Page 52 of Betrothed to the Emperor
“Lord Sotonam. He was immediately shut down. They are all suspicious of each other. That much was clear. No one talked openly.” Terror opened and closed his mouth meaningfully, and I took a nut from a tray of snacks to the side and tossed it toward him. He snapped it out of the air, throwing back his head toswallow it. “They all kept reminding each other what happened to the council. And how they would never betray the Imperium.”
“They kept reminding each other how?” I asked.
“They kept reminding each other that every secret the emperor had ever exposed about the council was said only in private, which meant that any one of them could be whispering all of their secrets into the emperor’s ear.” Terror looked at me from the side of his head, his one unblinking eye examining me. “They said that every servant in the palace must report to him, and even talking inside the palace was foolish.”
“So no one will move against him?” I asked.
“The ones there were young and foolish,” Terror said. “And like the young and foolish, they were speaking in ways that their betters would not.”
“What do you know of their betters?” I asked. I poked at the tray of snacks, discovering a small bowl of fruit. I tossed one of the berries toward Terror.
After he made it disappear out of the air, Terror said, “I hear the ministers when they talk to each other. They scurry around the gardens, looking over their shoulders, checking inside every bush to make sure there are no listening ears.”
“And what do they say?” I speared a red fruit with a fork, bringing it to my mouth and savoring the spill of juice on my tongue.
“They say that the emperor is all-powerful. His eyes are invisible and everywhere. They say that they are loyal to him.” Terror tilted his head.
“They say they’re loyal to him because they believe the emperor is listening in.” I leaned back, and my distraction allowed the bird to hop onto the table and snap up the rest of the berries from the bowl. “Theysaythey’re loyal to him. But I wonder how many of them are still communicating with thecouncil that was disbanded? Or even how many of them covet the power the council used to wield?”
It was a long shot, a remote chance. But perhaps it was a way to create chaos.
“How long do you think it will take to call everyone from the corners of the kingdom back to the capital city?”
“What do you intend to do?” Terror asked. He nosed his beak over the rest of the plates, finding a plate of crackers and cheese. As he gobbled them up whole, I began to grin. I was going to get rid of Rute and then invite all of Tallu’s enemies back to the capital and convince him it was a good idea.
With all the exiled councilors back in the capital, they could see exactly what they had lost. Their bitterness would be more sour, more vicious than Lord Fuyii’s had ever been. When the emperor killed Rute and then died himself, they wouldn’t even wait for the body to cool before demanding power they thought they deserved.
“I intend to get married.” I smiled. If the emperor did have ears everywhere, then I was not going to be as foolish as the young people at General Kacha’s party. “And a party like that needs guests of honor.”
Fourteen
Afew hours later, after Nohe and two servants of her choosing had dressed me and then spent another hour making sure the fall of my jacket and the fit of my pants and shirt were perfect, I presented myself at court.
It was the same as last time, although now I didn’t see a room full of metal statues but instead saw the ebb and flow of power. As I walked in, I noted Rute in the back, a courtesan on one arm, entertaining the twins that General Kacha had introduced. A few more courtiers swirled in their orbit, and I remembered their faces from the lake party, although I couldn’t name them.
Velethuil stood near the edge of the room, his brilliant smile making those around him draw close. His patron, General Kacha, was nowhere to be found, although I saw General Saxu in the corner, his dark clothes blending into the shadows almost as well as the gray robes of the Emperor’s Dogs did.
These were the fissures of the court. I could see others but wasn’t sure what they meant yet. The ministers were in two separate groups, and whether that was simply an issue of space or because there was a divide in their ranks was unclear.
As I entered, the crowd parted for me. Whispers stopped. Velethuil fixed his eyes on me, and Rute waved away the twins, each trying to get his attention.
Tallu sat on his throne, unmoving, surrounded by all of this beauty yet interacting with none of it. When I got to the bottom of the dais, I nodded.
“My lord,” I said. I was aware it was an intimacy he’d denied Eonaî. Ishouldhave referred to him by Your Imperial Majesty, but the more informal felt right after all that we’d been through together.
“Prince Airón.” Tallu gestured with the flat of his hand toward a small chair next to his own. It was plain in comparison to the throne, but its reason for existence was clear.
I was being given a place in his court.
Looking to the side, I saw one of the Emperor’s Dogs hiding in the shadows. It wasn’t Asahi, who I had left at the doorway to court. And Sagam stood behind the emperor’s throne. So there was no one I could ask for clarification.
Exhaling, I took the first step up, mounting the dais in three strides. This close, I saw the throne clearly for the first time. I had assumed it was made of wood, lacquered black and imposing, to give the largest effect. Now, I realized the shape of it was all wrong, the texture was wrong.
The throne was made of bones, ones that had been burned to a crisp, charred from flames. The size of them exposed what they must be. Tallu sat on a throne of dragon bones.
The emperor whose imperial legacy had started with the death of the One Dragon was sitting on a throne made of her bones. At least the seat he’d had made for me was only wood.
I sat in the chair.