At first glance, Lei looked like he hadn’t done anything wrong and wouldn’t have any idea why anyone might think so. But I knew him pretty well by now, and I noticed the way he didn’t meet my gaze for long, or the way he was just a little too jaunty in how he stood and moved.

“I explicitly told you not to risk anything, not to go off half-cocked or risk provoking an incident,” I said.

He gave me an easy smile. “Do you see anyone complaining, Inaris?”

“Don’t give me that,” I snapped. “So you managed to remain unnoticed. Great. If you hadn’t, we’d be having a different conversation. That doesn’t change what you did. I need to be able to rely on you to do what I tell you to, Lei.”

He pulled a face and, after a moment, bowed his head. “I know. Sorry.”

I breathed out. “Just don’t do it again,” I said sharply, then softened my tone as I continued. “Hopefully it was at least worth it. Give me the details.”

I would set this aside for now, but I needed to consider his behavior later. A part of me was angry at the situation and my own reaction. We were friends, I shouldn’t have to chew him out just for acting on his own. But I was also in charge here, while our group was stuck in a delicate situation. He’d disobeyed an order, and while I didn’t like to treat him as a subordinate, the simple truth was that I was essentially his boss, not just as head of the family, but as crown princess.

He must have realized that I was seriously miffed, as he only nodded and started talking with no flourishes. “The Alchemical Consortium were brought in to consult on the investigation, as their business and trade are in large part based on substances similar to this and the company employs several experts in related fields, including military and security applications. We used one of their labs to analyze one of the trickier samples.”

“And what did you find?” I asked.

“Circumstantial evidence, nothing solid,” he said. “I’m almost sure that they make exactly the sort of stuff used in the bomb, but that doesn’t mean much by itself. I’ll spare you the details, they’re all in the report. I’d noticed them from Yarani’s investigations, so when the opportunity arose I decided to take a closer look. One of their warded doors was left open and I was on the move between rooms, anyway, so I used that shadow trick Tenira showed us to poke around.” He hesitated. “Well, I got my hands on a few papers that dealt with imports and exports, and it seems they’ve been trading with a few companies we’d pegged as their competitors. Nothing too suspicious, but the timing felt off to me. When I dug around a little, I discovered they made some rather surprising, if minor, concessions to one company that handles primarily formation work on larger artifacts, especially high-end and precision work.”

Like a table with a hidden compartment that could house a functional explosive device. I frowned. That did sound suspicious, even if it was all circumstantial evidence.

“Here, I marked what I noticed.” Lei gave me a sheet of paper.

I unfolded it and scanned through the uneven lines in his handwriting, nodding. I’d definitely need to take a quick look through what Yarani and the others had on this Consortium.

“Good work,” I said. “I only hope they didn’t notice your activity.”

He lowered his eyes again, chewing on his lip for a moment. “I doubt it,” he finally said. “Can I go, Inaris?”

I suppressed a sigh. Usually, I’d like to keep him around, considering he was already familiar with this company. But under the current circumstances, it was probably best if he left to get back to one of our own labs.

“Go,” I said. “Take the guards, and when you get back to our quarters, you can help with paperwork or tinker a little, but nothing that poses a danger of blowing up, okay?”

He smiled and gave me a sloppy salute, before turning around and leaving. I shook my head and glanced around the room, dispersing the qi we’d put up to ward it against spying attempts. It was probably not far from the lab in question. The company had offered us the meeting room for a private discussion when I’d arrived. He’d been close. It was pretty sparely furnished, though the addition of several Imperial guards certainly livened up the place. I caught Aston’s eye and raised an eyebrow, to which he shook his head. No problems. Good.

It wasn’t hard to find someone to talk to. I suspected that a higher-ranking representative from the Consortium had arrived just after I did, from the way they discreetly approached me as I left. When I politely requested to talk to someone in charge of the company, they bowed and asked me to accompany them without even the pretense of checking if their boss was available.

The company official led me through different parts of the building into steadily more richly appointed corridors. At the end, I even caught sight of a few people in a simple gray uniform and the piercings trailing down from eyebrow to cheek that indicated their status as slaves in Adzur. I clenched my fingers and wrested my gaze away, well aware that I could realistically do nothing to help them. Any interest or sympathy I showed was just as likely to backfire on them later. At least they looked healthy.

