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This got a reaction. Less of one than I expected, a mild raising of eyebrows, and one of the stewards made an aborted hand gesture that had the effect of a swear, based on the reactions of the other servants.

Finally, the cook said, “The property on Heron Lake doesn’t have the same capacity as the kitchens in the Imperial Palace.”

Her hands were clasped behind her back, and I could see a twitch in her shoulder as though she was making a fist where we could not see.

“And we will be inviting any from the city who wish to mark the occasion with us.” Tallu looked over the servants. “All of our citizens should be able to join us in celebrating our union.”

“All of the citizens,” the palace steward repeated, his throat working as he comprehended how much work we’d just dumped in his lap. “Your Imperial Majesty is generous with his joy.”

There were certain hand motions that Nohe assured me meant this person is out of their mind, and I am only listening and agreeing because to do otherwise would be rude .

It was a slip of the fingers from the earlobe to shoulder, and I knew that every servant in the room must have been fighting the urge to use it.

“I am not asking if it is possible,” Tallu said. “I am saying this is what we will do.”

“Very well, Your Imperial Majesty.” The steward of his quarters led the bows, the rest following, their fingers not even trembling as they formed triangles.

His tone made the statement a fact, even as I could tell from his phrasing that he thought his master’s eccentricity was beyond mad.

“We will celebrate at Heron Lake in… eleven days.”

“Is it truly hard to do?” I asked the cook. “Feed that many people? The emperor has told me of the annual Promise Celebrations when every citizen is out in the streets. Surely it will be like that for this.”

“At those celebrations, the thriving community of local chefs comes together to offer their wares.” The head cook’s voice took on a hopeful tone.

She’d come to a solution, not even seeing the gentle way Tallu and I had pulled her to the answer we wanted.

“Would Your Imperial Majesty like me to invite food vendors? They would be familiar with feeding large crowds. With their help, we might supplement people’s needs, and it would allow us to focus on the more traditional portion of the one-month meal. ”

Tallu shifted his fingers, his rings chiming as they brushed together. He watched the head cook as though the woman were presenting him cow dung as an entrée at dinner. The cook rolled her hands together, clearing her throat and bowing again, hands forming a triangle.

“Your Imperial Majesty, it is not that I would not want to feed the people attending your celebration, but such an undertaking will be costly on short notice, and I fear too many would go hungry rather than honor your union with a full stomach.” The cook didn’t rise, her back straight and arms thick with muscles that could carry massive cuts of meat easily, forearms that could knead a week’s worth of dough.

She wore white, in contrast to the other servants in their marigold yellow, signifying their superior position in the palace. Her only yellow was a band of it that kept her hair out of her face, the skin of her cheeks and arms pocked with oil burns.

“Your suggestion is a good one,” Tallu said finally.

The cook exhaled an uneven breath and stood straight. Her mouth began to stretch into a smile that matched the lines on either side of her mouth, but before she could, she forced her face into the passive neutrality that most imperial servants wore.

“Your Imperial Majesty honors me,” the cook said.

“Husband,” I said, laying my hand on his arm, as though coming to an impromptu decision. “I have never experienced the street food she speaks of. It would please me to taste it before we serve it at our one-month celebration. In the north, we do not have such a thing.”

“Of course. You should know what we are offering.” Tallu looked down at the cook. “Please have someone escort Prince Airón around the capital so he can sample the wares of anyone you are inviting to cook for our one-month celebration.”

The cook blinked and bit her lip but bowed again. “Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.”

The rest of the meeting was about logistics, but with two of their number already agreeing to the plan, the steward of the Imperial Palace and the head of the servants had little choice but to join in.

As the meeting came to a close, the servants gave each other subtle looks that indicated each was trying to gauge the others’ displeasure. I stood and approached the cook.

She looked up at me, her smile growing wide. “Your Highness.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get your name,” I said.

