Minul paused in her walk towards the meeting room. It was late, the last meeting of the day. Apparently, there’d been some developments with Leif and he’d asked for an additional meeting in spite of the one they’d had that morning. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to see him again for a couple days after that.

She was standing on a balcony overlooking one of the smaller halls of the palace, this one in specific was used when a guest was throwing a small party and needed more room than their quarters allowed. Notably, it sat opposite a lounge for noble guests and their retinue. She looked at the men gathered in the hall and looked to the doorway most of them had come from.

At this point the ones that lingered had gone to their barracks and divested themselves of armor and uniform, instead, they were in a more casual uniform, the required wear for all palace guards that weren’t currently on duty. What really caught her attention was the two tethered in the hall.

She’d read the report that it had taken Master Floki and Student Ranvir most of the night breaking down one of Saleema’s spaces, but after his advancement it should be much easier for Ranvir. So why were they still here?

She felt Saif approach from the other side of the balcony as she stretched out her tether-sense. She didn’t blow it forth as many masters did, having all the elegance of an avalanche, but she didn’t overly try to hide her presence. It should be more than enough to hide from a first-stage like Ranvir.

She hadn’t gotten lessons on using her tether-sense while in Ankiria, though, she suspected that they knew more than they were letting on regarding the ability. Maybe Ranvir did too. His head snapped up to Minul the moment she touched his Veil.

She gasped as he probed back with his own sense.

“It’s quite peculiar, isn’t it?” Saif asked keeping his voice quiet as he leaned on the railing next to her.

“What’s happened to him?” Minul asked. His tether-sense had been ripped apart, torn into a thousand pieces, though it seemed to be recovering. “Is that why it’s taken them so long?”

Saif gave a minuscule nod, “It happened after he did something with Saleema’s space. He broke it instantly, but it tore his tether-sense completely apart. It took an hour before he was even able to form it again.”

“You’ve been watching them?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye out. Wouldn’t want the guardsmen to suffocate in the space if I could help it.”

“They’ve been in there for almost seven hours at this point, what makes you think they haven’t already suffocated.”

“I know how big Saleema makes her pocket-spaces.”

“Oh—“ A new voice said, “I was just heading over to our meeting,” Leif continued haltingly.

Minul smiled at him as she turned from the railing, “Master of Education, please join us,” Now what are you doing in Inaaya’s wing of the palace, dear ambitious rat?

“Umm, yes,” Leif cleared his throat, “Shouldn’t we get to the meeting?”

“It’s just us three. Saif, can you handle it?”

Blue-black smoke shot from the triplet master’s feet along the red carpet before rising on either end of the balcony, obscuring vision and stopping sound from traveling through.

“Thank you, advisor.”

“What were you doing?” Leif asked stopping next to the Queen.

“We were watching problem student number one, problem solve,” Saif replied.

“Student Ranvir, I take it.”

Minul nodded, “Have you had the pleasure of meeting him, yet?”

“I have not, though I hear he made a bit of a fool out of himself in front of you, today.”

“He’s a country boy, he’s allowed to make himself a bit of a fool when suddenly meeting his Queen. Anything else would be weird.”

“That’s fair, I guess.”

“You called the meeting, Leif. What is this about?” Saif asked bringing them back on track.

“I wanted to see if we could start bringing together suspects we think are working with Inaaya, at least make a list.”

Or do you want a list you can bring to Inaaya? Minul wondered keeping her attention on the tethered pair working below. Despite the long hours and his old age, Master Floki looked no worse for wear than when they’d first begun, Is that because he’s taking it easy since he has a student to lean on, or is it the space tethered’s endurance coming up? Minul wondered idly.

“There’s a few clear suspects,” Saif said, “Inga and her Lords have been too quiet since the riots.”

“That is something I wanted to note on,” Leif replied. “The riots have greatly abated since that fiasco. Sure, there should be some defectors when things grow that out of hand, but from best we can tell the riots have dwindled to less than a tenth their original size and they occur less often.”

“We?” Minul asked.

Leif paused for a moment, “I have some friends looking into it…”

“Spies,” Saif supplied, “You mean spies.”

