. It never works. What makes you think you have a chance? You are what? Two, three years younger than me?”

“I’m not a mercenary, and I have all this devilish charm working for me. Plus your mother doesn’t seem to like me and girls dig that in a guy.” I said.

“I never said Mom doesn’t like you,” Nynaeve said.

“More the better,” I said, “why don’t you take those beers over before the natives become restless. And I will see you later.”

Nynaeve tugged her braid a couple of times before lifting up a tray with pint glasses of beer and brought it over to the table of mercenaries. I took my beer, moved over to a table and pulled out the runic diagrams for the life shield that I had copied in the library.

Not really paying much attention to the ebb and flow of the conversations and sporadic bar fights that were happening around me, I began to diagram out the spell that I had found earlier that day. Slowly I redrew the runes using more modern ideas and techniques. I made a couple of mistakes and had to redraw the diagrams from the beginning, but I was getting a good feel for the method.

The spell as it resulted was impressive, and frankly it fit really well but was different from what I had figured out with Henner back in Devotion Valley. Eventually, when I would be finally finished updating and proofreading this drawing, I would need to run some tests and perform some experiments, and my room at the inn would not be a good location for this.

Every once in a while I would look up from my work, and as I nursed my beer, I would lean back in my chair and watch Nynaeve work. Nynaeve had a glorious ass. I had to admit that my male gaze used judiciously and discretely made life so much more exciting. The Mercenaries kept her busy and as it grew later in the evening more and more people came into the guild. At some point, some musicians began to perform.

After a while, I stumbled back to The Pluckered Peacock, the inn that I was staying at, and got to sleep for the night.

The next morning I got up early and stumbled downstairs to the common room for breakfast. Over a plate of eggs, fried tomatoes, and sausages. When the innkeeper brought my meal over I asked him, “I need to get to Chance Hill today, do you happen to know the fastest way to get there?”

“If you want to walk, you should probably leave now. It will take you all day to get there. The fastest way is by gate. The merchant’s guild set up permanent gates near each of the markets for their members to use. If you aren’t part of the merchant guild, it will cost you a two silver, but you can just walk to the market just down the street and come out at the imperial market, from there it is only a short walk to Chance Hill. It should take you about a half an hour. Less time if you get a rickshaw ride from the imperial section to your destination.”

“I was also wondering who I could talk to about renting some empty commercial space for a couple of months,” I asked.

“Did you want to set yourself up as a merchant.” The innkeeper asked.

“Something like that. I don’t need a storefront, just an open empty space with access to water and lavatory facility. Do you know someone who can help me find such a space,” I said.

“Revness takes people around to look at spaces, he has an office just a short distance away. I can give you directions if you want.”

I finished breakfast and headed out to where the innkeeper indicated Reyness was staying.

“I’m looking for a room, with a solid floor, preferably stone, brick, or cement. With access to running water, and waste disposal. Preferably something like a small warehouse that isn’t being used. I only need it for two or three months. It doesn’t need to be on or even near a busy street, but I would prefer if it was an easy walk to the inn that I was staying in.” I told Reyness in his office.

“I can think of a couple places like that. Let me get the keys.”

Reyness caught us a rickshaw driver and give her the address to the first location. The driver ran through the streets, while we saw place after place during the morning. It wasn’t until I saw the third spot that I saw something that fit my needs.

The building that he led me too was in a cul de sac at the end of an alley. While there was garbage piled up in bins against the sides of the stone walls, very little of it was on the ground, and it was apparent that someone was paid to keep the alley tidy periodically. Reyness opened the door, and we stepped into the warehouse. The ceilings were high, held up by three stone pillars in the center of the room, and easily 20 feet off the ground. Windows that faced outward into the alley where small, made out of magically hardened glass and barred from the inside. It was all one room with a concrete floor, and a sink and a toilet and nothing else.

“This place is perfect.”

“The owner is a merchant who brings uses the space seasonally when she is in the city. When she is on the road making trade deals, she lets me rent out the storage space. I should tell you that, I can’t give you this spot for just two months. The minimum rental time is six months, and she charges seven gold coins a month. Plus another three gold overall for general maintenance.”

