“This tea is delicious, Serai.” Leila closed her eyes as she sipped from a dainty, tulip shaped cup that Taras had saved for just such a visitor. “From where did you manage to procure it?” Princess Leila Ye Dadiani looked enough like Queen Yasmin that no one would question her parentage, but she was strikingly different than her siblings. Instead of having the onyx eyes that Erol and Serai shared, Leila’s irises were the gentle brown of coffee. Her features were also far softer and more welcoming than the angular faces of her siblings. Seeing the elder princess’ hot pink rumbler sitting in the Moon Keep’s drive earlier had lightened Serai’s dark mood enough to make her rescind her earlier prohibition on visitors.

“I believe this particular blend hales from Dead-Zone Five. The leaves were harvested in the fire-enriched soil of the Jalunian ruins.” The younger princess replied and reached for a candied pistachio from the dish in the middle of the table. “One of my more discerning sources gave me an early warning of its arrival, so I was able to procure some of the premium stock early.”

Serai had barely gotten her hands on the blend before the few JaKenian merchants left in the capital had come to monopolize the supply, the way their people seemed to do with anything from the ancient city. Though Serai could understand an obsession with recovered Davriadi tech from a nation with no litanies of its own, she could not fathom why such passion would extend to tealeaves. But, it wasn’t for her to judge another person’s tastes.

“Such a method is dishonest and illegal.” Leila grinned. “But who hasn’t cheated a little from time to time?”

“All in the name of a wonderful cup of tea.” Serai quirked an eyebrow. The sisters shared a giggle. “What brings you to my humble abode, Leila?”

“Oh, I simply wished to inquire after your health, after the nasty little encounter you’ve had with our brother.” Leila waved a hand. “You seem to be getting along splendidly, despite Erol’s garish display of masculine pigheadedness.”

“Well, all of us remain unharmed by the incident.” Serai’s grip tightened on the chair, out of her sister’s sight. “However, no longer being able to use the solar panel that Erol broke has been a frustrating drain on my reserves of essence.”

“I’m afraid I can’t truly fault Erol for disabling it.” Leila lowered her eyes in regret. “JaKenian technology is illegal for a reason. We mustn’t allow ourselves to become dependent on the products of the enemy. Still,” the royal princess reached across the table to take Serai’s hands. “He should not have threatened you like he did, not even to uphold our national security.” Serai bit the inside of her cheek, stomach twisting at the thought of what had almost occurred. “If you ever need help with anything,” Leila said, squeezing Serai’s hands, “you can always come to me.” Serai nodded and sent her sister a grateful smile.

“That being said,” Leila pressed her lips together. “I do have some concerns that you may not wish to hear.”

“What troubles you?” Serai furrowed her brows. Leila, as the legitimate one of the two princesses, wielded quite a bit of power to solve her own problems. If she was bringing an issue to Serai’s attention, then it must truly be burdensome. Yet, Serai’s isolation from traditional court power structures had forced her to develop connections with unorthodox sources that could achieve unique results. One such source was squirreled away in the attic, three floors above their heads, but Leila didn’t need to know that.

“This source you mentioned is Ferda Ye Giso?” Leila delivered the question as a statement.

“Ferda wasn’t the one who told me about the tea, that was someone else.” Serai shifted in her seat. Though Ferda should be too far above to hear this conversation, there was a chance they might be listening in anyway. They had a knack for getting information that should be impossible to access and Serai hadn’t the foggiest idea of how they did it.

Despite Serai’s attempts to foster a friendship between two of her favorite people, Leila and Ferda did not enjoy each other’s company. Though Leila had started off quite warm toward Ferda, the thief did not return the sentiment. They were always wary of the older princess and tried to end each interaction as quickly as possible. So, while Leila had remained polite, she had stopped trying to charm the Woromiran. Still, that didn’t explain Leila’s sudden consternation. “Also,” Serai cleared her throat, “Ferda doesn’t use the Ye prefix. They’re not a woman.”

“Ah, right.” Leila took a sip of her tea, nose twitching. “Ferda is one of those Woromirans that refuse to fit into our naming conventions.” There was no word in Shenaise for a person who was neither man or woman, but Woromiran held several identities beyond that binary. The disparity had historically made fraught diplomatic relations worse. When Serai had first met Ferda, it had taken her a while to get their name and pronouns right.

“Regardless of titles,” Leila continued, “I have a rather more serious problem to discuss with you. Are you informed of Ferda’s behavior when they’re not attending you?”

“I am aware of Ferda’s habit of extrajudicial acquirement.” Serai gave a non-committal shrug. “They aren’t exactly subtle about that aspect of their life and it certainly isn’t a new development. Why are you bringing them up?”
            “Dear sister,” Leila let go of Serai’s hands and drew herself up. “I’m afraid that Giso’s crimes don’t end at petty thievery anymore.”

Serai kept herself from frowning. In truth, she was aware of that too. Most of the information Ferda passed to her probably wasn’t told to them openly. Espionage was only espionage if one got caught, but the punishment was still steep.

Besides, though the assassination attempts had stopped about eight years ago, there were still a few attempts to harm Serai. Before Malek came, there was only one person around willing to deal with those attempts in a sufficiently permanent manner. Ferda wasn’t a royal guard and did not have the legal right to commit such violent actions—necessary for Serai’s protection, or not. If Leila had uncovered one of those incidents, perhaps Serai could convince her sister that she was worried over nothing. “What exactly do you believe they’ve done?” Serai asked.

“Serai,” Leila said, “I’m afraid your friend has become a terrorist.”