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“How thoughtful.” The Emperor waved him forward. “Bring it here.”

Councilman Garaut pinched the dark blue fabric and tugged it away, revealing a closed flower with oversized petals. The courtiers and servants gasped as each petal unfurled , revealinga wooden carved bird with a large dark circle centered on its breast. Two thick wings extended the length of its sides. The feathers along my shoulders rustled and I held my breath. A crank was carved into a tail feather and the Councilman began to turn it over and over until a cheery melody echoed through the room.

Smiles bloomed on the faces of the onlookers, a smirk even pulling across the Empress’ lips.

“What do you call it?” she asked, clapping her hands together.

The councilman’s beard twitched. “I call it the eternal splendor. Eternal for short.”

The Emperor joined his wife’s applause, the room thundering around me, drowning out the rampant beat of my heart and the soft rapping beneath it. “What a marvelous name!”

He waved his hand for the eternal to sing again, and his councilman turned a dial on the bird’s side and then cranked the wooden tail. Sweat beaded at my brow. I lifted a hand to swipe it away but caught on the baubles draped across my forehead. I untangled my fingers, the chords of a soft ballad glided across the throne room, dragging bodies back and forth as they swayed with the tune.

My heart pounded, a quickening drumbeat behind the eternal’s cadence. Even I could not refute its beautiful song. However, it was still missingsomething, though I seemed to be the only one not entranced by the wooden sculpture. The crank slowed and the ballad ceased, trailing behind its final notes.

The silence was quickly filled by the roar of applause. It echoed along the walls and pounded in my ears. Had they cheered like that when I’d arrived? Had they beamed so proud when I’d concluded my first song? It felt like so long ago I couldn’t remember. All I was certain of was how small I was right now with their thundering merriment caving in on me.

My shoulders hunched forward, chin making its way to my chest. The Emperor’s voice boomed above it all, turning the loud cacophony into a current of hushed murmurs.

“You have pleased your emperor greatly, Councilman Garaut. But we can’t forget the inspiration behind your eternal.Mysplendor.” He stood from his throne and beckoned me forward. One foot after the other, I ascended the stairs, my bare feet jingling with the baubles hung around my ankles. “I should love to hear how the eternal sings with its muse.”

My throat dried and my gaze locked on the wooden beak that was parted, two beady eyes, dark sapphires, staring back at me.

“Of course, oh great Emperor,” Councilman Garaut replied, grabbing the eternal’s tail and twirling it around one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight times. I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply, trying to ignore the heavy thud of my pulse ringing in my ears.

The eternal spat out one slow chord, then they increased in speed, a quick and hearty jaunt that had the courtiers clapping along in quick steady beats. I tried to catch the melody where I could, hoping to foresee some harmony between myself and the councilman’s invention but each note was shoved up my throat, tossed out too late or too early. My body was rigid, tail wrapping around my abdomen, more and more tightly to the point where it was hard to breathe, to drag air for the upcoming series of melodic chirps.

The eternal finally slurred out its last note, my last one scraping against it, discordant and abrasive. When I looked out at the crowd their elegant faces were pinned in contorted smiles or pitying winces.

“That was… illuminating,” the Emperor said, his lips grinning but his eyes not meeting the room’s. When he finally looked up again, he turned to the councilman. “Thank you again for the wonderful gift. I am truly impressed.” Clapping hishands together, he turned to the hall. “The councilman shall be honored at tonight’s feast.”

He bowed, then stood up, holding out a hand for the Empress. She joined him and then they descended the stairs before the Emperor called back over his shoulder, “Guards, take the splendor to the greenhouse to rest. There will be no need for it this eve.”

five

. . .

A full turning later,I had been summoned exactly three times to steal the Emperor from Death with my canthymn. The gap between each visit became smaller than the last. Otherwise, I was brought my meals on golden trays, taken care of by the servants, and occasionally visited as a stop when foreign guests came to tour Sacer’s Divine Palace.

The only other visits I received were when the Emperor wanted live music to serenade him and his private guests.

Soft chuckles filtered into the greenhouse, lulling me out of sleep. I slunk down from my favorite branch and pushed back onto my haunches. Between the branches and their sapphire leaves, I made out the Emperor, though the giggles did not belong to him.

They belonged to the two women he’d brought with him, each one holding a hand as they led him to the large hollowed out acorn-shaped chair in the corner. He crawled into it with feline grace and the women followed after him. They removed his tunic and he leaned back with rapt attention, pushing them out of the acorn and calling out to them, though slightly louder than was necessary. “Indulge your Emperor.”

That was my cue, one I’d learned many moons ago. I began to sing, a sultry and soft song that only startled the women a moment before they heeded the Emperor’s command.

The woman with a marigold braid walked away from the other, moving toward the marble ledge that outlined the room. The other woman, whose hair was woven into a maroon bun streaked with gold, followed her. One lace at a time, Maroon undid the bodice of Marigold’s gown, peeling down the dainty cap sleeves until her delicate back and breasts were on display. She turned and did the same to Maroon, who winked up playfully at me in my perch.

I sucked in a breath. No one ever cast me a glance up here before, and the Emperor usually busied himself with one guest. Two was new.

Maroon’s nipples were large, dark mauve circles. Marigold stood behind her and reached around, sliding her hand up to cup her breasts, twirling the points between her fingers. Maroon’s head tilted back, resting on Marigold’s shoulder, back arching beautifully, lifting the swells up toward me. I bit my lip.

They were hypnotic together.

Goosebumps pebbled along my exposed flesh, the feathers covering my lap lifted slightly and parted. I usually didn’t watch, but tonight I was captivated. Marigold thumbed over the tips until they pointed right at me, then peppered kisses up her companion’s throat, soft whimpers of pleasure echoing up the bark of my tree.

My pulse ricocheted.