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around the title, and gave up. “I have two letters I was told to deliver to him in person.”
    “Do either of the sendees have any reason to want you dead or fired?”
    “Not yet.”
    Hanson held out a hand. It was large, square, and belied the rather bookish clothing he generally wore for office work. Too many calluses, for one. “Let me have them.”
    She would normally have been more than happy to pass them off as his problem, but this time she was torn. She had hopes for the contents of Sanabalis’s letter, and pure dread about the contents of Diarmat’s. It didn’t matter, though. Hanson lifted one gray brow and said, “I’m not opening either,” in a flat tone of voice. “I recognize both seals. Were you told, in either case, to wait for a report?”
    “No.”
    “And you are absolutely certain you did nothing to offend Diarmat?”
    “Nothing besides breathing.”
    “Take a chair,” Hanson said, rising as he made his decision. “Take any chair in my office except the one behind my desk.”

    Kaylin had been a bit of an explorer when she’d first been brought to the office. Hanson’s chair wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to her, even though she’d only sat in it a couple of times. Unfortunately, the last of those times had involved a rather irate citizen of great import to his Caste Court, an absent Hanson, and an absent Hawklord. It had not gone well.
    She wasn’t thirteen anymore in any case; she took a chair by the wall nearest the desk and waited. Hanson came in maybe a quarter of an hour later; the windows here weren’t enchanted, so asking them for the time indicated a lower level of sanity or observation than the Hawks ideally liked in their employees.
    “The Hawklord will see you. Now.”
    “Is he pissed off?”
    “He was not entirely pleased by the interruption, no. I don’t believe he holds it against you, on the other hand.”
    “How badly is the investigation going?”
    “It is not going well, and the Emperor is not pleased.”
    Kaylin winced. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

    The Hawklord’s Tower was empty when she arrived; she could see this because the doors were—thank the gods—already open. The landing in front of his Tower, on the other hand, was occupied. Teela was lounging against the height of the rails as Kaylin trudged up the stairs. She raised one dark brow in acknowledgment. “I saw Hanson. Two official letters, from actual Dragons, no less. Why were you at the Palace?”
    “Etiquette lessons, if you must know.”
    Teela frowned for a second, and then nodded. The fact that she’d asked at all meant the investigation was going very badly; normally, she would have known exactly where Kaylin had been the previous day. Teela had taken to office betting pools like fish take to water.
    “You didn’t offend Diarmat, did you?”
    “I believe my inferior existence is offense enough,” Kaylin replied, sliding into very clipped and precise High Barrani.
    Tain chuckled. “He’s old school, Kaylin.”
    “Meaning?”
    “You’ll find out. Hawklord’s waiting,” he added. “And we’re not allowed back in until you’ve finished.”

    Lord Grammayre’s eyes were an unfortunate shade of blue; his wings were at full height, but at least they were only partially extended. He held what appeared to be two letters in one of his stiff hands, and he looked up when Kaylin entered. He didn’t even tell her to close the doors; he gestured and they pretty much slammed shut at her back. Had she been Barrani, they would have closed on her hair. Or maybe not. Barrani hair never got in the way of anything.
    “I have two completely conflicting requests, and I have very, very little time in which to reply. Are you aware of what either of these letters contain?”
    “No, sir,” she said truthfully. She did snap a salute, and she did stand pretty much at rigid attention.
    Lord Grammayre looked peaked. Had she been Caitlin, she might have asked him if he’d been sleeping at all; as