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He seemed more confident now that Tallu had apparently yielded on one issue.
“We look forward to it,” Tallu said, somehow managing to make the words sound like a threat.
Pehine froze, hearing it too. But then he smiled, sweeping another bow, and left.
The next hour was luxury compared to the outdoor camping we had been doing. For our entire journey supplies had been limited. Even after we reached Kacha’s stockpile, we had to ration everything we found and spread it among too many.
Tallu had been allowed what mostly resembled a tent, but the rest of our men had been sleeping under trees. Even Tallu had been forced onto the ground, as none of his bedding survived.
I waited until Tallu was done with his bath before taking my own, guilt at the water still eating my stomach. But, I was not going to say no to being fully submerged in the water after weeks of sponge baths.
When I came out, my hair wet and skin pink from the heat, I asked, “So, what are the chances that Pehine tries to poison us during this fancy dinner?”
Eighteen
Tallu looked at me, his lips pulled to one side in an amused expression.
“I have been thinking something similar,” he said. He glanced at where Lerolian lingered in the corner of the room, and tapped his fingers three times against the arm of his chair.
With so many servants around, it wasn’t a smart move to speak directly to Lerolian, and the blood monk seemed to enjoy our discomfort.
“What? Is there something you want me to do, Your Imperial Majesty?” He drawled Tallu’s title, clearly mocking him with each word. “Does His Imperial Majesty desire something? What could it possibly be? What could His Imperial Majesty, Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu possibly want?”
At Tallu’s sharp look, Lerolian laughed, waving a hand. “No, no, it’s just I’m very much enjoying seeing you back in your element after so long in the swamp. I began to wonder if we were going to live there forever. One of the monks is already in the kitchen, watching the preparations. We will keep an eye on your plate, but the whispers I’ve already heard assure me that Pehine is a cowardly man. He will go in whichever direction the wind blows. When it seemed Kacha had more power, he was all too happy to support him. Now that you have returned, I’m sure his loyalty—if one could call such a transient thing loyalty—will return to you.”
Tallu tapped his finger twice on the arm of his chair, then gestured with his hand for me to take the seat next to him on the couch.
I settled next to him, feeling his presence warm me, his whole body warming mine. He was in unfamiliar clothes, and it took me a moment to realize that his servants had dressed him in some of Pehine’s clothing, covering the ill-fitting garments with the cleanest of Tallu’s emperor’s robes. It was impossible for me to tell if that was an insult to Tallu or Pehine.
Lerolian answered the implicit command in Tallu’s tapped fingers. “Yes, everyone down to the last servant is whispering about your presence, and the unanimous verdict seems to be that Pehine will do nothing against you. In helping Kacha and Bemishu, he already tried to move against you, and now that you have emerged victorious, he will not do anything so brave again.”
Tallu said, as though speaking to me, “We wonder if Pehine will even admit to having helped Kacha and Bemishu.”
“That I’m not sure of. He is a canny man, king of his little fiefdom. There’s something going on with the other lords. It’s why they were all here with their families,” Lerolian said, looking around the room at the servants present. “I saw your human spies working on that angle, and they are going to be far more effective at finding out why. I think my time is best spent with servants and keeping an eye on the other goings-on within the estate.”
“I was surprised to see so many goblin servants,” I said, pitching my voice in a puzzled way, as though trying to untangle some complicated imperial social norm I had missed out on. “Isn’t the Imperium at war with the goblins?”
“They are slaves,” Tallu said. “Branded and bound to Lord Pehine.”
“Oh?” I said. “We don’t have slaves in the north. Do I have your permission to go speak with them to more fully understand the situation?”
Tallu waved his hand. “Do as you wish.”
At first, I thought he was playing along with my ruse. Speaking with the slaves would give me the opportunity to examine the estate myself, discover more about our generous host. But then I saw the dark stains under his eyes and caught my breath. It’d been days since I’d been able to heal him. In the forest there hadn’t been any time alone, and it was worse when we got closer to the desert. Even on the ship, I had only been able to do it a little at a time, catching moments when we were on our own.
“Unless my lord would like to make use of the generous accommodations we have been provided?” I asked.
I gestured at the bed, and Tallu’s eyes wrinkled in amusement, although his mouth stayed firmly flat. He shook his head, gesturing a negative with one hand. “I expect General Saxu will arrive in a few minutes with a report. Go sate your curiosity. I am fine.”
But Lerolian was looking at Tallu with the same concern I had, as though he too was just now noticing how bad Tallu looked. I lifted Tallu’s hand to my lips, and pressed a kiss to his palm.
“I won’t be long,” I said.
The display was only partly for show. It also allowed me to brush my thumb across his pulse point, checking his heart rate. Slightly higher than normal, but not racing as though Tallu were disguising some great pain.
I stood, heading out the door and into the rest of the estate. It bustled with servants, a mix of Tallu’s own and those employed by the estate. I had claimed to want to speak with the goblin slaves, but as I wandered the halls, I could see more evidence of who Lord Pehine was as a master.
His servants had a gauntness to their cheeks, and moved to the side, bowing low as soon as anyone of even slightly superior rank passed them. Even soldiers got the same treatment.
