The gossip that Xanarona had asked Edxine to provide was standing there before her. A delegate had brought him from one of the cluster terminals. And he wasn't at all what Xanarona expected. He wasn't brimming with life or vibrant of sight. He didn't have the smirk of a sharp-tongued tattletale or the upright neck of a rumour-monger. Xanarona surmised by the way he dressed that he worked in the kitchens—a white well tailored top over equally white slacks. He had a greedy way of interlocking his fingers and though he looked towards Xanarona's general direction, his eyes never met hers.

  “What is your name?” She asked crudely.

  “Barristen.”

  “Do you know why you are here, Barristen?”

  “Yes,” he said, his voice like he had authored a stacked bibliotheca. “I also know why you are here, dam,” he added.

  “You do.” It was more a statement than a question from the Empress-designate.

  “I do.” He observed a grating pause. “You want to know who betrays you.”

  “Are you a Pyrant?”

  Barristen freed his fingers and showed them to her like there was something to see. “I am no Pyrant. I do my humble hours in the kitchens.”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  “Do you know who I truly am?” Xanarona watched him closely

  He looked at her now, an epiphany lighting his previously dull eyes. “Oh,” he exclaimed. “ If I did not know, I now do.” He took in the sight of her and dared to step forward. “How? They said it was not possible.”

  “Who is ‘they’?”

  “The scholars, the seers, the ones who tried and failed.”

  “Do you want to serve me in the Drafts? Do you want to leave this life in the kitchens? Do you want to live gratuitously, Barristen?”

  Barristen, again, lowered his head. “Forgive me, but the kitchens enable my gossip. I may have to decline your benevolent offer.”

  “I wasn’t asking.”

  “My dam, but…”

  “You know who I am. I am not asking!”

  “As you wish then.”

  “I will talk to Edxine to release you to me. You are a delegate, not a reserve?”

  “I am a delegate.”

  “Then it would be easier to have you transferred. Now onto why I called you, tell me about House Hadtlinn. In the thirty stars that I had been asleep inside my granddaughter, what have they been up to?”

  “House Hadtlinn.” He pondered. “Hmmm. The Rebel House. They still use your father's former, delegative name to regard your House. Cotideil. I have heard them call you Xanarona Cotideil.”

  “Cotideil is no House. We rule the Empire,” Xanarona expressed with disciplined composure.

  “That is not what they say.” Barristen croaked. “Mona Hadtlinn is coy. And forgive me dam, but your daughter, my Empress… is… is too trusting.”

  Xanarona had no desire to speak of her daughter with the man. “I need something demonstrable. Have you heard of any schemes, anything at all that would without a doubt condemn Hadtlinn?”

  “As much as I dread saying it, there's nothing of actionable relevance. But, I am certain that if you look, you will find.”

  Xanarona leaned back on her bed, a little disappointed.

  “You may leave then, Barristen. I will call you whenever I need you.”

  Barristen stopped halfway through the door and entered again.

  “One more thing, dam,” he said. “I don't know how true it is but on the dawn of your coronation you wore the badge of a Pilgrim instead of one of a Prophet’s.”

  “And?”

  “If I could realize who you were, trust that there are greater forces who will if they haven't already.”

  She eyed him awhile and spurted out a feckless “Noted.”

  It disgusted her. Greater forces. The things I will do to them.

  “Hedwig, tell Dorren to give you the records of House Hadtlinn, the certificates of trade too.” She took a seat before her table, ready to do another long, thorough digging. And whilst Hedwig was away bringing the records, she stretched and yawned and stared blankly at the plain, undecorated ceiling. There was no point in saving Hadtlinn for last, she would do it now. She would crumple that treasonous House.

  Hedwig returned with the records. “Dorren is bringing the rest,” she assured.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I don't want Dorren here. Just bring it yourself.”

  Hedwig left, quick as she could and returned with the rest. She found Xanarona ideating upon the blueprints Edxine had given her earlier. The Empress-designate rolled it up again, still at a loss for anything of note. She received the first book from Hedwig, dated just five stars after she had died.

  “There’ll be no progress with checking for items or materials. We'll look at delegates,” she thought out loud. “House Hadtlinn has a penchant for exchanging delegates. There was an exchange every week from the first to the third month of this star. Hedwig, find the record for the following star, tell me if there is any pattern of this first to third month trading.”

  Hedwig checked the star tagged on the cover of each book and eventually found the right one. She made to hand it to Xanarona but the Empress-designate just piped, “Read it out.”

  “There was an exchange every week in the first month. But there was none in the second month and only one throughout the third.”

  Xanarona proceeded, “The first week of the first month, Loran exchanged five pod Engineer delegates for ten weavers from Hadtlinn. What about you?”

  “In the first week of the first month, a Panner under House Loran vacated Thyrv to work for Hadtlinn who in turn sent two Prophets,” Hedwig read out.

  Xanarona swiped to the next few pages. “After a month, there was another switch with the same number. Just this time it was the other way around. Loran gave Hadtlinn ten weavers and took five Engineers in return. Any such pattern? There might be an exchange-and-return tactic. These records—” She paused her cross-referencing and turned around to look at Hedwig. “What are your thoughts Hedwig? You don't need to always be silent. You were alive then, weren't you?”

  “With all due respect, dam,” Hedwig said. “Dam Mona Hadtlinn was invested as Avenue of her House five stars after you passed. It is why there's a rampant exchange compared to other stars. I think they frequently implored the help of House Loran at that time. You would hardly see a pattern between the two years, dam.”

  “I see.”

