Chetta nodded. She’d suspected as much. ‘I rather think you should move into new quarters in the Brobantis palace, Tekoa. Immediately.’

Tekoa’s eyes widened in shock and, quite possibly, alarm. ‘B-but I have an assigned apartment! Designated as appropriate for my rank.’

‘You can have a new one, and I promise you that it will be nicer,’ Chetta told him bluntly. ‘I acknowledge that I may be a foolish old woman who’s jumping at shadows, Tekoa, but if someone did remove those records to prevent me – or anyone else – from finding them, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they might be keeping a very close eye on who goes looking for them. If so, I’d suggest that the people they send after you are unlikely to be interested in conversation.’

‘But my husband, Ama, he–’

‘He can come too,’ Chetta said briskly. ‘You’ll both be subject to strict security at first, but so long as you don’t try to assassinate any of us, or pass any information you may learn on to outsiders, you’ll both be considerably safer within my walls than outside them. That I can promise you.’

Tekoa gaped at her, but Chetta could almost see his thoughts. What citizen of Ascension City hadn’t seen the Navigator palaces and marvelled at the wealth and majesty of them? Who hadn’t fantasised about venturing within, of experiencing the unthinkable luxury that must surely lie behind those thick, heavily guarded walls? Which of them hadn’t dreamed of a day, just one day, when they didn’t have to work in the Emperor’s name? Not that anyone begrudged Him their labour, of course, but perhaps there were those in the Navigator’s palaces who didn’t have to do it all the time…?

Of course, it would mean Tekoa voluntarily leaving behind everything he’d built in his life so far, but Chetta could already tell that he’d weighed that up and, apart from his husband, found it wanting.

‘High lady, it would be the greatest honour,’ Tekoa said hurriedly, as though the words would run away from him if he didn’t get them out all at once.

‘Marvellous,’ Chetta said, managing to force a smile onto her face over a wince of pain. ‘Now, I’m going to have to ask you to carry those…’

Slipping the Leash

Slipping the Leash