Page 29

Tallu stared at me, and in his narrowed eyes, I saw something like suspicion, but he nodded. Then he turned, his expression completely still as he stared at Rede.

I couldn’t hear what he said over the buzz in my ears, but Asahi tightened his grip, and Rede bowed his head.

Pushing up, I lurched to stand between Tallu and Rede. I pressed a hand to Tallu’s chest. “Husband, we were sparring. We were training, and both of us are too good at what we do. It was my mistake as much as his.”

I looked up into Tallu’s eyes, trying to make myself look helpless, look vulnerable. Was a flutter of my eyelashes too much? I risked it.

Tallu’s brows twitched again, but he nodded his head. “You want me to let him go?”

“Yes.” Then, because I needed to sell the image of myself as a helpless thing, a northern prince out of his depth in the southern imperial court, I said, “Please.”

Tallu’s eyes widened, and the frown on his face deepened. He didn’t look away from me when he said, “Let him go.”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Asahi let Commander Rede fall from the wall. The commander immediately dropped to his knees, forehead pressed to the ground.

If he was saying something, begging for my forgiveness, I couldn’t hear him.

“Husband, I want a bath and a meal. And then I’m sure you have more important things to do than watching me be bested by your own soldiers.” I laced my arm through his, and Tallu led me inside.

My hearing was coming back, slowly but surely, and once we were out of sight of the commanders, I winced, tapping at my ear. Tallu dragged me back into his quarters, the Emperor’s Dogs following behind us. As soon as we stepped inside, he began shouting for a doctor.

“And a bath. I wasn’t kidding.” I made a face as two of his servants began stripping me of my clothes, their fingers quick with the laces and ties.

Groaning, I looked down, expecting to see my skin blistered and charred where Commander Rede had landed his hit. Instead, the skin was unblemished. I gestured for the shirt, and the servant handed it to me hesitantly.

The garment had been thick, and when I poked at the lightning-induced hole, I counted five layers. The first four had been completely destroyed, but the inner layer was made of a thick fabric I didn’t recognize.

“What is this?” I asked Tallu.

He took the shirt, his eyebrows going up when he touched it. “Dragonhide. Who gave this to you?”

“Nohe, the steward of Turtle House.” I turned it over in my hands before letting the servant take it.

Dr. Jafopo, the Minister of Medicine, bustled into the room, straightening his jacket as he walked, and from the mess of his hair, either he liked to sleep late, or he had been enjoying something carnal when he had been summoned.

As he approached me, ordering me onto the bed so that he might examine me more closely, I got a whiff of his clothes.

The Bemishu twins had certainly been busy.

“They said you were struck directly by electro magic?” the minister said, frowning down at me. He ran his hands over my chest, and I caught Tallu looming out of the corner of my eye, glaring at the minister as he pressed fingers in the center of my chest.

“Yes.” I watched as he checked my arms and legs, testing each of my joints before stepping back.

“I’ll leave behind some ointment for the burn on your arm.

After your bath, apply it. Keep the wound clean, and continue with the ointment until it heals.

You were very lucky. A direct hit like that should have done more damage.

” The Minister of Medicine bowed to me, then to Tallu.

As he turned away, I noted that his pants hadn’t been fastened correctly, two of the buttons out of order.

Poor Lady Dalimu. If his heart went to one or both of the Bemishu twins, there was little chance she would ever escape Forsaith. As I stood, the room around me straightening slowly, a servant came in and offered a hot bath.

I followed him down the hall, only aware that Tallu was right behind me when I stumbled over my own feet. He caught my elbow tightly and followed me into the massive bathing room in his quarters.

I recognized the servant who was bowing next to a large tub.

“Nuti,” I said, greeting the bath maid who had become familiar over a few trips to the bathhouse. “It is good to see you.”

Then I turned to the entourage that had followed me and managed with a few hand gestures to, hopefully politely, shoo most of them out.

Tallu refused to leave, his eyes fixed on me as I stepped into the bath.

I didn’t look over my shoulder, refused to acknowledge that he was seeing me when I was so weak that Nuti had to help ease me down into the water.

