Page 71 of Shadow Throne King

And who had been killed? Quuri had said the servants responsible for poisoning Millu, but who else?

Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. I thought that, having lost her tongue, she would never be able to find another position. If shecouldfind one, there was little chance it would be somewhere as honorable as the Imperial Palace.

“Koque lives. She seemed well. Vostop cares for her greatly.” I watched as the maid’s face crumbled, both hands coming up to cover her eyes. She cried silently. “I believe she is happy with her choice.”

The maid nodded, and I finished my bath in silence, letting myself be dressed and tucked into bed. I would go to Tallu as soon as the castle calmed, as soon as there were no servants to block my way.

I woke at the first movement, a footstep just outside my door. When the door opened, I already had a knife ready, the blade pressing into the interloper’s skin. Tallu grinned at me, his teeth white in the pale moonlight coming in from the window.

“You were not expecting me,” he said.

“Should I have been?” I pulled the blade back, spinning it so that the flat pressed against my wrist when Tallu stepped fully into the room, two Dogs behind him.

Neither were Sagam or Asahi, and I hoped that meant that the two of them were getting rest. I stepped back, and Tallu reached out quickly, catching hold of my wrist.

“I waited for you,” he said.

“I was tired.” I felt the heat of embarrassment that I’d fallen asleep before I could sneak into his bed.

As though he could hear my thoughts, Tallu raised a hand to my cheek, not pulling, not even giving the slightest pressure. Just lingering with his fingertips brushing my skin.

I yielded to him. He did not need to put pressure on me, he did not need to ask—my body wanted his.

If I had been thinking straight before I went to bed, I would have known that Tallu didn’t care what the servants thought, whatanyonethought. He was the only person I might find sanctuary with in the Imperium. We were two men against an empire; our position was dire, our outcome uncertain, and all we had was each other.

Pushing onto the balls of my feet, I let our lips touch, let that single motion tell him everything I was feeling now: the relief that he was here, the gratitude that I had him with me.

He wrapped his arm around me, the flat of his palm pressing into the small of my back as he drew me against him. For a moment, we enjoyed each other’s skin. I relished knowing that I was not alone, no matter what my training said.

I could never be alone as long as he was with me.

“We should sleep,” he said against my lips.

And even though I agreed, I still wanted more. He drew me to the bed, pulling the covers over both of us with his body pressed firmly against my back, the long lines of his muscles a weight that would keep me in place, keep my mind from spinning in circles. I slipped my knife back under my pillow.

Once we were settled, he let his palm stay flat against my stomach, his nose brushing my neck, lips so close that I was tense with anticipation.

We didn’t speak about our day, about anything we had seen. Not with the two Dogs in the room.

Instead, I found myself too tense for sleep. My body was frustrated, hungry with yearning for him. If I thought I had the stamina for it, I would have frozen time just to have a moment of release with him.

“Soon,” Tallu murmured into my ear. I nearly groaned.

But his warm presence sent me back to sleep, even if my dreams were uneven and cut by a desperate yearning. I woke near dawn, but the room had the unnatural stillness of frozen time.

When I pushed back the curtains, Naî sat on her pillow. Her head was turned toward the window, and her eyes were closed, enjoying the light from sunrise on her face.

“Your mind is broken,”she said.

For a moment, I thought she was speaking of whatever Kacha had done to me. Then she continued, her tone annoyed.

“Every time you look at each other, it is like you cannot touch, cannot speak, even though I watch you do both. I don’t understand it, but the two of you need to fix whatever the tension is between you. I can give you a couple of hours, but more would be too much for me.”Naî stood, shaking herself and walking out the door, between the frozen Dogs.

Behind me, Tallu stirred, and I was reluctant to wake him from what looked like a peaceful slumber—the first in a very long time. But I couldn’t waste the gift she had given us, not when my whole body was tense with anticipation.

I pushed Tallu’s shoulder, and he woke immediately, rolling flat on his back. I didn’t wait, laying myself down on top of him, pressing my lips to his, enjoying the pliant yield of his sleepy acquiescence. We had time—not much, but enough—so I kissed him, letting my lips say everything I didn’t have time to put into words.

All my worry and anxiety disappeared at the feel of him underneath me. He lifted one of his hands, spreading it wide against my lower back, using his fingertips to work up under my nightclothes until he found skin.