“The offenders are to be exiled immediately,” he said. “Though the few who participated in these crimes the most are already dead.”
He caught me by surprise with that. “What do you mean?”
“You killed them, First Daughter. With your wind power.”
Emotions flitted through me: surprise, the remnants of fear from that day, cold satisfaction.
“I have to admit, Commander, I’m surprised you did anything at all about what I told you,” I said, and I couldn’t hide the admiration in my voice.
“We have a strict code of honor we’re supposed to uphold at all costs,” he said. “Killing off the battlefield is a breach of that honor.”
“Even the horses?”
Something like regret flashed across his face. “We didn’t know about your horses being intelligent until you yourself told me, so the greater crime in our eyes was the killing of innocent civilians.”
I winced at the callousness of that statement. “I can’t fault you for that when I didn’t know about your eagles, either.”
“Maybe now that the war is at an end, we can find out more about each other,” he said. When I glanced quickly at him, he amended, “About each other’s people, I mean.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, lowering my gaze to my hands. “Thank you, Commander. For telling me.”
Raven returned with steaming cups of lightly spiced tea,which I took gratefully. When she offered it to Talon, though, he shook his head.
“Have additional guards arrived outside the First Daughter’s room?”
“Yes, Commander,” she said.
“Then I should go change and report the attack to the emperor,” he said to me with a bow. “I will return soon.”
I nodded, but my stomach twisted into knots, bringing on a wave of nausea as I watched him walk out the door. Of all the people I had met, Talon seemed to be the most honorable—if I could trust that everything he had told me was true. The longer I stayed here, though, the more I realized there was not only great evil, but it could evidently infect anyone.
A sudden chill spread throughout my body despite finally being warm in front of the fire as another thought grabbed hold of my mind. Whatever goal this creature had, this most recent attack proved that it had set its sights on me.
But hell if I was going to come this far only to be assassinated.
23
Zara
That night, Emperor Altair came to my door looking haunted. His eyes were shadowed, his eyebrows drawn low, and his mouth was a tight line.
“Future Empress,” he said. “Baz and Talon informed me of the attack on you. Are you all right? Do you need me to send for the healer?”
I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. There wasn’t any lasting damage.”
“I’m relieved to hear it. Then, if you’re up for it, will you come with me? I’d like to speak with you.”
I glanced at the unfamiliar guard outside my room, frowning. I didn’t have any reason to be wary of going somewhere alone with Altair, but it was hard not to feel a little uneasy after nearly being killed earlier that day. Still, I couldn’t hide in my room forever.
“Of course,” I said, hiding my apprehension behind a smile.
He led me down the hallway, lined with enormous portraits of regally dressed men and women. Flames flickered in sconcesover each painting, making it seem like their eyes followed us as we walked.
We continued in silence that was growing more awkward by the second, until Altair glanced at me and said, “I wanted to show you a part of the palace that has always been my refuge. I used to spend as much time as possible here as a child.”
The tension in me relaxed just a tad. “Did you grow up in the palace? You’ve never lived anywhere else?”
“I’ve been here my whole life,” he said with a little backward glance at me, “except for the time a year ago that my eagle, Sky, and I visited Talon and his mother in the foothills.”
