“Something is on fire,” she hissed.
Eleven
Irolled out of bed, Tallu sitting up, blinking sleep from his gaze. He shook his head, frowning as he tried to focus and concentrate.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
I was already dressing, knowing that Homisu would be horrified at my attempt at the particular knots imperial clothes required. “Naî says something is on fire.”
Tallu rose, swaying unsteadily, and I told myself that it was just because we were on a moving boat that he could not find his balance, that the river rushed so swiftly that it was knocking him off his feet. He reached for the wall, pressing his palm to it and breathing for a few moments before straightening.
Then he shrugged on his robe, pulling it tight around himself. When he was ready, I opened the door. In the hall, the guard startled.
“I smell smoke,” I said in explanation.
The guard was one of General Saxu’s men, still wearing his military uniform, even if he was missing his helmet and the metal armor used in battle. The scars across his cheek looked old, crossedwith newer ones and a small tattoo of General Saxu’s dragon symbol on his neck.
“The forest is on fire,” he said. Bowing, he gestured for us to follow him.
When we reached the deck, the morning was stained gray, the light barely breaking through the clouds.
It took me a moment to realize they weren’t clouds at all. Smoke choked the air, the breeze from the river blowing it away from us. The forest had nearly finished burning, brilliant red and orange embers still lingered.
Naî came out from below deck, jumping up onto the railing next to me. Tallu stared.
“Riverbend Province,” one of the sailors said. “There always was a lot of infighting between their lord and the lesser nobles. Maybe this is a result of the conflict.”
The blackened trees stood dark against the charred earth. From their position in the rigging, even the ravens didn’t say anything.
“How could anyone survive such a thing?” Iradîo asked.
“Their main cities are further south,” the sailor said. “This was likely about destroying the province’s resources to weaken Lord Jenichi’s control.”
Within half an hour, we had passed through the devastation. An hour after that, we passed by the province’s capital city. Waterwheels and fishing boats pocked the riverbank.
Tallu was still out with me, his warm presence reassuring. A few fishermen, out early in the morning, paddled their boats out of our way.
One of Tallu’s servants appeared, almost out of nowhere, bearing his golden crown. She bowed low, and Tallu accepted it, wearing the thing he hated so much. The servant adjusted the fall of his hair, the position of his cloak.
“The emperor!” Over the water, it was easy to hear the fishermen. From their boats, they called to friends on the land as we passed, and soon we had a crowd of people pressed tight alongthe riverbank, the clamor of noise turning to silence as we passed.
They bowed low, their fingers forming triangles, then looked up at Tallu as though he could save them, as though he had the power to rescue them from the chaos eating their province. I glanced at him to see how he was taking it.
He still had his robes wrapped around him, his expression unmoving, chin raised. He looked the part of the emperor. But I could see how his hand gripped the railing so tightly his golden bronze skin went pale at the knuckles.
Naî balanced easily, slinking along the railing before she curled on the section in front of him, her comforting body pressed against his.
His crown glinted in the light, reflecting back onto the water. With Tallu’s golden bronze skin, he looked as though he was carved from gold, his expression unmoving at the sea of worship.
After we passed through the city, there was quiet on the ship. Even the sailors, used to shouting across the deck, seemed reluctant to break the quiet. Tallu’s servant swallowed. “Your Imperial Majesty, breakfast is ready.”
Tallu turned, heading below deck. I saw him bring a small handkerchief to his nose, the red of blood seeping into the embroidered decorations, and I looked away, my nails biting into the smooth wood of the ship’s railing. The people along the riverbank were gone, but that didn’t mean I could forget that they were caught up in a battle for their lives within their province. With the forests reduced to charred husks, how would they live?
In bed that night, I whispered to Tallu, “This is what youwanted, isn’t it?”
I had to know, had to find out if he had understood when he had decided to end the reign of House Atobe what the consequences would be. Tallu turned to me.
“I wantyou. I want a life with you. That is not possible as long as the Imperium survives.” He turned his face away, and I rested anarm across his torso, my fingers curling into his soft skin. I could still feel a splinter from the ship’s railing under my nail.
