Garrett turned. The commotion in the hallway made more sense. The Fourth Prince had arrived. No one knew how to handle it. Royal Guards posted in the chamber snapped to attention. Realizing he was also a Guard, Garrett snapped to attention too.
"Your Highness," said the minister, "all I can do is respectfully ask that you not interfere with the ordinary course of state administration."
The Fourth Prince looked bigger in looking glasses than real life, particularly when the only other person in the frame was a cute, chubby ten year old princess. Garrett could toss him over a shoulder without difficulty. He was exceptionally cute, however. Supernaturally so. If he was a little fox demon, then it might make sense. No, foxes were almost synonymous with cute – but they just weren't cute enough. The Fourth Prince was… a red panda demon.
Was there such a thing?
"Moonlight Chamber has sent a spy to Watchtower Thirty Eight every day for three weeks," said the red panda demon.
The red panda advanced menacingly on the minister.
"Your Highness," said the minister, "this is a routine inquiry."
Garrett almost felt sorry for the man.
"Three weeks," repeated Renjie. "I visit the princess every few days. Moonlight Chamber's spy would therefore have seen me…."
The Fourth Prince began to do math in his head. It was adorable.
"Seven times, Your Highness," said Garrett. "On average."
The Fourth Prince glanced at Garrett twice. The first time, he was surprised by the information. The second time, he was clearly sizing Garrett up. Garrett tightened his abs.
"Seven times!" said the Fourth Prince. "Seven times, there has been no 'routine inquiry.'"
"Your Highness," said the minister, "I only see the reports that are sent to me."
"Finally, a handsome young recruit took the bait. What's your name?"
Being called handsome by a demonic red panda really made Garrett's day.
"Garrett," he replied.
"Garrett looked in the direction Moonlight Chamber's spy pointed," said Renjie.
The minister stood up.
"Your Highness," he said more forcefully. "Please do not interfere…."
"Are you going to tell the Guard to remove me?" asked the Fourth Prince.
"Of course not," said the minister. "I can only ask you to respect our process."
"Garrett?" asked Renjie.
"Answering His Highness!"
Garrett hadn't yet realized how much he wanted to say that.
"Since the day you filed your report, has the spy returned?" asked Renjie.
"No," said Garrett.
"What we have here," said the Fourth Prince, "is a scheme, engineered by Moonlight Chamber and this ministry, to entangle the Royal Guard in politics."
There were mutterings in the crowd. The minister was losing hearts and minds.
"That is not true," insisted the minister.
"Political affiliations will weaken the standing of the Royal Guard," continued Renjie, "thereby allowing Moonlight Chamber to further extend its already excessive control over the administration of security on Jade Palace Mound."
It was quiet for several moments.
"That's melodramatic," said a newcomer, "even for our Fourth Prince."
Garrett was not familiar with the newcomer. He was tall and thin, like Resk, but also pale and gaunt. Corporal Resk was from the south and very tan. The newcomer's attire provided no hints of his rank or role in the state. Most people in the room looked as confused as Garrett about his arrival. Who would dare get between the Fourth Prince and an August Gentleman? Garrett glanced at Sennue. The Captain looked worried. That was not reassuring. The Fourth Prince turned away from the magistrate and advanced on the new arrival.
To Garrett, it was like a red panda charging a starving wolf. Or maybe the wolf really was in danger. The Fourth Prince had a quality Garrett could not identify. His attractiveness was a symptom of something deeper, and not merely superficial beauty.
"Alistair Sand," said Renjie. "When was the last time you crawled out of your scorpion hole?"
That name set off anxious murmurs.
"It's been a while," agreed Sand amicably.
"That alone demonstrates I am not being melodramatic," said Renjie.
Alistair Sand smiled – and advanced toward the red panda demon. The room was tense.
"If I hadn't come," said Sand, "Your Highness would accuse me of hiding in my scorpion hole to plot more conspiracies. The only way to clear the air is to appear in person."
"How did you know you needed to appear here at all?" asked the Fourth Prince.
"It's my job," said Sand.
"Your translocation step is impressive," said Renjie. "The Sword Saint's efforts are not wasted."
"Are you now including an Empyrean in your conspiracy theory?" asked Sand.
"I am," said Renjie.
"Nonsense!" boomed yet another new voice.
Garrett was just about to throw up his hands in frustration at all the interruptions when everyone in the room, including Sand – but not including the Fourth Prince – dropped to their knees and greeted the Emperor. Entering from a passage hidden behind the dias, the Emperor was a robust middle-aged man. He made no effort to walk with authority. Authority walked with him.
So did an Attendant.
