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I expected Lady Chaliko to wilt under the pressure of Lady Dalimu’s quick answer, but the young woman raised her chin. “And isn’t taking money intended for His Imperial Majesty also endangering the promise?”

I looked between the women, then glanced at the now silent twins. They wore mirrored expressions of joy. This had been the outcome they desired all along. They wanted the two people here who likely had the most in common to fight each other for the twins’ pleasure.

“I think,” I began before pausing. Careful .

How would Eona? phrase this? She would have been too smart to fall for any of it.

I, unfortunately, was not. “That is, while I know you were adopted into the household through marriage, it seems Lord Dalimu didn’t consult you.

I’m sure you were too afraid to tell anyone about what he was doing, as then his sin would fall upon you. Which it did.”

For a second, the tension at the table grew, and it was almost impossible to breathe. Everyone stared at me, including Lady Dalimu.

Her hard eyes softened in the corners, a single line forming between her brows, and her entire face twitched again before smoothing out. Without looking at Lady Chaliko, she inclined her head.

Then she looked away, raising a hand. A servant spiraled close, taking the teapot from the center of the table and refilling everyone’s cups.

After a tense moment, just as Pito opened her mouth to break it, Lady Dalimu said, “I, too, am a loyal citizen of the Imperium.”

Lady Chaliko looked away, the flush on her cheeks intensifying. “Of course.”

Topi had a sour look on her face and glanced at Pito. The latter had narrowed her eyes, looking between the two women. In her expression, I saw the desire to send them spinning again, set them at each other’s throats.

Instead, she said, “It’s strange to see some faces back at the Mountainside Palace. I suppose they had to be invited back for the wedding, but… it is unexpected.”

“Do you mean the banished families?” I asked.

All four women turned to look at me, and I held their attention for a moment as I took a drink of tea. I was balancing, about to make a decision that might topple one way or the other.

“Yes,” Lady Dalimu said. “We were very surprised to receive the invitation.”

She took her own cup, and I noticed her hands were calloused, scars patterning the blade of her forefinger. When her eyes caught mine, there was something appraising in them.

I was wrong. The pale pearl color of her skin didn’t mean she wasn’t working. She had been set the impossible task of reviving poisoned orchards, but this was a woman who accepted that task and dug her fingers into the dirt to get started.

“I asked the emperor to invite them,” I said. “Invite you, I suppose. It’s bad luck in the north to start a marriage with civil discord. The emperor obliged.”

All four women stared at me. The twins recovered first.

“How romantic!” Pito said cheerily, the makeup on her cheeks nearly cracking from her tense smile.

“How positively wonderful!” Topi agreed. “And he obliged .”

They shared a speaking look, and I blinked between them. “Should he not have?”

“Since he hasn’t obliged anyone else for anything they’ve wanted,” Lady Dalimu said. “No.”

“Well, I’m grateful, then, as it lets me get to know such wonderful people.” I looked around the party and recognized most of the women, although I mostly knew them by their husbands’ names.

“Yes,” Pito said thoughtfully. “Wonderful people.”

Topi stood abruptly and bowed, her fingers forming a triangle above her head.

Pito rushed to follow suit, and then both were making excuses, and I saw them move to the next group, barely looking at me, even though I could feel the gossip beginning to swirl like the heat of a fire on the far side of a room.

“You’ve stumped them. Not that it’s hard to confuse women of such deep intellect.” Lady Dalimu snorted at her own insult and then covered it with a cough. I suddenly liked her much better.

Lady Chaliko was staring at me, eyes wide. She cleared her throat. “You really have that much influence with the emperor?”

No, but now everyone would think I did. That, combined with beating three men who should have trounced me easily, made me a good ally to have in someone’s pocket. I expected the overtures of friendship to begin rolling in immediately.

“He is my husband,” I said. “I’m not sure how you marry in the south, but in the north, that means some affection and loyalty.”

Lady Dalimu’s smile went brittle, and her eyes went slightly distant, not seeing me or Lady Chaliko. Finally, she said, “Perhaps that is a difference between our nations.”

I didn’t say anything, continuing to watch, wondering what suffering she had endured because of her own marriage.

“Perhaps we might speak again soon,” Lady Chaliko said, and I snapped my attention back to her.

