CHAPTER 7 Shirayuki Wields her Power

There was a single knock on the Rose office door and it opened. The only persons not in the room were Shirayuki or Obi, so Zen lifted his head. When he saw it was Shirayuki, he smiled, though when it was with an additional person, he lifted an eyebrow and set down his pen. "What may do for you, Shirayuki?" he asked.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Zen," she answered him, "I know there's much to be doing today, however I haven't been able to let go what you requested of me."

Zen sighed. "Well, that's not unexpected from you, though I wish I'd been able to delay it for the sake of your Olin Maris work still to be done."

Shirayuki waved her hand. "I'll have sufficient time, since I worked late last night. It's your schedule I hope to not interfere with too much." Zen nodded, waiting. Shirayuki indicated the slight man who'd followed her in. "Zen, this is Tanner. He's accepted my appointment to be my secretary. As I was thinking on who I already knew, I remembered him from the time I was targeted in the library. I was suitably impressed with his handling of my panic, in keeping me calm at a time it was necessary in order to keep me safe, that I thought of him again. I'll keep Leanna as my assistant in the Lotus office, as she already has the time for that position, but Tanner will aid me in not forgetting the things that I'll readily forget otherwise. He has the time that she doesn't. Also...Ilena has already set him to watch over me from before."

Zen's eyes went sharp and he looked at Tanner closely. "You're one of Mother's Children?"

"Yes, Regent," Tanner answered respectfully.

Zen was quiet for just a moment. "Call Obi to me." There was quiet and then Zen nodded and looked back at Shirayuki. "I'll be happier with you having one of Ilena's Agents with you. It'll be easier for me to know where you are and to talk with you if there is immediate need. Tanner will be able to be your translator."

Shirayuki was pleased that this plan had been the better one to go with. "I've also confirmed with Leon, Sam, Brian, and Kirk that they will come." She paused and looked over her shoulder at Leon, "Ah, that is I've assumed it for Leon as he's already followed me here." He grinned and bowed, his hand over his heart. "Also I've informed Maria to be prepared to be moved. ...At this time I'm waiting to ask Darla. It isn't the time to ask her. I have asked Ilena to call for the nurse candidates as soon as possible and will interview them when they come." Shirayuki looked around the room. She was disappointed that Lady Brianna hadn't arrived yet. "I would like to visit with Lady Brianna today, if possible, to understand what it is that Ilena has looked for in her candidates so that I may consider it properly."

Shirayuki paused, frowning slightly at Zen. He was looking pleased that she had so quickly acted to place her people beside her and with consideration. "Zen, will you show me the castle plans, please? I would understand a thing about the Regent's wing."

Zen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Alright," he said and stood. Mitsuhide went immediately to the map case and pulled out the map and carried it to the table as Zen moved to it. Shirayuki followed him to look at the map. Zen pointed out to her where they were in the offices, and where the Regent's wing was. She asked him to show her where the medical wing was and the aide's residential wing where the Department of Intelligence offices were now.

She sighed. It really was very bad. The offices were most central, she supposed, but the Regent's wing was off to the south, the Intelligence offices far to the northwest, and the medical wing to the central northeast, just below the barracks in the upper northeast. "Zen, this is really very terrible. I knew there was a lot of walking, but this makes it all the more obvious." Zen nodded slightly, looking at her, wondering what was in her mind. "What's the most important consideration in where the Regent's living quarters is placed, Zen?" she asked.

"Security from outside and internal attacks," he answered her.

"Then why is it placed so far from the barracks, Zen?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

He blinked at her. "I don't know," he answered her. "I do know that there is an extra wall around it."

"I don't recall walls stopping Obi very well," she answered.

"No," Zen grinned.

Shirayuki took a deep breath and Zen centered and opened his ears to hear her request. "Zen, I do not like the Regent's quarters," she looked at him calmly. "I don't want to raise my children there. It is both too sterile and too ostentatious. It is also too small." Zen's eyebrows went up at it being called small, but really, he did agree. "It may be an unreasonable request, but I would like to ask you to have new quarters built for us, here." She pointed to an open area that was between the medical wing and the aide's wing and not too far off the central area. "This will place us closer to the pharmacy, where I still hope to spend approximately half my time, within the same distance to the offices as before, closer to the garrison for our protection but still far enough away from the exterior walls, and...it will let us be closer to our family." She put her finger on the aides' wing. Zen had a slow smile spread across his face at the last, but still he waited.

"I would like for it to have enough rooms and interior courtyards to be open and full of light, rather than enclosed and dark, like the jail is, and to fit all of those that we need with us around the outside with the royal family quarters towards the center so that we are truly protected on all sides. If we would like to have a pool separate from our bath, we can consider that, but I don't need a swimming pool as a bath. If there are a sufficient number of rooms, then we may all have privacy to the degree that it is necessary and not feel like we are all sleeping on top of each other. If we have more than two children that will become essential." Tanner nodded but was not noted overly much. "The current nursery is too small for more than that, and having our staff all lined up in beds in one room seems to be far to militaristic, or like a sad orphanage. I would like for us to be a happy family, rather than a regimented gathering of orphans, Zen. Even I am becoming claustrophobic like Obi and Ilena in this place." She pointed at the Regent's wing but wouldn't touch it. "Even at the same time as I feel like a lost child in it." She looked up at him slyly. "And you do not feel any different."