Attendants were the products of a lost age. Sometimes called dolls, sometimes golems, sometimes automatons, the First Qianqiu Emperor created them four thousand years ago – and they had served emperors ever since. They bore some resemblance to humans, male and female, but their skin was an enameled ceramic material with eternal nature. Garrett had never seen one so close. If anyone alive knew how they worked, he was not one of those people. The Fourth Prince turned away from Sand and advanced towards his father. There wasn't much resemblance. The red panda demon looked almost purely Warakirikoban. Except for the eyes. Those were clearly imperial.
The Attendant glided down from the dias and intercepted him.
The Fourth Prince saluted.
"Left Attendant," he said.
"Fourth Prince," replied the Attendant kindly. "You've caused a stir."
"I dispute Left Attendant's determination of cause and effect."
"Renjie," said the Emperor, "you're the one at fault."
"Is that so?"
The Emperor slammed the minister's desk. Almost everyone in the room tried to push themselves through the floor and into some other place. The demonic red panda not only refused to flinch, he took a defiant half-step forward.
"Fourth Prince," said the Attendant cautiously. "Not here."
Garrett considered that a curious way to put things. The Attendants could use powerful magic. That was particularly true on top of Jade Palace Mound. The automaton's caution reinforced Garrett's intuitive belief that there was something hiding under the Fourth Prince's cute act.
"Fine," said the Emperor. "Fine. I'll put it all out there. I instructed Moonlight Chamber to post a 'spy' in Watchtower Thirty Eight. It has nothing to do with the Royal Guards. I appreciate their dedication. It has nothing to do with Moonlight Chamber – which I also appreciate."
"I see," said Renjie. "It has to do with your fear that a little girl will depose you and restore the Lechun Dynasty. Did Moonlight Chamber's elite spy find anything useful?"
"Yes," said the Emperor.
"Is that so?" asked Renjie contemptuously.
The Emperor came down from the dias. Everyone in the room tried twice as hard to crush their bodies through the floor and into another dimension.
The Fourth Prince held position – respecting the Attendant's wish.
"Reports made by each member of the Royal Guard," said the Emperor, "are available to their commanding officers, the Minister of War, and select Vice-Ministers. When a 'restricted individual' is reported as having been observed, that report is referred to the Superintendent of the Imperial Household. That individual may then refer the report to a subordinate for investigation."
"I know that!" snapped Renjie testily.
His attitude was not what Garrett expected from someone speaking to the Emperor. If not for the Attendant's presence, it was entirely possible that the demonic red panda would have gotten right up into the Emperor of Great Yao's face.
"I am boring the Fourth Prince," said the Emperor, "in order to establish the context of what Moonlight Chamber's elite spy discovered."
"Brilliant," said Renjie.
"The list of people authorized to know that this matter would be discussed today has fewer than ten names on it. You asked Alistair how he knew to be here. He said it was his job. That was true. It was his job because I told him to be here. The real question is: how did you know? Your name is not on the list. Not even the Crown Prince's name is on the list. Were you just in the neighborhood?"
The Fourth Prince did not answer immediately.
"You knew to be here because a little girl told you," said the Emperor. "This little girl can insert herself onto any list. No. That's not right. This little girl doesn't need lists. Every secret in Great Yao is transparent to her. The Grand Preceptor is blind in comparison. Now, do you still want to tell me that Alistair has gotten it wrong?"
The Fourth Prince prepared to advance. The Attendant raised a polite hand. Renjie held.
"I do," he growled.
"Ridiculous!" roared the Emperor. "Royal Guard!"
The Royal Guard stomped. It broke Garrett out of his own thoughts. The spook had been sent by the Emperor personally. The order from above in fact came from all the way above. How much of what happened had been orchestrated by His Majesty? Garrett only "took the bait" because he was angry at Resk. Was the corporal in on it? Was the ruler of Great Yao really worried that a cute, chubby little girl was going to overthrow the dynasty and impose her own.
Well, thought Garrett, if she could pull it off – that would be kind of awesome.
"Confine the Fourth Prince to Plum Terrace Palace!" ordered the Emperor.
The Guard stomped again, but nobody moved. The Fourth Prince folded his small arms across his small chest. Hostility hanging in the air made it difficult to breathe.
"Guard!" commanded the Emperor again.
Nobody moved. Then Garrett moved. All eyes in the huge room focused on him. He felt nauseous, but advanced. The red panda demon was smaller than Garrett's youngest brother. That didn't make him easier to approach. Keeping his head up, focusing only on his steps, Garrett closed the distance. When it looked certain the red panda would scratch and bite, Garrett stopped, bowed, and gestured politely toward the way out.
"Your Highness," he said. "Plum Terrace Palace is across King Hades's Cut from Watchtower Thirty Eight. I admire the trees there every morning. Although I'm not fully qualified to pull the carriages, I'm in decent shape and… I will take you home."