The Rosefinch sitting room was a beautiful place by any standard, with dark oak walls and a black granite floor inlaid with scenes of flying birds made of solid gold.
It had been made with Earth Magic, Wolfe was certain, and the floor of the room looked like a starry night sky full of golden birds.
But what he didn't see was anyone who might have intended to et them here.
There was no herald or maid, as there would normally be for a eting with anyone in the Palace. Instead, he was seated alone with Rail in the luxurious room.
He couldn't tell if she was getting nervous or bored, but after a few minutes, she began to fidget, and then eventually went to the bookshelf to grab sothing to read while they waited.
"Perhaps we should have found a staff mber to inform that we are here," she suggested.
"They might be giving us alone ti, under a misunderstanding about what we needed a private room for," Wolfe agreed.
Rail giggled and flipped open her book. She was fully expecting to be kept waiting by whoever thought that they needed to be brought to a secluded area of the Palace to talk.
If it could be done openly, they wouldn't have been called to a disused wing of the building in the first place, much less kept waiting long enough that staff would forget that they had seen soone coming this way recently.
Rail was deeply engrossed in her book, and Wolfe had the [Whiteboard] spell active to draw new spell inscriptions, practising what he had been learning in the Library.
When soone finally ca storming into the room, they were both caught off guard.
Of all the people they suspected would co barging in as if greatly inconvenienced, they had never thought that it would be the Palace Steward.
"Good, you're both here. I've been looking for you. We need to have a discussion about adding exceptions to the spell you placed on the castle to allow for proper disciplinary asures," he demanded.
"There already are," Wolfe replied, unconcerned.
"Just this morning, one of the serving staff dropped a fork during breakfast service, and I was unable to whip them for their incompetence. The exceptions need to be modified."
Wolfe looked around with [Detect Hidden]. The Steward had left the door open, and sure enough, there were staff from the cleaning crew hiding two doors down, pretending to clean.
The fact they were unmoving and perfectly silent gave away their ga, but he couldn't bla them for wanting to know how this conversation ended.
Rail cleared her throat.
"If you wish to whip the staff, you will have to take them to the formal punishnt ground in the village commons. I have morized all the official castle disciplinary asures, and a formal censure is to be exercised in front of the commoners."
The man seed to pale a little at that suggestion, but his determination didn't wane.
"It's nothing so important as to need a formal censure. This inability to maintain discipline is leading to a breakdown in castle procedures," he insisted.
Wolfe smiled and placed a gentle hand on the Steward's shoulder.
"Fortunately, you have co to the perfect people for the cause. As an investigator team, albeit temporary, we can certainly shadow you for the day and make detailed notes of the disciplinary issues to put before the Lead Investigator, who can present them to the Royal Council."
"In fact, I must insist that we do. It would never do for discipline to break down in the Palace just because of a reinstatent of security asures. Minister William might be concerned about this as well. A lack of discipline is a security issue."
Rail quickly caught on and joined in.
"Yes, I will begin a formal investigation now, and we can do a full report on the condition of the staff's morale and job performance."
"If they are underperforming, we will refer the findings to the council so they can assist you with funds or staff to maintain discipline."
"In the anti, don't be afraid to use the formal disciplinary asures. There hasn't been a public flogging for disrespect of Palace Procedures in months."
The problem, from the Steward's point of view, was that he had to justify the punishnt and provide corroboration.
He was not well liked by the staff, and they had efficiently eliminated his cronies in the last week.
The Steward was just about to retort when the sound of boots echoed in the hallway.
He realized the door was open and others might hear anything he said.
But the boots didn't pass by.
Instead, they stopped at the entry, and the thick oaken door swung inward.
"Good, so many people that we needed to talk to are all in one place. Please, have a seat."
A short golden demon stood there, with a dragon-like head but no wings or tail.
With six heavily ard guards behind him, his words were clearly not a request.
"Are you the one who called for us, Intelligence Minister?" Rail asked politely.
"Indeed. Catching the Steward at the sa ti is a stroke of luck. Now, let us have a little discussion about the possibility of corruption within the Palace Staff."
Reviews
All reviews (0)