Chapter 7
Seven
I stood, nodding to General Kacha. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a smile. “I’m glad to have met you, Prince Airón. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about, and I’d be happy to show you some areas of the palace that you might miss otherwise. May we meet again soon.”
And I was sure if we didn’t meet again soon, General Kacha would engineer it so that we would. For all of his friendliness, I hadn’t missed the way he’d controlled Rute with a single word, the way every member of the party had danced on him, even the ones who didn’t seem to like him at all.
As I walked away, I glanced over. Terror was still observing everyone, and he tilted his head to look at me. I’d leave my window open later and see what he had to say.
We passed someone dressed in yellow, and I recognized the servant that Prince Rute had threatened earlier. I hesitated. What was the prince going to do to him in private? The way Rute’s face had turned vicious so easily… the way he’d seemed cruel with a careless ease… I couldn’t let him do whatever he planned for this boy.
“What is your name?” I asked.
The boy’s eyes went wide, and he said, “Piivu, Your Highness.”
“Piivu, go to Turtle House and tell Nohe that I want you employed there. I’m sure there’s room for a servant somewhere. I expect you to stay there until I see the quality of your work and decide if I want you in my household after my marriage.” I waited for him to nod. “Go now.”
The boy jerked into a bow, his fingers forming a triangle above his head, and then he trotted down the bridge in front of him. Hopefully, he was smart enough to hide in Turtle House and to use that as an excuse not to see what torture Prince Rute had planned for him.
General Saxu observed this with a small smile on his face. As the boy ran down the pier, he nodded his head, hands clasped behind his back, as he led me away. In all black, he looked imposing, but when he turned to me, his eyes crinkled in the corners, his lips pulling into a slow smile.
“It is a great pleasure to meet you, Prince Airón.”
“Many people have said that to me today, General Saxu.” I kept my own expression neutral. I’d already had one member of the military try his hand at manipulation today, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what exactly General Saxu would try. The bluntness of General Kacha’s attempt was only a reminder of why my mission had to succeed.
“Well, my gratitude is honestly come by.” He gestured to the water lapping at the edge of the wooden bridge we walked across. “I was in the north twenty years ago. I remember the carnage of the arctic waters turned red from blood. I saw one of your whales tip a warship into the freezing water and the sea serpents eat the men alive. Their screams would echo in the night as they froze in the water or were eaten limb by limb.”
Control yourself, Airón. I kept my mouth flat, eyes unfocused. The war couldn’t matter to me. I couldn’t react to the image of men freezing or snow painted with northern blood.
“Of course, we were no better. I remember the whales we slaughtered. Their carcasses floated in the water. The stink of them as they bloated and rotted from within… Well. Forgive an old man his gratitude that the war has been held for so long.” General Saxu let out a long sigh, his eyes tracing over the water once more. “I have great respect for your mother. We would have lost too many ships and men taking the city. Of course, we would have won, but the cost for both our people would have made any victory pointless. It was to her honor that she found a solution that left us both able to claim victory.”
“You mistake. My father brokered the peace,” I said carefully. The south could not find out that the true power in the Northern Kingdom was Queen Op?la; it would make her too vulnerable.
Lord Fuyii had lived in the north for over a decade and still had no idea that my mother was more than my father’s wife. It could not even begin to occur to him that a woman could rule.
“Yes. He did. With your mother at his side. Well, most are like General Kacha and see what they know. The trick to surviving a long time in service to the Imperium is to know who are the true power brokers.” At the edge of the bridge, General Saxu gestured back in the direction of Turtle House.
“And who is the true power broker here ?” I asked thoughtfully.
General Saxu’s face broke out in a real smile, transforming it instantly. Despite the wrinkles from age, he looked younger, not like a warrior who’d crossed swords with my father twenty years prior.
“That is an astute question.” He lifted his chin in thought, raising his right hand as though he was going to place it on the hilt of a weapon, but it fell through the air, and he startled —he was not wearing his sword. Blinking down at the missing weapon, his smile turned melancholy.
For a few steps, we walked in silence. General Kacha had spoken too much, told me too much, and every word had been a warning. He had been explaining to me the immense power of the Imperial Army, with a not-so-subtle threat at the end.
