“And have any responded?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I said. They’d wait too – wait to see what the more influential islands would do. “But it’s the best we can do at the moment.”

My gaze went to the porthole, where a downpour obscured the sun. I’d not been able to find the spy construct that had escaped both my grasp and Jovis’s. I shouldn’t have expected I could. Still, I’d sent out servants to look for it.

If I’d had Hao, or any other spy construct…

But I’d vowed to put that behind me. No little spies outside the palace walls, bringing reports back to a monster below the palace. No other Emperor had ruled without magic. And I was already starting from a weakened position. What if my father had already completed one copy of himself, stuffed it full of his memories and hidden it away in case of disaster? I tried not to imagine where that might lead. Two warring factions. A divided Empire. And always people like Numeen and his family would suffer.

I had to deal with what was in front of me, instead of the endless possibilities opened by my father’s experiments.

Iknauy gathered up the papers in front of her before pulling out a tied bundle of folded messages. “I have reports in from the envoys you sent out at the beginning of your reign.” She glanced to Jovis. “Shall I?”

I waved at her to continue. There wouldn’t be secrets there – nothing that couldn’t be gleaned from talk and rumors.

Most of it was reporting on local events, some of which were concerning but not alarming. Attacks from constructs on citizens. Citizens hunting down constructs. Tremors on a few islands, though nothing as large or continuous as on Deerhead. She handed each message to me after she’d finished summarizing them. And then Ikanuy pulled out the last two messages.

“The caro nut shipment from Nephilanu has been delayed. Our envoy isn’t sure why or exactly what’s happening there. They did have a recent upheaval.”

I searched my memories. I’d received a letter when the change of governors had taken place. “Yes. The father stepped down and his daughter inherited.”

Iknauy gave me an amused look. “That’s the official story. Unofficially, there was rioting. The previous governor squeezed the populace dry while he lived an extravagant lifestyle. He had a daughter with a commoner, and it sounds like the people have pinned their hopes on her. He was forced to step down.”