“Three gold per month?” I said.

“No, three gold for the entire six months. That includes the cost of the water and sewage, someone carting the waste away twice a month, and a servant coming and cleaning the exterior of the property once a month. You share the final cost with the rest of the tenants on this street.”

I thought it over, and said, “That’s fine. I hope you don’t mind if I pay the whole rent in advance, rather than monthly. Do you mind if we stop off at a bank so that I can get you Imperial script?”

“That is the safest way for both of us. Better than carrying large sums of money on the streets.” Reyness said.

On his way back to his office we stopped off at a bank, and I withdrew forty-five gold in Imperial Script, and then went out to Reyness who was waiting with another rickshaw driver. We made our way to his office, where I put a drop of blood on the script activating it, and Reyness put another drop of his blood on it, sealing the script to himself. Then I filled out the paperwork, and suddenly I had rented a warehouse for six months.

By that point, it was getting late, and I headed off to the market where I had been told I could find a gate to take a shortcut to visit my family.

The main market square was not like many of the side streets. Here four of the main roads that led in an out of the city met, and some of the tallest and wealthiest buildings were located. Where you might find smaller stores, and smaller proprietors on the side streets, the primary merchant squares of the city were where the main merchant hubs were located. Huge buildings, held up by steel and magic, rose up eight or nine stories into the sky, and the square itself was open and free of the regular vending carts and street performers you found elsewhere.

Instead, a majestic bronze fountain with a copper green patina rose up into the sky depicting Lord General Etriam and Chancellor Vergas who had opened the western part of the continent to trade by defeating the barbarians of the foothills some three hundred years ago. Of course the concept “opening the continent to trade” really meant conquering and plundering a new frontier. But there was no arguing that over the long term the west had grown prosperous, with its vast temperate farmlands, productive mines, rich forests and deep dark dungeons.

Though I did have to question the artistic sensibilities of the sculptor who’d depicted one of the waterspouts vomiting out of a slain barbarians mouth and wounds, while another spout was from Lord General Etriam’s horse urinating on a barbarian being crushed underfoot, and yet a third of the water spouts came from a gash in a barbarian’s chest as the Chancellor’s sword as was killing him. Frankly, in my opinion, the sculpture just seemed tacky.

The gatehouse was easy to find. I only had to look for a line of wagons leaving and entering a building. There was a door for pedestrians and that I opened and a bored looking clerk said, “Can I see your Guild membership?”

“I don’t have a membership, I was told I could pay as I traveled through.”

“Two silver for one trip. A gold for a month pass. Nine gold for a year pass.” The clerk said.

“That’s a bit expensive,” I said. Still, I handed the clerk a gold and received a red card made of a mysterious coppery alloy etched with runes.

“Just show that whenever you come through. You get a discount the next month if you recycle the card,” the clerk said as he waved me through the door and into the next room.

The next room was actually a long hallway with a glass divider running down the length of the hall. On one side of the glass divider I the line of merchant carts slowly made their way down a hallway in the same direction I was going. There were four carts in the other part of the hall. Most of these wagons were being led by horses, though I did see a pair of ox driving one cart filled with vegetables. For some reason, I wondered if one of those carts was Cart-San.

At the end of the hall was a gate similar to the one I had walked through to travel from Devotion Valley to Magrithiam City, complete with a similar opaque shimmering wall presumably to protect against air pressure changes. Decorative stonework was inlaid around the edges and lines of platinum filament rose up from the floor and inlay around the edges.

Just like the carts slowly being driven through this door through space, I walked through it and found myself in a giant chamber elsewhere. I don’t know where I was. All I knew was that the room was huge. Easily 400 yards across with a massive inlaid domed roof like the Blue Mosque of Istanbul. I was standing on a road that led into the center of the space under the centermost dome. From there, roads like spokes on a bicycle radiated out to eight other shimmering gates.