Leif cleared his throat ignoring Saif, which was always a tempting response but never a clever one, “I believe that they’ve lost a lot of funding and that was partially what was supplying the ferocity and fast growing nature of the riots.”

“You think their financial supporters were Inga and her lot?” Minul asked.

“I can’t prove it, but it makes sense to me. She wanted to pressure the Masters’ Council into making a mistake. If her goal is to make the Masters look bad then she just needs to put more money into the rioters pockets.”

“We could seize her books, check to see if she has any odd payments,” Saif said.

“That would let her know that we suspect her involvement, though,” Leif said. “And we might push more Lords onto her side if we so openly start violating her privacy and autonomy.”

“They’re not gonna band together,” Saif said. “Not with Inga.”

Leif shrugged, “They’ve done dumber things before, especially when the crown comes knocking. I’m just saying, we should be careful how we approach this.”

“But we’re all in agreement that Inga and her subordinates are malefactors?” Saif asked. Minul and Leif nodded in return. “That’s good enough for now, who else do we know that might present a problem?”

“I had a few scribes dig into the history of the teachers at the academy,” Minul said. Leif turned to her with an interested brow lifted. “Master Svenar would be a prime candidate for joining Kurri’s Eye.”

Leif snorted “Svenar? Are you sure? The man’s a loyalist to his bones.”

“By all accounts, he is loyal to Elusria and its people, but he grew up in the city. On the streets even. Master Svenar spent his formative years prowling the cold streets of this very capital, fighting to survive one day longer. That’s the sort of youth that can grow contempt for the nobles living in plush manors with warmth, food, and comfort to spare. And he’s shown the fortitude and will to become a master tethered.”

“That’s is a good case,” Leif ran his tongue over his teeth, looking down at the railing as he considered. Minul shared a glance with Saif who raised a single eyebrow. Leif gave her a considering look.

“Master Ayvir as well,” Minul continued. “He spent a lot of time with triplet master Anva-Diin from Ankiria. It was a common rumor going around that they were lovers for most of his time on the front lines.”

Saif winced, “Anva turns seventy next year.”

Leif shook his head, “Master Ayvir wouldn’t betray Elusria like that. He’s not a spy for Ankiria. If he was they wouldn’t need to bring their own masters up here.”

Minul nodded, chewing over his words, “Then I’m not sure there are any more that came up in the review,” Except for Master Sigurd, but someone been trying to burrow that lead in the snow. Leif straightened and took a deep breath, was that relief or resignation?

She stopped herself from worrying at her lip. The Master of Education was skilled, good at what he did. If only he was content trying to help elevate Elusria. But he didn’t seem to care about their country, only his own station. He would drag anyone down if meant climbing one step higher. She could respect that, even relate to it in some ways. She would do the same for Elusria.

“I’ll get started on a closer look on those two, then,” Leif said standing up. “None for the Royal School?”

Minul shook her head, “They haven’t gone through all the teachers and administration, though.”

Leif nodded and gestured to the doorways blocked by smoke, “Do you mind?”

Saif waved and the black haze vanished from the doors. Leif nodded and strode on, continuing away from Inaaya’s wing. She stood with Saif in silence for a long while, her tether-sense focused alternatively on the hallways surrounding the balcony, but she detected no one.

“Do you think he bought it?” Saif finally asked.

“I can only hope so.”

Beneath them a crowd of thirty-something guardsmen suddenly flopped onto the floor in a massive pile, “That was fast,” Saif muttered, “Maybe half an hour.”

“It took him half an hour to break her space? With that tether?”

Saif nodded.

“Maybe you’re right, we need to keep an eye on him.”

“Of course I’m right,” he winked at her with a grin.

“Do you know what set this off?” she asked after a minute.

“I believe she realized the little thing Ranvir’d been carrying about was his child. She likely thought she was a grandmother again, then realized that Umair died way too young to have children.”

“I thought she’d realized he wasn’t her son.”

“We’ll see how long she remembers this time.”

“Is there nothing we can do for her?”

Saif was quiet, though, she could see the muscles in his jaw jumping several times and his eyes flaring and dimming in color. For a minute he stood in silence, then two. “No, you can’t help her.”