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He cleared his throat, raising his chin. “The north has its reasons for wanting the Southern Imperium to fall. Now that you know that is what I also want, we should be able to come to an agreement.”

“And when it falls? What would that look like? Who will lead? You?” I struggled to comprehend what it would mean.

My mother’s view had always been that when the Imperium fell, the Emperor’s Council would become kings of their own fiefdoms, too consumed with fighting each other to bother with a united Northern Kingdom.

Without a council, what did Tallu picture the future would be?

“There was a time before the Imperium was more than a small kingdom that followed the river.” Tallu’s eyes drifted to the map.

“The Northern Kingdom will likely take back Dragon’s Rest Mountains and the farmland beneath them.

Krustau will take back Mountain Thrown Lake and any areas they want.

Tavornai will descend into more chaos, but we now have evidence that some of their elder trees survived. They will rebuild. Forsaith may not.”

“And inside the kingdom? Inside the small kingdom that follows the river?” I felt him inhale under my hands. “Chaos?”

“Carnage. The cities will break off and become independent. The ministers and governors sent by the capital will be killed without the threat of the Imperium’s military.” His eyes went distant. “It must happen.”

“But you won’t say why,” I said.

“No. Our alliance is too fragile.” He opened his mouth as though about to say more but then shook his head.

Why wouldn’t he just come out and say it ? Why did he insist on hiding all his reasons in half-truths and obfuscations? Why did I have to be here instead of Eona??

My mind spun. Under my palm, Tallu’s breath was even, the rise and fall of his chest moved my hand, and he didn’t touch me in return. Eona? would know what to do. Why had he chosen me instead of her?

“You ask me to endanger myself and the Northern Kingdom,” I said finally.

“There is no safety for anyone while the Southern Imperium conquers the continent. There is no peace in an empire that wipes every other nation off the map until you all are the Southern Imperium.” Tallu looked at me almost with pity, but there was some other emotion mixed in there. Helplessness or worry.

“Taking back Dragon’s Rest Mountains and the farmland will be war, when all we want is peace,” I repeated. “Will this bring us peace?”

“If the north wanted peace, they wouldn’t have sent an assassin to marry me,” Tallu said. He stepped back, his expression completely unreadable, and my hand fell away.

“My…”—even now, I couldn’t say mother; I couldn’t be careless—“father sent Eona? to marry you. You were the one who chose to marry me.” I watched him, watched his expression, trying to read something into the way his eyes lingered on me, as though I was beyond his touch, even though he’d already proven how well he could bring me to my knees.

“What I am proposing will break the back of the Imperium’s military.

If we find whoever is making these, the generals will eat themselves from within.

” Tallu turned, considering the large map on the wall again.

He clasped his hands behind his back, the long line of his spine straight as he considered the shape of the continent, the nations that would so easily fall to this new technology.

“It will be the civil war that your mother wanted all along.”

“My mother?” I blinked, feeling my throat closing. The emperors couldn’t know. My mother’s safety—my sister’s safety—relied on them believing my father ruled. “You mean my father, King Rimáu.”

“I mean your mother Queen Op?la. The true leader of the Northern Kingdom.” Tallu looked at me, his russet eyes assessing. “As your sister will lead after her as long as no war comes to the Silver City.”

“My father leads the Northern Kingdom.” I smiled, but I wasn’t sure what emotion he could see in my eyes. If he knew, and General Saxu knew, who else did? Had my sister, the true northern heir, arrived safely home, or was she at the bottom of the ocean? Was my mother safe?

“I know that every previous emperor and all the dragon kings crowned before the founding of the Southern Imperium dealt with the north as they did with any other nation. They demanded to see the king and negotiated only with him.” Tallu arched an eyebrow.

“But I am saying what Ristorium knows. What the blood mages knew. It is not through the men that power flows in the north.”

“If I say I don’t know what you mean, are you going to think me stupid or a liar?” I kept my breathing even, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. He said he wished I trusted him, but how honest had he ever been with me?

“Your mother translated for King Rimáu when the Northern Kingdom brokered peace with my father. But it was not his words she translated, was it?” Tallu looked at me, and I couldn’t look away. His gaze burned into me.

“Well, my father isn’t known for his words.

He’s a hunter. He knows the ice. He knows how to spill blood.

Isn’t that part of a queen’s duty? To make sure her husband shows his best side?

” I said, feeling each word like a man crossing a stream might feel each stepping-stone to make sure it didn’t rock under his feet.

“It was a peace offering,” Tallu said. “That was why I chose you and let your sister go home.”

I froze, watching him with narrowed eyes. Taking a step closer, he was the hunter, and I was the prey.

“With your sister in the north, the matrilineal line could continue. Your mother has an heir.” Tallu looked down, and my heart cracked.

No, I couldn’t allow myself to get lost in those sad russet eyes.

It was impossible that I could lose my heart to the man whose people had killed so many of mine.

“I would undo the entire war with the north if I could. But not destroying the royal line of the Silvereyes Clan was the best I could offer.”

He was saying everything right, he had lain there and let me try to kill him, and yet, despite all that, I couldn’t trust him. It echoed between us, a chasm that he couldn’t breach no matter how many pretty words he wove his bridge out of.

“And the dragon’s egg? And letting your soldiers take their frustrations out on me?” I glared at him. “More kindness?”

“If you are going to be my partner, they need to see what you are capable of. You defeated them within minutes. If your blade had been sharp, you would have defeated them even faster.” Tallu met my eyes, and I took another step closer.

“You are the emperor,” I said, hearing the edge in my voice, the tone that turned the words darkly sardonic.

“Explain to me again why you cannot simply order your generals to tell you who built the machine and where it is. If you really wanted to destroy it, it was within your power even before I arrived.”

“Because I’m afraid they will lie to me.” Tallu kept hold of my eyes, and I felt the pull, nearly a physical thing. “No, I’m not afraid they will lie to me. I know they will. And when I have publicly lost the military, I will become nothing more than a figurehead—as my father was.”

“The world knows Emperor Millu commanded his military directly,” I said. “My father said he faced him in battle. If your father was a figurehead, he was doing it from the front of his troops while giving orders.”

“Here’s the problem with war.” Tallu stepped back and walked to the far side of the room, where an older map was pinned on the wall.

“War strengthens generals. It gives them political clout and military power they would not otherwise have. It brings wealth to those who create the machinery of war. The imperial expansion may have started as my grandfather’s war, but by the time my father died, there were many other forces at play.

I can decide which nation we will conquer next.

I can even ride to the front lines and raise my sword and call down lightning to destroy our enemy’s ranks.

But unless I explicitly give instructions, I cannot decide who builds the wagons to transport men.

I cannot decide which merchant will make the most money from the contract to provide us subpar food for the journey.

I cannot decide which men will come with us or even what weapons they will be given.

That is all down to the military generals. ”

Tallu turned to me, and his eyes sparked again, like the lightning he carried inside him had come to life.

“I rooted out the corruption in my father’s council only to let a much worse poison take over the Imperium.

I let this happen. Removing the Council, I loosened the rope, and the generals took full advantage. ”

“What makes you think I can help you?” I circled close to him, drawn to the map and the way he looked at it as though seeing something else entirely.

Tallu reached down. He stroked his palm from my shoulder to my hand. Gently, he drew my knuckles to his lips, pressing a tender kiss to them. “Because you are an assassin, and I need someone dead.”