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used as his official offices, her soft shoes making little sound during the walk towards the door. As she reached out for the handle it moved by itself and the door swung open of its own accord. She jumped with surprise. Standing in the the open doorway was Draper, the Emperor’s personal valet, dressed as usual in his black suit, his thinning hair brushed over his head.

  'Oh, Lawrence,' Kateryn said, placing her hand on her chest, 'you startled me.'

  'I do apologise, Your Highness,' Drapers bright blue eyes were wide open as he looked back at her, 'but I was just on my way to remind you of your appointment. Lord Courtenay has been waiting for some time already and I told him that I would check that you had remembered.'

  'Stretching my prerogative a little too far this time, am I?'

  Draper smiled back at her and pushed the door wide open, stepping to one side so that she could make her entrance. As Kateryn breezed into the room Draper announced her arrival. 'My Lord Courtenay,' Draper called, 'may I introduce Her Highness, the Empress Kateryn'. He bowed as Kateryn passed, pausing for several seconds at the deepest point of the bow to heighten the impact of her entrance.

  Kateryn outstretched her right hand to the Chamberlain, who had been standing on the far side of the office. He walked over to her, taking her hand in his own slim fingers and kissing it.

  'I do apologise for my tardiness, My Lord Courtenay, but Master Draper bade me sign a whole stack of Imperial papers this morning, and then, to cap it all, my maids insisted that they brush all my hair out.' Kateryn winked at Draper as he walked across the room to take his place at his station.

  'Your Highness,' Courtenay said, 'may I say that you look absolutely stunning today.'

  'Today? You mean I don't always?' she asked, and smiled at the Chamberlain. Courtenay always failed to understand her peculiar sense of fun but she did love to tease him.

  'Well, perhaps a little more so than usual then,' Courtenay replied.

  She looked down at her dress, 'It's just something that I threw on.'

  As she lifted her eyes, Kateryn recognised one of the Palace Guards in the blue uniform that was also common to the Palace Guard. He stood in his usual position, unmoving. 'Please, Sergeant,' she said, as she looked over at him, 'you really do not have to stay. I have Lord Courtenay and Master Draper to protect me.'

  The Sergeant looked uncomfortable for a moment, glancing between the Chamberlain and the valet. 'I...I'm sorry, Your Highness...but I have my orders. I would be in serious trouble should I not—'

  'That’s fine, Sergeant,' Kateryn said, smiling back at him, 'I quite understand. But, if you are going to stay, please, try to relax a little won't you?'

  The Sergeant smiled nervously back at her but that there was no visible evidence to suggest that the Sergeant had in fact relaxed. Kateryn’s eyes came back to Courtenay. 'Would you like a drink, my Lord?' she asked.

  Draper stepped forward to await Courtenay’s request.

  'Perhaps a herbal drink, or...,' Kateryn suggested.

  'Thank you, Your Highness, but no,' Courtenay said. 'I have already breakfasted this morning, but please feel free to continue if you so wish.'

  Kateryn looked towards Draper. 'I will have a mint tea, please, Lawrence.'

  'I must insist that Your Highness take something more substantial in the morning, you know.' Courtenay had a concerned look on his face. 'A drink of tea is not the most nourishing way to start the day. I'm sure His Highness would be most unhappy if he thought that I was not taking the best care of you.'

  'Nonsense,' Kateryn replied, sensing that the usual dance of pleasantries was nearing an end. 'How else is a lady supposed to keep her figure? I cannot have Frederick becoming bored with me and taking a mistress now, can I?' she glanced at Courtenay but he did not seem to find her little joke at all amusing.

  Draper returned with her drink and Kateryn took it, blowing across the top of the glass. The steam streamed away from her in a minty smelling cloud.

  'So, My Lord,' Kateryn said, pausing to take a sip of the mint tea, 'what do we need to talk about today? Are there any particular matters of state that need the delicate touch of an Empress?' She flashed her eyes at Courtenay. Kateryn found the man intense in most meetings that she had with him but, today, he seemed more so. She felt that she had come to know the man well and sensed that he did, in fact, have something important to discuss.

  'There are some pressing matters to discuss. In fact, several items on which I would value your views.' Courtenay began to pace slowly around the room.

  'Of course,' Kateryn replied.

  'Your Highness has, no doubt, heard the news that the Emperor is returning home?'

  'Yes, My Lord. Frederick sent a personal letter to me. I received it several days ago, with the last dispatch. I understand that he has already left and I am expecting him home sometime towards the end of next week, all being well.' It was a difficult road, across land, she knew, and it was still possible that any number of delays might arise.

  'I wonder if, perhaps, Your Highness may also have heard that there was no peace accord signed?'

  'That, I did not know,' Kateryn replied, beckoning for Draper to take the half-empty glass from her.

  'I have to be honest and say that this news frustrates me somewhat,' Courtenay said. 'I was not expecting the Emperor to return quite yet, and had hoped he would remain until he could reach an agreement.' He leaned closer, lowering the tone of his voice. 'May I speak candidly, Your Highness?'

  'Always, my Lord.' Kateryn leaned in. The Chamberlain was not usually one to open his heart to anyone, let alone to the Empress.

  'I have found great enjoyment in stepping into the Emperor’s shoes whilst he has been away,' Courtenay said, 'and I do not relish the thought of losing that authority on his return.'

