As the youngest daughter, I had to learn to not think about the things I couldn’t change.  I didn’t have any real influence over my family, so I had to accept the decisions my father made even if I disagreed.  The trick was to not have opinions of my own.  Opinions led to beliefs, beliefs led to arguments, and without any real power to back them up, it led to endless frustration.  I was careful not to go down that road.

Of course, look where that attitude had gotten me now, I thought bitterly.  Perhaps if I’d made my own will known at any point in my life my father wouldn’t have offered me up to the queen as her next Beloved.

It did allow me to shove the problem of a murdered god into the back of my head and focus on the task at hand, at least. There was nothing I could do about it at the time, so I simply didn’t think about it.

Manere needed all of my attention, anyway.

Queen Misht’s spy network was quick to establish contact.  It wasn’t the first time I’d worked with them.  There was a certain key phrase and response they used when they greeted me and the local guide given to us by the city council used it on our first introduction.  It was little wonder the queen had selected someone from my family.  I was learning all her secrets and she needed someone with a history of loyalty to the crown.

“-and that’s the extent of what we know,” the spy said, once we were alone in the inn and he had briefed me on the situation.

It was, unfortunately, fairly straight-forward.  Count Hidere presented evidence that his rival was involved in a tax evasion scheme.  There was certainly suspicion that he’d planted the evidence, but upon further investigation it became apparent that the family was indeed evading taxes and had been doing so for some time.  Count Hidere just had the wits to recognize it and use it for his advantage.

So that family lost their access to the harbor.  That left only two other entities standing in Hidere’s way - one, a merchant family and the other, a company owned by another noble family.  He bought them both out and now had complete control over the harbor.  The queen could forcibly dissolve his monopoly, of course, but for now he wasn’t using it in a way that would justify such a heavy hand from the crown.  He wasn’t restricting access to only his ships.  He was just… imposing slightly higher tolls on everyone else.

But only slightly higher.  Enough to make people complain, but not enough to actually damage the flow of goods.

Count Hidere was smart.  Ambitious, but with enough self-control to keep from ruining himself in the process.  His monopoly was a problem, but not one that needed to be addressed urgently.

So why was Manere’s god sinking ships?  Her control over the sea extended only as far as the bay, so the ships were anchored outside of it and then ferrying cargo through smaller boats to the shore and then into the city.  It was a slow, tedious process and ships were now rerouting to other cities.  If it went on any longer it’d be a complete disruption of the trade lines.

“Is it something personal against Count Hidere?” I mused.  “Gods do carry grudges.”

“His manor is within her sphere of influence,” the spy said.  “She could have simply burned it to the ground.”

“Yes, but she’s making a point here.  Whatever she’s upset about involves the harbor.  I suppose I’ll find out more tomorrow, if I’m lucky.”

I yawned.  It had been a long day and I was ready for it to be over.  The spy quickly took the cue and excused himself.  Shortly after, my new maid came in to turn down the bed and she brought hot chocolate with her.  Apparently she’d been told of my love for sweets.

Ylone could go get married, I thought happily.  This was better.  So much better.

Sometime after midnight, I was woken by someone shaking my shoulder.  I didn’t startle easily, as this was hardly the first time a servant had woken me in the night, so I merely sat up in bed while the intruder lit a small candle on the bedside table.

A woman peered at me intently.  She was lovely, perhaps around my age, with chestnut hair and sparkling amber eyes.  A blindfold sagged around her neck, having been just removed.

Manere’s god had come to me.

“Did you find him?” she asked intently.

I was still confused, having just woken up and was still processing the fact that whatever was happening, it was important enough for the god to leave her temple.

“Who?” I asked.

“My brother.”

Ah.  The murdered god.  Gods did not have blood relations after ascending, but they referred to each other as family.  Gods whose territories had direct borders with each other were siblings, though city gods would claim a bit more than just what was directly adjacent.  Everyone else was a cousin.

“Yes,” I said.  “We’re deeply concerned.  What do you know about it?”

“Only a little more than you, I suspect.  The perpetrators escaped by sea.  I smelled the blood on their hands, but I only realized whose it was far too late.”

“You sank the ships trying to stop them from escaping.  But… all of the ships in the harbor?”

“I was… angry.  I overreached.”

Her tone lacked inflection, but I wanted to believe she was upset with herself.

“To clarify,” I said slowly, “the harbor is safe to use.”

She nodded.

“And this has nothing to do with Count Hidere.”

Another nod.  She, like the old woman in the village, had simply been waiting for the Beloved to come along and relay what had happened to the queen.  I rubbed at my forehead, feeling a headache coming on already.  The immediate solution was simple, but everything that came after would be an endless nightmare.

Except the solution was only simple if we assumed that Count Hidere taking control of the harbor - including inspections - right before the murder was merely a coincidence.

“I’m going to be here for a little while, I fear,” I told the god.  “There’s more work to be done.”

“Have I missed something?  I suppose I could have I don’t understand people as well as I once did.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment, contemplating the things she knew she’d lost only because someone had told her about her former life.

“I’ll receive you formally in the morning and you will tell me what I need to do,” she said.

The older gods were so much easier to work with.  They’d realized that there were some things they weren’t good at and were willing to accept guidance.  I watched as she went out to the balcony and simply… hopped off.  Dropped four floors to the ground below and walked away.

Leaving me to sleep.  Or at least, I tried to.  My mind was racing furiously.  There was a lot of work ahead of us.