Page 5

Three

A sahi still stood tense in front of me.

“How did you get in?” he demanded.

Glancing at Nohe behind me, I saw her wide eyes. She had been unaware the general was here, and from the way she glared at the servants coming into the main room to see what the commotion was about, she suspected someone else in the house had let him in.

“Now, now, Dog ,” General Kacha said, his face gleaming from a soft silver powder. “Let’s not be hasty. Consort Airón, sit. I bring a gift, one you’ll like.”

“General,” I said finally. A large part of me wanted to have Asahi kick him out, show him his place, but then I remembered the entire purpose of what we were doing.

And what if encouraging General Kacha’s greed was key to toppling the Imperium?

For a second, I was back in the emperor’s quarters, in those quiet moments in the middle of the night, listening to the way that Tallu said, “The Imperium must fall.”

I stepped around Asahi, taking the seat opposite the general.

The couches were plush, and I had to straighten my back to keep from slouching into the cushions.

General Kacha grinned, assuming he had won, and the urge to kick him out hadn’t left me, but I forced myself to smile enough to invite him to use the rope I was offering to hang himself.

Asahi came to stand next to me, then moved just slightly so that he was behind my right shoulder. Although he had sheathed his sword, tension radiated off him.

We waited, and General Kacha took the large box sitting next to him and placed it on the table between us. Still, I waited, letting the silence grow uncomfortable before I asked, “What is it?”

“It is something you deserve after the display yesterday.” General Kacha bowed his head, although he didn’t use the hand signal to indicate rank.

Yesterday, I had trounced all three of his soldiers until one had tried to murder me with his electro magic.

The attempt hadn’t ended well for him when Tallu had stepped in, absorbing the electricity and turning our fight into attempted regicide.

I wanted to make Kacha squirm, leave him like a mealworm caught on a fisherman’s hook. I wanted to punish him for what had happened yesterday: not just the fight but stealing northern weapons, dulling the blades.

Instead, I drew the gorgeously carved wooden box closer to me. The heavy gift scraped over the table, the noise the only sound in the quiet room. The lid interlocked, each piece part of a larger puzzle. I slid a pale piece into a darker slot and heard a click inside that released the catch.

I pulled the lid free, the smell of wood chips and scented oils hitting me. I sneezed at the sudden assault. Putting the lid to the side, I blinked, horror turning my stomach as I tried to make sense of what was inside the box.

Inside was a man’s head.

All I could see was dark curling hair, combed neatly and tied with a blue ribbon in the back as though he was about to be inspected by his superior officer. I turned to General Kacha. “What is this?”

General Kacha sat straighter, reaching into the box and lifting out the head by the hair, dropping it on the table. The man could not have been dead very long: his skin had gone waxy and gray, but there was no sign of maggots. His lips were blue, and his eyes clouded over.

Without his body, it took me a moment to recognize him as one of the men I had fought the day before. He was the bear, the one who had been so confident in his size and strength.

Now that I knew who it was, the purple coloring around his nose wasn’t evidence of fluids settling after his death. It was evidence of the broken nose I had given him.

“What happened yesterday was a shame,” General Kacha said, regarding the back of the head. “These men disgraced themselves and the imperial military. I wanted you to see, on your first day as consort, that they had been adequately punished.”

Outside of the sealed box, without the protective layers of the oil-soaked wood chips, the head smelled. Wide eyes stared back at me, and it was impossible not to imagine his complete inability to understand why he was being punished, what he had done that was so wrong and deserved death.

“This is your gift to me?” I asked.

“As soon as you married Emperor Tallu, you became one with the Imperium. Your wedding might have been with him, but you are now a member of the empire at the highest level. Even a soldier trained to kill northerners should have understood that distinction.” General Kacha bowed again to me, this time forming a triangle with his fingers and raising it above his head as he folded at the waist.

It was not the first dead body I had seen.

It was not even the first death I had caused, although I had left none of those men long enough to turn blue, for their sightless eyes to cloud over.

Sea serpents had made quick work of them, and I hoped General Kacha had given some animal this man’s body to consume.