Lady Dalimu’s eyes were suddenly focused on the young woman, and an amused smile lifted her lips. “Too quick, Lady Chaliko. He is so very recently married that I doubt he’s looking for someone else to spend his nights with quite yet.”

Lady Chaliko ducked her head, raising a painted fan to cover her flushed face.

Lady Dalimu’s nostrils flared, and she pursed her lips to cut off another laugh.

The movement sent beads along her dress shimmering in the light.

I squinted at them. They weren’t glass; they were gemstones, and how had someone trapped in Forsaith acquired a nation’s worth of wealth to wear on her dress?

The dagger she had presented had been equally valuable. Perhaps whatever she had with the Minister of Medicine was more serious than I thought.

Well, good for her. Maybe she would be able to escape the shadow of her first marriage and find a more satisfying one in her second.

Before I could ask for more information, another woman approached our table, settling herself into an empty spot. She was the wife of one of the most important moneylenders in the city. After a few brief pleasantries, she bowed to me, then took her leave.

After that, it was a procession of important women who had important husbands, each wanting a moment of my time. Some were clearly sizing me up, while others were trying to ingratiate themselves.

Topi and Pito had risen to my bait like starving sea serpents offered a lamb shank.

With them spreading the news that I was behind the invitations of exiled councilors, that I had that much sway over the emperor, everyone wanted to be my friend.

Everyone knew that I was the man who had the emperor’s favor.

“Consort Airón,” a man’s voice interrupted the daughter of a wealthy trader from the eastern part of the Imperium.

I looked over, nearly blinded by the golden paint on his skin.

The man was fit, attractive, and toned in all the right places, his pants slightly too tight.

His high cheekbones had been decorated by a line of silver moons, the full moon fading to new moon, matched by a pair of silver hoop earrings.

The woman I’d been speaking with stared in awe, yielding her chair without complaint when he raised an eyebrow, gesturing up and down in the imperial motion of supplication. He sat, leaning forward so that I could see where his shirt fell open, the laces loose.

“I’m Chiti Bechi,” he said. His jacket marked him the spouse of the patriarch of House Bechi. “And it is a true pleasure to meet you. You’re all anyone can talk about. I simply had to come see if the fuss was worth it, and I’m so pleased it was.”

His smile was all teeth, his eyes appraising me. I had the odd feeling that he should be more charming than I found him. I glanced again at the stitching on his jacket before greeting him. “Mr. Bechi. I’m glad you are not disappointed.”

“Oh, never. And I am a connoisseur of all things beautiful in the court.” His eyes crinkled in the corners, the moons rising on his cheeks. “And you are exquisite. I see why His Imperial Majesty clearly had no choice but to take you as his consort.”

Movement at the entrance to the maze caught my attention. At first, I didn’t recognize Nohe. She was one yellow robe in a sea of them.

But her head swung back and forth until I stood. As she walked, I could see her pulling herself short, trying not to rush. When she finally reached me, she bowed low, fingers triangled.

“Consort Airón, the emperor has requested your presence for dinner.” Her voice was weighted, and I raised both eyebrows. It was just past lunch. It was unlikely that dinner was happening now.

“Thank you for the information.” I tried to indicate my question with my tone, and Nohe picked up on it.

“You’ll want appropriate clothes for the dinner,” she said, and I almost groaned.

“Of course,” I said. The idea of sitting through another round of being dressed like a doll was about as appealing as letting the Bemishu twins attempt to publicly embarrass me again.

I had felt like Bechi was closing in on taking me into his confidence, or at least we were in the opening gambits of him attempting to seduce me into the crowd of his admirers.

But I needed to maintain the appearance that, just as Tallu was happy to bow to my wishes, I was more than pleased to obey ridiculous southern customs.

“Thank you for the company,” I said to Lady Dalimu and Lady Chaliko, aware that both had gained legitimacy by sitting at my side. Chiti Bechi rose, his hand reaching out for mine, but I turned to Nohe before he could make contact. “Lead the way.”

As we traveled to Turtle House, Asahi finally spoke up. “You handled that well.”

“Was that a compliment?” I teased. “Twice in one day. You’ll spoil me.”

“I doubt it. Apparently, the emperor already wants to spoil you.”

When I spun to stare at him, his eyes behind his animal mask were so blank it was impossible for me to tell if he was teasing or not. I glanced at Nohe, but even she had raised her eyebrows, her expression surprised.

