Chapter 10
Ten
The next morning Tallu dressed in dark silks and heavy fabrics, his skin back to its lustrous sheen. His curls fell over the golden crown servants had placed on his brow, his fingers were adorned with gemstone rings and delicate gold bracelets patterned like leaves.
Slipping in quietly through the door, Sagam observed for a few moments before speaking. “General Saxu wishes to speak with you.”
Tallu tilted his head, raising a bejeweled finger to brush a stray strand of hair off of his ear. “Show him in.”
“Privately,” Sagam said. “He wishes to have a word before you call court this morning.”
Tallu looked up, meeting his Dog’s eyes in the mirror. “And what does he have to say?”
The words were a challenge, just as much payback for Sagam denying him what he wanted the night before. Sagam met his eyes, and Tallu nodded. Tallu gestured at the steward of his quarters.
“Prepare a private breakfast for us. Send word to General Saxu that he should join us.”
The steward bowed low, forming a triangle with his fingers, then ushered all of the servants out, leaving only Sagam in the room with us.
I settled on a chair near the window, unsure whether I should intervene.
Tallu still had his back to Sagam, only watching him through the mirror. I had to break the tension.
“Sagam, you look tired. You were up all night. You should yield His Imperial Majesty’s guard to someone more rested.”
“There are not enough Dogs to protect His Imperial Majesty.” Sagam looked at me, and I could barely see the crinkle in the corner of his eye. “Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu would help me rest better if he let us protect his safety.”
I huffed out a snort, then glanced up at Tallu, waiting. Tallu turned, his chin raised. He was playing the part, just as I was, just as Sagam likely wanted him to.
“What do you know about this meeting General Saxu wants to have?” Tallu asked.
None of the blood monks had come to us yet. I hoped that was only because they were still watching, still observing, and not because even more of them had disappeared in the night.
“Last night, several members of your court disappeared.” Sagam nodded when I looked at him sharply.
“Yes, Lord Domusho’s allies. The ones we thought were sympathetic to General Kacha have all taken their leave in the early hours of the morning, just after dawn.
Saxu had men follow them, but we have no idea if they were fleeing for their lives because they assume your next move will be to kill them or if there is some larger plan at play. ”
“If General Saxu wishes to tell me this, there’s no need for such secrecy, such drama,” Tallu said.
I stifled a snort, and Tallu looked at me sharply. I nodded seriously and said, “Oh, yes, the stoic general is the one who’s dramatic here.”
“Is there anything else he would want to talk to me about?” Tallu asked.
“With the number of Dogs, he likely wants to increase the number of his men guarding you,” Sagam said. “But that would change the balance of power. If the Dogs are not seen as your most lethal fighting force, then we are nothing more than spies.”
“No one in the Imperium sees you as mere anything,” I said. “Even as spies, the Dogs would be feared throughout the empire.”
“Let’s meet with him. Hopefully it is just the news about the missing members of my court,” Tallu said.
He turned, and I was aware that although his mask slipped somewhat with Sagam, it was still there.
He was still playing the part. Even with the man he trusted so much, he could never be honest about his intentions or what he actually wanted.
One of Tallu’s servants led us to a small indoor garden, the walls and ceiling made of glass. Dramatic flowers grew in the flowerbeds, and a table was set in the middle of the room. It was beautiful, but impossible to tell if we were actually alone.
Irad?o joined us, looking exhausted, but awake. I looked around the room significantly and she nodded, beginning a slow circuit, even as two of General Saxu’s men guarded the door.
General Saxu and Commander Rede stood at the table. The general bowed low, forming a triangle with his fingers. “Thank you for seeing me, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Lady Jolushi spends her time well here.” Tallu stroked his fingers over a spray of brilliant red flowers that cascaded out of their pot, his bracelets ringing together musically. “It takes a strong woman to make beauty out of such a harsh environment.”
“Some might say that the world we live in is of similar make,” General Saxu said.
He shifted, fisting one hand as though forcing himself not to lean against the table.
“And House Atobe has created the Imperium to tame it in a similar way. We create the environment that allows such beauty to blossom.”
