Artorin Damara, last Emperor of Astandalas, is in need of a new secretary. It has been three years since he woke from a magical coma caused by the collapse of his empire, and he can barely acknowledge his own existence, let alone articulate what he needs from someone else. Enter Cliopher sayo Mdang, Fifth Degree Secretary of the Imperial Bureaucratic Service, and to everyone's surprise the apocalypse ... ends. This novella is set on Zunidh in the universe of the Nine Worlds. It is best read after The Hands of the Emperor.