Page 46

Twenty-Two

B ack at the palace, Toji silently escorted me back to my rooms, standing vigil in the corner as Nohe went over my responsibilities for the rest of the day.

It mostly involved politely declining invitations, and as soon as I could, I returned to Tallu’s quarters, where Hipati was ordering General Saxu’s aides around as though she were a military commander and they were trainees.

Toji followed me, like the shadows I’d once seen the Dogs as. He was a ghost wearing the body of a man, barely blinking as he trailed behind me.

I could feel him, like an icicle dripping freezing water down my spine. Everything about him made me shiver with tension. His eyes still moved, his gaze fixed on whoever the biggest threat was. But he said nothing, and only when I stared for long minutes did I see his chest rise and fall.

If she noticed my distraction, Hipati was kind enough not to mention it, and the general’s aides were too busy searching for the information she had requested to even look me in the eye.

Tallu returned, and I eagerly greeted him. He brought Asahi and Sagam with him, relieving the Dogs on duty.

“Husband, have you eaten the evening meal yet?” I asked, my eyes looking just over his shoulder where Asahi was trying to engage Toji in conversation.

Toji looked at him for a long beat, then turned and walked away. I remembered Miksha’s words. You will perform your duties. You will go back to your quarters. You will die.

I tried to breathe normally, tried to listen, but I still startled when Tallu reached out to grab hold of my arm.

He frowned at me, concerned. “I should like to eat with you.”

Toji was out of my sight, and yet still I could somehow feel him as though he remained in the room with me.

Tallu raised his arm, and I took it automatically, following him into his private dining room, taking a seat, and eating the food in front of me. Compared to the feast I had eaten in the marketplace earlier, palace food seemed pale in comparison, or perhaps it was everything that happened after.

Tallu was still staring at me, his russet gaze fixed on my face, his brows drawn together, creasing his perfect forehead.

“I should like to retire early this evening,” he said finally.

“Of course,” I said, standing, unsure if he wanted me to leave, but he grabbed my hand in his, and I could feel the spark of electricity between us, snapping at my palm and bringing me back to the present.

Tallu dragged me to his bedroom, his pace quick, and then he closed the door, locking it behind him.

“What happened at the market? I got no report that anything was amiss. Were you attacked?” He stepped forward, his hand warm on my cheek, thumb pressing into my cheekbone as he turned my head back and forth, lifting it to check my throat. “Are you injured?”

I shook my head, finding the only words I could. “What are we doing to stop General Maki?”

Tallu’s frown deepened, and the pressure of his thumb turned into a caress. “Did he make a move? Did he attack you or threaten you?”

“Toji is dead,” I said.

“Toji,” Tallu said, the drag on the word meaning he had no idea who I was talking about.

“Your Dog. The one who went with me to the marketplace. He caught me with Miksha, and I killed him.” The words were true, yet somehow, they did not cover the horror of what I had seen.

I began to tremble, remembering corpses strewn across the deck of the whaling boat, my blade wet with blood, my clothing soaked with seawater. The blood had gotten under my nails, and it had taken days for me to be free of it.

“No one said anything about a missing Dog. Where did you hide the body?” Tallu asked.

“I didn’t have to hide him. Miksha brought him back to life.

Temporarily—he’ll die again tonight.” I tried to tug away, but Tallu held me firm, wrapping his arms around me and pulling our bodies together until my face was pressed into his shoulder.

“If this is what your general is doing, we need to stop him.”

For a long minute, we just breathed together, until my breath was as steady as his. Then, when I was no longer trembling, Tallu said, “I am glad Toji did not hurt you.”

“Well,” I said, pushing back so that I could look at him in the eye again, “as far as he knew, he was attacking a simple northern warrior. Not a trained assassin who had been taught to kill imperials before he learned how to wipe his own bottom. I was good at both, by the way.”

Tallu snorted and released me from his arms. “We will deal with Maki. Although his techniques and research are valuable to the other generals, he is not powerful without them. When Kacha and Bemishu fall, we will have time to ruin him. There is no rush.”

“If he has the power of a blood mage over death, we must see him as a threat, just as strong as Kacha or Bemishu. They have the military might and the troops, but Maki is more dangerous than Lady Dalimu. She is doing this out of desperation. As far as I can tell, she does not believe in the goals of the Imperium with the fervor of a true believer.” I shook my head, one hand lingering on the soft fabric of Tallu’s jacket.

