At that, he clapped his hands. “Take up your trays and platters! Follow me! No looking around! Keep your eyes to yourselves! No staring at His Exalted Highness! Do not dishonor your service in this Vigil with any disreputable behavior!”

Elen took a tray and fell in at the rear of the group. They processed single file along a covered walkway and entered the tower. The lower half was blocky, large enough to fit four rooms per level. They ascended to the fifth level, a single chamber with glass windows and sentry balconies on every side. The view was spectacular. Kem stood next to Ipis by the north-facing windows, the two staring across the Pall toward the countryside of Woodfall Province, the view fading as the day dimmed toward dusk.

Half the room was a parlor furnished with reading chairs and reading lamps, while the other half was taken up with a long table. The prince was seated in the grandest of the reading chairs, the one most appropriate to his exalted status. The Vigil captain had seated herself on a humble stool to his right. She’d set down a basket of message scrolls on a table in front of him.

“—as you can see, Your Highness, these are all the messages we received and sent onward according to the usual protocol. I personally transcribed everything, so these are my own copies of the original messages. They have remained in my sole custody.”

“What is the most recent news?”

“Nothing has changed from the dispatch I sent ten days ago, Your Highness.”

“I did not receive that dispatch because we were not on the road. We came overland, across Grinder’s Cut.”

“How can that be possible?” she asked, amazed.

The haunt’s gaze flicked toward the door, where Elen stood with the menials as they waited for permission to serve. To the warden, he said, “A story for later.”

“Of course, Your Highness. Let the meal be served.” She gestured an order.

The chief menial presided over the setting of the table and the lighting of the oil lamps. Once the prince and wardens were seated at the table, the chief menial himself set drink and food before Fulmo. After the gagast approved the dishes, the chief served the prince, after which the rest of the table was served. Elen’s entire task had been to set her tray on a side table and keep out of the way. This vantage allowed her to listen, and that was what she wanted.

The wardens ate and drank in silence at first.

Eventually, the prince set down a drained cup. “Let us discuss the mission. Speed is of the essence. There is much to be considered. Indeed, I wish to review all of the messages again.”

“All of them?” The request startled Cweles.

“Perhaps by considering them all together, instead of piecemeal, I can shake loose some detail I missed before.”

“I am sure you miss nothing, Your Highness.”