[OOC: Character intro = short, still kind of long winded. No, scratch the "kind of" part... I probably should have waited until I actually had some inspiration, but... I don't think that'll be any time soon, and I wanted to get /something/ posted for these characters...]

Soune knelt carefully before the door to her husband's chambers, bowing her head until delicate wisps of red hair drifted down to obscure her eyes from anyone who might be peering at her from the side. But no one was around, at this time of the morning. In fact, she herself shouldn't have been here, but since she and the rest of the family were technically guests in the palace regardless of how long they stayed, there weren't any rules barring her presence from parts of the palace as there were for the royal concubines.

She looked anyway, however - sometimes, the smallest things could be important. A wife, or a wife's visit to her husband, were not things to be considered important, but then again... things were uneasy in the palace these days. There would surely be spies and more unsavory types roaming the halls now that the emperor had died - not everyone wanted Lin Han on the throne. She wasn't even sure her husband did, just yet.

What /was/ he thinking? She raised a pale fist and knocked twice, softly, hoping fervently that she wasn't disturbing anything. She didn't want to meet that dignitary - or whatever he was - again, not if she could help it. He looked so cold and unfriendly... and he was a foreigner. Not that there was anything wrong with people from outside of Hokkan, but...

"Enter."

Suppressing the urge to bite her lip, Soune reached up and pushed the door open, sliding it just far enough that she could walk through before kneeling and closing it again behind her.

The muffled clink of glass on wood told her immediately where her husband was - where she expected him to be, at this time. "You're up early, Soune. Is there a problem?"

She didn't waste any time hesitating, although she wanted to crawl back into the hallway and be somewhere else; instead, she rose and shuffled over to the table, keeping her eyes downcast. "One of the maids is dead: Yumei. The other girls said she was 'talking too much'..."

Although she couldn't see his expression, she knew his eyebrows were raised just slightly, as they often were when he received surprising news. "I wasn't aware the maids were so well informed."

"Yumei liked to gossip." Soune gripped her wrists beneath her sleeves tightly. It always made her nervous when he gave her such undivided attention. And this was such a trivial matter, too. "She spied on the palace servants, and wandered around in places she wasn't supposed to go. Tera said she deserved it."

"And perhaps she did... How did she die? I assume it was not an accident."

She shook her head slightly, and the little bells her maid had woven into her hair that morning jingled. "Mirage found her in her bed, just... dead. No wounds have been found yet, so we've assumed it was poison."

It was also quite possible the criminal was someone within their household... but it was clear from a brief glance that her husband was already thinking about that. She wanted to avoid that issue, but there was a sinking feeling in her stomach...

"Why, I wonder?" Soune remained silent. /She/ had no idea, certainly. Yumei had been someone else's maid, not her own. "Do you have any idea, Soune dear?"

Why did it always come back to her? She regretted his knowledge of her little tricks of memory. "I do not know... Tera may have some idea, if you wish to gather information. And perhaps some of the other girls might know how she got herself into trouble. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I didn't associate with Yumei."

"I would certainly hope not." He paused, and she stole another glance - he wasn't looking at her, but at some point off in the distance. Or maybe he was just staring at the embroidery on the screen; she still did not know him well enough to predict his thoughts. "Ask the others, if you will. And return later for dinner, to tell me what you find."

Soune bowed and backed away, swift despite the burden of her robes and the weight of a night without sleep. She wanted to escape as soon as possible... she could feel his gaze on her again, and the very idea made her want to hide...

He hadn't ever been anything but nice to her... but something made her more nervous in his presence than anything... Even during her presentation to the Emperor - or former emperor, now - hadn't left her shaking the way a meeting with her husband would. And it wasn't much better in her rooms, either... the women's quarters had dangers of their own.

Carefully, she made her way back to the doors and let herself out, closing the screen again as quietly as possible to avoid drawing attention to herself. If anyone happened by, they'd likely just assume she had spent the entire night there, but it never hurt to take precautions - she did /not/ want to end up like Yumei, for any reason. Especially now, when she was supposed to investigate this herself...

Well, they would have to listen to her, and do as she would order. No matter her age, she /was/ the official wife... and that was all that mattered.

Hopefully, they would never get it in their heads to try to remove her from that coveted position...