She did get it. Katrin would not have done.
It was not seemly that the Princess should entertain a man alone. There could be no hint of a possibility of a chance of a stain on her reputation. Not when she was on the marriage market. But she did not want the usual ladies there, eavesdropping for the Council Advisory, the Patriarch, her brother or sister, or anyone else.
She was sure her women were all spies.
She told Renfrow as much.
He nodded. 'Of course. You're an object of considerable value.' The Imperial spymaster accepted tea from one of the younger girls attending Helspeth this morning. She hoped these vacuous daughters and granddaughters would garble whatever they overheard. 'You have no friends.'
Helspeth crushed an angry retort. What others thought should not matter. But it did. Renfrow's conversation with Delta and Chevra hurt.
Renfrow revealed striking white teeth, smiling. He was enamored of the eastern custom of cleaning his teeth.
Helspeth halfheartedly cared for her own teeth, only because it was fashionable.
'You're right. I have no friends. I'm more alone than I imagined it was possible to be when I came here.' Hurrying because most all of her happy memories included Plemenza.
'You're surrounded by people who could become your friends. If you'd let them. Most of these people do want the best for you.'
She did not respond. She did not know what to say. Until, 'My world ended when my father died. Before that, even though I never saw him much, I belonged. I had my place. Not much was demanded of me. Katrin and I spoiled Mushin. We played at being girl soldiers. Papa indulged us. Especially me.'
'Because you were so much like him. It was a fantasy. Which he recognized for what it was. But he enjoyed letting you be the son that Lothar couldn't. A cruel jest on God's part.'
Helspeth sipped her tea. 'Must be a side-splitter. Look around. All the strong rulers have weak successors behind them.'
'There are succession problems, here and there. But King Peter's son-as much as can be told from an infant- should be a worthy successor. And Anne of Menand will, likely, prove forceful after she becomes King of Arnhand.'
Helspeth overlooked the sharpness. 'I wish my father hadn't charged into al-Khazen like that.'
'Excepting Grand Duke Omro and his cronies, most everyone would agree. We may never recover from the loss. But the Grail Empire doesn't run on 'what if? and wishful thinking. Most of the time.'
'If he was alive I wouldn't be here like this.'
'Or you might be. With the same household. Your father was greatly concerned about what he started, letting you girls play at being boys. You in particular worried him. You kept throwing on armor and trying to get into fights. Al-Khazen would've been the last straw. You might've ended up in a nunnery.'
'No.'
'He considered it.'
Helspeth was stunned. 'But I thought… I thought that's what he wanted. I thought he'd be hugely proud.'
'He would've been, in his secret heart. But he was the Emperor. He had to consider appearances. And your welfare. And you did get into a situation where you had to be rescued by Patriarchals.'
Again Helspeth stifled a sharp rejoinder. He was right.
'All right. I did. The Captain-General himself saved me.'
A small smile from Renfrow. 'I saw him a few months ago.'
She failed to mask her interest.
He said, 'He's well.'
'And?'
'And ready to become a serious burr under the Imperial saddle. Clearenzas could keep happening now that Sublime can afford to build up his forces.'
'What would Papa do?'
'Probably summon the levies and march on Brothe. Stop it before it can get going.'
'But that won't happen.'
'No. Lothar is a minor. And the people on the Council didn't approve of Johannes's policies when he was alive.'
'What about Katrin?'
'What will she do? I don't know. No one does. Including Katrin.'
'How much trouble will she have being Empress? She isn't a man.'
'Less than most people think. She'll have the Braunsknechts.'
'And you?'
'Some. Yes.' The hard Renfrow shone through briefly. Helspeth shuddered. That was the Ferris Renfrow who had caused nightmares amongst Hansel's enemies.
'What?'
'You aren't going to just vacation here.'
'Uh…'
'Did you think you would? You're the Emperor's daughter. You're on this side of the mountains.'
'I didn't…'
'I know. Those people up at Alten Weinberg and Hochwasser didn't think about that, either. But you'll be the Empire's proconsul in Firaldia. What with the mountain crossings being closed for half the year, now.' And the only way around required an overland journey through the Eastern Empire or Arnhand.
Like it or not, Helspeth Ege had to be an adult. With responsibilities.
'You'll do fine,' Renfrow told her. 'You are your father's daughter. And you have Algres Drear. It's no accident he was assigned to you. Your father chose him. Trust him.' Renfrow started to leave his seat, remembered he was in the presence of an Imperial princess.
'You have something else to do?'
'Always. I'm always behind and always running late.'
'Maybe you need your own Algres Drear.'
'I have a few. But you hit the mark. I could use more. Since your father died I'm a one-armed juggler with twelve balls in the air. It's necessary to let some things slide. I sometimes decide wrong.'
Renfrow faded out of Plemenza as though he had been but a wisp of imagination. Helspeth consciously tried to stop feeling sorry for herself. She had to concentrate on improving the standing of the Empire in northern Firaldia.
She was less effective than Renfrow hoped. The Council Advisory sabotaged most of her efforts.
She accepted what befell. She could do nothing else. But behind her cold, neutral eyes lurked the troubling, certain knowledge that Mushin's frailties would take him soon and she would become second in succession.
She wrote Katrin frequently, saying little of substance, trying to nurture and rebuild a family relationship. Katrin seldom replied. She was unpredictable when she did. She could be angry, petty, scolding, or demonstrate the warmest expressions of sisterly love. Helspeth suspected Katrin's attitude shifted with the moods of those around her. Which did not augur well for the reign of the Empress Katrin.
Every letter, however grim or cheerful, left Helspeth more frightened.
During her appearance at a religious procession, in the course of one of Plemenza's festivals, Algres Drear warned, 'It's time to take more care what you say and who hears you say it.' He chose a moment when no one would overhear.
'What do you mean?'
'I get letters from north of the Jagos, too. Be careful, Princess.'
He had no chance to say anything more.
Helspeth worried for hours. The Council Advisory must be poisoning Lothar's mind. She could not defend herself. She had to shut up and make sure she offended no one.
Being an Imperial princess, even in her wonderful city of Plemenza, held no joy now that Johannes was
