Page 8 of Shadow Throne King
“Well,” Lerolian said, coming out of the hedges between me and the direction the Kennelmaster had walked. “Isn’t that something?”
I waited until the Kennelmaster was at the entrance of the maze, glancing up at the bird sitting on top of the shrub wall. “Is he gone?”
Ratcatcher squawked an answer, and, on my shoulder, Terror pecked hard at my cheek. I took it as a yes.
“Does the Kennelmaster know that Tallu speaks to you?” I asked Lerolian.
“He likely does. Tallu has been careful his entire life, but he started seeing us when he was a child, and he wasn’t as circumspect then.” Lerolian looked after the Kennelmaster. “Tallu has attempted to choke the Kennelmaster out by limiting his funds. He has fewer spies now than he did under Tallu’s father. He may simply be trying to gain a fraction of that power back, reaching for some leverage. He might not know anything.”
I considered the body at my feet. “No. I don’t think this is a man who makes threats without certainty.”
“What are you going to do?” Lerolian bent low, lifting his hand to hover it just above Boro’s face. My heart lurched with the momentary fear that Lerolian could stir Boro’s blood and bring him back to life.
“Tell Tallu. The Kennelmaster isn’t wrong. Tallu needs someone loyal to him as an ally over a nationalist who believes in the dragon seer promise like General Saxu.”
“It will break the old warhorse’s heart if he ever finds out what Tallu’s goal truly is.” Lerolian closed his eyes, his hands making complicated motions. I assumed it was some blood monk rite to honor the dead.
“Where is Tallu?” I asked.
Lerolian’s lips moved in soundless prayer. I shook my head. I needed to get cleaned up first anyway. Heading down the same path that the Kennelmaster had taken, I walked back to Turtle House.
Nohe bowed when she saw me, instantly issuing sharp orders to fetch both a hot bath and one of the official bath maids to wait on me. She hissed at the sight of my cheek but agreed to delay summoning the doctor until I’d washed the blood off and we could see how bad it was.
Nuti arrived just as the staff finished pouring the last of the hot water into the tub, and she helped me undress and settle in the tub. I let my eyes fall shut as Nuti scrubbed evidence of both of the fights from me, pulling the crushed pieces of insect from where they were embedded in my skin and gently cleaning the cut on my cheek.
“How is the bathhouse?” I asked.
She drew a washcloth over my arm, rubbing gentle circles over the grime. “It is disused, Your Highness. Less choose the public baths.”
“More so than last week?” I didn’t open my eyes but felt her hesitate before scrubbing over my shoulders. The water had started just slightly too hot, and now, the air was too cold.
“Yes. The Yiilipo family has made their excuses and retired to their house in River Otter province. The Yiilipo matriarch was deeply unhappy about giving up the luxuries to be found in thecapital for the rustic appeal of the countryside. Her son was even more distraught. His mistress is about to give birth, and he was forced to choose whether to marry her or abandon the child. His mother was even less happy about suddenly having a daughter-in-law from a house of fishmongers.” She rinsed the area of skin she’d just scrubbed, leaving me pinker than usual. “There are very few families left in the palace.”
Meaning few still exclusively loyal to Tallu. He’d made enemies when he’d abolished the Emperor’s Council, and now there was no one to rely on.
“Any news from Blue Mountain View House?” I asked. The councilors had been granted a reprieve from their exile after our wedding, meaning they could stay in the capital, stay in thepalace, as Tallu decided his next move.
The given reason was the emperor’s whim. The whispers were that I had requested it and Tallu denied me nothing. However, the councilors themselves must have been smart enough to suspect that it was simply that Tallu didn’t want them on the road where they might decide to ally with any of the rebelling generals.
“Nothing explicit,” Nuti said, her voice cautious. “But there are some whispers that House Sotonam has reached an agreement to take in the heirs of Councilor Lluso.”
Waiting, I heard Nuti move some glass bottles. They clinked together with bright, chiming sounds. “That means that the Lluso family would give up their last name and take the Sotonam last name? Would it be allowed?”
“Lord Sotonam asked for an exception, as Rute’s death caused a gap in the line of House Sotonam’s succession. He claimed that since Lord Lluso died, the ‘death in exile’ Emperor Millu sentenced the family to had been met. They have no patriarch, they have no family.” Nuti clicked her tongue. “It’sa very fine distinction, and if Emperor Tallu agrees with Lord Sotonam’s interpretation, other houses might try the same.”
Bringing back in the councilors’ families under different names would breed more uncertainty, an instability Tallu and I could use.
“What do you know about the Kennelmaster?” I asked.
Nuti hesitated, and her clear, gossipy voice dropped to a whisper. “I know that he shouldn’t be crossed.”
“How did he gain his position?” I asked.
“The Kennel used to only manage the Emperor’s Dogs,” Nuti said. There was a click, and I heard her rub something into the washcloth. “Since the end of the reign of the second emperor, the Kennelmaster has been the head of the Emperor’s Dogs. The Dogs were originally trained Dragon Monks, but when Emperor Wollu killed the One Dragon, he took the monks into his household, as there were no dragon eggs left for them to protect.”
“The Dogs protected the One Dragon’s eggs?” I opened my eyes in surprise and saw Nuti absently rubbing the washcloth between her hands, staring out the high window in the room.
“Four emperors ago, yes. When it became apparent they wouldn’t serve the commanders of the palace guard, Wollu chose one of their number and made him the Kennelmaster. The current Kennelmaster started only a dozen years ago.” When I raised my eyebrows at her, she flushed. “My brother thought of becoming a Dog. He trained for it, but the last Kennelmaster didn’t care for him, and so he didn’t have any chance. By the time the new one took over, my brother was a blacksmith and had a wife and son.”