“Yara, Your Highness.” She straightened. “If it pleases you, I can contact Nohe and arrange to schedule your visit to the city. Or, if you prefer to stay here, any of the vendors would be happy to come to the palace and present you with food.”

“No need. Let’s not make it complicated,” I said as I was about to overcomplicate poor Yara’s life. “Let’s go to the market today, and you can show me our options.”

She looked at me, blinking before saying, “ Now , Your Highness?”

“Now,” I agreed. “I am needed back at the palace later in order to go over documents.”

“Of course.” Yara cleared her throat. “Of course, Your Highness.”

She gestured awkwardly, an aborted motion that meant to lead the way before she thought better of it. “Would you give me a few minutes, Your Highness? To ready myself and my staff if I will be missing for some time.”

I nodded, and she rushed off, her feet squeaking on the polished floors. One of the Dogs peeled himself off the wall behind Tallu. He didn’t speak to me, but from his height and hair, I knew he wasn’t Asahi.

“Prince Airón, if you are going into the city, you should dress in a way that doesn’t make you so obvious.” The Dog’s tone was censorious, and I almost snapped at him, but Tallu stood, swept his robe back, and came down the dais until he stood in front of me.

I looked up when I saw him, and he gestured with one hand. The Dog stepped back.

“He’s right,” Tallu said quietly.

“I can take care of myself,” I grumbled. It was more to say something than actually argue.

Tallu reached down and drew a finger up my jacket, and I shivered as his finger paused on the stitching. “This says you’re mine . I do not want anyone else to get ideas as Bechi did, that they can try to take you from me.”

I swallowed. “I’ll change.”

“Good.” Tallu’s russet eyes were fire, his dark curls and soft skin and the pressure of his finger … I could live like that happily.

He turned away, striding out of the room, and I returned to Turtle House and let Nohe and Piivu fuss over me and get me into clothing that said I was important without labeling me with a giant “ Ideal for Kidnapping and Ransoming ” sign.

When I was dressed, I noticed Lerolian in the corner, his brows tight, his mouth pulled down in the corners.

The Dog who’d chided me and accompanied me to my quarters was one I recognized only passingly.

He had none of the personality that Sagam or Asahi did, and I didn’t dare slip up in front of him, either with Lerolian or my animal speak.

Something in his eyes was hard as they flicked around the room. Even in Turtle House, he doubted my safety. Or, perhaps more damning, he believed I was dangerous, despite my loss to the commanders.

Did he look at Tallu with the same hard suspicion? Was he one of the Dogs whose loyalty to his old master was making him disloyal to his current one?

I needed privacy, at least for a moment to breathe, to talk to Lerolian before I left. Standing, I noted how the Dog tightened his hand on his blade, readying for my presumed attack.

Nohe saw it, too, and her whole body went stiff. Piivu was the only one unaware, picking up discarded clothing and accoutrements. With a glance at me, Nohe said loudly that she wanted my opinion on the new linens, ushering me into my bedroom and closing the door with a solid click behind her.

I caught a glimpse of the Dog’s form, striding across the room, but Nohe placed her back to the door.

“Your Highness, is Asahi not able to accompany you?” Nohe’s voice was calm, her expression composed, but the way she touched her forefinger to thumb was the first part of a gesture of concern that she didn’t seem to want to finish.

“No,” I said. “But I do see that my new Dog is perhaps not as devoted as Asahi. I will be aware.”

Nohe didn’t frown, her face too well trained at expressing no opinions on foreigners’ strangeness. Instead, she bowed, her fingers triangled.

“However, I could use some time away from his disapproval. Could you alert me when the carriage to the city is ready?” I knew a true imperial would never request. They ordered, even Tallu.

Still, Nohe rose, nodding and murmuring, “Of course.”

She exited the room, and I saw Piivu’s back at the door as he stood between my Dog and the door. If even Piivu feared for my safety, I began to wonder if our plan would work at all with this Dog in attendance.

