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Tallu blinked and opened his mouth, but Hipati said, “Here are some letters from General Bemishu? A whole stack of them. Do you want to read them, or should I read them and summarize? I could also organize them by subject and key points if you want…”

She ducked her head, and I took sympathy on her, removing them from her hands. While Tallu and I had managed to examine a half box of documents, she’d already been through nearly two crates of papers, sorting them into stacks.

I divided the letters from Bemishu, giving half to Tallu, and in the doorway, Asahi moved aside, replaced by a new Dog. He gave me a look, and I nodded.

I imagined that General Kacha would have a great deal to say after the announcements at dinner.

Hopefully, his anger would make him say something to Asahi that implicated him because I did not look forward to spending the next few weeks going through military spending reports. Even if it had been my idea.

I needed to remember that my ideas were too much work and just stick with murdering, which was what I was good at.

The letters were from years ago. It made me anxious about the rest of the boxes. This was going to take a while.

Still, I skimmed the contents. In the letters dated years ago, General Bemishu was asking a much younger Bechi about the early prototypes of the sand crawler. The two exchanged ideas with a fluidity I didn’t expect from the war-focused general.

Bemishu had suggestions, observations from his own time in the sands of the Ariphadeus. It wasn’t until I got to the third letter that I realized his signature was Commander Bemishu.

“How long has General Bemishu been a general?” I held out the letter, indicating the signature.

“The general in charge of the southern campaign was killed less than a decade ago,” Tallu said.

He frowned. “The southern campaign has always been difficult. Many saw it as nowhere near exciting enough to pay attention to. It’s hard to claim victory when your opponents don’t agree they own any land. ”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Or when the land shifts without warning. The north might change with the season, but the Silver City has always been there since it was built. Conquering the Silver City would be a visible victory.”

“Exactly,” Tallu agreed.

Eventually, servants brought in food, and the three of us ate, still going through the reams of paperwork. Soon enough, all the furniture in the room was covered in piles of paper except for the chairs we were sitting in.

I could tell we were making more work for Hipati, who was meticulously marking down information on her notepad, complete with important notes and keywords to cross-reference what she found.

She tried not to let her irritation show, but by the time we needed a second meal, I realized it was time for bed.

Standing, I said, “We are all going to rest. We’re going to have more documents tomorrow when we get the official records from the military.

And then we should, theoretically, have more manpower to go through all of this.

” I gestured widely to the piles of boxes and the stacks of paper, implying the seemingly endless work it would be for just the three of us to go through all of it.

Tallu looked up at me, a curl of hair covering the band of gold around his forehead. He nodded.

“Agreed.”

“I could stay, get more work done. I work better with just myself and papers anyway.” Hipati spoke quickly, and I narrowed my eyes at her. Tallu frowned, clearly suspecting her a spy for one of the other powers in court, but I had my own suspicions. Walking over, I sniffed the cup beside her.

It was the highly caffeinated coffee beverage popular in the southeastern part of the Imperium.

I had tried it only once when Lord Fuyii was trying to introduce my sister to all of the delicacies the Imperium had to offer.

After drinking it, I’d been awake for almost two days, and Yor?mu intervened, dumping the rest of Lord Fuyii’s stash in the ocean before I could consume it.

Frowning, I asked, “How many of these have you had?”

“Not many. This is only my fifth.” At my glare, she amended, “Tonight.”

“Out.” I pointed, and when she didn’t move fast enough, I looked significantly at Sagam, who shook his head and helped her to her feet with a hand under her elbow.

She made an unhappy grab at a stack of papers, but I moved them out of her way.

“Go sleep in your own quarters, don’t drink any more of this swill, and maybe we’ll let you back tomorrow.”

Hipati bowed, signing a triangle above her forehead, and followed one of the Emperor’s Dogs out, Sagam trailing behind to make sure she didn’t sneak back and do more reading.

“Do you think she was acting with ill intent?” Tallu asked thoughtfully.

“I think she is a passionate scholar, and we are lucky to have her.” I looked at him, the pallor of his skin the only indication of his exhaustion. “And I think you and I both need to sleep.”

I nudged him toward the door, and we stumbled out into the hallway, down past the rest of the rooms to his massive personal bedroom with the door that only he could open.

It was so late that it locked as soon as I shut it, sealing us in together. Then we were alone, and I was so tired and Tallu looked so ruffled that I barely thought before I stepped forward and brushed that impossible lock of hair off his brow.

He blinked at me, eyes going wide.

“What was that earlier?” I murmured. “You almost killed a man for touching me.”

I was loopy with exhaustion, and tomorrow, I would have to teach some of the Imperium’s most powerful men how to fight my own people.

“I—” Tallu looked down, then caught my hand with his, bringing it to his cheek and resting his face against my palm.

“I look at you and I think there is a chance I can do this. Do you know what it is to do a thing, to cause your father’s council to come crashing down, and think you have destroyed the Imperium, only to have new men immediately take their place?

I did what I thought I should. I destroyed the Emperor’s Council with all their corruption.

Within weeks, the generals had taken their power. It felt hopeless until you.”

“Until the man sent to kill you?” I asked.

“You thought of bringing them back. The councilors. So many have already started reaching out to old allies. So many have weakened the generals already. Now when you kill me, the war will be internal. It will eat the empire from within.” Tallu exhaled.

He sat down, dragging me with him, though the chair was too small for two.

He leaned against me, and I leaned against him, and there was somehow enough room.

My mouth was, for once, behind my brain, which had latched onto the phrase “when you kill me,” which was echoing as though a giant chorus of people were all shouting it at once, and I couldn’t focus on any of them.

“ When I kill you ?” I asked, my voice rising to nearly a shout.

“That will be after we deal with whoever is behind the airship. But with my brother and father dead, with no heir chosen, my death will send the empire into chaos.” Tallu turned to look at me, and his face was too close, his mouth nearly touching mine.

“You came here to kill me; you must do it at some point. Until I die, the Imperium will survive. So you must. There is no other way through.”