“Your gift is noted,” I said finally. “I appreciate your show of loyalty, General Kacha. I am without friends here, and I am glad to know someone like you is offering friendship.”

Why wasn’t Eona? here? She would have known prettier ways to pique the general’s interest. Instead, here I was, bumbling through like a northern bear.

“I’m very glad my gift has been understood in the spirit with which it was offered.” General Kacha leaned back and regarded me. “Has the emperor told you your new position yet?”

For a moment, I had the disorienting sensation that Tallu had simply announced to the entire court that I was promising to sell his secrets in exchange for favors only to bring all intelligence back to Tallu. Then I shook my head.

“We haven’t decided on an official position yet. I believe the emperor wants to get to know my strengths before I take a position of power.” I raised my eyebrows. “Do you have a suggestion I might pass on to him?”

“No. I would never want to come between a consort and the emperor. However, since your days are unoccupied still, I thought perhaps you might train our soldiers.” Kacha’s face creased in a smile that belonged around the family table.

One not occupied by a dead man’s head. “These three soldiers shamed themselves and their unit by not obeying the rules of the fight, but more than that, I saw how easily you were able to best them. If all northern warriors are as capable as you, that means our training hasn’t been sufficient. ”

“I’m a prince; my training was likely more extreme than any other northern warrior’s. After all, until two weeks ago, my job was to protect my sister, the princess.” I tried to focus on Kacha’s face but found it impossible not to let my eyes drift to the head between us.

“Either way, I ask that you teach our commanders so that they might train their troops on how best to defend against northern weapons. The wolf’s claw in particular was effective in close-range fighting.

” When I didn’t respond, Kacha’s eyes twinkled.

“You may take it as a compliment. You fought three of our best-trained warriors. Very few could have stood against them for more than a few seconds.”

“You want me to train the military how best to kill northern warriors.” I tried to keep my tone even, but the image came to me of an army of imperial soldiers who knew exactly how to root out our warriors, who knew all the tricks and all the advantage the land provided, who knew how to counter any move that our warriors had been taught on the wolf’s claw.

“Yes,” General Kacha said. “Yesterday, you abandoned your loyalty to your homeland and claimed membership of Emperor Tallu’s household.”

In his pause, I heard his implicit questions and wanted to wince away from them. Was I starting my marriage on a lie? Who was I loyal to: the Northern Kingdom or the Southern Imperium?

“I would be happy to train your men,” I said finally. “As long as I may also train the commanders under the other four generals.”

General Kacha’s face tightened, eyes narrowing and forehead creasing. Before he could say anything, I gestured to the head using the movement that Nohe had drilled into me. Even as my stomach twisted, my hand motion said thank you for the generous gift.

“Your show of respect cannot possibly be beaten, but you are right. I promised myself to the House Atobe yesterday, meaning that all of his military should share the benefits of any northern secrets I expose.” Widening my eyes, I tried to use the same expression I would if I was convincing Yor?mu that I had done my morning exercises, but before she had woken, so there was no need to send me on another five-mile run.

“Unless you can think of a reason I should work with your men alone?”

“No, of course not. What a generous idea to train all of the commanders,” General Kacha said.

“I agree,” I said. “Thank you, General Kacha, for bringing this to my attention.”

I tried to remember the hand signal indicating a meeting was over, that it would be rude for the other person to stay, but all I was pulling up was a series of inappropriate gestures from the north.

Nohe had circled the room, sending all the servants back to their assigned tasks, and I caught sight of her over General Kacha’s shoulder. Her hand made a quick signal. She touched forefinger to thumb and drew it across her body.

Hoping I wasn’t about to make a fool of myself, I mimicked the gesture. General Kacha’s face split with a smile, and he immediately stood.

Jovially, he said, “Consort Airón, I am glad and relieved that you are learning more about the Imperium as you continue your stay here. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.”

He slipped out of the room with grace, and despite his size and girth, I could see the fighter he had once been. When a servant shut the door behind him, I slouched back into the couch, covering my face with my hands.

Muffled, I said, “Get it out of here.”