I cleared my mind of these thoughts as I was led into a receiving room that reminded me of those in the palace the government had quartered me in, though it was a little less ostentatious. A woman in a far more sensible dark gray suit that had a little too many frills for Earth fashion and what looked a bit like a corset underneath awaited me there, standing up when I entered.

“Your Highness.” She bowed. “The Alchemical Consortium is honored by your visit. I am Director Ariand’le.”

“A pleasure, Director,” I replied, taking the seat she indicated and waiting until she’d sat down herself. “As it happens, I have a few questions about the Consortium and the investigation into the explosion.”

“Of course, Imperial Princess.” She smiled. “How can I help?”

I took a moment to study her, noticing the faint bead of sweat on her forehead despite her otherwise composed appearance. Then again, I was the Imperial Princess, so it hardly counted as an indication that she had something to hide.

“I admit I had my people do some digging into the Alchemical Consortium and your business dealings,” I said. “Considering your participation in this investigation and your area of expertise, it seemed only sensible.”

She inclined her head. “Of course.”

“What I found surprised me in some respects,” I continued. “You are reliant on quite a few materials and ingredients that have to be imported from outside Adzur, aren’t you? From what I can tell, this trade is essential to your production capacity. Some substances simply aren’t available in this area. You must have quite the trade network.”

The Director nodded. “It is as you say, Imperial Princess,” she admitted. “We do trade extensively with many others, including the Empire.”

“Hmm.” I leaned back into my seat, drumming my fingers on the armrest. “There have been several indications of the Consortium being involved in the assassination attempt,” I said casually. “That had me wondering. If you need the Empire to import potassium nitrate and a few more troublesome substances, why risk endangering it? I doubt there are many sources comparable to the Green Forest, even among the Zarian Dominion, not to mention our rather more advanced skills in actually extracting and refining both qi-based and natural substances in large quantities.”

The woman paled just a little and frowned at me, her hands clenching in her lap. “I assure you, Your Highness, there is no need to go making this sort of accusations. This very relationship you have outlined should be confirming that we have had no hand in any of this.”

I cocked my head to the side, staying silent for a moment. Yeah, I don’t think so, lady.

“Do not take me for a fool, Director,” I said softly. “Greater people than you have tried, and it did not end well for them.”

She kept her composure admirably well, although I noticed that she paled a little more, even though her skin color was darker than most people in the Empire. She opened her mouth just a bit, then closed it, still meeting my stare.

“In a way, I suppose you were actually trying to help me,” I said. “The assassination attempt was far too shoddy to succeed. Perhaps that is your most obvious mistake, you botched it too clearly. I assume you were trying to put pressure on the government and the faction that advocated for dealing with the Zarian. After all, twisting the knife someone had just tried to stick into me would be viewed rather differently than just folding to the Dominion’s demands. Am I correct in this, Director?”

She breathed out shallowly, and answered after a moment of silence. “Yes, Your Highness. In principle you are right. The Consortium and its allies have advocated for seeking closer ties with the Empire instead of the Dominion, or at least doing our utmost not to risk the existing relationship, as this proposed embargo would.”

I nodded, taking the tacit acknowledgment. “I see. I do hope you know you put me in an awkward position, though, Director.”

She frowned. “Why, Your Highness? As I said, we were acting to help you.”

I couldn’t suppress a scowl. “Oh, did you? By trying to manipulate me and everyone else, escalating the situation, and risking making everything worse if your little scheme came out?”

She didn’t seem to know how to answer that. I took a moment to consider the situation. I needed to react to this somehow, and perhaps turn it around on Adzur after all. On purpose or not, she had just given me leverage.

“I expect your Alchemical Consortium will work hard to make up for this regrettable lapse in judgment. Won’t you?”

The Director’s face hardened. “What exactly are you saying? Your Highness.”

“I am not the guilty party here, Director,” I explained calmly. “It wouldn’t be ideal to have your little scheme revealed, but considering I’d be the one to unearth it and drag it into the light, I could live with that. If you were to make trouble for me, that would certainly be a preferred course of action.” I shrugged. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about blackmailing the likes of her, especially considering that they had genuinely put my life at risk. Even if it was a small risk. “I hope you will instead try for restitution.”

The woman looked like she’d just bitten into a lemon where she’d expected at least an orange, but after a moment, she bowed her head. “Of course, Imperial Princess. The Consortium regrets the trouble we have inadvertently caused for you and your delegation, and we will make amends.”

