She crossed her arms. “I thought I gave you orders to work on a burial robe for your Khanujin.”
Instead of replying, I whistled softly, and the cloth bird, which was darting about the hall, fluttered to my palm.
The shansen’s daughter sniffed. “So the bird is yours. I should have guessed. Trouble seems to follow wherever you go.”
I squared my shoulders boldly. “When do we march on Jappor?”
“March on Jappor?” she repeated. The entire council looked at me like I was mad.
“The window for saving A’landi is closing,” I said. “We have to go now.”
“And why would I save A’landi?” Sarnai growled. “The emperor is dead, thousands of his men are dead. I won’t throw away another thousand lives when there is no hope of winning against my father.” She turned away. “We retreat west, take our survivors with us.”
“But—”
“Nations rise and fall. The enchanter should know that better than any.”
“You’re angry,” I said. “You have a right to be. Khanujin has taken much from you. He’s also taken much from me—from all of us. But think of what will happen to A’landi should your father become emperor. You yourself said he is not the man you remembered, that he’s been corrupted by his demon. What is to stop Gyiu’rak from becoming the true ruler of A’landi?”
Sarnai’s shoulders tensed. “We cannot win against my father’s army. With Khanujin dead, if the shansen’s declared himself emperor, the army in Jappor will be at his side. The other warlords will not dare rise against him.”
“Can you summon them to help us?”
“There isn’t enough time,” replied Lord Xina. “The shansen will reach Jappor in a matter of days. He’ll have control of the imperial army.”
“Gyiu’rakwill have control over the imperial army,” said Lady Sarnai tightly. “Her power over my father grows stronger every day. Once the blood price is paid, it will be complete.”
“I thought the blood price was the emperor’s life.”
“The emperor’s life, yes.” Lady Sarnai’s voice became hollow. Her scars shone pale under the watery light. “And ten thousand others.”
My stomach sank. This was not only news to me, but also to the ministers. There was a shocked silence, and then everyone began talking at once. Sarnai raised her hands and stomped her boot on the wooden ground.
“Enough! To my father, it is nothing. Thousands already died in the Five Winters’ War. He sees it as a chance to depose a corrupt dynasty and begin his own. I’ve fought enough battles to know when I must retreat and when I must fight on. There is no way we can win against Gyiu’rak.”
“I disagree, Your Highness,” Edan spoke up.
Lady Sarnai’s voice was hard. “Then enlighten us, enchanter. How can my father be defeated?”
“He will need a few days to recover from his wound,” Edan reasoned. “The imperial navy and Jappor’s army will resist his rule; the Five Winters’ War was not so long ago that they have forgotten he was the enemy. They will try to defend the Spring Palace from him. But his demon will be even stronger in Jappor, given its proximity to the North. I would say we have a week. Two, at most, before the capital falls.”
Lord Xina’s eyes, dark as glittering black stones, turned to Edan. “And why should we trust you? You, whose loyalty can be bought—”
“Bought?” Edan repeated. “Do you think I wanted to help Khanujin fight against the shansen? To tear your country apart in war? I was bound by an oath I could not break. I had no choice. The shansen’s men have a choice; they follow him only out of fear, not out of loyalty. Show them they should fight for you—to save their country.”
“They fear Gyiu’rak,” Lady Sarnai said thickly. “No one can stop her.”
“I can,” I spoke, my voice deadly calm. “I am like her. A demon.”
The room went quiet. The ministers staggered back—as if the distance made them safer from me. Some muttered prayers or curses. Lord Xina pointed his spear squarely at my throat.
I ignored them all and looked steadily at the shansen’s daughter. If my admission took her aback, she did not show it.
“Enchanter, tell me why I shouldn’t have the tailor executed.”
Surprise flickered across Edan’s brow. Lady Sarnai and he had never gotten along; she had never sought his opinion before.
“It is true the imperial tailor has been cursed to follow the path of demons,” he said quietly. “And it’s true that in due time, her actions will no longer be those of Maia Tamarin, but of the monster inside her. Yet I believe that even as a demon, she will do all she can to protect A’landi.”
