I suspected that the grounds belonged to some noble whose home stood deep within the gardens. If true, the home was probably a palace, and the Lady whom I"d met, nearly an Empress. Before intruding the next day, I scouted the property by walking around it. Nearly an hour passed before I returned whence I"d started. To purchase so much land in Emparia City, the palace owner must have gotten special dispensation—Imperial dispensation.—The Political Geography, by Guarding Bear. The Political GeographyAbout a year after Brazen Bear and I wiped out the Imperial battalion, I went to Emparia City to place a proposal before the Lord Emperor Smoking Arrow. Our plan had worked. Aged Oak had more influence than I thought. That muckraking clam-digger from Cove persuaded Smoking Arrow that my brother