“So we should feed you from our own stores, gift you treasures that are precious to us,” Tallu tilted his head toward Koque, his meaning clear, “and in return we should expect nothing?”
Vostop shook his head, the sunset light making the blue paint on his face stand out all the more starkly. “We appreciate your extension of hospitality. My men and I have been working hard in the mountains to make my people a new home. As soon as we have a working mine again, our first shipment will be to you, Emperor Tallu.”
“And if that is not enough?” Tallu asked. Everything in him was the Imperium’s emperor, as though once he put on the crown it was impossible for him to refuse the role, even for a man the woman he considered a mother loved.
“Then we will defend our borders as we always have.” Vostop’s fingers twitched around his empty sheath, and I remembered what the dwarf who had taken our weapons at the border had told us when we had been about to enter the Krustavian mountains.
There have been many heads removed because of a careless brush of a hand across a hilt.
Both men were being so civil, Tallu coldly imperious and Vostop trying to be regal, and between the two of them, they were about to restart the war between Krustau and the Imperium when it was the thing Tallu and I needed the least.
Well, at least the tension worked toward our end goal.
“Do you have the men to defend the border?” I asked, frowning as though Iradîo’s ravens had not already told us the exact numbers that had survived the loss of Mountain Thrown City.
Vostop frowned at me. “We have enough.”
I nodded, opening my eyes very wide and reaching out totouch Tallu’s arm. “Husband, perhaps you can require different payment from them.”
“Different payment?” Tallu asked.
“Both you and the Shadow King have the same goal, do you not?” I raised both of my eyebrows. “You both wish to defend this territory from the traitor generals.”
Tallu’s eyes crinkled just briefly as he took my meaning. “That is true.”
“Then as you turn your attention to other areas of your empire, perhaps relying on the Krustavian king would prove fruitful. Of course, to bind such a treaty, there would need to be some trade.” I let my eyes flick over Tallu’s shoulder and saw his lip quirk just for a split second.
“My husband makes a good point. We have news that the traitors Bemishu and Kacha have made violent attacks against the capital city. They have driven my army here. We cannot let their assault stand, and if we move further into the Imperium to retake our rightful territory, I cannot risk them flanking us and attacking from the Lakeshore Palace.” Tallu waited for Vostop to nod slowly.
“Having heard what Generals Kacha and Bemishu have done to the populations they have conquered, Krustau also has no wish to see them anywhere close to our borders.” Vostop frowned slightly. “Would you trust on our word alone that we will help your men defend the Lakeshore Palace, even if Your Imperial Majesty is not in residence?”
“Your word, no,” Tallu said. “But my husband speaks sense. We have the opportunity to bind our two nations together, if you are amenable to it, King Vostop.”
“Of course we would be willing to sign another treaty—” Vostop started, pausing when Koque shook her head.
“The Dowager Empress is unmarried, yet still of House Atobe,” I said. “You are unmarried as well, King Vostop?”
“I am.” Vostop said the words so quickly he nearly bit themoff.
“Good. Then that is how the alliance will be settled.” I raised my eyebrow, and Vostop nodded slowly.
“We would be more than happy to welcome Empress Koque into our guild and host her as my queen.” Vostop could not seem to look away from Koque, the expression on his face that of a man who had been denied for so long he no longer recognized when he received the very thing he wanted. “Would you… that is, I would only accept such a proposition if the Dowager Empress was amenable to it.”
Empress Koque turned to look at Tallu, something frozen in her expression as she tried to keep control. From what she had said, Koque had been performing for the court since an age when she should have been playing with dolls, and from the flash in her eyes, I wondered if there was something I wasn’t hearing.
“I will do as my patriarch demands of me,” she said formally.
Vostop’s face visibly fell, but he rallied quickly enough, his chin nearly touching his chest when he said, “Even without an alliance of marriage, Krustau stands ready to support you, Emperor Tallu.”
“I do demand it,” Tallu said, turning to Empress Koque.
She went pale under the glittering makeup she wore, her eyes glancing at me with venom. Then, like the receding tide, her face went blank, and she raised her chin.
“Of course, I will do as required of me as a member of House Atobe.” She didn’t look at any of us, staring at the back wall of the room.
“It is settled, then.” Tallu turned back to Vostop. “You will marry Empress Koque, cementing the relationship between the Imperium and Krustau.”
“As King of the Shadow Throne, although it may be buried under lava still too hot to even look at, I would more happily call it an alliance between the two of us as individuals, Emperor Tallu, rather than our nations.” Vostop looked up, his eyes fixed on Tallu.
