The Changeling

25

Ezren's position as the Vassour Elect kicked in right after Eraughn and Athua's coronation.

Their first order of official business was sending out extra patrols from the Municipal Army.

The patrols met up with the forces of each land, ordered to clear and secure the Propter. Caran lead the charge so Cetlali kept Masha at her side. She was far too new to her job as an Auxiliary to attend to something as intense as clearing out stretches of wild roads. Despite Masha's skill, brigands were always looking for the best chance at a quick loot and easier kill.

The rest of Cetlali's duties mirrored what she did back at Cazar Shcomou, just on a far larger scale. She was in charge of the Vassour Elect's Complex and all of Ezren's personal requirements. To her great exhaustion, the Vassour Elect was a busy, busy man. She wrote his letters, arranged his appointments and schedule, notated his meetings, and organized his office. Forcing herself to practice writing

with her other hand again, lest her dominant one become cramped and aching by the end of the day. She never thought she'd become resentful of writing and reading until her entire world became made up of only words, numbers, and figures.

Cetlali fetch his trays from the kitchens any longer, but he still preferred her to fill his cup and prepare his plate before joining him for his meals. He often used that time to interrogate her about her life in the Empire. It used to be about what noble came from where or who was behaving oddly at a feast. Now he tried to ask leading questions about Athua and the Enharouq clan. Cetlali wasn't foolish enough to believe these questions were innocent. She learned well at his heel. So instead of betraying the most valuable relationships she ever had, she feigned a certain amount of ignorance. Her circular answers displeased Ezren, usually tarrying on all the wrong details. It often drove him to dismissing her completely. It was a relief he was so consumed with his duties as the Vassour Elect, along with all the benefits of

which his new station supplied. His attentiveness to her waned.

Cetlali sat at Ezren's desk, spinning the dull tip of a golden paper knife into one of Caran's missives. She'd gone through the letters, sorted her notes from the meetings, and reviewed the completed drafts of the compensations record again. Her task was to ensure it all matched up for the ceremony the next day.

Before Masha left for the night, she finished up her last task. Flitting around the back corner of the dim study, she put books and scrolls back into their appropriate storage compartments with absent focus. Lovou sat in a chair by the door, picking at his nails with a large knife Cetlali had never seen before. She wasn't sure she wanted the story behind where he got it with the way he grinned at it, the blade sharp and jagged, with some small vermin's skull on the pommel.

Ezren stormed into the room, throwing the door open so hard it almost smacked against the wall behind it. Lovou jumped to his feet at

attention, like he'd been there all along. Masha froze against the back wall, swathed in shadows. A hand rested on the place where her ulu would be at her side. She stared at the door wide eyed and open-mouthed in obvious shock.

Cetlali sat at his desk as if she may have owned the space.

Ezren was in a mood. It was obvious in the way his eyes bore into hers. A chill spread from her face down because of the look of abject rage he held. The last time she'd seen him so incensed was after Caran's abandonment, something he took as a personal affront to his ambitions.

Cetlali stood and smiled like her teeth were made of broken glass. "Vassour Elect, how may I assist you?" Her eyes flashed to Lovou. She tried to twitch her head towards Masha, but there wasn't enough time to get her point across.