“Maki is the worst of both: he is doing this to see if he can, but he also believes that what the Imperium is doing is the right thing. He has no qualms about doing this.”

“You want to take him down now?” Tallu asked.

“I want to link him firmly to Kacha or Bemishu. Their fall will be his fall.” I let myself feel the weight of the task. “I just don’t know how yet.”

“What did Miksha say? Will she heal Velethuil so that he can take them north?” Tallu reached out, his soft knuckles brushing over my cheek and bringing me back to the present.

“I don’t know. She wanted to talk to Liku.

She said that if she did agree, she would say it into the air, and one of the blood mages could bring news of it back to us.

” I exhaled, the next breath bringing me Tallu’s heady scent.

“Me, I would not be at ease knowing that ghosts were all around me, observing all the time. Apparently, she finds it comforting.”

“I hope she makes the right decision.” Tallu turned his hand, his palm cupping my cheek, his thumb dragging delightfully over my cheekbone.

I could barely think. “Either way, I want to bait General Kacha before our one-month celebration. When we blow up the airship, it will weaken General Bemishu, if he’s able to survive the political fallout at all.

I don’t want to give General Kacha the opportunity to strengthen his own position. ”

“So, this week?” I had to move back from him before I lost my head, before I could not think of anything beyond his touch. I rubbed my eyes. Turning, I saw the window already open, Terror perched in the windowsill, eyeing both of us. “Did I miss anything else?”

“A servant left open one of the windows to the empress’s old tower. They were cleaning and storing her things.” Terror cocked his head. “The servants talked to each other about her. They whispered that the old mistress did not talk to animals.”

“I suppose she didn’t,” I said. I sat down on the bed, rubbing my face, then turned and lay on the soft sheets. “We can use that, though. Tomorrow, I’ll have lunch with the Bemishu twins. Maybe I’ll be a little careless.”

Tallu came and sat on the bed, running his fingers through my hair. “Do not be careless, Airón. We are both desperate to achieve it, but this task is not worth your life.”

That was where he was wrong. I knew what my life was worth; my mother had made it clear.

My life was worth exactly one fallen empire.

“So, it isn’t true?” Topi asked.

“No, of course it is.” I smiled at her, all friendliness, though the limit of my patience was approaching quickly.

“But how did you address them?” Pito asked, her head tilted in puzzlement.

“Well, the woman who gave birth to me was my mother, and the first woman married into the family was first wife, and the second was second wife, and so on and so forth.” I didn’t mention how many husbands were also in my mother’s familial unit within the Silvereyes Clan.

“How strange.” Topi shook her head, glancing at her sister, eyebrows up as though they were sharing a joke.

Perhaps, to someone else, the insulting tone would have caused enough hurt to make them nervous, but I had nothing to fear from these women or their mockery.

“What about the other rumors?” Pito leaned forward, covering the side of her mouth as though we were sharing a secret. “Is it true you talk to animals?”

The emphasis on talk made it clear that the rumor wasn’t that we spoke with animals but that we had relations with them. Both rumors would serve my purpose.

“Some do. Not many.” That was true. Although, if my judgment was correct, the same number of animal speakers existed in the north as electro mages in the south.

“Do you ?” Topi’s eyes blinked wide. By the sharp look on her face, she expected me to lie or obfuscate or demur, saying something like, “Oh, that’s just a rumor.”

“That would be illegal.” I smirked at them, my answer as clear as though I had said yes.

Both twins stared at me in utter shock, Pito’s hand frozen halfway between her plate and her lips.

The biscuit she had been bringing to her mouth crumbled in her fingers, and she glanced at her sister, eyebrows raised.

They were the puppy who had caught the butterfly it had been chasing, and now they weren’t sure what to do with it.

“Oh.” Topi looked down at her own food, frowning for a moment before her face cleared.

When she leaned forward, her voice was intense.

“Prince Airón. Perhaps you do not understand this, but in the south, we do not joke about such things. Magic that is not electro magic is an offense that will get you killed.”

“Beheaded.” Pito’s face was pale. She knew someone, someone close to her, who had been accused of practicing foreign magic.