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She wasn’t quite careless enough to imply it was foolish to pursue Bemishu into the desert. Lady Mutali’s fork trembled against her plate, the rapid tapping ringing against the porcelain. Her eyes kept moving to the blood on the tables.

“We will know more after we speak with the goblins,” Tallu said. “But I believe there is something in the desert worth following Bemishu to find.”

Koque said no more, but I knew General Saxu was listening as well. Seven hundred men was still nothing compared to the bounty of men, gear, and supplies that Bemishu had. We would not even be starting out with nearly that much, given that Bemishu had recently taken everything from Pehine and his allies.

A few minutes of silent eating later and a knock sounded on the door. One of Saxu’s men opened it, and Lord Mutali walked in, a goblin man following behind him. I was intrigued to see the man had his horns uncut. They curved around the side of his head like a ram’s and he had decorated them with gold inlay.

Both Lord Mutali and his servant bowed low, and Lord Mutali offered an introduction while still facing the floor.

“Your Imperial Majesty, may I present Choethei.”

“Rise, Choethei,” Tallu said. “You still have your horns.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,” Choethei said. His voice was deep, and his eyes gleamed golden.

His eyes seemed to glow from an inner light, and I couldn’t help glancing at the other goblins in the room, their horns sanded down. I wondered if the loss of the horns had something to do with why his eyes were so much more vibrant than theirs.

“Lord Mutali has told you of the task we require?” Tallu asked.

“He has, Your Imperial Majesty,” Choethei said.

“Lord Mutali has made it clear he worries the goblins will not take our offer in good faith. What do you believe?” Tallu asked.

“You are the emperor of the Southern Imperium. Would they have any reason not to trust your word?” Choethei asked smoothly. I raised one of my eyebrows. The words were bordering on insouciant. The goblins had plenty of reason to distrust Tallu’s words, but Choethei had put the onus on Tallu to decide that.

“I take your point,” Tallu said. “However, it is imperative that we speak with one of the goblin tribes as allies rather than enemies.”

Tallu stopped, clearly waiting for Choethei to tell him how to best communicate with the goblin tribe he would be going to. Instead, Choethei watched Tallu, those glowing eyes giving away nothing.

“Husband,” I said. “I understand you wish to speak to the slaves here, to see if any of them also have contacts in the goblin tribes. Perhaps Choethei could look through the available goblins and see if any are from the tribe he will be visiting? Allowing those slaves to return home might go some way toward expressing our sincerity.”

“Would such an offer suffice?” Tallu asked.

For the first time since the conversation had begun, Choethei seemed thrown off.

“You intend to return some of the slaves?” He looked at Lord Mutali, who made a barely-there gesture of uncertainty.

“We intend to free all of the slaves,” Tallu said.

“But your army is weak,” Choethei said bluntly. “You need soldiers if you intend to attack General Bemishu. And Lord Pehine has gathered a great number of goblins who will be pressed into service as soldiers.”

“We intend to free all of the slaves. Would such a gesture be well received by the goblin tribes?” Tallu’s voice was considerably cooler and by the expression on Choethei’s face, he realized he had spoken out of turn.

“Such a gesture would be well received by the tribes,” Choethei agreed.

“Good. Communicate with General Saxu’s people to determine who will be traveling with you.” Tallu made a gesture of dismissal, and Choethei didn’t argue, allowing Lord Mutali to usher him out.

As he left, servants brought in a new course of food, and Empress Koque brought up the garden she had seen, mentioning all of the plants. I managed to participate by speaking about the tour Xuetie had taken me on.

By the time we finished eating, Lord Mutali had returned, Choethei and those he was taking with him having already left the estate. Tallu stood.

“General Saxu, have the slaves been prepared for me?” Tallu asked.

“Yes. They are in the courtyard. I took the liberty of arranging food and water for them,” General Saxu said. “Unfortunately, my own men have spent no time in the desert. I have no one who can translate for you.”

“Most of the house servants will speak Imperial,” Tallu said dismissively. “We can choose one of them.”

“My lord,” I said. “I would never seek to undermine one of your decisions, however we might want to choose our translator more carefully. I spoke only in generalities with one of Lord Pehine’s servants, and I believe that resulted in Lord Pehine attempting to poison us.” I gestured down at the puddle of bloody vomit that had once been Lord Pehine. “Not that it went well for him.”