Chapter 6
Six
It took General Saxu and those with him a week to reach us, although messengers had been traveling back and forth since we had visited his camp.
Commander Rede was able to provide a clear picture of who traveled with General Saxu, and he and the Kennelmaster had come to an agreement regarding Tallu’s safety.
Commander Rede and his men began taking shifts guarding Tallu, which left both Sagam and Asahi finally able to take a break.
I found myself relieved on their behalf, given that I knew how little time they had been taking to rest, much less enjoy each other’s company now that Asahi was himself again.
When Saxu’s forces finally arrived, we had settled on a plan.
From the windows of Tallu’s rooms, we watched General Saxu and the highest ranking of his officers as well as what was left of Tallu’s court arrive. It was small, a handful of the people compared to what I had seen that first day in Tallu’s throne room.
Quuri and some of the other servants were ready, gesturing the officers in one direction to quarters suitable to their rank, and giving the lords and ladies that survived the burning of the Mountainside Palace rooms of their own.
Servants dressed in yellow pushed their way through the crowd, speaking first to Quuri before being allowed inside the palace.
“Sotonam survived,” I said, watching the uncle of the man I’d assassinated gesture widely and speak at too high a volume when told which rooms would be his.
“Ziivu and Wuquo too,” Tallu said, naming two others who had acted more like weasels than ministers. “As well as several ladies missing their house patriarchs.”
“We can’t take all of them to Tavornai,” I said. “I still don’t understand why we can’t slip away in the middle of the night.”
“Bemishu and Kacha know we aren’t in the Mountainside Palace, nor the capital.
They will assume we’ve traveled here. With both of them watching and waiting for us to make a move, traveling across the Imperium quietly is going to be impossible.
” Tallu breathed out through his nose. “It does not mean I like it either.”
“I understand. It’s a habit for us. Doing things we don’t like because the other option is untenable.
” I grinned at him. “We will have to give them a reason they will understand. ‘We are going to seek an animalia to break the curse on House Atobe’s heirs so we can watch the Imperium burn from the comfort of the north’ won’t be an explanation that they will accept. ”
“There is someone else in Tavornai that we might be seeking,” Tallu said. “Someone who would help us retake the Imperium as they expect us to do.”
“General Namati,” I said, thoughtfully. “It could work. We say we’re going for the general, and we have to search the whole nation to find him. If we find Spider as we look…”
“They would have to believe the ruse,” Tallu said. “We simply need to make it plausible.”
“Of course. Just what I’m best at.” Trying to distract myself, I called a ball of ice into my hand. I imagined the outer shell so thin that a mere tap would shatter it. Na? came in, her ears perking when she saw what I was doing.
In the distance, the volcano boomed, and I felt the stone of the palace shiver under my feet.
As if he were in the room with us, I could hear the voice of the dragon, even though it was only in my head.
He had offered to teach me, but something about the power of fire, the anger and the lack of control, frightened me.
In my hand, the ice turned to water, dripping cold down my fingertips before soaking into the carpet. Na? tsked.
“Careless,” she commented. The ground shook and she and I both looked in the direction of the volcano, even though Tallu’s rooms faced the wrong direction to see it.
That incoherent rage, the ability to let one’s emotions fly free with such violence… When I had been very young, Yor?mu had trained me in the damage that such excess could create. A rage like that would lose me my kill. Unchecked emotion was the fastest way to let the Imperium win.
My mother had turned herself cold for decades in order to succeed against the Imperium.
She had frozen her heart, looked away from what she was doing to her own children, looked away from the part of her that saw blood on the ice and demanded she travel to the Imperium herself and slit the emperor’s throat.
And in the end, she had won.
As what remained of Tallu’s court settled into the palace, Na? and I practiced ice magic, carefully hiding our work any time a servant came in.
The blood monks reported that no one was saying anything out of the ordinary.
The lords and ladies were so grateful for imperial baths that they were happy to use the common one normally reserved for servants.
The military commanders tiptoed around General Saxu, who remained quiet except for when he needed to give a direct order.
“The stage is set,” I observed.
