Xanarona held her face with both palms: for a moment, she felt an unbridled peace—like she was dreaming the best ever dream. There was a rush of light, then a lick of darkness. Another rush then another lick, until she eventually returned to herself. Her breathing was heavy, she slapped her hands on the arm of her chair and scanned her environment for a second. She was in her room, at her table, with some pages opened before her. She did not need to look back to know that Hedwig was there.

  She shifted slightly in her seat and said without a sliver of either desperation or struggle, “My granddaughter is about to take over. Don't let her do anything rash. But don't stop her either. Let her do as—” A sudden silence followed. That lick of black became a deluge and the light that came after brought with itself a consciousness undead.

  Hedwig knew it wasn't the dam she knew when she saw the softer lines on Xana's face and the sorrow. It was the sorrow most of all.

  “Oh,” Xana whimpered. “Oh!” She was breaking. She looked down the length of her arms and hugged herself, the pangs of sadness overwhelming her. “Oh.” Hedwig was confused about what to do. She took a step forward but that was it. She wanted to reach out, but was none the wiser.

  Xana covered her face with her palms and wept; she wept a long while. The feeling in her feet were strange like they weren't hers anymore. She struggled to get up and when she tried to take that first step, she fell forward. Hedwig was there to catch her; Xana wept all the more.

  “I’ll clean you, dam,” Hedwig said softly.

  The task of washing her was no easy one. Hedwig had to hold up Xana's hand to keep it from falling as she brushed the Blackstone against the underside of it. Xana was a wreck of grave lethargy. She barely had any agency and just looked straight ahead at her pitiful reflection in the mirror. Once they were outside the Waste Room, she did not resist as Hedwig tied up her hair and strapped freer clothes on her.

  “Please, follow me, dam. You have to eat.” Hedwig fidgeted to take Xana's palm in hers but she eventually did. She ushered the dam out of the room and took her over to the dining place. The handmaiden sat her down and returned with food. Xana would not eat, however, so Hedwig fed her. She, at least, opened her mouth to ingest the food. The was an unhurried rapping on the door. Hedwig went to find out who it was and soon opened the door fully to let the person in. Nara, the reserve-guard, walked in and began muttering soundlessly. It was soundless to Xana at least; Nara was one of those she had sworn to kill. She heard her breathing intensifying the more the reserve spoke.

  In a moment's notice, Xana picked the knife Hedwig used to break the food, darted on all fours across the table and jumped on a frantic Nara. They both fell to the ground. She skittered over him and yowled, about the jam the knife into his throat. And just then, her grandmother siezed hold of her body. Her eyes blackened and two voices choked in the fight of wills. Only one prevailed.

  Xanarona stepped away from Nara and looked at the table her granddaughter had thrashed. “Take care of the mess, Hedwig. Follow me, Nara.”

  As she changed from her soiled clothes, she asked, “What were you saying earlier?”

  Nara was of a sturdy build but was nevertheless shaken by the attempt on his life. He swallowed and said, “There is news for you.”

  “What news?”

  “From Dy'Anne, dam,” he said. “She said that Ilyana has not come around the Drafts since your coronation. So she has put someone up to the task of finding her.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Yes, dam.”

  “Can you write?”

  “I can.”

  “Then send a letter to Dy'Anne. Tell her that I don't want any update on this Ilyana girl if it is not about her death.”

  “Understood.” Nara exited the Empress-designate's room.

  “Get me Dorren,” Xanarona instructed as Hedwig entered. She set the records on the table and prepped to work.

  Immediately Dorren appeared, she said, “We have a lot of things to do. First, the Empire is issuing a Surrender to Arms against House Hadtlinn. House Loran will begin the movement and will send the letter and reason for engagement to other Houses. You'll prepare bone paper for me, Dorren, to write to my mother about the situation and imply the command of her Empire against House Hadtlinn. Once, the Drafts anoints the issue, you'll write to the Jedenvarste, in my name and call them to arms against Hadtlinn. Also, contact the Alovoreen Judges, tell them to prepare their Base for a hearing.”

  “Pardon me, dam. But, if you don't mind me asking, what is House Hadtlinn accused of?”

  “House Hadtlinn is accused of bartering with enemies of the Empire, coalescing with enemies of the Empire, violation of several trade rules and lying to avoid accountability among many others.”

  “Dam. These are grave accusations.”

  “I know.” She nonchalantly peeled away at the pages of the records in her hand. “Hence the Surrender to Arms. Get to work. The sooner this is done, the better.”

  Dorren did not move from her place. She looked flabbergasted at the notion.

  “Why are you still here, Dorren?”

  “I am sorry, dam but may I know the reason for engagement?”

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  “I just told you.”

  “Forgive me, dam but the laws require the drafting of an issue of a Surrender to Arms to contain concrete reasons for engagement.”

  “I know the law.” Xanarona put the book she was holding aside and said, “Give me 5511 for Wilcoxx and Hadtlinn, Hedwig.” Xanarona opened the books to the thirteenth month and regarded Dorren, “Here. Use your findings and draft the reason for engagement.”

  Dorren read hastily, skimming between the two books. She admitted eventually, “I don't see any problem, try as I might, dam.”

  “Were you in charge of the records eight stars ago?” Xanarona asked.

  “I wasn’t. But I am well informed of House Loran's records with every House for about a century.”

  “And you can't spot any issues with 5511?”

  “I apologise but I can't, dam.”