In the exact center of the dome was a core that radiated power and space magic. I could see lines of platinum filament embedded into the walls and ceiling of the building running into the stone platinum inlay of each gate. But also running down into the floor and under construction to who knew where. And in my mage sight, I could see that it wasn’t pure platinum but rather an alloy of platinum that was inlaid with ground up dungeon core and had the tiniest runes etched into its entire length.

People were wandering and chatting throughout the room. A steady hum of lively conversation was happening in the restaurants, coffee shops and park that filled the areas not used to transport goods. Teams of servants would rush out whenever there was a break in the traffic and clean up any refuse or droppings that horses or cattle had left. Carefully cultivated plants were everywhere. As I looked on, I saw someone with a nature affinity casting spells to convince the leaves on a ficus to grow.

Walking to the center circle, I saw a mosaic embedded into the concrete of the imperial symbol and the symbol of the merchant guild side by side. Around the circle were the names of the different destinations. I had come from Main Market and needed to go to the Imperial District road.

Fewer carts were moving to the imperial district, and the ones that did were far better built and far more ostentatious. However, the same architectural patterns occurred. At the end of the road under the massive dome, I stepped through a gate and found myself in a long hallway. On one side of the hall was a space large enough for wagons to maneuver through. This was separated from the walkway I was moving through by glass panels. At the end of the hallway was an attendant who merely waved me through when I tried to show him the pass I’d bought.

Outside the buildings were majestic. I had seen the fringes of this district when I had left Chancellor Termass’ home, but I hadn’t been entirely focused on the setting, nor had I been on a main artery of the city. Here the city streets were vibrant with people in elaborate and beautiful clothing leading people in even more beautiful and expensive clothing around. Some people were followed by groups of men and women who were clearly bodyguards, and others had entire entourages.

Nobody jostled and pushed. In fact, everyone seemed to know exactly who they were permitted to bump into and who it would be a deadly insult to nudge or trip. I was wearing the simple black clothing that I had bought a few days earlier. It had been either that or my inquisition garb that was still dirty from the battlefields. People If they looked at me at all, treated me as if I had spent my morning rolling in goblin shit or I was leprous.

Smiling at the foibles of the aristocracy, I walked over to a group of rickshaws that were waiting for passengers. I walked to the foremost one and handed him the paper the family servant had written down the address to our villa on Chance Hill. After a quick payment that was surprisingly high — or low given the neighborhood, we set off at a run.

The streets here were hewn from a white marble, which I would have thought would have been far too soft a stone to pave a road out of, but an earth mage must have reinforced every marble slab along the route we took, or they must have spent a fortune repaving the streets every few years, because the traffic never let up as the rickshaw driver ran towards Chance Hill.

Our villa was a three-story building that was surrounded on all four sides by a ten foot high stone fence. There were four guards present at the front gate who looked prepared to disembowel me as I approached. I hadn’t realized that my brother and sister needed nearly this much security. But then it had been almost a decade since I had seen either of them.

“Halt,” one of the guards said.

“I am expected,” I said. “My name is Lynx Elm of House Lysturgus and the Clan Naato, please send someone to tell my brother and sister that I have arrived.”

“Of course my Lord, would you mind sitting down for a moment while I communicate with the main house?” The guard said.

“Certainly.”

I was led through a fortified steel door into the vesparsi — a small yet immaculately decorated room just through the guard station. Traditionally vesparsi’s throughout the empire had no access to the main building. I would have to go through yet another fortified door to even make it to the main yard.

This kind of room could be either defended or attacked by the guards while segregating it entirely from the main house. There were murder holes along the top side of one wall with steel trap doors that could only be opened from the outside.

Keeping an unexpected guest, inside a vesparsi was a tradition from older times when it wasn’t always safe to let someone directly into your home without checking out them out first. And even now, I was sure that at least one of the guards was a mage or had access to a tool that let them look me over with mage sight.

A few minutes later a soldier beckoned me through the doors and led into the family compound proper, where I was transferred over to a servant who walked me to the front door.

The path between the guard house and the villa was landscaped with trees and bushes that somehow were even blooming this late in the fall. I suspected that the family hired a nature mage to keep the garden pretty. But then I was beginning to suspect that the entire capital made use of every nature mage they could find just for landscaping and beautifying.