  “And—” Hedwig stammered.

  “Go on.”

  “I’d suggest we check the last months of each star rather than the first—”

  “I know that.” Xanarona cut her off. “Most of the Houses bargain for all they need at the start of every new star, in case of any unforeseen circumstances later down the calendar. I know all that. All the more reason we should check the first and not the last months. If I were to betray the Empire, I would not want my evil standing out—I'd hide it among the less obvious. House Rihle, for example, could be sending more delegates than needed to do a work or perhaps an extra pair of tracks they've woven, and they'll do that under the cover of trading in bulk or ‘in one mass.’”

  A knock on the door distracted them from their evaluation.

  “What is it?” Xanarona queried from where she sat.

  The door was about to come open and she snapped, “I didn't say you should enter.”

  The door was shut again.

  “What is it? Speak from there,” Xanarona instructed.

  “There is a message for you. The people, your subjects, are asking to see you,” the voice said.

  She almost asked ‘Why?’ but quickly dismissed the thought.

  “I'll see them in due time.” She rubbed her eyes. “Hedwig, tell Edxine to make plans for the terminal I would visit. Let's get back to work for now.”

  They probed every record for patterns to implicate House Hadtlinn. It was almost to the point of frustration for Xanarona. She didn't go to the dining to eat either, she did everything in her room. It was yet another vain search.

  “Why don't you rest, Hedwig? I'll take over from here. Get me the records of House Wilcoxx.”

  Hedwig, prompt as she always was, returned soon with the records of Wilcoxx. She lingered as a shadow at her door reluctant to leave the Empress-designate. Xanarona ignored her handmaiden and focused on Wilcoxx and after an hour, Hedwig tired and withdrew into her room.

  Xanarona wasn't like the others, and sleep wouldn't come if she did not prefer it to. Three books were opened in front of her and she jumped eagerly between them, one then the other. Her granddaughter's memories were little to no help for it seemed Xana had avoided these sorts of controversies.

  Wait. She stood. The very first error, she had sighted and not one of little significance. “Hedwig! Hedwig!”

  Hedwig was up and before the dam, in her night dress—a grey shroud looped around her hair.

  “Get me the Hadtlinn records for 5511, that is eight stars back. Quick, Hedwig.”

  As Hedwig pranced in with the exact record, Xanarona swiped it from her and perused it under the light. “In the thirteenth month of the star, 5511, my daughter almost held Hadtlinn in violation of a trade rule. My granddaughter's memory of this may be tainted, she was only nineteen stars back then.” She spiralled between books, fingers pointing, trying to make sense of it all. “In all of the Silver Belt, it is only the region-clusters of Wexler that have the metals needed to manufacture churners. And House Hadtlinn oversees Wexler. In the last month of 5511, House Loran requested a supply of churners from Hadtlinn. They were delivered, the certificate of trade aligns with the records.” She brought the certificates closer. “By the Redundancy Trade Rule, that counts as the first trade. That same month, House Wilcoxx had a need for churners and asked House Loran. They could have asked Hadtlinn directly but they did not probably because Hadtlinn was in short supply. The Silver Belt isn't rife with Metal 00R7, the metal used in making churners. When I was in my old body, I didn't even collect the metal from Hadtlinn. The Drafts needed more than Hadtlinn could provide so we bartered with the Iron Belt, loath as I was to the idea.” She looked again at House Loran's records with House Wilcoxx. “Loran agreed to give Wilcoxx some of what it had gotten from Hadtlinn. The transaction never went through though. The record of it was cancelled, right here. And why was it cancelled?” She flipped through Hadtlinn's records. “Because Hadtlinn wanted the churners back. That was the second trade. My granddaughter was not too keen on these matters but going by her memory, Hadtlinn did not want the churners for themselves. They wanted to trade metals with the Drafts for a profit. That was going to be a third trade. The Redundancy Trade Rule allows a maximum of only two trades. My daughter realized this and almost issued a Surrender to Arms against Hadtlinn. My memories are woozy on this but I think my daughter pardoned this ‘error’ by House Hadtlinn. Xanfeil has always been too kind,” she remarked. “Anyway, Hadtlinn was supposed to return the churners to House Loran so that it could be handed to Wilcoxx, the House that had requested the churners prior to House Hadtlinn's debacle with the Drafts. I am sure of this because the record of that second trade by House Loran with Hadtlinn is also cancelled here. It had been voided. But,” she held Wilcoxx's records again, “it is not reflected here that Hadtlinn ever returned those churners. If Hadtlinn returned the churners and Loran traded it with Wilcoxx it wouldhave been recorded. In fact, throughout the following star, 5512,”—she browsed the next few pages —“there is no recorded sale of even one churner between Wilcoxx and Loran. Hadtlinn never returned those rejected churners, they are not accounted for in this book.”

  There was a groan outside, and the floor beneath them began to move gently. Xanarona stopped her analysis and looked around, from the curved walls to the ceiling and to her feet. Hedwig was also lost as to what was happening. The movement suddenly stopped.

  “I'll find out what happened, dam,” Hedwig offered.

  “Don't bother. I know what happened.” Snippets of her granddaughter's memory of the Cylinder House crossed her mind. “This House doesn't manufacture its own Waste like most terminals do. It's part of the design. Waste is brought in baskets from time to time and the cylinders move around to accommodate them.”

  Xanarona removed her hairstick. Exhausted, she sat down on her bed.

  “I am going to issue a Surrender to Arms against Hadtlinn tomorrow. They must account for those lost churners. Dimdusk, Hedwig."