Chapter 8 #3
“You just like the drama.” But I let myself smile in return. I only ever saw hints of his weakness, and that reassured me that no one else would see it either.
“Would you have preferred I send you?” Tallu asked, stroking the blade of his finger up my cheek. “Would you bring me the head of my enemy?”
“If you wanted them, I would bring you Kacha’s and Bemishu’s heads. I would bring you the head of Spider. I would bring you anything you wanted,” I said. “What do you want, Tallu?”
Tallu didn’t answer, dipping his head to kiss me deeply, his lips warm and solid against mine.
“I want Domusho to pay for thinking to insult you. I want Kacha to know that no matter how much power he acquires, he will never achieve his goals. He hurt you, and I would like to squeeze the life from his throat myself.”
“How is it that the threat of murder sounds so romantic when you phrase it like that?” I teased.
Tallu smiled, but there wasn’t any mirth in it. “We made this mess, we might as well arrange it so that Bemishu and Kacha both find their desires thwarted.”
I nodded, understanding his wish. After all, I had shared it back at the Lakeshore Palace. But now, I wondered if we should just let it be, let fortunes fall how they would. Whichever lords took over the provinces might be strong enough to hold them.
But, no, that was leaving the job half-done, and I hadn’t been trained to slice only half a throat.
Sagam and some of General Saxu’s best trained men disappeared the night Tallu had given the order, returning a few days before we arrived at the Jolushi estate in Pine Thorn Province. Sagam presented Helli’s head to Tallu from inside a wax-coated bag stuffed with pine chips and other preservatives.
Sagam’s expression was blank, as calm as he could make it.
Tallu had called a meeting inside his tent, in the section his servants turned into a makeshift sitting room.
Our camp was cradled in a small valley, the stream that wound through the center of it settling down after our flurry of activity, once again attracting both buzzing insects and the frogs that wished to eat them.
With the chorus of them in the background and Saxu’s men stationed around the tent, we were as private as anything could be for Tallu.
Around the table sat General Saxu, the Kennelmaster, Commander Rede, and Sagam, when he worked up the courage to sit down as though finally seeing himself as their equal.
There were no servants in the tent, so I stood and poured Sagam and Commander Rede glasses of water.
From the dried dirt and sweat coating all their visible skin, both men had ridden day and night to make it back to camp.
They were dressed in peasant clothing, the fabric rough and poorly sewn, making their bodies shapeless, disguising how lethal they were.
When I glanced up, Asahi’s eyes were fixed on the tent door, nearly ignoring his lover. On the other side of the tent, Irad?o frowned down at the trophy they had presented. Lord Helli’s head had turned blue, losing whatever natural color it had.
“This is him?” Tallu asked. “I do not recall Lord Helli looking quite so round.”
“He has bloated somewhat,” Sagam said, only a hint of wryness in his voice. “Only partially because of the decapitation. He was considerably heavier than he was in the capital.”
“You have done as ordered, quickly and quietly. I could ask for nothing better,” Tallu said.
“There was evidence that General Kacha’s forces were already in Falcon Ridge Province.
He was not waiting for the signal from Lord Domusho or Lord Helli.
” Commander Rede hesitated, glancing at General Saxu, who dipped his chin in a nod.
Commander Rede reached forward, drinking from the glass of water.
“Evidence?” I asked.
“Along the trails, we saw tracks from many carts, many footprints in the mud that forms along the roads in the morning fog,” Sagam said.
“Couldn’t that just be from when Kacha took his forces south to the capital?” I glanced at Irad?o and she raised her shoulder in a shrug. Even birds would have a hard time covering the entire area we were talking about.
“The farmers were scared. There were some farms missing half their crops, including ones out of season.” Commander Rede straightened, as though the water had refreshed him as much as a full night’s sleep. “They were too scared to tell us in actual words, but their implication was clear.”
“If we continue the route we are currently on, we will run into Kacha’s forces,” Saxu said. “If he has split his forces, we might have the men to take him, but as he has the advantage of time and terrain, it will be at a great loss.”
The table we sat at was intended for dining, and only a few hours earlier it had held a feast that I had been shocked to see come from a camp kitchen. Saxu’s words, his tone, were gracious, delicate, but there was something of a challenge at the end.
