Page 34 of Shadow Throne King

I shook my head. There was no way measured, calm Asahi was saying such a thing, but was it his madness or my own?

“Release her,” Tallu said. “We will say she is our daughter, which will add some confusion to anyone who suspects us of not being merchants. What bandits travel with their child?”

Asahi tightened his grip on his blade but then sheathed the sword in one long movement. Sagam dropped his arms, his blades disappearing under his coat. “Are you sure, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“We’ll need clothing for her at the next town,” Tallu said in answer. “For now, fetch her something suitable and send in the Kennelmaster.”

“We cannot leave you alone with her,” Sagam said, his voice nearly pained.

“How is she more dangerous as a child than as a dragon?” I asked.

“She can speak as a child,” Asahi pointed out, his voice rough. When he looked at me, there was nothing but concern in his eyes. “And lies are often more potent than blades.”

“I believe I am adept at telling lies from truth,” Tallu said shortly. “Am I not the one who has exposed all the secrets of the most seasoned liars in the Imperium?”

Asahi opened his mouth, but Sagam brushed a hand over his elbow, so subtly that it might have been an accident. Asahi closed his mouth, his frown obvious only in the tilt of his eyes. Both Dogs bowed, and then we were alone.

“Well,” I said, stretching. I released the blade under my pillow. “I suppose that went about as well as could be expected.”

“I do not like them,” Naî said softly. “And I think you should not either.”

“They are friends I have made since coming to the Imperium,” I said, remembering the way she’d phrased it. Friends whom you could call on, but whom you did not quite trust.

The Kennelmaster came through almost immediately. He glanced at Naî where she sat on her pillow, her expression curious. “Sagam said you wanted to speak with me?”

“This is the dragon,” I said. “We’re going to claim she’s our daughter so she can travel with us.”

The Kennelmaster’s brows tightened, his confusion carved onto his face. But he didn’t protest, merely examining her with a sharp eye. Naî raised her chin, staring at him with an unblinking gaze.

“The eyes,” the Kennelmaster said slowly. “We’ll need to do something about them.”

Naî blinked, and suddenly, her eyes were brown. Surrounded by her pale lashes, they looked out of place. Asahi returned with an old shirt and a pair of pants. I wasn’t sure where he’d gottenthem, but Naî stood, and the others turned away as she stripped, pulling on the clothes and tightening the laces.

The shirt hung loose, but I stepped forward and bound the laces of her pants tightly, tucking the shirt inside so it wasn’t as obvious that it came down to her knees. Then I bent low, rolling the hems of her pants up to her ankles.

The Kennelmaster turned back, giving her a critical look before nodding. “Good enough.”

Lerolian and two other blood monks walked through the wall, startling when they saw Naî. One of the blood monks went to his knees, his eyes wide.

Lerolian frowned, but with the Kennelmaster present, I didn’t dare ask him what was so upsetting. Finally, Lerolian said, “She looks like a child. But we must remember, she is not one.”

I frowned back at Naî. Lerolian might mean it in the sense that she wasn’t a human child, but I knew it was more than that. Her body was a child, even if her memory had a legacy.

“We need to go if we plan to reach General Maki before any rumor of our presence outpaces us.” The Kennelmaster took one last, long look at Naî before nodding and leaving the tent.

We traveled faster, the cart bouncing over the road. It was harder to sleep moving at that pace, but I was exhausted. Using magic drained me, left me feeling parched and hollowed out.

I didn’t even realize I was asleep until Tallu gently woke me. We slept in a camp, then traveled even faster the next day, arriving at a large city that straddled both sides of a river, an enormous bridge linking the two halves.

Stopping at a small inn, we were immediately shown a private room, and the innkeeper herself came to speak with the Kennelmaster. Tallu sat in the corner, hood drawn up, with me next to him, powdered but with my own hood up to cover my pale hair. Naî sat across from us, her eyes moving aroundthe room, her head tilted as though she could hear what the innkeeper and the Kennelmaster were whispering about.

The Kennelmaster sighed as he settled into a chair, rolling his shoulders, a series of pops audible as he moved. “She says she hasn’t seen any hint of the other generals.”

“She’s one of your Dogs?” I asked, even though it wasn’t a guess. When we had passed through the main room, it had looked as though the place catered to merchants and traders. In such a large city, she probably saw plenty from all corners of the Imperium. Who better to know what was happening across the empire?

The Kennelmaster grunted, and that was the only confirmation I was likely to get.

Lerolian and the other blood monks dispersed into the inn, returning with gossip about the rest of the empire, as well as what they were saying about Tallu himself.