Neutral Read Online Free Page B

you.”
    Nexica knocked on the door and nodded to Ari. “Good luck, lady.”
    Ari walked through the door and two of the guards were waiting to walk with her while two others remained in front of her door.
    She was on her way to work.
     
    The idea of a scribe working on a high-tech world had puzzled her until her instructor had told her about the idea of slowing things down to keep the ruler from being overwhelmed. The act of writing the positions out by hand limited the amount that could be processed in any given day. It kept folk like Usorn from being swamped by endless electronic proposals.
    One day, Ari would like to sneak out and see the palace without an armoured back in front of her.
    It was only her second day on Hredu and she was thinking of breaking protocol. It was not a good sign for the rest of her contract that she was already dreaming of the day she could get away.
    Ari sighed. She just needed to get to work. Once she had a schedule, everything else would fall into place, just as it had during her training.
    A crowd was gathering outside an audience chamber and that is where her guards took her. Her guards drew weapons and the crowd parted.
    She had seen the ritual on one of the research recordings, but being in the center of it was quite a bit different.
    Ari carried her kit to the scribe’s desk and she settled herself, checking the paper, the ink and the pens that she was supposed to use for the petitions. She would have preferred to use her own pens, but on day one, she didn’t want to try to pull any fast ones.
    Her guards were stationed on either side of the desk with their weapons out. When she was settled at the angled podium with her ink and pen at the ready, she nodded to the guard on her right, and he nodded to the man who was apparently coordinating the crowd. The first petitioner came in and took the seat across from Ariadne.
    She dipped her pen in the ink, they started speaking and she started writing. It was the beginning of a very long day.
    Every three hours, Guard Number One brought her a cup of tea. She paused and drank the tea before resuming her work. This was what she had been wanting, had been missing even for the one day. She wanted to work and it consumed her day until she was brought her meal.
    Guard One leaned in. “You will be brought your meal, and then, you will attend the emperor as he decides on the petitions and record his decisions.”
    She flexed her hand. “I have only seen twenty people.”
    “That is ten more than any other scribe before you. Take a break and have your meal. When it is done, you will move into the audience chamber and record the emperor’s decisions.”
    She nodded and grimaced as she massaged and oiled her hands. Captain Kredik came in with a covered tray, and he relieved the man she thought of as Guard Three.
    Ari had cleared her work area, and she settled the tray down, removing the cover and settling in to eat. Her meal disappeared quickly, and when she covered the empty plate, another guard brought in a pot of herbal tea.
    “When do you guys sleep?”
    Captain Kredik grinned. “When you do. There are only two of us on duty when you sleep and they are out right now. Nexica is a qualified bodyguard as well, though she probably didn’t mention it.”
    “When do I move to the inner office?”
    “As soon as you finish your tea. We don’t want you getting dehydrated.”
    She wrinkled her nose and worked her way through the teapot. “You realise that this is going to force me to a call of nature.”
    He shrugged. “We are here to keep you healthy. That doesn’t stop at preventing you from attacks.”
    “So, you are not guards, you are keepers.”
    He grinned, “Yes, but most scribes are perturbed at the notion of having keepers, so we have gone with the guard title.”
    “Being keepers explains why you bring my meals.”
    He chuckled. “Most scribes have not made that connection.”
    “I had a lot of time to think this morning while I was