After so many weeks on the road, Saxu was becoming more himself, less of the broken man who had lost the capital.
“You can tell all that from a few tracks?” Tallu asked.
“I trust my men. If they say that Kacha has brought forces north, I will not underestimate him again. It’s unlikely that Kacha has taken most of his forces away from the capital.
He wouldn’t risk it, but that does not mean we outnumber him.
” Saxu stood, walking to a side table and taking a scroll off it.
He placed the map in the center of our table, unrolling it carefully and weighing down the corners with delicately carved dragons intended for the purpose.
The ink lines noting the borders of the continent and the names of the countries and provinces had been annotated with all of the information we had on Kacha and Bemishu.
I stood up to better see the map. We knew Bemishu controlled the stretch of country between the Ariphadeus desert and the capital.
But from everything that the Kennelmaster and Sagam had said, Kacha did not have a firm control on the provinces between the Blood Mountains and the capital.
There were too many of them, and too many lords enjoying freedom of rule with a missing emperor and generals mid-coup.
Kacha had made too many enemies in his time as an imperial general to find success easily when his opponents had entrenched themselves in their own strongholds.
We were halfway through Pine Thorn Province, the Jolushi estate at the center of the territory, and Falcon Ridge sat beyond it, the hilly region that was closest to the Blood Mountains.
“We will head to the Jolushi estate and then find a way to avoid Falcon Ridge Province,” Tallu said. “I have no desire to risk myself over something as foolish as a traveling route. Do we go south, or north?”
“If we go south, Kacha may have more allies there. He did well with lords around the capital. They appreciated how his excesses benefited them.” The Kennelmaster coughed, clearing his throat. “But north, we go close to the Blood Mountains, where he made his escape.”
Sagam said, “There is a river that runs along the southern edge of Falcon Ridge Province. However, if Kacha becomes aware that we have already killed his ally, Lord Helli, he might make a move on us inside Pine Thorn Province. Does House Jolushi have the ability to defend themselves against an attack?” Sagam’s voice became more certain as he spoke, and his lips twisted into amusement.
“They’re known for lumber and tea, but surely that means they’re used to defending against wolves and thirsty tea patrons. ”
“Does House Jolushi have the ability to defend themselves?” Tallu asked the table.
“We can find out,” Sagam said, glancing at the Kennelmaster. “The Bemishu twins have made good inroads with Lady Jolushi, who sees them as potential allies.”
“So, we go into Pine Thorn Province and don’t tell the lady that we’re dragging a war to her doorstep?
” I asked. “Some house guests we are. Even in the north, it’s considered rude to bring an ice bear to someone’s house when you have been invited to dinner.
Something about all the killing tends to put people off their dinner. ”
“What if instead we let it tip things in her favor?” Tallu said, considering the dead man’s head. “Perhaps my consort should have a conversation with Lady Jolushi.”
I frowned between him and the head before my eyebrows went up. “Of course, husband, I’m more than happy to make more friends at court.”
After everyone had left, Tallu and I went back and forth on whether to include Empress Koque in my conversation with Lady Jolushi, settling on not.
Although both women had strategically gotten rid of their husbands, it might confuse matters even further if Koque was seen as usurping my power as consort.
My argument was it might further impress on the court that I was a hapless northerner who needed to be led and managed. With all of the chaos, they likely had forgotten about my capability as a fighter, and I preferred they see me as nothing and forget that I was someone to fear.
“You give them too little credit if you think any of them have forgotten how dangerous you are,” Tallu had said.
“Domusho seemed to.” My fingers trailed over Tallu’s naked chest, my nails gently following the spine of the dragon as it twisted down his arm.
“Do not take his desperation and foolishness as a sign of what the court does.” Tallu propped his head on his hand, watching me. “Be careful.”
The next day, Lady Jolushi eagerly accepted my invitation to share a snack when the caravan paused in the afternoon to give the horses and electro mages a chance to rest. Nohe set up the appropriate table and acquired food and tea.
When I met with Lady Jolushi, I was highly aware of her eyes as they watched me, her bow perfectly low enough to honor my higher station, her fingers a triangle that even Homisu would appreciate.
“Prince Airón, I am honored by your invitation.” Lady Jolushi stood, her lips pulling in a pleased smile.