The leather-and-old-pages smell of the library drained the tension out of my shoulders, and my favorite fainting couch beckoned me to sprawl with a good book and order a glass of sweet dessert wine and some biscuits. But instead of succumbing to the pull of my usual shelves of history, science, and magical theory, I made straight for a certain narrow bookcase in the wall the library shared with the drawing room. I hooked my fingers behind a carved vine in the decorative molding and eased open the secret door, careful not to yank too vigorously and spill the books as I’d done once as a child.

The narrow room between the walls held nothing more than a bench with a red velvet cushion, barely wide enough for my hips, and an artifice circle drawn on the wall. The runes and pattern of concentric circles amplified sound coming into the listening post, and reduced it going out.

I settled myself in and shut the door, plunging myself into darkness. The doge’s voice immediately surrounded me.

“—new duke has gone too far. Fractious nobles daydreaming about Ardentine independence is one thing, but if Duke Astor Bergandon himself has levied a tax on Raverran merchants, that’s in direct violation of the Serene Accords. I will not countenance such a brazen challenge to the agreement that forms the foundation of the Empire.”

I gripped the edge of my bench. That didn’t sound good. What was the duke of Ardence thinking? Raverra gave its vassal states almost complete liberty to govern themselves; but the Serene Accords, the pact that defined the fundamental relationship between Raverra and the tributary cities and countries of the Empire, were inviolate.

“This only proves what I’ve been saying. We allow city-states like Ardence far too much license.” That was a new voice, a nasal male tenor: Baron Leodra, who fancied himself my mother’s rival. “The Serene City should take direct command, to put a stop to such nonsense before it can occur.”

“Duke Astor has been granted no more license than his father, or all his Bergandon ancestors before him, who abided by the Serene Accords peacefully for two hundred years.” La Contessa’s tone dismissed Leodra’s suggestion. “The issue isn’t that Ardence rules itself. It’s that this particular duke is an ass.”

“And yet the Serene Envoy to Ardence, your own cousin, requested weeks ago we empower him to overrule Duke Astor.” Leodra’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “I say we take it a step further and remove the duke of Ardence from power entirely.”