She started writing.
Mahir was quiet for a moment.
Then: "I'll review the gate captain situation tonight. The three she controls. I know which shifts they run." He paused. "I can have recommendations for replacement candidates by morning."
"Don't replace yet," Elara said, not looking up. "Just identify. I want to know who the candidates are before I know I need them."
"Yes, Your Highness."
She wrote.
He stood.
The night stretched ahead, full and workable, the kind of night that was hours of useful darkness before anything official had to happen.
Outside, the palace went about its evening — consorts in their quarters, guards at their posts, an Empress Dowager in rooms Elara had never entered reading correspondence that she believed was private.
Elara wrote another line.
