Rubis entered the household administration office carrying a sealed archive case and immediately realized he should have sent someone else.
Kamal sat behind his desk, surrounded by open reports and suspended ether displays.
Liam remained planted on the couch beside the window, one leg tucked beneath him, looking bored enough to become a threat to palace infrastructure.
Rubis stopped inside the doorway.
His eyes moved from Kamal to Liam and then toward the corridor again.
"No," Kamal said without looking up.
"I have not said anything."
"You were about to leave."
"I remembered another obligation."
"You are here to deliver the original authorization records from the imperial archive."
"They can remain sealed until tomorrow."
"The oath announcement is in three days."
"They have remained sealed for seventy-two years. Another day is unlikely to destroy the empire."
Liam turned his head.
Rubis felt the exact moment the room became more dangerous.
"Rubis," Liam said pleasantly.
"My lord."
Rubis tightened his hold on the archive case and calculated the distance to the doors.
"Close them," Kamal instructed.
Rubis stared at him.
Kamal finally glanced up. "I have been alone with him for twenty-three minutes."
"That is not my fault."
"It can become your responsibility."
The doors slid shut behind Rubis with a quiet pulse of ether.
He crossed the office and placed the case on Kamal’s desk. "The original household access records, the residential preservation orders, and the documentation connected to the sealed imperial properties."
"Thank you."
Rubis turned immediately.
"You are leaving?" Liam asked with a wicked smile.
"Yes."
"But you just arrived."
"I completed my purpose."
"You should stay."
Rubis looked at Kamal.
Kamal had already begun scanning the archive seals with the expression of a man who had deliberately removed himself from the coming disaster.
"I have work," Rubis said.
"You always have work."
"That is generally how employment functions."
Liam unfolded himself from the couch and stood.
Rubis did not move, but every instinct suggested that he should.
In three days, once Arik announced his intention to take the oath, the household restructuring would begin formally. Kamal would remain chief steward of the entire imperial household.
Rubis, through an administrative decision he suspected had been influenced by several deeply vindictive people, was expected to become Liam’s personal steward when Liam was crowned empress consort.
The official documentation used phrases such as residential administration, ceremonial coordination, and oversight of the consort’s private wings.
Everyone involved understood that the position was primarily intended to keep Liam from opening ancient ether systems without supervision.
Rubis preferred the term steward.
The security staff preferred handler.
"Since you are going to be responsible for my household," Liam began—
"No."
"I have not asked yet."
"I have learned."
"You cannot refuse every request before hearing it."
"I can when you smile like that."
Liam’s expression became innocent. "I only thought you could take me to Goliath’s suite."
Rubis stared at him.
"You have already been there."
"I know."
"You coerced me into taking you there."
"I persuaded you."
"You threatened to enter alone."
"That made accompanying me the safer option."
"You found His Highness inside with the mate collar, argued with him for nearly an hour, and left carrying the collar."
"That was productive."
"It began the conflict that has occupied the imperial household for five days."
Liam considered that. "The conflict would have occurred eventually."
"No," Kamal said from behind the desk. "Without your intervention, the collar would have remained hidden in Goliath’s suite, and we would all currently be experiencing peace."
"I needed to examine it."
"You needed to know why Arik was avoiding that room," Rubis corrected.
"The collar happened to answer the question."
Liam looked between them. "So neither of you will take me there?"
"No," Rubis said.
"No," Kamal agreed.
Liam sighed.
It was not the theatrical sigh he had been directing at Kamal earlier.
It was quieter and more thoughtful.
Rubis did not like it.
"Fine," Liam said. "Then I would like to visit Goliath’s consorts’ palaces."
Kamal’s hand stopped above the archive case.
Rubis went completely still.
There were three former consort residences within the broader imperial complex, each constructed as a separate palace connected to the main residence through enclosed gardens and secured ether passages. They had remained sealed since Goliath’s death.
Arik had not mentioned them.
Which meant Liam had searched the household database.
"No," Rubis said again.
Liam tilted his head. "Why?"