Good. I smiled, leaning back into my chair. “We are already working towards similar goals, so you won’t need to go off the path you have taken too much. Simply put a little more heart and effort into it. Make the government really feel your displeasure, and that of your allies.”

She looked cautious, but didn’t protest. “Of course. That is only natural.”

“I don’t suppose a few favors would be too much to ask for, would they?” I mused, leaning my head back further. The ceiling was painted and edged in gold leaf, I noted. Already, my opinion of their taste was sinking.

“Of course not, Your Highness,” she said, sounding like she was suppressing a sigh.

That only made me smile wider. Still in a casual tone, I continued speaking, getting into details. I still kept most of it vague, and made sure that the company wouldn’t be too hurt and try to find a way out of the situation. But I had already suspected they had some intelligence apparatus of their own. Adzur seemed like the kind of place where corporate espionage flourished.

With the information she could already give me, I got a better idea of what the Zarian had brought to the Premier. The threats were disappointingly vague, but then, if my assessment was correct and they really expected the Dominion to win, not much more would be needed. There were a few incentives I could probably match, if I cared to, but little else to work with.

I was coming to realize that this wouldn’t be solved by unraveling what the Zarian had wrought, but by putting my own efforts against them. To that end, the connections I’d made with the temple and now the Alchemical Consortium would do nicely. I’d already brought pressure to bear with the sea dragons, and I could tell it had an effect. Even if I didn’t go out of my way to do more, right now, I could probably get the Dominion’s embargo shot down, and that was all I really needed. After all, winter solstice was in two days, and I had more important matters to deal with.

I took my leave from Director Ariand’le in reasonably good spirits, picking up the rest of my guards on the way out of the building, and climbed into the carriage Aston had prepared. The journey back didn’t take long, and I checked in to see that Lei was in the room we’d turned into a makeshift lab, engrossed in another project full of wires, circuit boards and new blueprints. I decided not to bother him.

About two hours later, a commotion outside the gates of our borrowed mansion got me away from more paperwork. I leaned against a ground-floor window, watching as the guards escorted a group of people in simple clothing into an inner courtyard. There were several dozen, and most of them had the piercings I’d noticed earlier.

“A gift from the Alchemical Consortium, my lady,” Aston reported, tone forcibly neutral.

I rolled my shoulders, feeling a satisfied smile stretching over my face. I hadn’t explicitly asked the Alchemical Consortium for this favor, but it wasn’t exactly hard to guess.

After taking a moment to collect myself, I stepped out onto the terrace facing the slaves, feeling every eye on me.

“Welcome,” I said. “As you might know, the Empire of the Sky, like most halfway civilized nations, detests slavery. I will officially free you as soon as we are leaving Adzur. Until then, I’ll consider you free people. None of you will be forced to do any sort of work you don’t want to. Of course, if you want to help us, we’d welcome your aid gladly, but again, you will not be forced into anything.”

I paused, considered saying more, then simply nodded. I was already making plans to leave them each a bit of money so they could maybe free their loved ones or at least get settled into a business, but I could make that a surprise. Looking at them now, I suspected that these weren’t the people the Alchemical Consortium had valued highly, but since that meant they’d been more at risk of mistreatment, I hardly minded.

If I had expected them to immediately start dancing for joy, I would have been disappointed. I could see it in the expressions of many of them, how they couldn't bring themselves to believe this was actually happening. Of course, I imagine slavery isn't the kind of life that promotes trust and optimism. But there was hope there, too, I thought. Some smiled and a few did cheer. One girl even looked to be blinking back tears.

I couldn’t help a genuine smile in response. As I turned away and listened to the guards moving in to get them settled, there was a bit of a spring in my step. I’d at least done one good thing today.

Since they were a ‘gift’, I wasn’t aiding the institution of slavery, the way buying people would just add money into their ledgers. I knew this wasn’t much, they were only a few people. I couldn’t risk the Empire’s interests for more activism. But at least it was something.

Besides, there were bound to be a few anti-slavery groups in Adzur. Now that I thought about it, I recalled several interesting details from my briefings and Kariva’s information. Surely, they wouldn’t mind getting a bit of money and discreet patronage. Hey, that would probably even help our political aims. It wouldn’t be much in the way of interference, but probably a good approach anyway, realistic and feasible for getting some sustainable change. Something to talk to Yarani and my entourage about, certainly.