  'My Lord,' Kateryn paused, 'it always seemed to make perfect sense to me that Frederick passed such a decree. You are party to most, if not all, of the discussions that my husband has on matters of state, so the continuity provided in such an arrangement could only be of benefit to everyone in the Empire.'

  'It is true that he confides in me, and it is true that I know his views, I believe, on all of the important matter of the Empire.'

  'In any event,' Kateryn said, 'under Imperial Law, your Empress holds no formal right to wield any power in instances such as this.' Kateryn smirked. She knew that many people, allegedly also including the Chamberlain himself, believed that there was only one person that truly ruled inside the Palace, but her comment passed unnoticed by Courtenay.

  'Nonetheless, Your Highness,' Courtenay replied, 'I do not relish this reversion of power.' The Chamberlain clasped his hands together in front of him. 'I believe that I have much experience to offer, and I would be ideally placed to relieve some of the burden of decision making from His Highness's shoulders. Perhaps, if the Emperor would consider passing some of those day-to-day decisions to me then I may be able to relieve some of the pressure from his shoulders.' He paused. 'I can only imagine how strained His Highness must have felt recently, having to deal with the matter of the treaty negotiations with Queen Ysabel.'

  Kateryn reached forward and placed her hand on the Chamberlain’s shoulder, looking him directly in the eye. 'Lord Courtenay,' she said, 'you know that my husband holds you in the highest regard, as do we all. If this was not the case, why would he have retained you in the post of Lord Chamberlain on the death of his father? He has told me on many occasions that he relies on you, and your organisational abilities, completely.'

  Courtenay did not look convinced. 'But that decision was five years ago, Your Highness,' he said, 'and I sometimes wonder if he now wishes that he had appointed his own man.'

  'My Lord,' Kateryn replied, 'I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about in that regard. But I will say this. I will give you my word of honour that I will speak with my husband on his return, and I will plead a case on your behalf. I will ask him if he has any more duties and responsibilities that can be passed to you.'She smiled
at Courtenay. 'I can do no more than that. You must understand, that although I am his Empress, he is still the Emperor, and it is his decision.'

  The Chamberlain took the Empress’s hand and smiled a warm smile at her. 'Your Highness,' he said, 'I would be eternally grateful to you if you would do such a thing for me. I have always considered it a privilege to serve the Imperial family, and will continue to do my duty for as long as I have my life.'

  Courtenay squeezed Kateryn’s hand, small against his own long thin fingers, and raised it to his mouth. He pressed it against his lips, holding it there for a long, lingering moment.

  5

  The Seventeenth Day of New Year,

  Imperial Year 2332

  Shadows, formed by the clouds overhead, raced across the plain, the patches of light and dark creating an ever changing patchwork of shapes as they moved inland driven by the brisk wind off the sea.

  Cromwell stood at the inner stone curtain-wall of the South Gate and looked out of the city, across the Southern Plain. Past the Outer Wall, with its battlements and raised iron portcullis, was the first of the tented villages that had sprung up almost overnight, neatly ordered pyramids gleaming as white as winter snow in the morning sun, stretching out in the neatest of rows and columns. The men of the first Governor to arrive busied themselves around the camp, making their new temporary home as comfortable as possible. Red and blue banners, the Governor's own personal colours, flew side by side with the green and white provincial banners of New Brunswick, the dry wind off the sea causing them to flutter madly.

  'I see my Lord Allington has arrived already,' Cromwell said, looking towards the encampment. 'He is early.'

  'His Lordship is always early, Sir,' Moore said, 'especially when the Emperor’s hospitality is on offer and he need not pull any of his own coin from his vaults.'

  Cromwell watched the men in the distance; riders and their mounts moved around the camp in some bizarre dance, the reason for which was unclear to him as he looked on from distance.

  'I can never understand why they bring so many troops, though,' Moore said. 'And they always show off so much, prancing around on their horses.'

  'It’s just a troop, Sergeant. Five hundred men is not so many.' Cromwell chuckled as he looked through the gate. 'They need just enough men to scare off any trouble on the way, but not so many that it will cost them a small fortune to feed and water.'

  'That'll be about right,' Moore said. 'It can't be cheap to bring them all this way. I mean, there's not just the men, there's the horses, smiths, carts, and God knows what else they've brought with them. I bet Allington has found a way to profit from the journey, though.'

  'And you can keep those thoughts to yourself, Sergeant,' Cromwell snapped. 'Anyway, it's not this lot we have to worry about,' he added. 'The problems will really start when the others arrive over the next couple of days.' He imagined the scene, it would be chaos. 'Five hundred is one thing, but five thousand is another story entirely. Still,' he said, 'I suppose the traders will love it. Public holidays are always good for business.'

  'Let’s hope they don’t all try to get inside the tavern at the same time, and I hope they save some ale for me.' Moore paused for a moment and then a grimace formed on his face. 'Mind you,' he said, 'I don’t envy the men that have to fill in the latrine ditches.'

  Both men laughed as Cromwell looked behind him at the outer face of the Inner Wall. Huge sandstone blocks reached twenty-five feet into the sky, the face of which were wind-worn and pitted. The huge wooden gates, banded in iron and two feet thick, were flung wide open to allow the steady stream of travellers to come and go as they pleased. A hundred yards away in the opposite direction was the Outer Wall. It was a