General Saxu said nothing, which told me more about him than all of General Kacha’s bluster.
Now, how to convince such an honest, righteous man to spill Imperial secrets? Eona? would have had him singing like an opera diva, with gentle questions and her unyielding Eona?-ness .
I only had my own desperation.
“I would think the Imperial Council would hold some power.” I glanced at General Saxu, but his face still held the hint of melancholy.
“Not anymore.”
“Not anymore?” I kept my words careful, as though I hadn’t already heard from Lord Fuyii’s and Lord Sotonam’s gossip that the councilors had fallen from grace.
Eona? had known it as soon as we’d heard it while waiting to see the emperor. Twenty-three years of planning gone. The Imperial Council was a cornerstone of my mother’s strategy. When deep in his cups, Lord Fuyii had been more than happy to tell us all the details about his fellow councilors, to talk about the infighting and backstabbing that went on.
If the emperor were to fall, they should be picking at his corpse, each desperately vying for power. It was what we had counted on. The previous two emperors had only barely managed to contain them and their avarice, their rivalries spilling into bloodshed in territories far from the capital. They fought over acres of un-farmable land just to spite each other.
“Yes. Twenty years ago, even five years ago, the Imperial Council held considerable sway, each controlling their own territory within the empire. I imagine that’s what Lord Fuyii taught you.” I turned to look and saw General Saxu examining me, his dark eyes still crinkling in the corner from a smile not quite on his lips.
I nodded in acknowledgment. “He was my mentor—our mentor. My sister always knew she was going to come here and marry the emperor. She wanted to make sure she had an idea of what she was stepping into.”
“I would expect nothing less from the daughter of Queen Op?la. But Lord Fuyii’s information is far out of date. He might have told you how he was banished from the Emperor’s Council. From the Imperium, in fact, for the crime of treason. However, he was only the first. One by one, Prince Tallu revealed the entire council to be corrupt.” General Saxu stopped, and I turned to look at him. His expression was mild, face clear of emotion, but I saw the slightest hint of something in his eyes. If I had to name it, it might be pride or even joy. “Lord Fuyii should consider his punishment light. He was merely banished. The rest were… well, some executed. Most stripped of their rank, position, land, their entire lives, then sent to live out the rest of their short days in the middle of the conquered territories among a population that has no love for them. Emperor Tallu rid himself of the last of them since becoming emperor.”
“Single-handedly, Emperor Tallu got rid of the Imperial Council?” I murmured. Knowing the gossip and hearing it in plain terms were so different. This changed so many things. When the Imperial Council was based here, in the capital, the emperor’s assassination would have led to immediate bloodshed, immediate chaos that would have spilled out into the rest of the empire.
“Emperor Tallu had his father’s full support.” General Saxu began to walk, his hands clasped behind his back. “Dragon Blessed Emperor Millu knew what a rarity it was to find such an honest dealer in court. He treasured his son’s guidance, even when it cost him greatly in politics.”
“Emperor Tallu had no concerns that his father would replace him as heir?” I frowned as we walked. General Saxu’s image of Tallu was at odds with the viper that Lord Fuyii and Lord Sotonam presented. It was at odds with what Prince Rute had implied when he’d suggested that Tallu had killed his own father and the child who might have replaced him as heir.
“No, no. Prince Rute and his cousins might have fought for the position if Emperor Millu had wavered on his son, but he didn’t.” General Saxu reached out to a green tree, his fingers finding a single pink flower blooming. “Empress Koque, Millu’s second wife, bore him a son, but only a fool would think that an infant prince might be a better heir than a fully grown one.”
I watched his dark eyes, the smile gone from his face. He seemed intent on presenting the royal family as united, Tallu’s rule as inevitable. Why?
“Prince Airón!” Lord Sotonam hastened down the path in front of us, a sheen on his face due to sweat rather than makeup. “Where have you been?”
“Exploring the grounds. I informed the staff at Turtle House.” I gestured to General Saxu. “General Saxu was kind enough to guide me back.”
Lord Sotonam looked at the other man and wet his lips, eyes widening just slightly. “Thank you for the service, High General.”
