The Will of the Empress - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,88

a sheaf of papers in her hand.

"Have you seen the reports from Clehamat Landreg?" Berenene wanted to know. "Shall I ring for more chocolate?" "You know that I cannot abide the stuff, Imperial Majesty," replied Ishabal. At Berenene's nod she slid into the seat across from the empress. "I have already breakfasted. And yes, I have read the reports from Landreg. They are fascinating."

"Fascinating, my foot," Berenene said crisply. "I want fer Holm and fer Haugh to know I am displeased. If they haven't learned that no one may nibble the apples in my garden until I have had my taste, they must be made to understand it."

"Fer Holm and fer Haugh are ruined, Imperial Majesty," Ishabal said gently. "Ruined men are desperate."

"Can you believe it?" Berenene asked, shaking the papers that she held. "She undid their clothes. And then she undid everything else they had with stitches in it. That had better not happen to me, Ishabal."

"Charms against such magics are easy enough to make," said the mage. "Surely these men have been punished enough. The heiress escaped. How could we improve upon such humiliation as she gave them? They were forced to tun naked to Pofkim, where the good people sent them on their way with pitchforks and laughter."

Berenene looked at her chief counselor from under raised brows. "My empire, my garden. They tried to take what is mine," she repeated patiently. "The laughter of villagers is not punishment enough for poaching my property. 1 prefer the sight of such bold and brawny fellows on their knees before me, thank you all the same."

She glanced at the report again. "I am also disappointed at the lack of information about my cousin's new 'secretary.' Really, the girl might have chosen him to infuriate me. First she is accosted by a madman — whose life Daja saved back in Kugisko. Then she hires this Zhegorz, as her secretary — or so our spies tell us. Except that her secretary spends hid hours magically protected by Trisana and Briar, so our spies know nothing of what they are doing. Zhegorz spends precious little time writing, certainly. And now I am told that we have no history of the man before Daja met him in Kugisko, because the hospital where he was locked up burned to the ground, including its records! All we know is that he came to Dancruan sometime last summer and that he lived on begging and charity. Oh, yes, and that all who knew him swore he was mad — those who were not mad themselves!" She dropped the papers on her table. "I can't justify taking agents off important security work to concentrate on someone appearing to be a madman in need of magical help, but there's no denying it, Isha." Berenene drummed well-manicured nails on the tablecloth. "I dislike mysteries, and peculiarities are like an itch I cannot scratch."

"Here is something to divert your mind," said Ishabal, handing over a piece of paper. "My investigator mage just returned from an inspection of the new river walls at Pofkim."

Berenene snatched the paper and read it over twice. "He says the walls are solid all along their length," she murmured. "Under the bridge as well, and solid around the timbers and piers, as if they were poured mortar made of stone. The villagers say the ground shook and produced these stones for hours? Impossible." She looked at Ishabal and raised her eyebrows. "It is impossible." It was half a statement, half a question.

The great mage helped herself to bliny filled with jam. "I trust my mage. The girl did it. She managed a storm in the Syth, she made the ground produce a multitude of stones and pack them into walls along the riverbank, without disturbing the bridge. I find her... intriguing." She tucked a strand of silvery hair behind her ear. "She would be a very useful addition to Your Imperial Majesty's mages, if she chose to join us."

Berenene flapped a hand, as if she was not particularly interested. "Then she is your concern, not mine. Recruit her. Offer her plenty of money. These merchants' spawn always grasp quickest for wealth. Offer her whatever amount you think is just. Certainly she sounds useful...." Her voice trailed off, indicating her lack of interest in the subject. "Do you know, I am disappointed in Jak and Fin," she told Ishabal. "Staying abed while Sandry goes riding with a tiny escort — really! I don't care if they had caught