Page 68 of Betrothed to the Emperor

Velethuil tilted his head, very much like Terror. “Iam telling you. I have spent a long time in this court cultivating a reputation that makes them see me as invisible and silly, a trifle. So they speak and whisper around me and think I do not understand. They do not think that Prince Rute was collaborating with Krustau. And the whispers say that if Tallu has killed his father, brother, and now Prince Rute, there is nothing he will not do.”

“And perhaps they are asking the military if the military is also concerned?” I watched Velethuil’s eyes. He nodded slowly.

“General Kachadoes not believe Rute was working with Krustau. He believes that the Imperium is stronger only when the imperial expansion is ongoing.” Velethuil kept his words quiet, but I could hear what wasn’t being said.

“So perhaps those in court who worry what Emperor Tallu will do without any leash or heir have found an advocate in General Kacha,” I said. “Someone who can make the emperor hear their voices?”

“I would not want to be caught between them when General Kacha makes the court’s opinion known to the emperor.” Velethuil pulled us to a stop. “I say this as one prisoner to another.”

“I thank you for your consideration,” I said quietly.

Velethuil nodded and politely took his leave. Terror landed on my shoulder not long after, his claws digging in.

“He is going to take your words to his master,” the raven said.

“I’m counting on it. Tallu has no one loyal to him except for the Emperor’s Dogs. Everyone else isafraidbut notloyal. What will General Kacha do if Tallu’s own husband isn’t loyal to him?” The question was rhetorical, but the bird answered anyway.

“Do you know why sparrows chase hawks?” Terror asked.

“Because the hawks would kill them and their young?” I asked.

“Because hawks hunt alone. And sparrows are never alone. General Kacha is no hawk.” The bird nuzzled my neck. “I am starving. That insight deserves at least some of the delicious meat from breakfast.”

Piivu came backinto my service. His hand was still bandaged, and it smelled like the salve that Dr. Jafopo, the Minister of Medicine, had given me. He said nothing about the attack, and I asked nothing.

He did not look at me or act toward me any differently, but his gratitude was more palpable now. He winced away from Asahi whenever he saw him, and I wondered at that until I had no more time to wonder, no more time to waste, because I had done what I had planned, and all that was left was the act of marriage, the act of wedding Tallu, and then killing my husband.

I wokebefore the sun on my wedding day. Nohe and Piivu tiptoed in, clearly trying to wake me quietly. When I sat up, they both startled, although Nohe settled quickly.

She bowed.

“Prince Airón, your bath is ready.”

I followed her in the early dawn through a quiet garden path, all the way to the bathhouse. Nuti greeted me, her expression placid, as though she readied men every day for their weddings. The bath was ceremonial, involving specific salts and scents. Everything had to be precise. This was, after all, the wedding of the emperor.

After I was bathed and dried, we climbed to the upper floor, a place I remembered well from my first day at court. The seamstress was already there, my wedding clothes ready. She helped me into the shirt and pants, a pale blue color that shimmered in the morning light. Then I put on the dark blue jacket. This shade was reserved for the imperial family.

In the mirror, I ran my fingers over the complicated golden stitching on the side that labeled me and my new position. Prince Airón. Imperial Consort. Heir to the Northern Kingdom. Husband to Emperor Tallu.

Someone had spent hours and hours on it, and now all of my jackets would need to be redone to match. This was happening. The thing I had never wanted or asked for was now impossible to avoid.

Before we left, I went through the clothes that I had slept in and drew out a long dagger. Rute’s blood had been cleaned off it, and I had made sure it gleamed as though it had never sliced through the throat of the emperor’s heir. Asahi moved forward, but I handed it to Nohe, asking the servant to help me attach it.

“In the north, it’s required as part of the ceremony. I know it won’t be the same.” I looked away, uncomfortable. The bathmaid, Nuti, running one last hand across my shoulders to fix an errant wrinkle, paused to squeeze.

With a quick discussion, Nohe and the seamstress agreed on a way to attach the dagger to the belt of my clothes. Then, they began the slow process of braiding jewels into my hair.

“Each one is a gift from your betrothed, a symbol of how highly he values you,” Nohe said, as though she hadn’t explained it all before. “Although, usually, they provide a… more practical amount.”

Her tone was light, but when I looked over, she and Nuti were both staring at the box of jewels Tallu had provided with wide eyes. Their fingers were nimble, and it still took nearly an hour for the work to be done.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I gleamed, my blond hair shining like a million stars in the sky. That was how much Tallu valued me. I coulddothis. I could do this impossible thing.

My stomach clenched, my jaw aching. For twenty-three years, this had been my only purpose. My mother had shown me the cost of war with the south. My mother had shown both Eonaî and me the cost of the north’s failure. How many of our people would die if I could not destabilize the south?

If the Emperor of the Southern Imperium lived, there would always be war, there would always be a threat to the north. I tasted blood in my mouth and swallowed it down.

The sun had just crested the walls of the palace when Nohe led me to the ceremonial receiving rooms. Because of all the practice she had drilled into me, I knew exactly how to enter the room. Bow before entering, then turn to where the emperor sat on a throne made of golden branches. Bow again.