He bowed low, lower than he had with me, and triangled his fingers. I reconsidered Saxu. The man’s face was still a neutral mask, showing no emotion as he accepted Lord Sotonam’s bow.
High General . Which turned General Kacha’s words from a teasing ribbing to nearly a challenge. And it made me wonder again why the most powerful military commander in the Imperium was pressing so hard for me to see the royal family as united—strong, with one generation passing to the next, of the same mind.
If what General Saxu said was true, then I couldn’t kill the emperor. Not yet. Tallu had sent everyone who would claw and grapple for the throne into hiding. He’d disbanded the Emperor’s Council and left himself as the sole power. I needed to stoke the fires of resentment. I needed to make sure there were enough who would see his death as an opportunity they had to seize.
Prince Rute had implied he was next in line for the throne, but General Saxu had said his cousins . I couldn’t let someone like General Kacha immediately take charge at the emperor’s death via Prince Rute. Before killing Tallu, I couldn’t take the risk that the Imperium would survive.
Or, worse, survive with someone as ruthless and cruel as Prince Rute on the throne.
“Thank you for the escort, General Saxu.” I nodded and let Lord Sotonam lead me away.
“The emperor has been asking for you.” Sotonam wiped at his forehead with his sleeve, smearing a long line of silver powder on his pale sleeve.
“Why?” I asked.
“It is not my place to question the emperor,” Sotonam said, eyes wide. His expression turned mulish before he pulled it under control. “Prince Airón.”
I regarded Lord Sotonam, comparing the structure of his face with Prince Rute’s. I could see the familial resemblance and wondered again how Rute was more powerful than the patriarch of his house. He’d recently come into the title, he said.
Outside Turtle House, two men stood absolutely still. On first glance, their dark gray clothes looked like what monks might wear, but the metallic masks on their faces made it clear who they were.
“I found him,” Lord Sotonam said quickly. “As requested.”
Neither of the men acknowledged him, and one turned his head to me.
“This way, Prince Airón.” His build was almost identical to his peers, but I recognized the voice.
“Sagam?” The questions I wanted to ask clawed inside my throat.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
His head made the slightest tilt, not quite a nod but more an acknowledgment. I followed the two of them through a different door into the same building where I had met His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Tallu. After the bright light outside, the interior was even darker, and the only things illuminated were the massive tapestries, which stretched from floor to ceiling.
“My sister’s ship—” I glanced at Sagam, trying to read his expression. “Did it leave safely? No one has told me anything.”
“It sailed safely. I stayed until it departed harbor.” Sagam led me through another door, the other Emperor’s Dog following behind. I tried not to feel my hackles rise, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end as though I had a borealis wolf at my back.
My father had one, and the wolf stood nearly six feet at the shoulder, seven if you asked him. My father called it Shadowkiller, but the rest of the clan called it Spoiled Brat because of his tendency to whine and complain if he didn’t receive enough belly scratches or wasn’t given his fair share of the hunt.
Then there were the other borealis wolves, the wild ones, untamed and living in the forest. Brat had once told me never to turn my back on any of them. They looked for opportunities to strike, even on foes stronger than them.
“ Especially on foes stronger than them,” Brat had complained.
That was the feeling I got with one of the Emperor’s Dogs at my back. He was escorting me, but his life existed to protect one man in the entire Imperium. Even from me. Especially from me.
“Thank you for watching out for her,” I said. Sagam’s eyes went wide, just the slightest flick. Then, he bowed his head low, lower than an acknowledgment, nearly a sign of respect.
We ended up in a small receiving room off of the main throne room, where I had met Emperor Tallu the day before. When Sagam opened the door, I stopped just inside. Aside from his Dogs, the emperor was alone.
There was no denying how attractive Tallu was, the silk of his clothes like the frame around a masterpiece. It was not what made the painting stunning, it merely framed it so that when you stopped in front of it, you couldn’t look away. Tallu’s copper skin was brought into stark beauty by the gold circlet at his brow, a different one from the day before. His eyes were slightly distant, considering one of the tapestries, although I doubted he actually saw it.
He looked up when I entered, the thoughtful expression disappearing off his face. Without speaking, he stood, walking across the room in measured steps. Sagam and his companion melted into shadows, going nearly invisible against the plain wall.
