The next morning, Annan woke in the two-hundred-square-meter bedroom.
As he watched Rus dozing beneath a colonnade, hazy memories surfaced.
"I think I saw you..." Annan trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind. It's nothing."
Something that strange had probably been a dream.
Was it because he had seen Rus's feet during the day?
He had Rus put away the playing cards, and they changed into the robes the maids had left. The robes covered their feet perfectly; apparently, the maids had taken Annan's height into account.
Not long after they changed, a maid came to escort them. After a few minutes along the paths, Annan and the Third Prince met in a garden filled with statues of warriors.
"Good morning, Annan."
"Morning, Your Highness."
Noticing the dark circles under the Third Prince's eyes, Annan asked, "Didn't sleep well?"
His Minister of the Interior had even darker circles under his eyes.
"The bedroom was too big and empty. And I'm meeting the emperor today, so I'm a little nervous." The Third Prince smiled sheepishly.
"No need to be. Knowing the Empire, everything's already been arranged. We just have to show up, agree with a few things, and let them push us along." Annan knew the feeling. Only a month ago, he had gone through all that effort for nothing.
"I see."
The Third Prince took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm himself.
Annan looked around at the towering statues. Some gripped battle axes and roared with their heads thrown back; others reared up on warhorses.
There wasn't a maid or royal guard in sight. Were they going to meet the emperor here?
As he wondered, a figure emerged along the path, half-hidden by the mist.
"These statues depict the ancestors of the Montreal Golden Family."
He rested a