Nikolai yawned in exhaustion and slumped in his chair. Once Elya had left, he returned to his work, stumbling through books and sc.r.a.ps of ancient spell structures as he sought to improve on his experiments. It was becoming increasingly difficult to make progress as the number of projects exploded and the details were slowly being lost in sc.r.a.ps of paper that were loosely bound in folders.Jarek was a.s.sisting him well. He was bright, honest and had talent, but unfortunately there was just too much to do and Nikolai came to the sad conclusion that he would have to put some of his experiments on hold until he gained a.s.sistance from the Council. Most of the mages on the Council were insular and hated coming out into the open, many of them spending weeks at a time locked in their towers. Worse than that as the newest member Nikolai received the cold shoulder from them rather than meaningful discourse. That may have been due to his current favour at Court, but it severely hampered his efforts.
A gust of wind came from the open window and Seven jumped through. No one could find a Hand unless they wanted you to, so he wanted to be seen.
"He sent a letter?" The first time a letter had been delivered like this Nikolai had almost activated the defences in his office. The shadowy figure that flowed through the door elicited a fearsome response in most cases, luckily, he"d spotted the deep blue eyes and retracted the command spell.
Seven nodded and pa.s.sed him a sealed envelope and leaned over his shoulder to read.
"You are aware this is meant to be for my eyes only right?" It was the same old argument and as expected Seven just gripped his shoulder and signed in impatience.
"I"m sure that you"re trustworthy, but I don"t understand why you have this desire to read my letters."
Seven rolled his eyes and tapped him on the shoulder a few times to get his attention before launching into a lengthy lecture on being a bodyguard.
"No, I don"t see how you could protect me better by knowing. I do trust you with my life but the rest of it is odd."
Seven began a lengthy explanation and Nikolai squinted to keep track of the argument the Hand was building.
"Oh, that actually makes sense, but I still feel like you"re just trying to placate me, so I"ll stop asking."
Nikolai"s shoulders slumped in defeat in response to Seven"s shrug and he acceded. "Well alright. I"m sure he knows you"ll end up reading as well."
With a flick of his wrist the Son of Heaven"s personal seal was broken, and he slid the slips of paper out carefully. The Emperor had a penchant for playing pranks and Nikolai couldn"t remember how many times weird inks or small insects had been stashed inside to burst or crawl at his touch.
[Greetings Faithful Nikolai,
Ilyushka stands behind me at this moment, ensuring I maintain the decorum of a monarch. But I"d rather not bother. I have so few friends as it is, and the Hands are notoriously poor company.]
Nikolai looked up at Seven and caught him frowning.
"What did you do this time?"
Seven hesitated, a rare occurrence, and made a few short gestures which had Nikolai chuckling in short order.
"Five is always getting into trouble. By now she should know better than to bother the Empress." Seven signed agreement and they returned to the letter.
[So, how"s the girl? I"ve heard some interesting things about her from Seven.]
Seven had the grace to blush and turn his head aside. Nikolai didn"t want to know exactly what he had told the Emperor. Or at least not in detail.
[The brats are becoming restless again and I"ve set a few random tasks to see their response. Details on the next page. Try to wrap up things as quick as you can. I need your help.]
Nikolai flipped to the second page for a moment and went through the list of tasks. They truly were random, from all walks of life, but there were a few that could have far-reaching implications which required observation. He scribbled them down onto another page and handed that to Seven to take appropriate precautions.
[I"ve given Seven the latest sample. Things seem to have settled with the last approach and it seems to be the most promising so far. Make time to bring your fiancée to the Capital for a tour because the sparrows are returning home. My Cousin is acting without restraint again, but his Sister is behaving even stranger. She lacks a man to bring her peace. Needs a good you know what.]
Nikolai pursed his lips, even here the Emperor wrote in code, refusing to let his wife discover what they were discussing. The "Cousin" was worrisome, he"d already started one war, and the Empire was still recovering with the Princes, or "brats" as the Son of Heaven put it, raging now that there was no immediate threat. The "Sister" referred to the overtures of the Theocracy and that was troubling. The theological schisms were so deep seated in both nations to the point that the Empire and Theocracy were almost in a state of all-out war, only the threat from their other neighbours keeping them in check.
"Show me the sample."
Seven carefully reached into his clothes and retrieved a small box, reverently placing it on the desk. Nikolai had no such respect for the contents and just flipped the box open and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the vial of blood he knew was inside, swirling it against the mage-lights for a moment.
"Any other interesting news from the Capital?"
The Hand shook his head in denial and poured himself some juice. That was one of the things Nikolai had in common with Seven, their preference for juice over wine. It was actually their discovery of that trait which broke the ice after the Hand had been a.s.signed to him. Nikolai placed the blood aside and checked the letters for any hints that he missed.
"When will you teach me Shadow magic?" he asked, wishing for the abilities that the Hands relied. That was how they were able to move around so quickly and even deliver letters from the Capital within a day. In many respects their speed was the most closely guarded secret of the Empire.
As usual, Seven just shrugged and ignored him.
"What did you tell him about Elya." Nikolai didn"t want to ask, but it bothered him. The Emperor and Seven were not known for being conscious of boundaries. Seven"s free hand flickered for a moment, a grin sliding across his face.
"No thank you. I"ll discover that in due time myself."
The grin on his face turned into a broad smile and Seven mimed a very inappropriate action which made Nikolai blush.
"Hey, I didn"t mean it that way!" he grumbled for a while before tossing the letter into a drawer. Groaning, Nikolai rubbed his temples and picked up the vial and made s.p.a.ce on his desk. He hesitated and glanced at Seven for a moment, thinking over the Hand"s words.
"Hey tell me. Are they really that big?" If everyone else knew, it seemed unfair that only he was left out. Seven smiled widely and gestured furiously as he recounted the tale. Nikolai kept an eye on the Hand, offering occasional comments as he began his work.
It was going to be another long night experimenting with the blood of an Emperor.