Zen grinned at her. "No, I don't," he agreed with her. He pointed to another large wing on the east of the castle grounds. "This is my mother's wing. It is very much as you have described and it the real Regent's wing. The other was built during a time of war and was before the wing she is in. However I can't ask her to leave it, so the other is all that is available at the moment." He looked up at Mitsuhide and Mitsuhide walked to the map cabinet again and pulled out another map, setting it on the table.

"This," Zen said generally, "is the other Regent's wing mother is in."

Shirayuki looked at it closely and nodded. "This is closer to what I would like, though I can see things I would change even still." She placed her hand on the paper and looked up at him sadly. "Zen, there is one other thing." He tipped his head at her. "I understand that where Ilena and Obi are now is very good for their office… but, I really want them to be with us." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "More than any other thing, I want to be able to breathe easy knowing they are close, as they were when I was there in that wing with them. When they came and slept with me to keep me safe that night, I was more secure than any other time."

She indicated her other guards. "I need these also, I've understood that today, but I also need Obi and Ilena still. It's hard for me, not having them at my back any more. Having them so far from me here, it makes me feel like they've been sent far away, even though we're still within the same walls, and that makes me feel insecure. ...I'm sorry, I don't know what to do about it, but if you could have a new wing built, I would also want it to be built so that they could be with us, with all their household. Though, their offices could remain in the other wing."

Zen reached out his hand and took her two little fingers in his first two, his way of giving her comfort and himself as well, looking down as he considered her request. He looked back up at her finally. "Your request has merit, Shirayuki, and you are right, I too would much prefer that location and arrangement. The matter of paying for the construction is the main concern at the moment. We're currently paying for the four manors that were burned down by Marcovik College to be rebuilt as quickly as possible so that those lands may be kept secure, and that is perhaps a greater expense than a new wing in the castle would be. Ilena's plan to raise funds will help, but as she said, it will take likely at least a year before sufficient funds begin to come in to help defray those costs. I'm not sure where the funds to build a new wing would come from. We would need to spend some time researching that issue before we could commit to the work. ...Likely we couldn't begin construction for two years and it would be at least another year before it was completed."

"May we enter, since you called?" Ilena and Obi were at the balcony door, their four behind them as usual. Zen released Shirayuki's fingers and nodded. The two, trailing the others, quite beginning to fill the room, walked over to the map table.

"I'm quite in agreement with the plan," Obi said casually. "I miss Mistress very much, too. And Master most days also."

"Where have you placed it?" Ilena asked. Shirayuki moved the top map to show the castle grounds again and pointed. Ilena looked closely at it and nodded. "It's a good location and you don't have to remove any existing buildings, which makes for faster construction." She looked at Shirayuki and Zen. "How fast can you get the wing designed?"

They gaped at her. "Did you not just hear what I said?" Zen asked her.

"I heard it," she said calmly. "I also have a buyer for one of Robert's statues that I've been holding back." She waited but Zen couldn't speak. "And if it isn't enough, your brother wants one of his new ones. ...Those are very pricy, but he would pay it anyway, even with four manors being built."

Zen swallowed. "You would finance it?"

"If you hire my builders, yes. Particularly since they're the only ones I would trust with building it securely enough for the Regent and two Princesses and a Consort, along with all their children."

"You are definitely a consummate businesswoman, Ilena," Zen said to her. "That is crafty to pay your own people, and thus yourself."

Ilena shrugged. "Most of it won't come back to me, I suspect. It will likely be just enough to cover wages and materials, given how big Mistress Shirayuki wants it." She hesitated. "Also, beginning construction now means that it will be done sooner than a year. If they start digging in the next week or two they'll have the exterior done by the time the snows come and they can complete the interior even through the winter, I should think."

Zen looked at her for a moment. "We'll consider it, then." He looking at Shirayuki again. "Draw up a sketch of what you're thinking of and bring it to us again. All of us should have input to its design, I think, but since you 've thought of it first, you should present the initial plan."

Shirayuki nodded. "I'll let you know when I've drawn it up," she said.

There was a knock at the door and one of the guards opened it and announced the Lady Brianna Welxom. Zen nodded his head and she was allowed in. She may as well see the office in the throes of its working, as overwhelming as it might be at the moment.

The older woman entered as calmly as might be expected, her slight nervousness showing in her hands clutched together in front of her skirt and her tense back. "Welcome, Lady Brianna," Zen said. "Lord Aiden has recommended you to the Rose office. You've come at a good time to see it at it's fullest, though we don't usually have quite so many at one time except on occasion, and many lunches."

Lady Brianna looked around the room her eyes finally settling on Lord Aiden. He smiled at her encouragingly. "You know Lord Aiden, of course," Zen said. "Behind you," he waited until she turned, "are Tairn and Dane Malkin." They nodded when their names were said. "They will be leaving with us and not returning for about six weeks or so to fulfill their requirement to their father, but then they'll be back for the winter, I expect before we will be. Kiki," she nodded, "and Mitsuhide will be leaving in a few days, to go and fulfill their requirement to Kiki's father over the winter until the spring." Mitsuhide bowed to Lady Brianna and she greeted him with a small smile.

