The Imperial Chamberlain’s office was on the tenth floor of a twelve-story building a block away from the Grand Imperial Residence called the Administrative Offices of the Throne; an ornate concrete mass built in the Novmiri art-deco style in the 1920s, it seemed to dominate its block more than the Residence dominated its own. The Chamberlain’s office was the largest one in the building, as the position was at the head of the various positions that made up the bureaucracy surrounding the Empeurer. The floors, made of oak from the forests of County Traval, was so shiny one could see their own reflection between their feet and the windows behind the Chamberlain’s desk offered a beautiful view over the street below. The walls, lined with bookcases and filing cabinets, seemed to show that the Chamberlain always had work to do while at the same time keeping the space from looking cluttered.
Gothren did not work in the Chamberlain’s office anymore - and had not for ten years. The Empeurer never bothered to appoint a replacement and presently it was closed up and collecting dust, Gothren’s law books the only thing he was allowed to take with him. He had heard rumors that they were storing chairs in there when the Ballroom in the Residence wasn’t in use, but he couldn’t be sure.
Instead, Gothren worked in a small office above the ‘Q’ Club in Pelagis; one of many private bars for House Quarrovth retainers, it was the only place that the House could put him as their office building in Fellowmoor had been filled to capacity. When Gothren was fired from the Administrative Offices, it didn’t take long for his House to snatch him up as a senior aide, despite the fact he had never personally applied for the position. Despite the House’s eagerness to work with the former Chamberlain, Gothren’s office in the ‘Q’ Club was much smaller - still with bookshelves, but only a few filing cabinets. The floors were wood, but they hadn’t been polished in a few years. Instead, he preferred to work out of his apartment in north-central Pelagis, or even at home in Novrith if he could make it - though as the burden of his work increased over the years, his trips to the port city became fewer and fewer.
When Gothren was Chamberlain, his work was variable, but the mainstay was meeting with House nobles on the Empeurer’s behalf. Fendryn always thought that such meetings were below him - as a soldier who only started to have political ambitions in the mid-1920s, after the birth of his daughter, he preferred to direct the nation from behind the lines, just as he directed his forces from behind the lines in the Great War and the Resdaynian Indigenous Wars. Gothren, therefore, was Fendryn’s lieutenant - it was his job to make the Empeurer’s plans known to various petty nobles and housemen, and often the Empeurer gave great discretion as to what “his plans” meant, just as a general might leave it to a lieutenant to decide how to command his own platoon so long as the force’s objectives were achieved.
When Gothren lost his job in 1955 and House Quarrovth hired him on as a personal aide, he was at first assigned directly to the Empeuress Consort herself; curiously, it was here that he served as a chamberlain in the traditional role of valet - spending more time zipping Her Majesty’s dresses than meeting with politicians. Eventually, though, Gothren’s workload had increased as various Quarrovth councillors and hangers-on came to him for advice. By 1963, he was working twice as much as in his old position of Chamberlain in half the space.
“I want him dead!” shrieked Tanasa Othrelith, a noblewoman who had been serving House Quarrovth since her youth. Adopted into the Great House in 1912, at the age of 16, she had accumulated more feuds than someone with six generations of Quarrovth bickering behind them.
“Sera, as I said before, I think it’s best to solve this matter more diplomatically.” Gothren said. He had been trying to calm her down for almost two hours now, and his thinning patience was starting to show.
“That bastard killed my brother!”
“Tanasa,” Gothren began, taking his cigarette out of his mouth, “Your brother died of a heart attack. I knew him personally; he was a hard worker. It’s no surprise to me his heart gave out eventually.”
“The doctors are lying! He was poisoned!”
“Even if he was poisoned, what would you want me to do about it?” Gothren asked, irked.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know anyone. I lost all those connections when they outlawed House War but I’m sure you have a goddamn rolodex full of people that could take care of him for me.” Gothren laughed.
“I can assure you, I do not.” Tanasa groaned loudly.
“No one ever takes me seriously around here!” she said, standing up with a huff and grabbing her coat.
“Aww, no, listen,” Gothren said, regretting losing his patience. He stood up as well and put his cigarette out in an ashtray on his desk.
“Let me look into it. If your brother was poisoned, we’ll make him pay. But I can’t guarantee anything.” Tanasa adjusted the coat hanging off her forearm.
“Thank you,” she said curtly. “I’m right. You’ll see. Andavel Vrotrith murdered my brother.”
“Let me walk you out, ma’am,” Gothren said, walking to the door of his office, trying to mend what had transpired.
“That’s all right - I’ll find the way myself, Gothren.”
“Okay,” he said. “Well, it was nice to see you again, Sera.”
“You as well, Gothren,” Tanasa mumbled, walking out of the office. Gothren tapped the front of his shoe on the floor as she left and frowned. Hearing the phone outside ring, he yelled to his secretary.
“Can you get that?” The phone rang again. “Can you get that?” The phone rang again. “Can you get that?” Hearing the phone ring once more, he opened the door to his office and saw his secretary was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, he sat at her desk and picked up the phone.
“This is Gothren Quarrith.”
“Yes, sera, can you put me through to Gothren Quarrith?”
“This is Gothren.”
“Oh, hello Gothren! It’s Ervas. Where’s Volmyni? I love hearing her voice.”
“I don’t know where she is. But I don’t need to know that.”
“Well I think it’s probably important to know where your secretary is.”
“No, I mean I don’t need to know that you’ve been harassing her. Maybe that’s why she’s the third one in two years.”
“Lay off it, Gothren.” Ervas said with a sigh. “Like she hasn’t reciprocated. And have you seen that ass? Let me tell you - “
“I’m married, Ervas. Was there a reason you were calling my office? Because I’m sure there are a million men in locker rooms dying to hear of your exploits, and I have work to do.”
“Well, I was expecting it to me Volmyni. But hey, have you looked into that folder I gave you?”
“Briefly. I haven’t started sniffing around yet.”
“Well sniff this,” Ervas said. “Galos Othrerith was murdered.”
“What?” Gothren said, astonished. “I thought it was a heart attack. Who did you hear this from?”
“The coroner over in Llaryn’s Gore, where his house was. It was poison.”
“I was just talking to Tanasa,” Gothren said.
“Yep. Looks like the old bag was right.”
“Well, goddamn.” Gothren said. “Thanks for telling me, Ervas. I’ll have to look into this.”
“No problem, buddy.” Ervas said. “You wanna have Volmyni give me a call when she gets back?”
“Yeah, sure,” Gothren mumbled. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” Gothren hung up the phone and sat back in Volmyni’s chair, thinking.
“Did I miss a call?” Volmyni said, approaching.
“Oh, yeah, but it’s okay, I got it. I’ll be in my office.” Gothren said, getting up.
“Was it Ervas?”
“What’s that, now?” Gothren asked.
“Were you talking to Ervas?” Volmyni asked.
“Oh, no,” he replied. “Just a friend of mine. Tell anyone who calls I’m out for the day.”