When I crossed the threshold into the house, I was met by yet another servant. This woman was dressed in beautiful clothing that was almost formal while still loudly shouting “uniform.” She bowed to me. “I am Hilde Muskrat Kelp if there is anything that you need while you are here my Lord simply ask and I will make sure you get it. If you will follow me.”

I expected to be led to a waiting room or a library to be kept until my brother and sister arrived. Instead, Hilde led me through a series of different hallways and then held a door open for me.

“These two servants will help you become more presentable,” Hilde said.

I entered the room, and two naked girls who couldn’t have been older than 18 were standing by a sunken pool in the floor. Steam was rising from the pool.

“Hurry my lord, and take your clothes off.” Said one girl holding a bar of soap.

I sighed, taking off my shirt and preparing to be pampered.

It was a long process. First I was bathed by the two girls. This process involved a lot of pressing and giggling and was admittedly a lot of fun, but it was also strangely professional. At one point I reached out to cup one of the girl's ass to draw her close, but the girl in question dodged neatly out of the way, and waved her finger and shook her head as if to say no.

When I had been soaped, washed, and rinsed all over, I was escorted out of the tub to a table nearby. One of the girls then rubbed me down with exotic oils, liberally dosed with perfumes. During this time the other girl gave me a manicure, a pedicure, and had me gargle horrible tasting liquids until my breath smelt like roses.

Then they cut my hair and gave me a shave. It had been a tradition in the army for the soldiers to have buzz cuts, but the runners often had left their hair long. I had followed the second route. Being polite, I would say that the girls did a fantastic job if the final result hadn’t made me look like a member of the band “Flock of Seagulls.” Apparently having killed off everyone who could tell them that 80’s hairdos were terrible, the nobility of the Empire had gone and reinvented them. It could have been worse; the girls could have given me a mullet.

After that, it took me a surprisingly long time to explain to the girls that “no I did not want to look fashionable. Yes, I loved them. No, I didn’t want to make them cry. No, dying the tips bright pink wouldn’t fix the problem. But could they please do something significantly more simple and relaxed with my hair?”

Another woman came in while the two girls were fixing the abomination they had created on my head. She dropped off some clothing and then when I was safely shorn, she had me stand and took measurements.

The clothing that she had brought didn’t fit very well. I suspect that the whole household had been in a hurry. More than anything I suspected that they probably didn’t want it to know that they had a family member who preferred to prance around the city dressed as a peasant. So the outfit they had me dress in was probably one of my brothers. Eomi was older, and probably had more time to mature into his body. I, on the other hand, was undoubtedly far more muscular.

The seamstress did her best to quickly hem the clothing, and soon enough it fit… sort of. The whole outfit was tight in places. But that couldn’t be helped.

Finally, when I was presentable, I was led to a sitting room where a superfluous fire burned in the hearth, and tasteful yet useless nicknacks lined the shelves. I sat down in a chair to await my family.

About a half an hour later, my sister entered the room.

“Lynx Elm. So good of you to visit,” my sister said

“Kali Naga Tule it has been far too long.” We embraced for the formally recommended amount of time allowed by Imperial etiquette.

“Lynx Elm, would you like some tea and refreshments?” Kali said.

It was at that moment when my older brother stepped into the room, “Lynx Elm, so glad you could join the family for dinner. Will you be in the city long? You must stay at the house, it is far too large to hold so few people.”

Again embracing my brother for the socially acceptable amount of time I said, “Eomi Kitsune Eucalyptus, it is good to see you again.”

Kali spoke “I have sent a message to a servant to bring refreshments. Why don’t we all have a seat and reacquaint ourselves? Tell me, Lynx Elm, what have you been up too.”

“I just arrived from Desolation Valley a couple days ago. I was stationed there for the last few years, acting as a runner and representative of the Inquisition.”

“I hear the final battle was several days ago. It is a long journey from there. Are you sad you missed the engagement,” my sister said?

“I was there for the last push across the battlefield. I have a high life affinity and a significant amount of practice as a healer and life mage, so I was assigned to a field hospital in the forward most trench during the battle to help with triage, but there were so few casualties that I really did not have much to do. By that point, the enemy soldiers had been worn down so much they were pretty much defeated.”

