Page 50 of Shadow Throne King
“Of course.” The Kennelmaster bowed, then gestured four of the remaining Dogs to stay. The rest he took with him. I hoped screams didn’t echo in the palace.
We followed Quuri down a hall to a narrow stairway. The size and lack of decoration told me it was mostly used by servants. We had to descend single-file, the steps growing shorter and more worn the closer we got to our destination.
Finally, Quuri stopped. There was a door that looked as though it was built into the very foundation of the palace.
The brass keyhole nearly blended in with the brown marble the door was made of.
“Open it,” Tallu demanded.
Quuri took a step back. “There was only one key, and General Maki took it with him?—”
“You are a very efficient steward of this palace.” I stepped forward, running my thumb across the small indentation where the key should go. “You take great pride in your work. You have the respect of the servants beneath you. You have only their best interests at heart.”
The small landing we stood on was barely big enough for three of us plus the two Dogs pressed so close behind Tallu that they looked like dark wings over his shoulders. Another pair of Dogs stood on the stairway, crowding us further.
“A servant such as you would never leave a room with a single key. There is too much of a chance of it being lost. Too many things that could go wrong.” I watched her face, and she glanced to the side where Tallu stood, his face masked in mild annoyance.
“It is illegal, punishable bydeath, to make any keys without His Imperial Majesty’s approval.” She swallowed.
“And what punishment do you think His Imperial Majesty will mete out if General Maki has left something behind in the Lakeshore Palace and you are helping him hide it?” I didn’t try to catch her eyes, instead letting her stare at Tallu with terror.
“I… I only wanted to keep the Lakeshore palace secure,” she whispered. “I am a loyal citizen, a proud servant of His Imperial Majesty. I assumed Your Imperial Majestyknew... that you hadordered?—”
“That I had orderedwhat?” Tallu asked pointedly.
Quuri wet her lips. “That with so many of your most trusted generals acting against you, it would be logical to look into forbidden techniques. The Lakeshore Palace is so far from the capital. We understand that we are, as with your father, a place where an emperor might not have the eyes of the court on him.”
I squinted at the door. “What was this room before?”
Quuri was quiet, but Tallu’s face had taken on a flatness. “This is where my father took his girls?”
In answer, Quuri took out a ring of keys and, with shaking hands, found a brass one, carved with the dragon symbol of House Atobe. Tallu watched, his lips pursed.
“You assumed I was like my father, that his dark, forbidden desires stained my soul as well. Only my desire was not to bed unwilling children and double their pain through my efforts, but rather to go against the laws set in place after the war with the blood mages?” His tone was tight, nearly a growl.
Quuri’s hand shook so violently that she dropped the keys. I bent and picked them up. I didn’t offer them back, finding the key she had been trying to use and inserting it into the lock.
“I am loyal to the Imperium,” Quuri whispered. “I did not ask what he was doing, because I know we must crush the rebellion before it gains a foothold.”
Turning, I met her eyes. “His Imperial Majesty knows you are loyal.”
Because if one thing was clear now, it was that the Lakeshore Palace was where the crown hid its dirtiest, deadliest secrets. How many girls had Millu had tossed in the lake when he was done? Did the sea serpents in the moat grow fat and sleek from feasting on them?
It was no wonder that when told the emperor wanted somewhere secret for Maki to do his terrible work, Quuri had accepted it with only a letter to go by. I turned back to thelock, turning the key. Now let us see what horrors Maki had left behind.
The door opened.
Twelve
We all stared at the door, and I turned to look at Tallu. One of the Dogs pushed forward, gently nudging me out of the way so that Tallu and I were bookended by Dogs. Quuri was still held apart from us, one Dog between us and her. Even they didn’t trust her, and whether it was from an abundance of caution or whether they also wondered why she had forgotten to tell Tallu about Maki’s experiments, I couldn’t tell.
The door had opened into utter darkness. There were no windows, and based on how far down the stairs had gone, I assumed we were underground.
“How did Maki even know of this room?” My question seemed swallowed up by the open door, and I wasn’t sure anyone would answer.
“I’m not sure. It was a closely guarded secret, even among the servants. When he asked for it specifically, I took that to mean that you had told him about it. My own foolishness.” Quuri shook her head, doubling over in an awkward bow, the top of her head brushing the Dog nearest her. “Your Imperial Majesty, I have no explanation for how I allowed this to happen. I should be punished for such an offense. It was my error to let a traitor to the Imperium into your palace and give him the run of it?—”
“We will deal with that later,” Tallu said. “Tell us what Maki was doing here.”