"Because they are sealed."
"You have the preservation access."
"That is not permission."
"Kamal has permission."
Kamal slowly raised his eyes. "Do not involve me."
"You are the chief steward."
"I am beginning to regret accepting the position."
"The consort residences fall under the imperial household."
"They are under historical preservation."
"I am the future consort."
"You are not historical preservation."
"Not yet."
Rubis closed his eyes briefly.
Kamal pressed two fingers against his forehead.
Liam continued, "I should know where I am expected to live."
"You are expected to live with His Highness," Kamal said.
"Arik has made that excessively clear."
"Then there is no need to inspect alternative residences."
"They are not alternatives. They are historically relevant examples of how the Nurian imperial household accommodated consorts."
Rubis looked at him. "You want to enter Goliath’s former consorts’ homes because you know it will irritate His Highness."
"That is an uncharitable interpretation."
"It is the only interpretation."
"I am interested in history... mostly Felix’s history in the palace."
"There it is," Kamal said with a tired sigh. "His Highness has banned your ether signature from that palace too."
Liam stared at him.
"He what?"
"The security system will not permit you beyond the exterior gardens."
"That seems excessive."
"You spent breakfast asking whether Felix’s old residence contained preserved personal laboratories," Rubis said.
"I was curious."
"You then asked if the preservation seals could distinguish between investigation and dismantling."
"That was a legitimate technical question."
Kamal returned his attention to the archive case. "Arik evidently disagreed."
Liam’s mouth pulled downward.
It was not the calculated expression he had used on Rubis before. This one appeared genuinely offended, his shoulders sinking slightly as he looked between them.
"Nobody lets me do anything remotely fun."
Rubis regarded him. "You consider exploring the former residence of a man who poisoned your mate fun?"
"It would be educational."
"You said fun."
"Education can be fun."
"Not when you are carrying three ether tools and a portable scanner."
Liam glanced down at his belt. "These are standard equipment."
"For an engineer entering a mechanical facility," Rubis said. "Not for a future empress wandering through sealed private residences."
"I am not an empress yet."
"You continue using that distinction only when it is convenient."
Liam folded his arms and looked toward Kamal.
Kamal did not look up.
"You are both very disappointing."
"I will attempt to endure the shame," Kamal said.
Liam waited.
Neither man relented.
His pout deepened.
"Fine."
Rubis immediately became suspicious. "Fine?"
"I will not visit the consort palaces."
"That agreement was too easy."
"I am capable of respecting reasonable boundaries."
"No," Kamal and Rubis said together.
Liam gave them a wounded look, turned and walked toward the doors.
"Where are you going?" Rubis asked.
"To walk."
"Where?"
"Around the palace."
Rubis’s expression changed. "Which area?"
"I do not know. That is generally the purpose of wandering."
"The palace contains restricted administrative sectors, dormant ether conduits, and several residential wings that have not been fully inspected."
"Then the walk may become educational."
"Lord Liam."
The doors opened.
Liam stepped into the corridor, where his security team straightened immediately.
"I need to move," he reminded them. "The physicians said so."
"They meant controlled exercise," Rubis called after him.
"I will walk slowly."
"That is not what controlled means."
Liam lifted one hand in vague acknowledgement and continued down the corridor.
Rubis watched him disappear past the transparent wall separating the office from the outer passage.
For three seconds, neither he nor Kamal moved.
Then a household notification appeared above Kamal’s desk.
IMPERIAL CONSORT ACCESS REQUEST: NORTHERN SERVICE LEVELS.
A second followed.
REQUEST DENIED.
Then a third.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE CALCULATION IN PROGRESS.
Kamal closed his eyes.
Rubis was already moving toward the doors.
"You said he was only going to walk."
"I believed him for nearly four seconds."
Another alert appeared.
DORMANT LIFT SYSTEM ACTIVATED.
Kamal stood so quickly that his chair rolled into the display behind him.
"Why does a dormant lift still have power?"
Rubis broke into a run.
"Ask him when we catch him."