Edgedancer: Chapter 13

Lift likes soft clothes. She procures a supple Azish coat and robes for her costume. The fat scribe who addresses her at the Grand Indicium assumes Lift is from the Palace in Azir. Lift says she's a friend of the Emperor, then her talk turns to baser issues. The scribe says Lift is wasting her time. Lift finds this to be insulting, then insults the scribe. Other scribes are rushing about, parshmen carting paper about, and scribes at tables with spanreeds answering inquiries from around the world.
Wyndle had formed words for her with his vines which she'd sketched on a card. She presents this card to the scribe with her. (The people at the front had been intimidated enough to head to a room with this scribe, a liason with the Azir government.) The scribe wants to know the names of the Viziers with which Lift knows in the Palace. Lift provides her nicknames and descriptions for said Viziers and the scribe leaves the room. Lift overhears the scribe telling another that she's sent for the Captain of Immigration, because Lift fits a certain description. Lift realizes that they're onto her and decides to use the spanreed herself. She directs Wyndle to find out which one they need. He finds the one to the Palace scribe, she tells him what she wants to say, and he makes vines grow across the table in the right shape with her message. The door opens - cutting her message off - and into the room pour five scribes and three guards, one of which was Hauka. Lift ducks toward them, makes herself awesome, but the guard shoves the scribes into the room and starts pushing the door shut. Lift slides between the scribes' legs, but slams into the door. The guard lunges for her but Lift's Azish coat comes off. She scuttles cross the floor in the not-so-large room, but the other two guards slip into the room and flank her. The guard captain tackles her, then another guard piles on top of the captain. Lift squirms, trying to squeeze through, then opts out of their grips to stand on one of their backs. She sees the spanreed writing and hops off the guard into the chair. The guard stands, cursing. The fat scribe puts a halt to activities and instructs another scribe to more spanreeds to the Palace for confirmation of Gawx's message. Gawx instructs that Lift is to be shown every courtesy and measure of respect or face Imperial wrath. The fat scribe asks Lift what she wants and Lift asks her what they're having for lunch.