I turned my head, kissing the heel of his hand. “Do we need to worry?”
“Do you truly believe you have any more space inside you for such a limiting emotion?” Tallu’s question rose wryly, and I could see the soft smirk in his eyes.
I closed my eyes, huffing. “All right. But I want Lerolian or one of the other blood monks to watch Sagam and Asahi.”
“So that you might see them leave?” Tallu asked.
“Maybe,” I admitted. Maybe Ididwant to know that Sagam and Asahi were going to make it out of this alive, their love being what saved them.
“We leave in a few hours,” Tallu said. “You should sleep.”
“Are you going to?” I asked.
Tallu’s lips pulled into a slight smile.
“Then I’ll stay awake with you.” I leaned up on my elbow and kissed him, his lips soothing something inside me.
Fifteen
We were dressed when General Saxu and several of his men came to fetch us. He bowed when Tallu opened the door, his fingers forming a triangle above his forehead.
“It is time, Your Imperial Majesty,” he said.
“Yes.” Tallu strode down the hall, his cloak trailing. His servants had done a good job, giving him something that very nearly resembled a military uniform. I followed behind him, and General Saxu and his men kept pace.
Halfway to the stairs, Naî leapt out of the shadows, landing heavily on my shoulder. “I don’t like this water.”
I smiled at her, running a hand down her crest and letting her nuzzle into my neck. “So don’t get wet.”
She huffed in response, circling around my neck like a heavy cowl.
On the deck, the soldiers and sailors that were being left behind had clustered around the railings, watching silently. Even they knew that being left behind was far more dangerous than heading into the swamp.
The captain stood nearby, watching with a sharp gaze. GeneralSaxu gestured to where Tallu would need to climb down a rope ladder. I cleared my throat before he could step over the edge, glancing at the captain.
Tallu’s expression didn’t change, but he turned to face the man, speaking loudly enough that all the soldiers and sailors could hear. “We are leaving you with the most important job in the entire Imperium. You must free these boats from the swamp and ready them for attack. Once we discover Namati’s whereabouts, we will take the battle to him.”
“How will we know when to expect you, Your Imperial Majesty?” The captain kept his tone neutral, but the tension underneath was undeniable.
“We will send word. You will not be able to mistake our approach,” Tallu said. “So we will expect you to be ready.”
“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.” The captain bowed, forming a triangle with his fingers, and the motion took hold of the rest of the crew. They all lowered themselves, roughly forming triangles.
“The fate of our nation depends on what you do here.” Tallu’s voice rang through the air like a bell, and I could see it taking hold of everyone being left behind. “Do not disappoint me.”
Then Tallu spun, his cloak flowing behind him, and he descended the rope ladder. I took three steps to the edge of the ship, watching him as he carefully climbed down. When he was in the boat, I followed behind him.
The ladder was difficult enough to manage on its own. Naî’s presence made it more so, her unhappiness turning to grumbles in my ear. I nearly took her off my neck to drop her into the boat, but I was afraid that the impact would put a hole in it.
“I know what you’re thinking,”she commented.“Don’t you dare shove me off or we’ll see how well the emperor can swim wearing all those layers.”
It was my turn to grumble. I reached the boat and carefully balanced so I wouldn’t stumble while walking to the bench thatTallu had claimed. He reached up and took Naî off my shoulder and she curled into his lap; her eye opened a crack as though to smirk at me.
Ours was the last rowboat to load. As General Saxu and his men came down, I kept my eyes moving. The surroundings were so strange—massive roots grew out of the sea and trees disappeared into the fog above us—that my body was a tense line of worry.
Sagam was the last to get in, tugging sharply on the rope ladder before ordering the men to begin rowing. These were small boats, and none of them had an electric motor. At first, that had seemed to make our mission even harder, but in the quiet of the swamp, where we heard voices from other boats as though the speakers were seated right next to us, a running motor would have alerted our position to anyone for miles.
The last we heard of the ships we had spent so long traveling on was the sailors desperately calling across, trying to discover how to turn the boats when branches touched them on either side.