"I believe my wild pair invited you to come today for me," Zen waved at Ilena and Obi. "Their four are Petroi, Thayne, Marcus, and Henry." The four nodded, or bowed in the case of Petroi, as they were introduced. "Dane is their's also, but he works for me here in the office." Zen paused, looking at Shirayuki. "I think I may need to renovate the office wing while we're at it if I'm going to have this many in my room on a regular basis." Looking back at Lady Brianna, he said, "This is my wife, Shirayuki, and her five, Sam, Brian, Kirk, Leon, and Tanner, her secretary." Lady Brianna and Shirayuki looked at each other carefully. They each had reason to want to understand each other better.

Zen let it go for a little while then got Lady Brianna's attention again. "Aiden says that you're used to many children, young and older, and thus should be well suited to handling such a roomful." He looked at her, his head tilted just a little. She smiled reminiscently. "The work here is as it is everywhere in any office, I suspect. Is your handwriting neat?" She nodded. "Can you read quickly and summarize in written form what you've read?" She nodded again. "Can you keep what you learn in this room in strict confidence?"

Lady Brianna paused. "Regent Zen, I can, but just because I can say that doesn't mean you should believe me."

Ilena smiled and Zen glanced at her. "You've already been vouched for, Lady Brianna, it was merely a warning that it would be necessary from the beginning, though we no longer have to keep Shirayuki and Ilena a secret so much as before." Lady Brianna smiled and tipped her head, conceding his point. "In the end, Lady Brianna, the reason you've come at a good time is because the people I bring in here are my closest associates, and they are all here to greet you at once. In this room I require that you call me by my name and I will call you by yours, the same as I do the rest. If there's a thing you think needs to be said, I will expect you to say it."

"Yes, Zen," she said obediently. Mitsuhide raised an eyebrow. It always surprised him when there were those who could quickly accept the informal address of his charge. It had taken him quite some time to overcome his embarrassment of having to be so familiar.

"Mitsuhide, Kiki, Aiden, have you decided what work you'll give to her these coming weeks?" Zen asked them and they looked at each other.

"Ah, no we haven't had the time to conference on that yet. Sorry, Zen," Aiden said apologetically.

Zen nodded. "We'll give Shirayuki time with her first, then, while you work that out. Brianna, if you would be willing to go next door to her office, the Lotus office, Shirayuki has asked to speak with you briefly this morning before she goes to her next duties."

Lady Brianna bowed slightly. "I would be pleased to meet with you Shirayuki," she said, keeping to the informal of the office.

Shirayuki nodded and looked to Zen and the maps. "It's sufficient for today," he told her. "You have other requirements on your time." She nodded and led her five and Lady Brianna out of the room.

Zen looked at Obi and Ilena. "Was there a specific reason you called for us, Master?" Obi asked.

"I specifically called for you Obi. I was wondering why Ilena has come as well."

Ilena smiled. "I'm sorry I've misunderstood, Master Zen," she answered. "If you wished to speak only with Obi, I will return."

"Which one told you we were talking about a building project?" he asked her.

Ilena raised her eyebrow. "I think you could tell me that, Zen, if anyone did." She held still, testing him.

Zen paused. "No one did. You came because you learned Lady Brianna was on her way."

Ilena grinned at him. "It is not so hard after all, Master Zen, is it? Have you learned to silence it yet?"

Zen sighed. "Yes, finally."

"That's good then," she said and Obi nodded.

"What is Tanner really?" he asked.

"Her guard in the shadows, but she's asked to have him closer than that. She met him once and has remembered it."

"Why did you choose him?" Zen wanted to know more about the person close to Shirayuki.

Ilena paused, looking at him. "He is the oldest of nine children, and knows how to be very gentle yet accomplish what needs to be done in the same way Obi knows for her - with distraction and light persuasion. She seems to have trusted him immediately from the one contact."

"Is he trustworthy?" Zen asked.

Ilena nodded. "He will not betray you or her." She paused and looked at him. "You do understand that any one of my Children who betrays me I kill, right?"

Zen stopped short. "Isn't that a little too severe, Ilena?"

"No," she said practically. "I believe I've already explained that to you also."

"Ah, in the matter with the assassins?"

"Yes. The same applies in the Family as well as in the nightrunners, it is just much more rarely necessary."

Thayne started and Ilena looked at him. "Ah, Mother, I've forgotten. There is one waiting for your judgement in the jails of the garrison from the time of the flood at Falcon's Hollow. I told them to bring him here and let him rot until you were able to walk about to go and see him." He smiled ruefully. "I guess I've let him do just that, in forgetting about him."

Ilena nodded. "I've been letting him rot with the one Elandra sent up as well. I'll try to remember them when we get back...in three months."

Zen rolled his eyes. "You know, they take up space and eat my food, right?"

"Food? Are they allowed to eat?" Ilena was surprised.

Zen put his head in his hand. "Just go take proper care of it before you leave," he ordered.

"Yes, Master Zen," she bowed to him. She didn't move and he glared at her. "Oh, were you trying to get rid of me?" she asked innocently. "I was listening to the conversation next door. I'm sorry." She walked to the main door and took her two with her.