Her hands were professional, and I barely felt the cloth as she washed me. When she was done, she poured scented oils into the water.

“Would you like to relax in the bath?” she asked quietly.

“No. I would like a distraction. How has the bathhouse been these days?” I opened my eyes and saw her glance uneasily at Tallu. “Ignore my husband. You know how newlyweds are. He worries for me too much.”

Nuti’s lips went pale, and I shook my head.

“Husband, give me some privacy. You’re making her nervous.” I raised my eyebrow when Tallu looked like he wasn’t going to leave.

Finally, he nodded. “Find me when you are done.”

He swept out of the room, his purple robe trailing behind him, the Emperor’s Dogs going with him.

I watched as he left, then turned back to Nuti. She was looking at me with wide eyes.

“He truly does care for you,” she observed, and I felt something prick in my chest.

“It seems that we found each other at last,” I agreed. “Although, running the royal baths, I’m sure you’ve heard all the gossip from everyone who was at our wedding.”

Nuti laughed, an uncomfortable edge in it before she nodded. “When he was prince, he was very private about his feelings. It is good to see Emperor Tallu has found someone to share his affection.”

“I think he wasn’t the only one at my wedding to do so. Seeing our union encouraged one of the Bemishu twins to take up with the Minister of Medicine.” I watched, curious to see what Nuti would do.

Her eyes caught mine, and after a long moment, she nodded. “I know their unmarried status worried their mother before her death.”

“How did she die?” I closed my eyes and leaned back in the tub, listening as Nuti shifted beside the water.

“They said one of the Emperor’s Council did it.” Without my gaze on her, Nuti seemed more inclined to fill in the backstory. “Which was why General Bemishu was pleased when Emperor Millu disbanded it.”

Which councilor? The answer came to me instantly. Which councilor had hated General Bemishu and been close with his rival? Which exiled lady did the twins enjoy torturing the most? “Lord Dalimu?”

“Yes.” Nuti leaned forward, her next words quiet. “Some worry that Lady Dalimu has taken after her husband’s ideas. She refuses to speak to the Bemishu twins, but she wears the same perfume as them. Perhaps she’s hoping to trick their guards?”

“Perhaps,” I said slowly.

So, the Minister of Medicine might have come to check on me straight from the Bemishu twins, but it might just have easily been Lady Dalimu. Or, even more distressing, perhaps he had gifted both of his lovers the exact same perfume.

I blinked open my eyes. “Thank you for the bath. I hope to see you again.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

She helped me dress, and when I was done, a servant led me to the same room where Tallu and I had eaten that morning. Tallu stood, looking out at the training grounds, his back to me.

“Husband.” I waited, but he didn’t turn.

I was too tired to keep waiting and so fell into one of the chairs to devour an entire plate of fried pastry shells filled with meat. By the time I looked up, Tallu was sitting across from me, his expression somewhere between amused and horrified.

“Didn’t you have work to do today?” I asked around a mouthful of food.

“Hipati has collected an entire crate of documents we might be interested in,” Tallu said. “We should examine it in the comfort of my rooms. In private.”

His meaning was clear, and I nodded slowly. “Let’s take the rest of the meal in your room.”

Servants materialized out of nowhere, bringing platters of food into Tallu’s room and then disappearing just as efficiently. When we were alone, he shut the door on an unhappy Asahi. The last thing I saw was Sagam reaching out and gripping his lover’s shoulder.

When the door closed, I turned to Tallu. “What is it?”

“I’m so sorry, Airón.” Tallu’s face melted, his sorrow clear in his expression.

Both of my eyebrows went up, and my heart began racing. What was it? My mother? Or had something happened to Eona? on the trip home?

Tallu walked back to the secret room, pulling aside the wall hanging. I followed him in, staring at the center table.

Where the model of the airship had been, a cracked-open egg lay.

The creature inside had struggled out, a sticky blue fluid pooling underneath its still form.

Its tail was still stuck inside the egg, and only one wing was extended, the other pulled tight against its body. Eyes closed, it didn’t breathe.

The dragon was dead.