“Then how did you get to the capital so quickly. Don’t tell me that you are an adept space mage as well?” my brother said.

“No. No. No. Far from it. I had been planning to come by ship, but Lord General Aram Heron Sequoia suggested I join the group Chancellor Termass was gating here. After that, I booked an inn, and was planning to rest and do some reading in the Library before telling anyone where I was.”

“That is good to hear brother. It is good to hear that you are not in the city to damage the reputation of our house. Your sister and I had known from our Mother that you were with our glorious Imperial Army, but when we heard you were in the city, we feared you were absent without leave or were in hiding for some nefarious reason. Why else would you be in the city and not visit your only family?” My brother smiled as he said this.

A woman walked in and set a tray of charcuterie down on a small table near the fireplace. She also brought a bottle of wine and poured each of the three of us a glass. I sipped. The wine tasted similar to a white Burgundy. I did not really feel like eating, but my Sister got up and took some as did my brother, so I thought it was only polite if I had some food myself.

“So how do you like the capital so far.” My sister said.

“It is big,” I replied. “I’ve only seen Larkin and of course Umberge the city where we were born. Neither of those cities compares with Magrithiam.”

“There is no city like it,” my sister said.

“Do you have any future plans?” My brother asked. “If you are skilled in healing Hapistrel college has an outstanding program for physicians. I could use a well-regarded healer and war hero in my future plans.”

“Eomi, I am hardly a war hero, and I do not even have my Status yet, nor have I had my affinities tested. I know a few of my skills through happenstance, but schooling is a long way off. Besides I am sure that once our Father discovers where I am, he will undoubtedly find some way to move me to his purposes. That was a part of the reason why I was so reluctant to make my presence known to you.”

“Is it so bad being our father’s favorite,” my sister said.

“Favorite? For as long as I could remember he has called me ‘the spare’ and he has not cared whether I lived or died.” I said.

“That is far more affection than he lavished on me. I remember the one time he spoke with me, he said ‘You are useless to me, go bother your mother.’ We never spoke again,” my sister Kali said.

“At least he spoke with you Kali, even if just once, you are the heir to his lands after all. I only learned he was my father when mother mentioned it. Until then, I thought he was a cruel monster, and hid from him whenever I could. When he found me, as often as not, he beat me,” my brother said.

I took a sip of my wine. For my entire life, I had thought that my brother and sister had had it better than me. Apparently not.

A deep bass bell rang out, and my sister got up. “Ah, that is the sign that it is dinner time. Come, little brother. Let us have a good meal. And then we will discuss how you can be of use to your brother and me.”

I followed my siblings into a dining room with a massive walnut table. Three setting laid out more for casual conversation and small talk than to overawe and impress me.

“Eomi, you will never guess,” my sister said.

“What?”

“Surely you have been aware of all the strange pregnancies around Resting Hill.”

“Of course, it has been almost impossible to have a liaison around there for the last two years and not get a woman pregnant. There must be some foul magic at work.”

“There is. There is. Don’t tell anybody, but Lady Teni Unicorn Acorn was just discovered to be a Shaman.”

“No!”

“Yes. Think of the scandal.”

“The poor family. That is such peasant magic. What will they do with her.”

“I have heard from very reliable sources that they are sending Teni out to some family estate near a peasant village. Shaman are revered out in the boondocks.” My sister looked like she would break out in giggling at any moment.

“The poor girl. Teni did like her grand balls and opulence.” My brother laughed.

“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but what is a Shaman,” I said.

My sister looked at me and let out a laugh, “I don’t know how much education you’ve had over the years. But there are rather rare forms of magic called knacks, that appear every once in a while in bloodlines. Long ago our empire used to try to breed for them. Some people claim powerful families still do. Though ours is one of the most powerful, and I have seen no trace of it. Supposedly, and this is a legend, not fact, many of the great families began with someone with a powerful knack. And it is said that all of the Imperial consorts were chosen for having powerful or even multiple knacks if you can imagine such an impossibility.”