Zen frowned at her. "If I'm getting rid of you and you're going to stand in the hall and listen to both conversations, that doesn't meet the requirement, does it, Ilena?"

Ilena sighed and changed directions. "Yes, Master Zen."

He watched as the three dropped off the balcony, then waited until they should have left the courtyard. Dane rose and walked out to look out over the railing. "He won't budge, Mother." Dane said. "He knows you're still here. He's been around us too long already." He had to dodge back suddenly as Marcus popped back up on the railing to flick his forehead, a punishment from Ilena for giving her away. He stepped back a little further from the railing, but watched them walk out of the courtyard and head to the garrison prison. He came back in, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry, Zen," he said.

Zen nodded his thanks and Dane sat down. Zen folded his arms and looked at Obi. "Okay, so what is Shirayuki's real purpose in bringing Tanner out?"

Obi shook his head. "I wasn't in the office until then. I was there when Mistress first came, but got called out, so I don't know. Sorry. Ilena hasn't said, either."

Zen frowned. "He's the one that sends the Lotus office activities in report form to Ilena. I recognized his voice."

"Well, if he's set to follow Mistress, I would imagine that is so," Obi said, unconcerned.

"Why only one?" Zen asked.

"What makes you think it's just one?" Obi countered.

Zen nodded. "Because I haven't heard any other voice come from her side."

"That would cause confusion," Obi said with a smile.

Zen pursed his lips at Obi. Obi held up his hand. "Because he's the best Agent she has," he answered properly.

Zen raised an eyebrow, "The best?" Obi nodded. Zen considered it, then waved at the maps. Mitsuhide put them away and returned to his desk, the conference to decide what work to give Lady Brianna over by then. Zen jerked his head at Obi and led him out to the balcony, then changed his mind and leapt off the balcony and went to the tree. Obi followed him, bemused. Zen leaned back on the trunk of the tree and looked up in the branches as if he wanted to climb, but was restraining himself.

"Obi, I had to correct Shirayuki this morning," he finally said. "And train her properly to her station. It's the first time I've done it rather than let others do it."

Obi looked at him with compassion, understanding it now. He waited, listening.

"I'm unsure how to feel about it," Zen admitted. He paused. "It had the result I was looking for, but it was not an easy thing to do."

Obi nodded, but still held his peace.

Zen looked at the ground, then at Obi. "I'm afraid I've created a monster in doing it. I don't think she would have ever stood up to me to present to me all these things that she wants suddenly without it, though they are,n't unreasonable, I suppose."

Obi grimaced. "Yes, in knowing her power now, she'll begin to use it. How much of a monster she becomes is determined by how much you're willing to let her wield it. The hardest part is that she'll put the greatest pressure on you, particularly at the beginning. It is the testing of the boundaries."

Zen considered it, then nodded.

"But Master, I wouldn't worry overly about it," Obi said soothingly, "She is, and will be, mostly still reasonable. Ilena is helping to rein her in as she still comes to her for advice. Ilena, on the other hand, has no one to rein her in except me and Miss Leah. Please do not look to her as your example. It is too extreme."

Zen looked at Obi, then nodded. He thought Shirayuki also too strong, but perhaps if he had help it would be okay.

"You must be stronger than ever, though Master, because you must confront her every time she comes at you with more strength that she presents to you. It can be...taxing...and exhausting, but you musn't show it, the same as you do not let the court know it. Ilena presented to me two tests in a row the day after, and both were tiring just in themselves ...both times. I confronted her directly after that, after making her run through a test of my own to let her know that I also was watching her." Obi looked down at the ground, tapping his toe on it.

"Mistress is not the same. She is not on purpose testing you. She is just being herself and moving with purpose always forward, as ever. She will be surprised when you stand in her way and confront her. But Master is already gentle with Mistress. You likely did a good job this morning. She doesn't seem wounded by it, nor did she sound like it this morning, as I did hear her report on that. She understood that you had of necessity taught her a lesson she needed to learn and accepted it." Obi looked Zen in the eye. "You can do what you need to do. She is strong enough to understand and be obedient to you without being damaged by correction."

Zen nodded, then looked at the sky again and sighed. "Ilena is spoiling Shirayuki."

"Eh?"

"She has set her best agent to watch Shirayuki, then let her do whatever she wants with him. And she is willing to sell two of Master Robert's works to finance Shirayuki's dream home as soon as possible."

Obi interlaced his fingers behind his head and looked away from Zen. "Master also cannot say 'no' to Ilena."

Pbt!* Zen put his hand over his mouth, then rubbed the back of his head, looking away from Obi. "Well…." It was true that he hadn't told Ilena to not do it. "Those two are a handful, aren't they?"

"Mmm, but they do know how to make it worth it." Obi smiled, remembering the previous night.

"What is it, Obi?" Zen asked him, made curious by his expression.

Obi grinned at him. "Ilena's newest face is that of Obi's Woman. It's a combination of the Queen, the Steward, Partner, and Lady Wife. It is very, very hard for Obi to resist it. Marcus scolded her while Henry was stern to Obi and all four had to threaten me with steel to take my hands off of her before that." His grin turned rueful again. "She came out in punishment for Obi not recognizing that Obi's Woman would make the Queen jealous until she made it clear later." He looked at Zen. "Even though I've worked to become strong enough for her, she still has a level I cannot reach yet. Even I will have to still become stronger, Master, until I'm stronger than Master even, maybe even King Brother." Obi sighed and his shoulders sagged. "It's rewarding, but wearying. I still wonder why you think poor Obi is the one to be doing it."