Tallu nodded. When it was time for dinner, and servants had escorted all of the guests into the massive dining room, Tallu stood, letting his own servants fix the fall of his cape, adjust his crown. His Dogs rejoined us, all four of them that were left.
I kept my eye on the Kennelmaster, the scarred bear mask he wore muffling the heavy sound of his breathing.
“Anything amiss?” Tallu asked, turning his head toward the Kennelmaster.
“No. I had left a few Dogs among the servants, but none of them survived. Still, between us, the servants and soldiers are scared.” He projected confidence, and I hoped he was right.
Tallu extended his arm, and I placed my own on top of it, feeling the power of his forearm, the strength of his form, despite the curse that I knew ate at his body.
I could still smell blood on his breath when he overworked himself.
We strode down the empty hallways, two servants pushing open the doors to the dining room, and Quuri announced, “His Imperial Majesty, Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu.”
There was a soft hush, then all of the lords and ladies, all of the military officers, stood and bowed, their fingers forming triangles above their heads.
Tallu and I strode along the table, passing all those who had crossed the Imperium in order to stay loyal to him.
Taking his seat at the head of the table, Tallu raised a hand, gesturing for everyone to retake their seats.
I sat at his right, Empress Koque across the table from me at his left, and General Saxu at the foot. Still, when the general spoke, the entire table quieted and he barely needed to raise his voice to be heard.
“We are glad to be with Your Imperial Majesty once again.” Saxu bowed his head.
“And we are glad to have soldiers and nobles loyal to us in the palace,” Tallu said.
Saxu’s eyes followed the servants as they tasted each dish on the table, but he didn’t ask why, nor did he ask what had happened to the Dogs we had traveled with.
He didn’t even ask why Topi and Pito Bemishu were sitting at the table with us.
General Bemishu’s twin daughters were treated as guests rather than prisoners.
Sotonam and the other ministers murmured their gratitude, their faces flushing when Tallu turned his attention to them. The rest of dinner was stilted and awkward, even Empress Koque’s grace not enough to help the floundering conversation.
The blood monks listened in, but they only reported everyone’s exhaustion.
Even Sotonam seemed tired of politicking, murmuring to Lady Sotonam that he hoped to not see the inside of a carriage for at least a year.
After the dessert course, Tallu raised his hand, silently excusing most of the table.
The lords and ladies didn’t need any reminders, the shadows under their eyes enough to say that if any of them were even thinking of challenging Tallu, it would come later.
Topi and Pito followed behind the last of the new additions, their expressions bland, pretending at invisibility as they made sure all of the unwanted listening ears were out of the room.
Topi glanced at me before turning her gaze to the Kennelmaster. He made a swift gesture with his hand and she nodded, disappearing down the hallway. Hopefully she and Pito were making sure that no one lingered in the hallway.
“General Saxu, I would have words with you and Commander Rede,” Tallu said.
The general nodded, standing. With the room emptied of everyone but the five of us, a servant shut the door, and Saxu took a seat next to Empress Koque, Commander Rede settling next to him. Tallu gestured and the servants brought plates full of smaller foods.
Koque remained in her seat, her green eyes watching. Her quiet might imply that she was subservient to Tallu, but I knew better. Now that she was back at court—even this anemic version of it—she had some hope of regaining the power she had as Millu’s consort.
“My men are grateful for the rest provided here,” Saxu said as a servant brought out a tray of small boiled and spiced birds’ eggs. “But we must begin preparations for an attack by General Bemishu or General Kacha.”
“Unfortunately, their rest will be short-lived. We intend to travel southwest to Tavornai.” Tallu skewered a bit of eel meat, bringing it to his lips and chewing thoughtfully. The fat in the meat had been rendered so that every bite tasted soft and heavenly.
“Tavornai?” General Saxu’s voice was louder than appropriate, and he swallowed, gesturing an apology with one hand. “Your Imperial Majesty wishes to go to Tavornai?”
Tallu placed the skewer down with a click. “In order to have any hope of defeating General Bemishu and General Kacha, we need more men, and we need more territory. General Namati has both, and also elven slaves, should we need cannon fodder.”