As we approached Turtle House, I looked up at the windows, realizing exactly how many rooms there were and how few I occupied.

“Will I be moving somewhere else eventually?” I asked. “You said that Turtle House was for visiting dignitaries.”

Nohe’s face fell, her eyes looking away from me to focus on the ground in front of us. “Of course, there are the empress’s quarters. Traditionally, that is where spouses live. The emperor hasn’t had them cleaned out yet, as there was no family left to whom to send Empress Koque’s belongings.”

“Because her father was killed. I mean, executed for crimes against the Imperium.” I looked at Nohe. “Well, as long as the emperor approves, I would be happy to stay in Turtle House. You have made my situation very comfortable, Nohe.”

The servant blushed, the color rising on her cheeks, and she blinked rapidly. “Thank you, Consort.”

I hid a smile at her discomfort, and then we were back at Turtle House, where I suffered through another session of being dressed for a meal with the emperor.

As I stared at myself in the mirror, watching Nohe and two other servants fuss over the correct fall of my jacket, I thought about what I had learned.

The Bemishu twins presented themselves as harmless, but they were the daughters of one of the Imperium’s five generals. Moreover, they allowed themselves to be under General Kacha’s control.

From what Tallu had explained, the generals all jousted for power at any given moment. If Kacha was ascendant, it meant that the other generals weren’t. It potentially meant that resources would go to Kacha’s command and his men over the other generals.

For a leader like General Bemishu, who stayed with his men, trained them himself, even went so far as to make sure his command tent was pitched next to theirs rather than at a safe distance from the fighting, it would be a horror to have Kacha receiving resources he thought his men needed.

So, why were his daughters showing any loyalty to General Kacha? Did they hate their father that much?

I still hadn’t untangled it by the time Nohe declared herself satisfied and allowed me to step away from the mirror.

“Where are we having dinner?” I asked. “At the emperor’s quarters?”

Nohe shook her head. “The Ivory Room.”

I squinted, trying to remember which room that was, and was saved from the embarrassment of asking by Nohe’s deep bow and her pronouncement. “I will take you there.”

I followed behind her, and as soon as we stepped out into the open air, Terror swooped down, landing on my shoulder. “Do you want the gossip now or later?”

I said nothing, shrugging uncomfortably, but that only made the bird dig his talons in deeper.

When I still didn’t answer, Terror said, “You’re being ridiculous.”

I shrugged harder, saying, “Get off.”

Neither Nohe nor Asahi commented on my struggle, although a passing servant dressed in yellow gave me a wide-eyed stare.

I stopped struggling, letting the bird ride all the way to the entrance I recognized from the day before.

Only yesterday, I had been on the other side of it, inside the room as the doors had opened, revealing the soldiers General Kacha had wanted to demonstrate imperial strength.

“We’re eating here?” I asked, finally reaching up to pry Terror loose. The bird glared at me but flapped off to a nearby tree, where he proceeded to criticize my parentage, upbringing, and choice of colors.

Nohe pulled open the doors, bowing as I stepped inside.

Tallu’s chair from yesterday still sat on one side of the room, the stains of blood and sweat from my fight against three of General Kacha’s top soldiers long ago cleaned away.

But the room felt like it held reverberations of our fight, echoes of the grunts and screams.

Asahi followed behind me, moving to the wall, where he took a position next to Sagam. Tallu stood with his back to everyone, staring at the chair he had been sitting in the day before.

Nohe closed the door behind her, leaving me alone with him and the Emperor’s Dogs. Tallu glanced over at his guards.

“Leave us.” His expression was glacially calm, so cold that I couldn’t even read the hint of emotion in his eyes.

“Your Imperial Majesty,” Sagam objected.

I wasn’t sure at first whether he knew he’d spoken as though he had any right to protest any of the emperor’s decisions, but I saw the realization hit him; his eyes went wide, he blinked, and he visibly swallowed.

“ Leave us ,” Tallu said more firmly. It was a command, one that the Emperor’s Dogs couldn’t resist. Sagam looked down, bowing his head before striding out of the room.

Asahi looked at me, then the Emperor, then bowed his own head, following Sagam.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk outside your rooms in the evening?” I asked quietly.

Tallu looked over at me, raising his hand, and, in one swift motion, released a bolt of electricity.