The Kennelmaster and Gotuye took their positions behind Tallu, and I glanced once to make sure they were both armed.
“The Krustavians believe in the power of four,” I said quietly. “I am told the Shadow King brought three men with him.”
For a moment, no one said anything, and then the Kennelmaster said, “You think we cannot take on four Krustavians?”
I wondered at his phrasing. Was I included in thatwe?
When I turned to Tallu, he glanced at me thoughtfully. He was now beginning to untangle the mess of a metaphor I had made earlier. He turned his chin forward, raising it just slightly. “I have full faith in the Kennelmaster and his men.”
“As do I. Your Dogs have proved most loyal and most lethal,” I said. Footsteps in the hall anticipated Vostop and his men.
He entered, his arm raised to escort Empress Koque. She took in the scene with one glance and gently disentangled her arm from Vostop’s before crossing the room and bowing formally to Tallu, her fingers forming a triangle.
When she rose, Tallu extended a hand, three fingers gracefully uncurling as he indicated the seat to his left. Koque bowed again, her eyes turning to the floor before she stood straight and took her seat on Tallu’s other side.
There were a few yellow-clad servants in the room, some carrying pitchers of water, others there in case Tallu needed anything, and I knew the story was immediately going to spread throughout the palace: despite killing his father, Koque still had the emperor’s favor.
Vostop watched Koque on the chair next to Tallu’s throne, hisears falling slightly and his eyes narrowing for a moment before he relaxed his face. His spine stayed straight, not bowing before the Emperor of the Southern Imperium.
I reflected back on our first meeting, when he had been so careful, so aware of imperial customs. He had greeted Tallu then with something almost like a bow, but without anything that would show Tallu’s superiority to him.
Now he greeted Tallu as a king. “Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu. I appreciated the hospitality of your invitation.”
The word hospitality in the sentence was both question and warning. Tallu watched Vostop for a long moment before inclining his head. “Our dearest neighbor has suffered a catastrophic loss. The Imperium worries for Krustau’s future.”
“Our future?” Vostop glanced only briefly at Koque before returning his attention to Tallu. “Your Imperial Majesty is too generous with his attention.”
“Should we worry for your present, then, instead?” Tallu lifted a hand, and a servant rushed across the room, presenting him with a silver wine glass. There was a long pause and the servant startled before bringing the glass to their own lips and then handing it to Tallu.
Tallu swirled the drink, his gaze fixed on Vostop’s face.
“At present, Krustau is grateful for its neighbor’s charity. We look forward to repaying you for the food and use of the plains soon.” Vostop relaxed into his stance, one hand at his side, the other resting on the empty sheath where he was missing a sword. “It was most gracious of you to open your larder when we were in need.”
Tallu raised the silver cup to his lips, taking a sip. When he lowered his hand, it came close to brushing the arm of Koque’s chair. “It seems you have taken more than bread from us.”
Empress Koque breathed evenly, her expression fixed. Vostop didn’t glance at her, but one of the men behind him did.
“Luckily,” Tallu considered the wine in his glass, “ourhospitality extends far enough that we cannot deny you what is clearly already in your possession.”
Empress Koque breathed out, just heavily enough that it was clear she had understood Tallu’s meaning. Vostop nodded his head, then wet his lips.
“Emperor Tallu, I admit to some curiosity when I received your invitation. Your benevolence has been more than any of the guilds expected. There is some concern among my people that you are going to insist on something in return we are not willing to give.”
“Perhaps the rights to some of your mountains? Or the hills that border the Imperium?” Tallu asked.
“Yes, something like that.” Vostop didn’t smile, and the men behind him shifted uncomfortably at Tallu’s direct gaze.
I noticed that all of them were wearing different paint on their faces. Only Vostop wore the symbols of the badger. The others wore complicated markings that must have indicated their clans.
Vostop was already working to undo the tension that had fractured the clans when his predecessor, King Inor, had fed so many dwarves to General Maki and Centipede. Inor’s betrayal, born of madness, had done more damage to the dwarven kingdom than decades of war with the Imperium, but it seemed the clans were willing to trust Inor’s cousin Vostop enough to at least see what he intended to do with the weight of Tallu’s contributions.
“What need does Krustau have for all its territory when it has no people to populate it with?” Tallu asked, taking another drink from his glass.
“It is our land, and we will not part with it, not even to save our own lives,” Vostop said. His words were so blunt that it was as though he had taken a cudgel to the beautiful stained-glass window behind us.
Koque breathed in softly, then exhaled. Vostop had served long enough in the Imperial Court to know that this was not how imperials did things.
But now that he was on the Krustavian throne, now that he was the Shadow King, what point was there in playing the Imperium’s games?