Zen looked at him in sympathy. "Because you can do it, Obi, and only you can do it." He paused. "I am glad that perhaps Shirayuki will not be so bad as Ilena. Don't let her teach it to her, either." Obi nodded sadly, not sure he could prevent it. "But you need to be that strong to protect her, Obi. The enemy is also that much stronger, and it is him you must face in the end."

Obi hesitated, then nodded. He could understand that. Ilena was always pushing him to be strong enough for that - for being able to protect her in the way he had promised he would. He paused. "And are you also doing it to protect Mistress?" he asked.

Zen looked at him, then nodded. "Yes."

Obi nodded. They understood one another then. If they could keep their wives safe, it was worth it in the end. "That is good to remember, Master. It will give you the greatest strength to do what needs to be done."

Zen nodded. He would remember it. He looked up into the tree one more time and sighed. "I think I also need you closer than where you are now."

"Are you lonely, Master?" Obi grinned. "Ilena claimed it to Mistress when she came, that the two of you are lonely where you are."

Zen looked at Obi, then reached out his hand to Obi's head without looking at him directly and Obi leaned in to get his head rubbed. "Yes, Obi. We are lonely. It's very much like a prison, as Shirayuki said. I don't know how Rutherford has managed to stay in that little room by himself this long without going mad."

"He loves Master," Obi said simply. "And Mitsuhide and Kiki visit him regularly."

Zen stopped rubbing his head and held still, then put his face to his hand. "That's what it was." He sighed. "Why didn't they just say so?"

"What?" Obi asked, sad Zen had stopped.

"They said they were going to make sure the rooms were secure and stayed in the office in the suite for a long time. They must have been visiting with Rutherford."

"Mmm...likely, but maybe I'll have a talk with them," Obi said contemplatively.

"What is it?" Zen asked suspiciously.

Obi looked at him. "Maybe he is already mad and they needed to correct him before you were there the first night."

Zen was distressed. "Obi, that would not be good at all. I rely on him greatly."

Obi was exasperated. "When was the last time you let him know that?"

"Ah, I think it was when I was explaining who he was to Shirayuki?"

"Did you tell him or her?"

"Ah, her."

"Tell him," Obi ordered.

Zen nodded obediently. "I will, tonight."

"Does he like his head rubbed, too?" Obi asked helpfully.

"No, Obi. I don't think so," Zen said firmly.

-o-o-o-

Shirayuki took Lady Brianna into the Lotus office and asked her to sit across the desk from her, feeling it would be appropriate for an interview, though she would have perhaps been more comfortable in a more relaxed environment.

"Lady Brianna, will you please tell me about yourself? I haven't heard it yet." Shirayuki asked politely.

Lady Brianna explained about her six children being grown and busy, and her husband having passed away earlier that year, her sorrow still evident in her eyes. She had given the leadership of the family to her oldest son several months before. Her return to the castle was an attempt to continue to keep busy, but to not have to walk the halls of memory at the house she had shared with her husband, that still being to hard to bear.

Shirayuki was sympathetic. She was also immediately taken with the thought that she was both experienced with the raising of children and not attached. She could see why this would make Ilena interested. "Ilena has said to Zen that she is interested in having me interview you for the position of Head Nurse in the Regent's house. Can you tell me what other qualifications you have other than having had and raised your own children?"

Lady Brianna smiled. "She has said the same to me. I have also worked as a midwife, and before I married and had my own children I studied under a mid-wife surgeon. I was fortunate as they are rare. It has been some time since then, so there has been more research, I"m sure, but the skills of mid-wife I still have and I have helped my older married daughters deliver their own children." She looked at Shirayuki knowingly. "Also, because I am a Lady, I understand the requirements of ladies to their lord husbands."

Shirayuki nodded. "Can you teach the skills of midwifery to others?" she asked. She was still thinking of Darla, who would benefit from having those skills, if Shirayuki still wanted her to come.

Lady Brianna nodded. "I've had my other daughters help with the midwifing of their sisters so that each of them know the proper things to do. Four of my six children are girls, so I have plenty of experience with that."

Shirayuki raised her eyebrow. "Will you be okay in the Rose office with all the men, then?"

Lady Brianna smiled again and it reached her eyes this time with a twinkling. "I've had much more in my house than my own two sons. We have had many young men in and out, not to mention all the suitors for my daughters. I've learned to have a firm enough hand with the boys. I should think the Rose office should not be too difficult."

"Well, that's good, then," Shirayuki said, relieved. "Of course, it's the women in the office that are more difficult, Ilena being the strongest, but Kiki also being very strong minded." Shirayuki blushed. "While they say I'm obedient, I have also heard them call me just as strong, however."

Lady Brianna smiled kindly. "I think you must be like the youngest child of the group, then? Strong enough to stand with the rest, but not quite able to rise to your full potential until you learn you can stand with them fully?"

