Page 52 of Shadow Throne King

“I have failed him. My predecessor failed the last emperor, and the Dogs killed him for it. I let an assassin have access to His Imperial Majesty. I failed to realize who Maki was. I have done more to harm the empire than anyone here.” She wiped under her eyes, then dried her fingertips against her yellow uniform.

“Is there anything else His Imperial Majesty should know?” I asked. “Anything you can think of?”

She shook her head, her lips pressed together. “I should have known. I was a fool.”

Tallu’s footsteps had faded, and Quuri and I were trapped in the narrow space of the staircase, the walls on either side oppressive. “Quuri, why was the girl’s tongue cut out?”

Her head snapped up, her breathing going fast. She bit her lip, then raised her chin to answer. “They were going to kill everyone. The Dogs. They were going to kill everyone who had waited on Empress Koque, anyone who might have helped her. The girl was innocent. She was just a bath maid. I convinced them to spare her. And that was the price they demanded.” She leaned forward again, grabbing hold of my arm. “Donottrust them.”

Her eyes widened, and I turned to look over my shoulder. One of Tallu’s Dogs had come around the bend, the angle shadowing his eyes, so I had no hint at the expression on his face.

“We’re coming,” I said.

In all our weeks on the road, none of them had shown any signs of disloyalty. Even the Kennelmaster had seemed as though the only thing he wanted was the freedom to continue doing his job as he saw fit.

The Dog turned, saying nothing, and Quuri and I followed behind.

That night,after a meal that wasn’t poisoned, I couldn’t sleep. The quarters here weren’t as private as at the Mountainside Palace. There was no special lock on the bedroom door, and the Kennelmaster had insisted that two Dogs stay in Tallu’s room with him at all times.

Even with the bed curtains drawn, I could feel them with us and remembered Quuri’s panicked look.Do not trust them.

But whocouldI trust in the situation? The steward who had let one of Tallu’s enemies into his palace or the Dogs who had unfettered access to Tallu and might very well know Tallu’s true goals?

Tallu’s arm tightened around my chest, his hand pressed over my heart. Gently, his thumb rubbed over my skin. “What is it?”

“I am worried,” I said. Which was the truth. But I couldn’t tell him what I was worried about, so instead I named another thought spiraling in my head. “I am not sure any of the messages we have received were actually from the king of the Shadow Throne.”

“What do you mean?” Tallu asked, his finger stopping its slow circles.

“Every message we have received passed first through the Lakeshore Palace. This is where messengers would have stayed the night going in both directions. If General Maki was acting in your stead, he may have changed the messages to the Krustavian king and changed the response. Perhaps the reason we onlyreceived headless corpses was because General Maki wished it so. He couldn’t risk that we would learn of his presence. He couldn’t risk that you might communicate openly with the king of Krustau.”

Tallu rolled onto his back, and I turned, letting my fingertips draw over his forehead and down his nose. I could feel his closed eyes, the frown pulling his brows together.

“He may have decapitated the men himself so they couldn’t tell us he was at the palace. In which case, we have no real idea what we will find in the dwarven kingdom,” Tallu said.

I let my fingers trace further down, feeling the tension in his jaw where he clenched it shut.

“We know at least the first message came from the Shadow King. It was a dwarf who delivered it, and he showed no signs of Maki’s influence. There were no wires coming out of him, no strangeness in his speech.”

“Other than that he tried to kill me?” Tallu asked mildly.

“Who hasn’t tried to kill you at this point?” I tapped Tallu’s chin as I thought. “Your own husband, four of your generals, several of your servants, your own heir, and nearly every one of the free nations remaining.”

“You forgot any citizens of the conquered lands,” Tallu said.

“Can’t forget them,” I said. “At this point, it’s strange if someone hasn’t tried to kill you.”

“Empress Koque did not,” Tallu said.

His words stuttered something in my heart, and the question I wanted to ask was just at the tip of my tongue. But I didn’t want any other ears to hear it. I didn’t want Tallu’s Dogs to know what he would say in response to my unvoiced question.

I could feel the desire burning up inside of me, feel it with such painful clarity that it exploded out like a star bursting in the sky.

Time froze. Or, the world froze, leaving only Tallu and me in a pocket of it.

Tallu blinked, sitting up and opening the curtains, his mouth parting when he saw the Dogs frozen, the fluttering curtains caught in midair. When he turned to me, the expression on his face was wondrous.

“Airón…” He shook his head, and I grinned back at him.