“Anyway, a Shaman is a kind of knack. Wherever poor Teni goes, for a mile or two around her, the people and especially the livestock are more likely to lose their inhibitions, are more likely to get with child, and are more likely to have large healthy litters or in the case of people — twins or even triplets. It is peasant magic. In ancient times Shaman were revered. But to find one living among the aristocracy…”. My sister stifled a giggle.

My brother Eomi said, “Think of all the bastards. There are some powerful families around Resting Hill.”

I said “It can’t be that bad, what about contraceptive spells?”

“According to what I’ve heard, there hasn’t been a contraceptive spell strong enough yet to stop the work of a Shaman. The sad thing is that poor Teni never even knew she was causing all this havoc. The Shaman Knack is passive, it works whether you will it or not.”

That set both my sisters and my brother back to laughing all over again.

When we finished eating, Kali got up and lead Eomi and me into yet another room. This room was filled with books and had deep comfortable leather chairs. “Would you like coffee? Or something stronger, Cognac, Port, perhaps a single malt Whiskey? I can also have one of the servants bring some more wine,” she said.

“Some coffee would be nice,” I said.

Kali nodded to one of the servants. Then she got up and poured herself and Eomi a glass of something beautiful and amber from a nearby carafe. “I do hope the Empire hurries up and conquers the Raal soon. Their Whiskies are superb but the cost to import it makes it a luxury even for the wealthiest families.”

Then, when the servant had brought me a cup with a dark black liquid, and I had added just a touch of milk, Eomi raised her glass and said, “To Lynx Elm, may he live forever. Welcome back to the sane side of the family.”

We clinked our drinks and then sipped, before sitting back down in comfortable chairs.

“Lynx Elm, there has been something Kali and I have meant to ask you ever since we discovered you were in the City.”

“You see Lynx, I have recently begun to take part in Imperial politics, and with the elections this year, I believe I have a good chance to become one of the four Consuls of Platinum. We have a good family, good position, no public scandals and enough power that it would be a good fit. Your sister and I have long been secretly supporting two of the four Consuls of Copper, and they are beholden to us, as well as one of the consuls of Gold and maybe even a Consul of Silver, though her loyalties are less sure.”

“I see,” I said.

According to tradition, Laws were passed, Wars were declared, Taxes were decided in the Imperial Legislature. The Legislature was made up of six groups wielding various amounts of power. There were:

- Sixteen Platinum Status Citizens (elected every 5 years) each could cast one vote.

- Twelve Gold Status Citizens (elected every 5 years) each could cast one vote.

- Seven Silver Status Citizens (elected every 5 years) each could cast one vote.

- Seven Copper Status Citizens (elected every 5 years) each could cast one vote.

- The representative of each of the seven official Imperial orders could cast a ballot.

- Six representatives from among the Army, the Navy and the Mage core each could cast a vote.

- Six representatives chosen from the 23 official universities in the Empire could cast ballots.

- Each of the twelve Chancellors (who I now knew to be vampires) had a vote.

- The Emperor’s vote counted as twenty votes, but she rarely voted these days.

This was how significant decisions in the Empire were made. The legislature even had their own government hill that was located on the hill furthest away from the Imperial Palace to emphasize a separation between Imperial power and secular power, even if that separation was sometimes an illusion.

“Yes. Having a brother who is an Inquisitor, and a war hero, and who wants to help the sick and the poor by becoming a physician once he reaches his status would be an incredible coup for me. I would like to invite you to a few parties and meetings. Introduce you around to some of my friends. Let you meet some of the important people in the Capital. It will be fun.”

“As I said, Eomi, I am not a war hero. And despite father’s wishes, I have no real interest in becoming an Inquisitor. But I don’t mind going to one or two parties if it will help you out, as long as you agree to let me have most of my time to myself. I do not wish to get caught all up in the affairs of the nobility. I can stop by every once in a while. Send me a message, and give me at least a day’s notice — I am staying at the Pluckered Peacock, near the main market — and I will show up. But I would rather spend my time reading and studying than playing politics for now.” I said.