"Ah, yes, I think that would be it," agreed Shirayuki. "Ilena has been helping me immensely with that, though."

"Yes, it seems like it from where I sit," Lady Brianna said. "And she is the oldest sister?"

"Maybe," said Shirayuki, "though to me it is Kiki unless Ilena is being Mother."

"Mother?" Lady Brianna queried.

Shirayuki took the time to explain how Ilena was Mother and Lady Brianna was impressed. "This is why she is concerned for your welfare then."

Shirayuki nodded. "I have appreciated it. There are many things I can do because she's come and Zen has placed her at my back." Lady Brianna gave her an odd look, but did not comment to it. "Are there any questions you would have of me?" Shirayuki asked.

"How many children are you thinking of having?" Lady Brianna asked first.

"I would think two to three, but Zen and I have yet to discuss it."

"Have you decided on any other nurses yet?"

"No. I will be interviewing them within the next couple of days; however, because you were coming to the Rose office today it seemed a good time to visit with you briefly. Ilena has also previously selected them as well to be trustworthy and qualified."

Lady Brianna hesitated. "Is there any other reason that she has been the one to make the selections, other than she walks behind you and is like a mother to you?"

Shirayuki looked at her in surprise. "You don't know?"

"I've just returned to the castle within this last week, to arrive in time for the marriage announcement," the older lady explained.

"Ah. Regent Zen made Ilena his Director of Intelligence, officially, at the Lord's Court nearly three months ago now. She's been acting in that capacity for far longer, however. I trust her to have properly researched her selections, though of course actual selection is mine."

Lady Brianna sat still at this news. "He's made her a Director of a department?"

Shirayuki nodded. "Their goal is that she will become Minister eventually, however that will be later after her trial period, if King Izana approves her staying here in Wilant."

"She might not stay?" Lady Brianna seemed somewhat distressed.

Shirayuki smiled gently. "We, all of us who serve at Zen's side, are working hard with the both of them to see that she'll be able to stay. Even King Izana himself would see her stay, I think, but there is the usual trial period to get through."

Lady Brianna sat quietly for a moment longer. "Thank you, Princess Shirayuki. I don't have any other questions at this time."

"I appreciate your time," Shirayuki said. "When we return from the journey, you may find me here after the lunch hour if you should need to speak with me formally. I'm Zen's Assistant and Adjunct in charge of seeing to claimants. I'll also be at lunches in his office each day, though there we keep the conversations light to rest our minds." She rose and Lady Brianna rose as well, a very contemplative look on her face.

Lady Brianna went back to the Rose office and was let in after a single knock by the guard. She found that interesting as well, that Zen wouldn't require the formal announcement each time, though perhaps it was only for the aides. She supposed she would learn the procedures of the office soon enough. When she entered, Aiden had been given the task to help her learn her work. It was obvious why as the other two senior aides were already paired with the Malkin brothers. She spent the rest of the day learning her tasks and quietly observing the other members of the Rose office.

When Shirayuki left the Lotus office, she headed for Leanna's family's quarters. There, she used her position to get her way into the door to be greeted by Leanna, though her father stayed in the room to observe the visit. Shirayuki didn't care. She opened by saying to Leanna that she would be opening the Lotus office to claimants after they returned from the progress, and she would be needed as soon as they arrived to help her get ready for the work. Shirayuki said she expected they would be quite busy for a time catching up. The office would be open at its previously scheduled time of just after lunch and Leanna would be expected to be present as usual. When the orders were out of the way, Shirayuki relaxed slightly and asked Leanna if the past few days that the office had been closed and they had not met together had been pleasant for her.

Leanna laced her fingers together in her lap. "Father has selected a husband for me, and we have used the time to get to know one another," Leanna said calmly.

"Congratulations," Shirayuki said politely. "May I know who it is?"

Leanna named an older lord who Shirayuki knew from her time getting to know all the lords and she let just a glimmer of her sympathy show for Leanna, then said, "That is a noble house to join with."

Leanna let a glimmer of her frustration show through. "Yes, Father is pleased with the arrangement."

Shirayuki gave a nod of her head, acknowledging both the fact that Leanna wasn't pleased with it and the praise Leanna had given her father.

"I thought the negotiations for the son of Lord Wilcox had been going well?" Shirayuki asked about one of the ones she knew Leanna had wanted her father to pick.

Leanna grimaced slightly. "His father could not properly convince my father that he would provide sufficiently for me."

Shirayuki frowned slightly. "But he's a Viscount. Surely that would be sufficient once he's taken his father's place."

"It is too far away from her original home," her father defended himself.

"Is the father supposed to hold on to his daughter once he has given her away to her husband?" Shirayuki asked the space in front of her, her eyebrows raised.

"A daughter is a precious thing," her father insisted.

"When she is used to gain property, it's not seen that way, however," Shirayuki countered. "Rather, then, she is also merely property used to barter with." She raised her eyes to the father of her friend. "I wonder what you have bartered for, Lord Pompf?" Her eyes were hard and cold. She knew she had Ilena behind her words, and she wanted to make sure he remembered it as well. "I happen to know that Lord Wilcox offered you a more than reasonable offer and both children were amenable to the agreement. Yet here I have discovered you have sold your daughter to an old bull. What did you get in return, Lord Pompf? I would hear it."