  “House Hadtlinn sold churners to House Loran. House Loran wanted to give some of it to House Wilcoxx. House Hadtlinn disrupted that trade, requesting those churners back in order to sell them to the Drafts for a profit. Hence the cancellation in House Wilcoxx's record. House Loran made the trade to House Hadtlinn and when House Hadtlinn wanted to sell those churners to the Drafts, they were caught in violation of the Redundancy Trade Rule; they were trading those churners for the third time. My mother pardoned them and they moved to reverse the trade with House Loran so as to enable Wilcoxx to get those churners. Hence, the cancellation in House Hadtlinn's records. But the problem is that Hadtlinn never returned the churners. It is not recorded anywhere. House Loran never exchanged churners with House Wilcoxx even all throughout the next star, 5512.”

  Dorren processed the long-winded spill of Xanarona's analysis. She replied, “I say this with every respect, dam. You assume many many things. In fact, most of what you say is the opposite of what actually went down.”

  “Tell me what went down then. If your story should end with a still unaccounted for basket of churners, then I implore you to save those words and carry out the orders I have given you.”

  “No, dam. I'll report everything as it is,” Dorren said. “You are right that House Loran demanded a supply of churners from House Hadtlinn. There was an accident in Torres, where two of the Empire's host terminals are located. A crash. Most of the travel baskets were affected or thrown over the summit. It hadn't been possible to get any assistance from the Iron Belt at the end of the star. So the Empress asked House Hadtlinn for its churners. They didn't have any to spare and so referred the reserves from the Drafts to Sire Edxine. House Wilcoxx, at that time, incidentally also had need of the churners and it had been sold to them. Edxine then referred the reserves to House Wilcoxx and during negotiations the violation of the trade rules was realized. It wasn't out of an intention to commit fraud, dam. House Wilcoxx considered their trade a first trade and not a second one because the first exchange between the Houses, Hadtlinn and Loran was actually no exchange. It had been a favour, a gift. There was a misunderstanding on whether gifts counted as trades. It was ruled then by the Empress that gifts do count as one trade. House Wilcoxx was pardoned for this reason and they decided to reverse the trade with House Loran so that the exchange with the Drafts would count as the second trade instead of the third.”

  Xanarona saw reason in this. She closed her eyes and put her fingers on either temple. Then she said, “Something is amiss.” She shook her head. “Do you have House Loran's records with the Drafts?”

  “Yes, dam,” Dorren replied.

  “Get the ones for 5511 and 5512.”

  While Dorren was away, Xana reviewed her theory for anything that she had left out. She checked and crosschecked the mound of books around her but found no inconsistency in Dorren's explanation. The records with the Drafts were bigger than the others and Xanarona did not take out the time to have a feel of its paper. She turned the pages to the last month of star 5511 and traced down to the dawn of the transactions. She picked 5512 and did the same.

  “I don't understand,” Xanarona said. “You say Wilcoxx returned the churners so that House Loran could trade a second time with the Drafts. But there is no record of such a thing here. Not in 5511 or 5512.”

  “Yes, dam,” Dorren said. “House Wilcoxx tried to return the churners but they also suffered an accident on the way back to Thyrv. It cost the churners and the lives of two Pilots.”

  “It was all lost. The churners?”

  “Yes, dam.”

  “There is a second trade with Hadtlinn that is cancelled in those records,” Xanarona said. “How do you account for it?”

  “Please let me see it, dam.”

  Xanarona gave her the book to see.

  “I didn't write this so I don't know but the actuary before me was clumsy with the records. This isn't the first time he has cancelled something.”

  Xanarona had earlier observed this too, so she did not contest. The theory that she had strung up for hours had been defeated in minutes. As she was lost in her thoughts, Dorren asked, “Do you permit me to go, dam?”

  Xanarona stood from her seat and walked halfway across the large room, away from both Hedwig and Dorren.

  “One last thing,” she said.

  “What is it, dam?”

  “Is 5511 the first time House Wilcoxx has suffered from such a tragedy? Losing bartered wares and whatnot?”

  “No. It is not. House Wilcoxx has been prone to such accidents over the years. In fact, they train some of their Pilots in Thyrv for this reason.”

  “How many times?”

  “I can't remember all of them. But I have counted about four of these incidents, in the last century alone.”

  “Four times?” She pondered. “Are these accidents peculiar to only Wilcoxx?”

  “Yes. The Drafts is the only contender but it moves more things than any other place,” Dorren explained.

  “And this four times is only with House Loran? It means that with other Houses there may be more accidents?”

  “Probably.”

  Xanarona scoffed. “Has anybody thought to question these disappearances?”

  “There has been a growing emphasis on the need for training more flexible Pyrants, Pilots and Panners especially.”

  “Nonsense.” Xanarona picked a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She faced the two women with her and said, “Now listen up. I am going to repeat my earlier instructions with some slight changes. The Empire is issuing a Surrender to Arms against House Wilcoxx. House Loran will begin the movement and will send the letter and reason for engagement to other Houses. You'll prepare bone paper for me, Dorren, to write to my mother about the situation and imply the command of her Empire against House Wilcoxx. Once, the Drafts anoints the issue, you'll write to the Jedenvarste, in my name and call them to arms against Wilcoxx. Also, contact the Alovoreen Judges, tell them to prepare their Base for a hearing. House Wilcoxx is accused of bartering with enemies of the Empire, coalescing with enemies of the Empire, violation of several trade rules and lying to avoid accountability among many others”

  “Reason for—” Dorren began.

  “Reason for engagement is the missing wares. Cite all the missing or cancelled records with Wilcoxx in the issue of the Surrender to Arms as proof of it. Tell the Houses in your letter to do the same. And…” She gritted her teeth. “Admonish them in the name of Empress-designate Xanarona, First of all the Houses, Ruler of all the Belt. Tell them that I said, ‘The reckoning dawn has come.’”