The spread of breakfast on the table contained more food than the four of us could eat in a single meal. I leaned over, beginning to make up a plate for Tallu, serving him a portion from every dish. “Has someone checked it for poison?”
“Of course, your highness,” Commander Rede said. “I oversaw it myself.”
I exhaled through my nose, reminding myself that just because I hadn’t seen someone taste the dishes didn’t mean I could force Rede to test everything on the table himself. We had to act as though we trusted them, because revealing that we didn’t would raise too many questions.
“What is it you wish to see me about?” Tallu finished examining the flowers nearest us and sat down, moving his robes aside with a flourish.
“I’m sure your Dogs have already told you that the lords we suspected were sympathetic to Lord Helli or Lord Domusho fled this morning.
They all claimed they had no desire to weigh Your Imperial Majesty down by caring for their travel.
” Saxu sat down, moving slowly. Commander Rede served him a plate, and he waited until Tallu took his first bites of food before picking at a fruit pastry.
“They did,” Tallu confirmed. “That information could have been in a report. What do you wish to tell me, Saxu?”
Saxu looked up, and despite the frailty of his body, I could see the sharpness in his gaze. All of our days on the road, all of his time spent mulling over his own mistakes, had acted like a whetstone to his martial mind.
“It was strange to see you on the throne yesterday,” General Saxu said carefully. “You looked very much like your father.”
“I learned court from my father,” Tallu said.
“I do not believe that is true,” General Saxu said. “I believe you learned it from your mother. Your father was very infrequently at court until the wars were settled.”
“I’m not sure I take your meaning,” Tallu said.
“I’ve always admired your mother,” General Saxu said. “I believe many of Your Imperial Majesty’s most admirable traits were inherited from her. She was cunning. Very aware of how much deeper a sharpened blade could plunge than a dull one.”
Around us, everything seemed to go quiet, and I tried to make sense of what was going on, even though I had a sinking feeling that Saxu was asking Tallu a question I didn’t quite understand.
“I miss her a great deal. I hope that I would have made her proud by clearing my father’s council of the rot that had taken over.
” Tallu took a forkful of fish, swirling it in its delicate sauce.
“Of course, one whispering from behind the throne might make use of nuance. But my father taught me that the man sitting in it must be blunt.”
“That is true. No one in court could claim to not understand your father when he wanted to make his point clear.” Saxu raised his chin.
Tallu wore the crown, but Saxu had led young men to their certain deaths.
“I hoped that with your father’s death and the court aware of an emperor’s power, the crown might employ a more subtle blade. ”
“You didn’t like Lord Helli’s head,” Tallu said.
“The court knows you are different than your father. They know that you are aware of their darkest secrets. You confuse them by mimicking Dragon Blessed Emperor Millu at a time when they need you, more than ever, to be Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu.” Saxu waited, but Tallu’s gaze was unyielding.
The general didn’t flinch, or wilt under it.
“You are strong enough on your own without using the blunter methods your father preferred. We are going to war. There is no need to scare your allies.”
“Is that what they are? My allies?” Tallu challenged. He set down his fork with a clink against his plate. “All of those lords that fled before dawn like rats when the cat approaches? They did not flee when I used more subtle methods.”
“They did not flee, and thus we kept them close, in hand. Now, they are in the wind, taking their wealth and power and whatever favors they are owed straight into our enemies’ pockets.
” General Saxu bowed his head. “Your Imperial Majesty, please understand me. I wish nothing more than to serve you—Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu. I have served your father, and his father before him, and I do not regret the years I spent in service to them. So know that I ask this having only love for House Atobe in my heart. Let me serve Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor Tallu.”
“Not the ghost of my father I can summon?” Tallu asked, raising his fingers so that two of his fingertips brushed over his cheekbones.
There was no happiness in his smile, and it was impossible not to see his father in him, as he still wore so many of Emperor Millu’s clothes.
We had been forced to take them from the Lakeshore Palace; the emperor’s wardrobe had not been packed by servants fleeing for their lives when the Mountainside Palace burned around them.
“What are your orders, Your Imperial Majesty?” Saxu asked.