The lord turned red. "What right have you to interfere with my decisions for my daughter?" he demanded.

"I am the First Princess of Clarines, Lord Pompf," she said coldly. "That is sufficient unto itself."

He turned slightly purple. "It has been agreed to. She will go to his lands as his wife in but a few weeks."

Leanna shook her head slightly at Shirayuki, denying it. Shirayuki's eyes snapped. "Leanna is my secretary and assistant in the Lotus office. I require her presence here at the castle. If her lord husband will not come here, then the agreement is void and you must begin again. I suggest you accept Lord Wilcox's offer, as his son will still be here in the castle a sufficient amount of time that I will find acceptable. If he will not, now that you have rejected him, then I suggest you properly consider your options one more time to accommodate my requirements."

Lord Pompf was livid now. "You are a pretender and usurper to the title. I will not have my daughter near your side!"

The room got very quiet and very cold. Shirayuki turned to Leanna. "Leanna, as of this time you are called up as my personal assistant. Please gather your things and go to the Regent's suite immediately. Your father has just lost all claim to you. I will speak with Lord Wilcox on your behalf." She stood and looked at Lord Pompf. "Please go turn yourself in for treason to the crown. I shall speak with Regent Zen on the matter immediately so you may receive prompt judgement."

"B-by what right?" he asked, his voice quiet and poisonous, but also very afraid.

"I have already said it, Lord Pompf," she was dangerously quiet also. "However, I also have the right given to me by my appointment as Assistant and Adjunct to Regent Zen in the matters of all claims brought before him. Your family's claim has been heard and I have set the requirements to it. You have refused to comply. When he comes to judge you, you may contest my decision as is proper."

They were still, then Shirayuki looked at Leanna with a scolding look. Leanna jumped up and ran to her room to instruct her personal maid in the preparing of her things for transport. Shirayuki looked at Tanner and he nodded. He'd passed on the message of what had transpired and called for servants to come and help Leanna move out of her father's rooms and into the Regent's suite.

Lord Pompf refused to move, so Shirayuki sat down and waited. He looked at her wide eyed, not comprehending why she would do so. Within five minutes there was a knock at the door. Kirk opened it, and Zen entered. He allowed Lord Pompf to stutter and bluster his way through his explanation and defense, then he turned to Shirayuki. She calmly told him exactly what had been said in the room, and also gave the background Ilena had give her about the agreement with Lord Wilcox. She suggested that if Zen needed further information, that he ask the Director of Intelligence to discover what agreement had been made under the table with the older lord. Lord Pompf went grey. Zen turned to him and asked him if he would just like to say it himself. He had no answer he would give.

Zen looked at him. Finally, he motioned and two guards from the garrison entered the room and took Lord Pompf's arms. "We will detain you until I've heard what my Director of Intelligence finds out," he said. "As to the other things, Princess Shirayuki's decision on the claim will stand, as will her declaration of treason to the crown." He looked at the guards. "Take him away," he said coldly. When they were gone, four servants entered the quarters and went to Leanna's room and emptied it. Her personal maid, also with an arm load of items, followed them out. Leanna stood in the room with them, tears in her eyes.

Shirayuki looked at her, her eyes kind. "I'm sorry, Leanna, that it had to turn out this way. I had truly hoped he would relent before it got that far. I couldn't let his statement go unpunished, lest Zen's authority be undermined by all the lords who feel that way about me."

Leanna looked at her, then shook her head. "While I respect him, and he is my father, so I have the natural tender feelings of a child towards him, I already knew from long ago that this would come to roost on his head. You couldn't have let it rest from the beginning when you first knew of it. I've been waiting for it already. It is the fact that he managed to change the agreement from Lord Wilcox's son that I found most disturbing." She looked to Zen. "The agreement with the other lord is that they would form an alliance against you, with me as the binding to the agreement. I would have informed Princess Shirayuki of it as soon as we had been alone in the Lotus office whenever that could have been, though I had hoped it would be sooner and despaired when she said it would be later. I'm glad she brought it to it's conclusion today."

Zen nodded. "Thank you, Lady Leanna. I'll see to the other party as well." He glanced at Kiki who looked into the air around her as she informed the Department of Intelligence what had been learned so they could act quickly.

Shirayuki held out her hand to Leanna. Taking the arm of her friend, they walked out of the suite following Zen. When the door behind them closed, Leanna's mother put her hands over her face and sobbed for her husband's greed when he already had more than he could have ever wished for. Then she ordered her servants and returned to her home, glad that her father's own greed had finally also come to naught and that she herself was now also free, the same as her daughter.

Leanna was only in the Regent's suite for the remaining days until the progress. Lord Wilcox was still content to let his son marry her, for the son sued in her favor, and reminded his father that it was the mother who was the heiress. The mother agreed to the arrangement based on the original proposal, and the deed was done quickly. Leanna was much happier after that, and spent the time of the progress getting to know her new husband. When the progress was done, she had a lot more time to help Shirayuki and visit with her and Maria. Shirayuki actually chose to find opportunities to sit with them at tea time in her own sitting room and, for a time, things found a balance as far as those ladies-in-waiting went.

