“What does it say?” she asked him without looking at the scroll in her hand.

“The usual diplomatic language of regret on the death of my father,” Taj said.

Lara now looked at the message. It is with great regret we learn of the untimely death of the great Dominus Magnus Hauk, ruler of the kingdom of Terah, our most valued ally, it began. Please tender our condolences to your mother, the Domina Lara, your siblings and all of Magnus Hauk’s family. If there is any way in which your friends in Hetar may be of help, you have but to send to us. It was signed, Jonah, Lord High Ruler of Hetar. Lara set the parchment aside upon a table.

“It seems a harmless message,” Taj said.

Lara smiled. “It is. Yet there is menace behind it, my son. You will reply, of course. Hetar may be a dangerous world, but they do value manners above all. How one is perceived is most important to Hetarians. Remember that, my son. Now, have you chosen a secretary, Taj?”

“I thought to raise the chief scribe, Ampyx, to that position,” he answered her. “What think you, Mother?”

“I believe him capable, and loyal,” Lara said. “Will you allow me to appoint him to his new post? Ampyx is no fool, and it will tell him without telling him what your father wanted. He is an old-fashioned Terahn, but he is also intelligent and intuitive.”

“Let us go to the throne room,” Taj said. “And you will stand next to my throne.”

They went to the throne room, and Taj sent a servant for Ampyx. The boy sat himself upon the throne of Terah, which was fashioned of gold with a high pointed back, and studded with gemstones. It had a wide seat with a purple silk cushion upon it. He looked so young and vulnerable sitting upon his seat of office. Lara stood half in the shadows to his left. She briefly let her eyes wander to the tall arched windows that looked out over the green cliffs, the fjord and the sea beyond. She had loved this land from the moment she first saw it.