His gaze flicked to the Bendazzi symbol on the coach door as he stepped inside and he smiled faintly. Jala had always refused to ride in coaches and the idea that she had one waiting for her in Sanctuary was rather amusing. “Does she know she has a coach?” Neph asked quietly as Dresharn seated himself across from him and closed the door.
The dragon shook his head with a smirk, and settled farther into his seat. With a glance toward Neph and a quick smile he removed his dark glasses and carefully began cleaning them. To the casual observer it looked as though the dragon’s full attention was on polishing the lenses, but Neph caught at least two glances toward the window. After several moments, Dresharn raised the glasses for inspection and nodded in silent approval before looking up at Neph once more. “Felicity Dawn was the spy in that particular quarter. I doubt you have had an opportunity to meet her, but she is a rather big thorn in the backside. She isn’t actually a member of the Fionaveir, but a rather a freelance mage. She is very good at her job, and delights in finding gossip on the pure bloods. Especially when they are connected to a major house such as you are,” Dresharn informed him with a disgusted sigh.
“I figured we were being watched,” Neph replied with a nod. “So Sanctuary has become a rather dangerous place lately,” he surmised.
“As far as crime goes it has become safer,” Dresharn corrected with a faint smile. “Politically, however, it is as treacherous as it comes,” he finished and raised a hand to rub at his temples. “Symphony, you see, is very sheltered from what is actually occurring in the world. In order for her to get the truth of things, you have to have a personal meeting with her. As you can imagine, a personal meeting with the Empress is very difficult to obtain, so most of the time you speak with her advisors instead.”
“So, Jail is meeting with the Empress herself right now or with one of the advisors?” Neph asked. From the sounds of things, Jala wasn’t going to be happy at all when she discovered how Sanctuary was being ruled. He couldn’t blame Jail for not informing her sooner, though. With the way things were going in the outside world, Jala couldn’t afford to worry about Sanctuary, and by Dresharn’s behavior so far, it appeared as though Merro was in good hands here.
“Actually we were meeting with the Magistrate of Law. As I’m sure you have noticed, all of the former laws of Sanctuary are in the process of being rewritten. It’s only natural of course, and it must be done. Sanctuary was formerly governed by a far different system and the laws must be updated to reflect a monarchy. However, Jail and I both believe that certain stipulations must be made in order for the new government to thrive.” Dresharn paused and gave him a tight smile. “Such as adding a majority clause to the section on council votes so that the High Houses still retain some power. As it is currently written, it won’t matter at all what the High Lords or Ladies think and their council is considered only advisory. Given the limited experience that Symphony has with leadership, I think it is only wise that we ensure the Lady Merrodin has a voice when it is needed. If we are successful in our mission, the new law will give the council of High Lords the power to override a decree by the Empress as long as the majority vote is high enough. I am confident that Jala can rally enough supporters behind her to reach the majority that we suggested.”
“And you think you can get this passed and into the law books without Symphony’s advisors throwing a fit?” Neph asked with a raised eyebrow. By the way Dresharn talked, he certainly seemed convincing, and to anyone that wasn’t trained in politics or diplomacy he would certainly be an influential voice.
“I believe we can, yes,” Dresharn said with a nod then waved a hand dismissively. “I highly doubt this is what brought you to Sanctuary, however, and whatever did bring you is probably a matter that we should discuss before we reach the Merro district.”
Neph nodded and let out a deep breath. “Hemlock was nosing around Vezradesh a few days ago. He seemed to have a great deal of interest in what Jala was up to as well as my presence in Merro. He also asked a good deal of questions about Jala’s new ward. I thought that since he holds power in Sanctuary it was possible that we might have some rumors about what he is doing, but with the street rats all in jail I sincerely doubt we are gathering much gossip from them,” Neph explained and shrugged at Dresharn who nodded with interest.
“As it happens, I do have someone that can look into those matters,” Dresharn began slowly and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We don’t get much in the way of rumors in the streets anymore, and what we do hear is generally regarding the new laws or who was arrested recently. I have an assistant, however, who is rather adept at details and noticing things that others might overlook. I will have her look into it.”
“An assistant?” Neph asked with an amused smile.
Dresharn returned the smile and nodded. “Typically, she handles trivial matters for me such as filing paperwork or researching laws at the Magistrates office. On occasion, she will handle matters such as delivering documents to the palace. We are required to report our revenues directly to the Palace, of course, for purposes of taxes. She has an amazing eye for details and I have never found her skills lacking,” Dresharn replied with a wink.
Neph grinned in response and nodded with approval at Dresharn’s subtle admission that they were spying on the Empress. It was nice to know that Jala had this kind of support behind her. She had enough to worry about already without losing more sleep over the laws in Sanctuary.