Once Leanna was ensconced in the Regent's wing safely with Delia, Shirayuki took herself off to the pharmacy finally, glad to have her other distraction out of the way. She made sure the guards knew that she was to be interrupted this time so that dinner wouldn't be late. She also made good use of her new secretary, deciding to use him to help her with the research in much the same way she had used Obi, though there was a learning curve to overcome that Obi had already dealt with. Teaching him during the preparations would be the best way to begin.

-o-o-o-

After dinner, Zen allowed Shirayuki to return to the pharmacy to finish up her Olin Maris planning, making Sam and Leon promise to bring her to bed by midnight. He took the rest with him to the Regent's suite. He gave them instructions as they went. "In the morning we hold a meeting of just her and I. We'll test having you come out, when it's over in the morning, when we let Mitsuhide and Kiki in to go over the daily itinerary. You can take breakfast in the sitting room between. I would like to work up to an understanding of when works best to have you join us in the main room, but it's also our bedroom." He sighed. "It really is a prison, but it's all we've got at the moment, so do your best."

They nodded, understanding it was going to be most difficult for Shirayuki, but truly awkward for all of them. When they arrived, the new occupants were indeed a bit dismayed to see how small it was, for all that the attempt to make it seem large had been made. As the guards went to the men-at-arms room to decide on the beds, Zen called Rutherford to him and spoke with him at length until Rutherford was assured that Zen did truly appreciate having him still following after him and strengthening him, and was appropriately sorry that he'd been neglected and made to suffer in that place alone for so long. Zen also let him know that the princesses had hatched a plan to free them all from that space as soon as possible. That gave the older gentle man a ray of hope to hold on to.

Zen also made sure to tell him he really should get out to see the sun whenever possible. He smiled and reassured Zen that he did, regularly walking the castle grounds twice each day in the late morning and in the afternoon when he wasn't needed for his duties. It made Zen feel better that Rutherford did know how to take care of himself, as well as Zen. Sadly, Zen let him know he was going to be required to come along on the progress. Rutherford merely patted Zen's hand at this point, knowing it was more nerves than anything else. Zen also asked for a report on how Delia had done that day in her lessons for being Shirayuki's personal maid. Rutherford quietly said she'd settled to it easily and her company had been welcome to him. He finally smiled at Zen. "Master Zen," he said comfortingly, "it has been nice to have a quiet life until now. It will be nice to also have a full life into the future. I hope I'll be able to abide the noise." Zen looked at him, then agreed wholeheartedly.

"Ah, and Tanner has been a quiet but pleasant addition as well." Rutherford said. "He's as hard to notice as I am."

Zen looked at Rutherford in surprise. "Tanner has come here also?" He hadn't thought of the man since he'd been introduced and Zen had asked Obi about him. Rutherford pointed to a chair against the wall, near where he usually sat.

Zen opened his eyes and Tanner appeared to his view. He put his hand to his temple. "Ah, that is exceptionally good, Tanner. Please make sure you put yourself to bed before we go to bed, lest we end up very embarrassed." His ears burned. "If you don't promise it, I won't be able to believe you aren't in the room all the time."

Tanner grinned at him. "I promise Master Zen. I shall properly allow you and Mistress Shirayuki your privacy."

"Thank you, Tanner," Zen said with great gratitude.

"That was very good," Mitsuhide nodded. "It took me almost half as long to see you, but that's longer than most."

Zen jumped. Kiki grinned. "I knew he was here from the beginning, but his presence is new to me. However, I would have thought, Zen, that you would have noticed us come in the room?"

Zen shivered and put his hand over his eyes. "How fast do you think Ilena can get the new place built? If I pay half again as much as she is going to, can we get it done before we return?"

"Ah...no, Zen. It will take longer than that, no matter how much money is thrown at it."

Zen went rigid and he looked around the room. Ilena was not in it, just like she shouldn't be. However, Delia was now standing at the door to the princess's sitting room, looking at him, Leanna standing nervously behind her. He took a deep breath, then nodded carefully at her. "I am so glad," he said just as carefully, "that I made her not come until later. Please don't jump out of the woodwork at her. In some way, please announce yourselves when you enter the room, then fade back out when she's stopped paying attention."

"Yes, Master Zen," came from eight different voices and Zen had to repress very hard a shiver that ran from the top of his head to his heels. That was only half the number that would be in here in the end. "And, do not be present all at once, if at all possible. This room is far too small for all of us." He was trying to come to terms with it all when he had another horrible thought and went a bit pale.

"What is it, Zen?" Mitsuhide asked.

"Do you think…," Zen said slowly, "that the reason the master bath is as large as a public bath is because when they had to be here in lockdown during attacks they ended up rotating men and women through it like it really was a public bath?" He put his head down on the table, finally giving up. "Gods. How awful. Don't ever let that happen before the new place is completed. If we get holed up here this winter in a siege even I will stand on the wall until I'm dead, rather than come in here." As Rutherford patted him sympathetically on the shoulder, Zen added, "Maybe we should wait a year…."

He was still awake, and not in bed, when Shirayuki arrived with her other two. Zen immediately pointed them into the next room before she could realize they were in the room with them, and distracted her until they were safely gone into the inner rooms. It was a difficult night.