Across the room, I saw another pair of Dogs, their expressions unreadable behind their masks. But then Tallu was upon me, and I had to look up again to meet his eyes.
I knew I was not as broad or large as other northern men, but I still stood a good few inches above most of the men I had met in the Imperium. It was disconcerting to be faced with someone larger than me, his eyes looking me over as though I was his thing, his possession.
“Better,” he said finally. Then, he raised a hand, brushing his thumb across my cheek before turning his hand to the light. “No powders.”
“You said you wanted me as I am.” I couldn’t help the small smirk. “All of my sparkle comes from my sharp wit.”
Tallu’s eyes crinkled again, although his mouth remained a flat line. There . That was going to be my in: teasing, worming my way into his heart and under his skin until he wanted me in his arms. Then, I would strike.
I swallowed the hot emotion that rose in my throat.
“You asked for me?” I raised an eyebrow. Delicate, delicate, I had to be careful, even though part of me wanted to say, “I’m not the sort of man people usually summon unless you want to lose a hand.”
“We must visit the soothsayer before we decide on a wedding date.” The hint of a smile on Tallu’s face vanished, and the loss made him look unhappy.
“The soothsayer?” I must have looked as confused as I felt.
“Yes. Although my great-grandfather abolished the rule of the dragons, there are still protocols that need to occur before a wedding.” Tallu’s face showed no expression, and the complete blankness was disconcerting when he was discussing the extinction of an entire species.
In the rabbit skin pouch tucked into one of my pockets, I felt the weight of the dragon egg I carried. It reminded me that I needed to be even more careful, even more cautious than I was already being.
“Of course,” I said. “Whatever you desire, Your Imperial Majesty.”
Tallu’s lips went pale, the slightest tightening draining them of color. Then, he relaxed, raising his chin.
“We leave at once.” He turned, and I caught his scent again. There was something in him that was electric, as though the magic he practiced was coming out of his skin.
“Prince Airón,” Sagam murmured. I shook myself, embarrassed to have been caught mooning over the emperor, like I was some lovesick boy in an epic story, holding his lover’s furs to his nose as he waited for him to return from the hunt.
Emperor Tallu disappeared between two tapestries, and I strode the few steps to cross the room. Reaching out, my hand encountered nothing, and I blinked in surprise, squinting as I realized the optical illusion. The dark walls masked that there was an open passageway. I stepped through, turning to see Sagam and one of the other Dogs following behind me.
I watched as they both touched the wall of the passage, electricity dancing off their fingers. The doorway shut behind them, moving jerkily on silent hinges.
The electricity left an afterimage on my eyes, and when I turned back to the darkened hallway, I saw Emperor Tallu standing ahead, looking back at me. Light raced along the walls, electricity lighting small bulbs set into the stone. It cast deep shadows on Tallu’s face, making it impossible to see his eyes.
With a pit in my stomach, I followed him down the long corridor.
We came out in a garden that hadn’t been on Velethuil’s tour. Fern fronds spread wide, wider than the stretch of my arms. Massive trees towered above us.
“Is this still inside the palace?” I asked, finding it impossible to believe that any of this had been planted since the Mountainside Palace had been built only four generations ago. “I thought Emperor Wollu destroyed all the trees the dragons favored. How do these remain so close to the palace?”
“Let’s go,” Tallu said, not answering my question, and I felt his disapproval like a cold wind at my back, a warning that I had become too familiar with him.
We were not lovers yet, I reminded myself. I needed to be more flirtatious, less inquisitive. How would Eona? have handled it?
Ahead, a carriage even larger than the one that had brought us from the harbor to the Mountainside Palace stood motionless on a narrow pathway made of rocks. Behind stood four electro mages, recognizable because of the blue of their clothes. Their magic would power the engine, setting the wheels rolling and the carriage moving.
The most senior mage, based on the embroidery on his jacket, held open the door of the carriage. One of the Emperor’s Dogs unsheathed a short blade, best for fighting in enclosed spaces. Silently, he stepped up into the carriage. Tallu stared off into the distance, toward the high walls that surrounded the Mountainside Palace. His eyes narrowed briefly on something, and I glanced over to see Terror landing on one of the nearby trees.