“Lerolian,” I said quietly.

In a moment, the ghost was in my room. He frowned at the closed door.

“Can you make the offer to Miksha?” I asked. “You can speak with her and let her know our plans. It is, apparently, no simple task for me to go to her.”

“I cannot,” Lerolian said.

“Your oath won’t let you?” I sat heavily on the bed, watching the swaying branches outside my window.

“No, she cannot see me. No one else can, except Tallu. We are tied to his soul. I thought perhaps with her magic, she could, but her eyes passed through me.” Lerolian’s voice rose, and whether it was in frustration or anger, I couldn’t tell, but he ended on a near shout.

“She walked through me. Only Tallu can see me. Only him. And now you .”

As his rage intensified, the air around us darkened, and his hair, matted with blood, rose, like tendrils of snakes, like a threat. His eyes went red, and if he had had flesh, I would have already had my blades out.

But he had no flesh, and the anger dropped out of him with a helpless slump of his shoulders.

“Trust me,” I said, watching his face. “If I could arrange for Miksha to see you instead of me, I would do so in an instant. There is no part of me remotely interested in keeping you to myself. You are a wit best shared with others.”

Lerolian laughed, a choked, unhappy sound. “She will only be in the market today. Will you be able to get away from your guard long enough to speak with her?”

“I’ll have to,” I said. “I want to get rid of Kacha and Bemishu and Maki at the same time. We need a blood mage to do that.”

Lerolian shook his head. “You are overconfident in your complicated plan.”

“I’m confident that fate wouldn’t have drawn me and Tallu together if we had no chance of success. The threads of it are woven together, and we must play our parts.”

Tilting his head, Lerolian looked me over. “You look like a northerner, despite your dress. And yet your mother told you about the Spider?”

“My mother told me about all of the animalia who served under the One Dragon. Spider, whose web traps us all in our roles. Elephant, who holds the world on her back. Sea serpent, with her courage. Fox, trickster who fears none of the others.”

“All the old stories.” Lerolian leaned against the table, his eyes going distant.

“In the north, we have little to do in the winter but tell stories. We tell our own, too. The story of the great northern bear and her children. The story of the mother whale and the misguided man who set out to catch her.” I shivered under my layers of imperial silks, the heat oppressive.

I missed chilly nights, a warm fire, and the elders of the clan telling stories that they had heard from their mothers and grandmothers.

“We tell of the animals, too, but we also told about how the One Dragon taught us blood magic, how the first monk spent his whole life achieving the control necessary to practice it, and, when he finally did, he died from old age, so the One Dragon plucked his soul from his bones and placed it in a newborn babe.” Lerolian’s lips pulled into a smile.

Someone knocked on the door, and when I called for them to enter, Piivu came in, bowing low and saying that the carriage was ready. I followed him down to the front drive, the Dog behind me. Abruptly, I turned.

“What is your name?” I asked.

He stilled, but not before taking that last step well inside my personal space. He smelled like nothing, his mask similar to the others’ except for two grooves he’d carved into the cheek. The black clay showed a grimacing animal, a snarling dog, just like the others.

“You don’t need to know my name,” he said. “You can call me Dog.”

“No,” I said. “I can’t. So let’s start again. I’m Airón. And you are?”

“Toji, Highness,” he answered, his tone almost snide.

“Good, glad we got that out of the way.” I twisted my lips into something like a smile. “Is there anything I should know, going into the city?”

“No,” Toji said. “I’ll keep you safe. Your Highness.”

“I have nothing but faith in the Emperor’s Dogs.” The lie passed like truth through my lips.

His narrowed eyes were so disdainful his gaze might as well have been poison. I could have melted the ice walls of the Silver City with that glare.

Great. I was traveling away from the protection of the palace and servants who mostly liked me with a man who clearly hated my guts and wanted me dead so I could meet with a blood mage in full view of everyone and hope I could figure out a way to get her alone.

This was going to be fun.