Interlude XXII - The Empress (May She Live Forever) Will Not Be Pleased

Banner General Aldar knelt in front of the High Lady Jurin, his eyes cast down to the ground. At least he had not been required to prostrate himself like one who was not of the Blood. "I have completed the investigation the High Lady ordered. However, I regret that I am unable to bring her a suspect. My eyes are lowered."

He suppressed a wince when Jurin did not even deign to speak directly to him. Instead her Voice spoke on her behalf. "Banner General, the High Lady is disappointed to hear this news. Speak of what you have been able to learn."

Aldar could hear the unspoken threat, of what might happen if what he had been able to learn was deemed to be insufficient.

"My thanks to the High Lady for her forbearance. In summary, it is as was suspected. A marath'damane raided the Empress' primary larder, may She live forever."

"Yes, this is known," the Voice sounded unimpressed, "but what was her purpose and why was she not caught?"

Aldar kept his face composed. "First, her purpose. I considered whether the aim was poison, but I believe it to be unlikely. The open nature of the attack meant that there was little chance of any poisoned foods being consumed by the Imperial Court. The fact that the marath'damane appears to have taken pains not to kill anyone also suggests murder was not the goal. Nevertheless I have ordered the food stored in that larder to be destroyed as a precaution. Prior to the destruction of the food, I had a full accounting taken. Nothing was missing, except for one thing. A large amount of chocolate had been taken."

"Why might this marath'damane have risked so much in order to steal chocolate?"

Aldar shook his head. "To my shame I do not know. As the high lady knows, chocolate is an expensive, luxury good, but it could surely be obtained with less risk than attacking the Imperial Palace itself. Anyone with that kind of power I would expect to simply be able to buy it from a legitimate supplier. Perhaps it is simply the madness of the marath'damane, refusing to be properly leashed?"

"We are not here for idle speculation banner general." The High Lady's eyes swung to the damane prostrated behind him and with a gesture from her fan her Voice continued. "Why have you brought this damane here?"

The der'sul'dam holding the woman's leash stepped forward with a low bow, before kneeling herself. "If it pleases the High Lady, I was walking Moli nearby when we heard the commotion from the larder. We ran to investigate and were witnesses to the attack." Her mouth twisted downwards in distaste. "It was a woman, of great beauty. She had red-gold hair, was full-figured in the way that many men appreciate and was dressed so indecently that it would have made a da'covale bed-warmer blush. Yet her face was arrogant and there is no question that she was channeling, but that was not the strangest thing. If the High Lady would allow it, Moli will be able to explain."

A movement of the High Lady's fan and the Voice spoke, "the High Lady will hear the damane."

With her faced still pressed to the floor, Moli quickly began to speak, her tone betraying her terror at addressing one of the High Blood. "Moli is a good damane and Moli is strong in the One Power. When a woman channels Moli can see the flows, see the weaves that she forms. Moli can also sense when a woman can channel, this is how marath'damane are discovered." She sounded like wanted to burst into tears. "Yet for this marath'damane Moli could not sense anything. There were no flows to be seen, Moli could not have even said the marath'damane could channel, yet she must have been strong because she was able to shield Moli with no difficulty..."

The damane trailed off and even the High Lady looked perturbed at her words. The implications of something like this were huge…

After long moments the High Lady broke the silence, actually speaking for the first time. "This is indeed concerning. It appears that some of the marath'damane have found a way to conceal their ability to channel. The Empire itself is in danger from this. It is bad enough that it allows marath'damane to go unleashed. However, if they are able to walk amongst us undetected then it means that no one is safe, not even the Empress herself, may she live forever." She turned her eyes to the der'sul'dam. "You will lead an investigation into this. You will find ways to detect these marath'damane and to work out if any of them have crawled their way into high positions among us. No one shall be above suspicion. Banner general Aldar will give you whatever assistance you need."