The raven began preening its wing, silently observing us with one unblinking eye.
“It is safe, Your Imperial Majesty.” The Dog stepped down, and I was reminded again of a shadow moving back into position. He bowed low, and Tallu mounted the single step, settling into the darkness of the carriage.
I glanced at the only one of the Dogs that I recognized, Sagam, raising my eyebrow in question.
The last thing I wanted to do was offend my betrothed with a simple protocol mistake. Smart. Be as smart as Eona?. How could I have ever assumed that learning how to kill the man would be more important than listening to Lord Fuyii drone on about the correct order in which to enter a carriage?
Sagam dipped his chin just slightly, and I took the step up. Sagam and one of the other Dogs crowded in behind me. There were only two benches inside the carriage, and even though it was larger than the one I had been in only a day prior, I still had to duck my head.
I couldn’t turn to glance at Sagam to see where I should sit, and before I had to make the awkward choice of sitting next to Tallu or across from him, the emperor slid over just enough for me to understand I was to sit next to him.
Settling into the soft seat, I watched as both of the Dogs took the bench across. I could hear movement outside, and the electro mages shut the door firmly.
No one spoke. The carriage made a single jerk, then began moving smoothly, the wide wheels crunching over gravel until it came to solid ground. The windows were no more than narrow slats set in such a way that they let in light without giving any visual of the outside world.
“Is the soothsayer far?” I asked.
Lord Fuyii hadn’t mentioned one. That I knew for certain. All Fuyii had said was that marriages happened at the emperor’s discretion. So, what discretion was Tallu using?
“Not far.” Tallu didn’t turn to look at me, so I studied his profile, the long line of his nose, sharp cheekbones that gave way to a plush mouth. Good. It was good that I was attracted to him. I could fake that, obviously, but it was better if, when I looked at him, I was already thinking what he would be like in bed, tousled, mouth half open in a moan.
Tallu’s eyes cut to me, the russet color making my stomach clench, making something in me shiver. Tallu’s eyes, even the slightest glance, made me feel like he could see inside me, like he knew my intention.
I swallowed.
All too soon, the carriage eased to a stop with barely even a jerk, and I heard more shuffling outside, someone moving across the roof of the carriage, someone else jumping off the side. No one spoke, and I bit my tongue to keep from a snarky comment.
I could do this. I could hold my tongue. But Yor?mu had only trained me to stay quiet when I was fighting, when I was lying in wait, when the trap was about to be sprung. Even she knew that she couldn’t quiet me permanently without removing my tongue.
“So, do we stay in here until your guards have cleared the entire city or just the mile around the carriage?” I raised both eyebrows, and Tallu kept his face straight ahead.
At first, I was sure he was annoyed, the flat press of his lips going pale again. Then, like watching a borealis wolf unfold from sleep, I saw the corners of his lips curve up, although his eyes stayed straight ahead, staring at his Dogs.
“Usually, the two miles around the carriage. And even then, they subdue only the people most dangerous to my safety. Children under the age of one and the elderly are allowed to stay.” He glanced at me again, and it was like receiving a nick from a sharp blade. For a moment, I was too shocked to do anything more than gape.
The door opened, and Tallu rose, moving out into the light. Standing, I bent my head to follow him through, surprised when he reached for my hand as I stepped out.
Part of me wanted to ignore the offer. I was no blushing rose. I wasn’t Eona?, trained since birth to be the ideal imperial bride. But I needed to be. I needed to learn how to get close to him.
I put my hand on top of his, feeling the warmth of his skin, my nerves alight as though I was touching one of the lines of electricity the Dogs had released earlier.
In my chest, my heart beat too fast. Now. Now. Plunge my blade into his chest and be done with this tension .
That was foolish. My job had been to do the killing and Eona?’s to make sure the infighting would destroy the Imperium. I needed to know who all the power players were, who wanted power and would try to seize it as soon as the emperor died, so that I could stoke them all into a burning inferno that would consume the entire Imperium when I finally made the killing blow.
On the ground, Tallu released my hand and strode into a dragon’s mouth.