Page 75 of Shadow Throne King
“The door to the workshop?” I asked.
“Still closed. No servants are missing, according to Quuri.” At my sharp glance, the Kennelmaster allowed, “And my spies.”
“So, in the night, something took them.” Tallu stood, wearing his frown tight across his brow. “What?”
“We have not entered the room yet, at Your Imperial Majesty’s direction,” the Kennelmaster said. “Do we have your permission?”
“No, for now, post guards further up the stairway and some at the top. We will see this ourselves.” Tallu tilted his head just slightly. “Afterwe dress.”
“I will send your servants in,” the Kennelmaster said, acknowledging the point. He turned but let his hand linger on the door handle. “Your Imperial Majesty, we are about to see the first civil war in the history of the Imperium. Your own generals act against you. Is attacking Krustau truly the route you wish to take?”
“It is not my wish; it is the only path forward. There are too many pieces on the board. The Shadow King has my brother and General Maki. What are we to do? Let him keep the man who knows the secrets of all our war efforts? Let him keep my brother, crown prince and heir to the Imperium?” Tallu shook his head. “Would you have asked my father the same question?”
The Kennelmaster’s eyebrows rose, and he raised his chin. Exhaling a slow breath, he put his mask on, turning to open the door. In itself, that was an answer.
“I have given you leeway, Kennelmaster, and put myself at your mercy, but know this:Iam emperor.Iam House Atobe. My word is law.”
“I have not questioned your word,” the Kennelmaster said, hand lingering on the door handle. He turned, bowing low, his fingers forming a triangle with the precision of long practice. “I have never questioned the orders of the crown.”
“So you were questioning someone else?” I said pointedly. “Someone else named ‘Your Imperial Majesty’?”
“Am I not allowed to advise His Imperial Majesty?” The Kennelmaster straightened, glaring at me. “A good leader lets his men ask questions.”
“He is no longer a boy,” I said. “He is no longer his father’s heir. He is emperor.”
With the mask on, I couldn’t read the Kennelmaster’s expression. “And I will not forget it again.”
“Send in our servants,” Tallu said. “And we will open Maki’s workshop.”
It took only a few minutes for the room to fill back up with servants and Dogs, some straightening the rumpled bedclothes, others dressing Tallu and me, a couple bringing breakfast from the kitchen. Each of the servants who brought it tested the food in front of the watchful Dogs. Neither hesitated, and I wonderedhow they had that strength to trust that none of the other servants had put something in the food.
I prepared myself a plate, then looked out the window and saw the three ravens that had followed me from the Mountainside Palace to the Lakeshore Palace. Terror appeared grumpy, his ruffled feathers and arched shoulders making it clear that he was not impressed with how tightfisted I was being with the food.
Amused, I opened the door to the balcony, stepping out onto it and out of earshot of all the servants and Dogs. I pinched a piece of fried meat from my plate between my thumb and forefinger, holding it out to Terror.
“For your loyalty,” I said. “Even if we no longer understand each other.”
The bird cocked his head at me, turning so that he could regard me fully with one of his eyes. “She will owe me for staying so loyal to this miser. Why I…”
I blinked, frowning, but the more I tried to listen, the more his words faded though his voice lost none of its volume. Then, the only thing I heard was Dawn’s irritated squawk as Ratcatcher shuffled closer, nudging Terror until the other bird pecked him hard, sending him flapping away.
“She who?” I demanded, but Terror only regarded me.
I handed out most of the food on my plate, saving for myself the cooked cereal, already cooled by the time I put my spoon in it. The air changed as Tallu came up beside me.
Glancing over my shoulder, four Dogs were arrayed at the door to the balcony, just far enough that they might be able to hear whatever we said.
“My lord,” I said.
“You look at me strangely now,” Tallu murmured. He handed over a small piece of bread, and Dawn and Ratcatcher fought over it, their squabbling covering his words. “I thought perhapsI shouldn’t tell you. But you make me irresponsibly honest. Loving you makes me lose all reason. I want to tell you everything.”
I turned, glancing at him. His profile was severe, his expression nearly unreadable. But I had seen behind his walls, and I knew that every aspect of his appearance was a single seamless façade, carefully constructed to turn him into the emperor that everyone wanted to see.
No wonder the Imperium’s citizens thought he was a god. His own feelings had no place on the face of Emperor Tallu, patriarch of House Atobe, first Dragon Chosen Emperor of the Southern Imperium. Yet underneath, I knew he was Tallu, the boy who had been waging a silent rebellion, poisoning his own empire from within.
Tallu’s emotions went as deep as the ocean, and loving me had set the surface of him alight—what had once been water as smooth as glass was now choppy with waves.
“I will not let this be the end,” I said. “And you will not either. We can leave now, give this all up. There are cabins in Dragon’s Rest Mountains that no one ever visits. We can find one and live there. I could hunt, and you could just be.”