Page 29 of Betrothed to the Emperor

Tallu shook his head, not even glancing across the dark bridge at the men on the other side.

“Down here,” he said, voice barely audible above the roar of water.

I squinted, trying to see exactly where Tallu was indicating, but the island was dark, darker than anywhere else in the caverns. No electric lights burned, and the ones on the cavern wall in the distance seemed to grow fainter the longer we stood in the darkness.

“Where?” I asked. “Because of all the skills they teach in the north, seeing in the dark is still limited to actual animals, not bestowed on those of us who wear their pelts.”

“Here.” Tallu tugged on my hand, and the part of me that had never been good at doing what I was told almost dug in my heels, but I was an assassin, not a donkey.

So I followed the emperor into the darkness. He climbed down the set of stairs carved into the slick stone.

And then the light was gone altogether. We were engulfed in darkness; only the thrum of water above our heads said we were still alive. The air cooled even further.

I was a northern boy; our summers were colder than southern winters, but something about the stagnant air—the chill that would be the same in summer, winter, or even if the mother of all whales ate the world she wore on her back—made the hair on my arms stand up.

Desperate for some sensory input, I raised my free hand to the wall of the staircase. My fingers brushed over intricate carvings, as though someone had taken the time to write a history on the walls.

We turned, then turned again, and light seeped in slowly, so soft that at first I was convinced I had gone mad, like a hunter left too long out on the tundra. The light wasn’t the pale white or yellow of electrical lamps but, instead, a soft blue, like the ocean glowing with plankton at night.

At the bottom of the stairs, Tallu stopped, pulling me up beside him. We were in a low cavern, the thrum of the water above our heads a heartbeat that I could feel in the walls’ vibrations. Water seeped down from the river above, creating massive stalactites and stalagmites as wide around as my arms.

But unlike the rock above, everything in the cavern was illuminated. All of the rock formations shone from within. The walls were lit as though a bright bulb had been mounted behind them, and I could see something in the walls?—

I jerked back. There, a dragon’s skeleton curledin the wall, embedded in the rock itself. Another skeleton reared a few feet away, then a fourth. Everywhere along the walls, skeletons had been mounted. Squinting, I approached, raising my hand. No,mountedwasn’t the correct word.

The skeletons had been placed on the wall, and then over time, the water had seeped over them, leaving minerals behind until, over a thousand years, the skeletons became part of the walls.

“Incredible,” I murmured. Turning, I jumped. Tallu was standing too close, his broad shoulders and warm body a contrast to the chilly air around us.

It was as though he was creating heat, warming me even though the only point of contact was where we still gripped hands.

He stared down at my face, his eyes fixed on mine.

“Incredible,” he agreed.

“Emperor Tallu, you return.” The voice echoed through the chamber, seeming to come from every direction at once.

Tallu turned, dropping my hand. I flexed my stiff fingers before blinking rapidly, the breath in my chest hot and fast. Swallowing, I came up next to Tallu, squinting in the direction that he was looking. The soothsayer came into focus slowly. She had painted her skin the same color as the bioluminescence of the cave.

Sitting in the center of the room, she looked like just another rock formation. Even her eyes were the bright, glowing blue of the rest of the cavern. When she turned to look at me, it was like a physical blow. Her mouth spread wide, teeth dark and rotten.

“Here, come here, Northern Prince. Let me see you.” She gestured to one of the nearby rocks. All of them were flat, like sitting cushions, and I carefully picked my way across the room to her and sat.

She grabbed my face hard, pinching my cheeks and using her thumbs to push my lips back, exposing my teeth. Then she ran her hands over my arms, squeezing lightly.

“You chose a healthy one, Emperor Tallu. I’m sure he will serve you well.” Her glowing blue eyes were disconcerting, and they moved over me as though seeing something more, as though she was one of the blind beggars who used other senses to read the world around them.

“I am here for the date of our wedding,” Tallu said shortly.

Apparently, my future husband had no comment on whether or not I would be “good.” In this context, I frankly had no idea what that even meant. It wasn’t like I would be bearing his children.

The soothsayer sat back, releasing me from her grip. With an open hand, she gestured to the seat in front of her. His lipspulled slightly, just enough that I could see how unhappy he was at this turn of events.

Still, he sat, watching her. He didn’t even glance at me, so I pulled my gaze away from him, refocusing on the soothsayer in front of me.

“The date of your wedding.” She tilted her head, then reached down. Everything in the cave was blue, and somehow, I had missed that directly in front of her—no, surrounding her—was a shallow pool of water. She cupped the glowing liquid in her hands, bringing it to her lips. It flowed down her arms, as she spilled it into her mouth. The florescent liquid dribbled down her chin, soaking her thin robes.

When she blinked open her eyes, they blazed, the brightest thing in the entire cavern. They stared past both me and Tallu, looking into the distance. Then, her gaze sharpened on me, her eyes traveling over me until they rested near my hip, right where the dragon egg sat.