“Still.” Iradîo frowned, looking over what remained of those we’d started with. “Perhaps it would have saved some.”
I raised both of my eyebrows, and she flushed when she looked at me, seemingly becoming aware that she had just suggested saving imperials at the risk of my own life.
It was one thing to loudly proclaim that Sagam had saved all of us. It was entirely another to openly practice Animal Speak with the monstrous creatures that inhabited the Tavornai swampland.How better to prove that foreign magic was evil than to make the terrible creatures appear to bow to my whim?
As though to risk my life further, Terror squawked and flapped down from the branches of a nearby tree, landing on my shoulder. “Those creatures in the water didn’t share their kills. You will make it up to me.”
I stroked his breast feathers, shaking my head in amusement as Iradîo rolled her own eyes.
“You were supposed to find us House Chaliko,” I muttered.
“Well, how could I when somanyhuman livers were being consumed! And I didn’t get a single one,” Terror sulked.
“Your Highness,” Commander Rede bowed in front of me, “we are moving this way.”
With everyone accounted for, the soldiers formed a protective circle around Tallu and his servants. I could tell which servants had been trained to fight, and which were simply hoping not to get killed.
Homisu had a small sword strapped to his waist, and Nohe held a heavy stick as a cudgel. Before Tallu and I had left the Mountainside Palace, she had told me her family lived near the border with Krustau. They were adept at fighting mercenaries and criminals who used the uncertain peace between the two nations to hide from both.
I glanced significantly at my two servants, gesturing them closer to me. Neither argued, following me as I stepped closer to Tallu, sliding between the layers of servants until I was next to him and Empress Koque, each bearing a precious burden.
Naî remained in his arms, having shrunk to the size of a small cat. She eyed me, clearly wondering if I was going to force her to walk on her own. However, I had larger concerns.
“It will be just as dangerous on land,” I murmured to Tallu. He nodded, clearly having come to the same conclusion.
“Still glad you insisted on coming?” Iradîo asked Empress Koque.
“Alligators and snakes, creatures that live in the trees… Those are the enemies you can see. I am not fond of those who hide behind the faces of men.” Empress Koque tightened her grip on Prince Hallu, cradling him against her chest.
She was dressed in dark fabric, an ashy color that would blend in well with the shadows. She had been wearing it under her expensive robes, and it made me wonder if she planned to slip away in the shadows here, disappear with her child.
The rumors would explode. Empress Koque had disappeared in the forest, eaten by a monster no one could see. I supposed there was more than one way to escape an unwanted fate.
Moving by foot was slower going than by boat. General Saxu sent scouts ahead and insisted on waiting to hear their reports before moving forward. He was smart, a cautious general, and I understood why he had frustrated my mother in battle. He was not one to fall for well-placed traps.
Soon enough, we reached a mostly dry clearing, the thick marshland grass giving way to barren soil. General Saxu ordered a halt, and food was distributed from the heavy packs some of the soldiers carried. Many of the supplies were at the bottom of the swamp, but enough had survived that there was food for everyone.
Nohe and Homisu waited to consume theirs until they were sure I had enough of my own. Koque slipped Prince Hallu some of her share, and Iradîo ate hers quickly, swallowing it down.
Tallu watched the forest around us, his servants growing increasingly alarmed as he ignored the food they presented him with. Finally, one of them looked pleadingly at me and I stepped forward, touching Tallu on the arm to get his attention. Startling, he jerked his head to look at me, and I raised both eyebrows.
“Husband, are you well?” I said each word carefully, waiting for him to nod before significantly looking down at the plate held by one of his servants.
He took a piece of stale bread, placing it between his lips to wet it before tearing a piece off. As he chewed, hiseyes returned to the strange trees around us, roots from branches rather than deep in the ground, vines twisting around tree trunks so that whatever bark they bore was invisible.
“Tallu?” I kept my voice low, a whisper, and the servant standing next to Tallu looked into the distance, as though I hadn’t spoken at all.
“Where is Sagam?” Tallu asked quietly, his eyes moving back and forth, searching the trees around us.
Frowning, I turned in a slow circle, searching the groups of servants clumped together, the soldiers standing around the perimeter, some with their hands on their weapons, some shoveling their portion of food into their mouths.
Asahi had his head bent close with the Kennelmaster’s; Gotuye stood only a few feet behind Tallu. The other soldiers that had been quickly inducted into the rank of Dogs followed Gotuye’s lead. They still wore their military uniforms, but they had been dyed a dark gray to mark them as different from Saxu’s soldiers.
I swept my gaze over our small number. Sagam was missing.
“I don’t see him or his sister.” I shoved the rest of my dried fruit into my mouth, washing it down with a swig of stale water from a pouch. “When did they leave?”
Tallu shook his head, and I fixed my gaze on the Kennelmaster and Asahi. Was that what they were whispering about?
