Page 31 of Betrothed to the Emperor

“I mean to watch your back,” Tallu said dryly. “If you fell off, I would better be able to see it from behind.”

“And then the emperor is going to, what? Jump in after me?” I pretended to examine him. “Are you that good a swimmer?”

“No, then, I would send one of my guards after you and perhaps send your mother a condolence gift.” There was a flashof white teeth, reflected by the glowing blue light that still clung to both of us.

I found it shocking that I had been able to pull him out of his dark mood so easily. Was this what he was like with his consort? If he was this easy, it would be simple to keep up the flirtation so I could get close and slice my blade through his throat.

I turned, reaching out with my foot first to find the bridge, then crossing with just as much care as I had the first time. He might joke about saving me from the water, but I had no doubt that he was not coming in after me, nor would he send any of his men to follow.

Halfway across the bridge, I froze. In the darkness ahead, I felt movement. Squinting, I saw gray on the shore a good twenty feet ahead.

The monk who had brought us here had collapsed on her side, dark liquid staining the collar of her shift. A flash of metal in the dark and a shout told me where the Emperor’s Dogs were.

I turned and found Tallu too close behind me. Grabbing hold of him, I hissed, “Turn around. Go back to the island.”

He stiffened in my hands. His whole body was rigid, as though he was holding himself back from me.

“There is someone on the other side. Your Dogs are fighting them off, but if the attackers got inside the cavern…” I didn’t have the heart to finish it. I struggled to remember which group Sagam had been with. Had he been left outside to guard the carriage, or was he there in the dark, fighting for his emperor’s life?

Tallu turned immediately, his feet sure as he crossed the bridge. I took more time, and halfway across, felt something slice through my pants. The weapon clattered on the island, and as soon as I was on solid ground, Tallu grabbed me, pulling me down into the stairwell.

We gasped in the darkness, and I frowned at him. “Someone is trying to kill you.”

Tallu’s face seemed carved from metal, his expression impossibly dark.

“Yes.”

“Who?” I demanded.

He shook his head, either unsure or unwilling to share. Something inside me tightened in frustration. He should have walked first. He could have walked into whatever trap had been set for him, and if his assassins didn’t kill him, I could have finished the job.

And then what? Was I sure that whoever was coming after him would have enough opposition to create the chaos we needed? What if it was Rute? Popular among the nobles and backed by a military general?

“They saw me in the dark,” I said quickly. “Take off your robe.”

Tallu drew back, but the stairway was so narrow that there was nowhere for him to move. We were pressed against each other, and I could feel the long, muscled lines of his body.

“They can see us. The liquid from the soothsayer’s cavern is all over us.” Maybe there was still a way for me to rescue this. I could grab whatever weapon had been sent after me in the dark. I could kill Tallu with it, then blame the attackers.

I struggled out of my jacket, loosening the ties and pulling it off my shoulders. Then I scrubbed my palms, rubbing hard until there was only a faint trace of the blue liquid left.

Tallu did the same, and I bundled up our clothes and threw them down the stairs. Then I squinted. We were both in shadow and as clean as I could get us, although some of the liquid still spattered our pants.

“Is there any other way off the island?” In the dark, pressed against him, I could feel the steady beat of his heart, the push of his chest against mine as he took a deep breath.

“There’s another bridge,” Tallu said. “It goes to the monastery.”

“We’ll try that. I’m going back for the weapon,” I said. The plan was coming to me slowly. I could stab him, throw him into the water. Then he would flow downstream, and I would…

To be honest, it was less of a plan than an idea, a hint of something like a plan. It was aconcept.

“What weapon?” Tallu asked, but I didn’t answer him, darting out into the darkness, keeping myself low. A scream echoed in the cavern, audible over the rush of the water. I came close to the bridge, then began feeling on the ground, searching for whatever had sliced through my clothes.

It had scratched me, and I felt the burn on my calf, but it hadn’t gone deep enough to do real harm—likely a blade or maybe even a spear. My hands encountered metal, a long pole. Footsteps moved across the bridge.

They were quiet, but I was crouched in the darkness, close enough to hear. I knew with a glance they weren’t the Emperor’s Dogs.

They weren’t wearing gray, and the cut of their pants wasn’t imperial. I didn’t wait. Yorîmu had taught me that. Waiting was how you got killed.