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“It’s more likely that the dragon and I were able to find places to rest every evening that Bemishu was not. He also did not have the support we did from the local goblins. They were generous in using their magic to keep us alive.” Still, I frowned. We had been behind General Bemishu by weeks. More than that, Zoigei was right. Bemishu had spent decades of his life throwing himself and his men at the Ariphadeus and yet, somehow, we had reached his goal before he did, within weeks of leaving the border.

Had some unseen hand been helping us? I turned to Zoigei and asked, “Did one of the animalia help us?”

“Yes,” Zoigei said. His frown deepened the grooves in his forehead, pulling at the tattoos on his face. “Although I could not tell you which. They are capricious. I would not recommend relying on any one for their favor.”

With that, he turned, leading the way to the hidden waters. We could see them reflected in the sky, but I had already learned that things in the desert often appeared much closer than they were. The illusion too often left us desperate for water we could see hours before we reached an oasis.

Still, it was obvious when we reached the boundary of the hidden waters. Grass began to grow in the sand, small sprouts of it spreading in front of us. The air was notably more damp, collecting like sweat on my brow.

The goblins were waiting for us, rows and rows of them, in front of a massive structure of rock. Unlike the rough sand buildings the goblins had constructed for us with magic, this was made of a smooth white stone that looked nearly like marble. In the shifting light of the hidden waters, the pale white was dyed blue. I could see a dozen or more archers hidden in nooks and crannies on the structure, each with their arrows trained on us.

Everything was lit by salamanders of all colors that lay on the sand, on the ledges of the windows in the building, and on the shoulders of the goblins. They lit the area as brightly as the sun at midday, but in multiple shades, as though we were standing inside a rainbow.

I did not see any animalia, or at least none that looked different from the goblins in front of us. They were a mix of those who looked more like Zoigei and his kin and those who looked like the goblins who had traveled with us. Six of them stood in front, all wearing gleaming sashes across their body, their horns inlaid with gold and the tattoos on their skin glowing blue like the light of the brightest salamander.

Zoigei strode toward them, speaking quickly in the goblin language, and Tallu dismounted from the elephant. His servants had managed to make him look even more like the emperor, his robes trailing behind him, marking the sand in his wake. General Saxu stood on his right side, Sagam on his left, and his Dogs were so close that one wrong step would land on Tallu’s hem.

Zoigei turned. “The council is still in agreement. We will join together and fight General Bemishu. In return, the Imperium will leave the Ariphadeus forever. No imperial will ever set foot again on the sands of the desert.”

Tallu didn’t change his expression, one of his hands curled just slightly, fingertips touching each other. The other was slack at his side. Then again, he had no need for a weapon to kill anyone. He had an army. He had his Emperor’s Dogs. He had me.

“And you will give us the one from the prophecy. He will stay here, after we have defeated your enemy. He will live here and learn, never to return to the Southern Imperium.” Zoigei glanced at me. “With his dragon.”

On hearing the translation, Tallu reacted, so quickly that his Dogs were in motion before he raised a hand, stopping them. “You may not have my consort. He is not something I will make a deal with. He is not someone I will part with.”

The goblins shifted, and I saw the glint of silver in the stone building behind them.

“Why did they want me?” I asked quietly. “What prophecy do they see that tells them I’m important?”

Tallu didn’t glance at me, instead raising his voice. “What is this prophecy?”

“The animalia say that one day someone will come who can learn all of the magic of their kind, every type gifted to animalia and humans alike.” Zoigei stepped back, and one of the other members of the Council stepped forward.

The goblin was as tall as Zoigei, but more slender. He had a different variety of tattoos, ones that curled around his neck like a collar and down his chest. They glowed bright blue, but shifted, like the water in the dragon seer’s cave.

“We have been watching you. We saw you drink from the hidden waters. We have seen inside your soul, inside your mind. You do not need to hide from us. We know it is you.” The councilmember paused, and silence stretched.

“There have been many people who claimed to know my soul, yet not a single one did except for His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Tallu,” I said. And my sister, but the ache of her loss sat heavy in my heart. I wasn’t sure that she would know my soul anymore if we met again. I had changed too much.

The translator didn’t say anything and I realized I’d made a mistake, because it was clear I understood what the council member had said even without a translation.

If I had already exposed myself, I might as well tell them the whole of it. “I will not leave Emperor Tallu’s side. And I doubt he will part with me merely for the chance of defeating General Bemishu. We can do so without you.”

The council member’s lips went flat, and he turned, speaking quietly with someone next to him. His face relaxed, and he lifted his chin.

“We desire an alliance. We can agree to terms, but not the ones you have set,” Tallu said. “Is there no hospitality in the Ariphadeus, or must we discuss this here?”

Zoigei glared, but Tallu’s face was placid. He did not appear to care about their response.

“Come,” said an older woman who stepped away from the line of the council members. She reminded me of the matriarch of the Still Mist Tribe. “You will have your hospitality and your answers. Your men may stay with ours.” She gestured with her large staff toward the enormous building behind her. Then she pointed her staff at Tallu. “Bring whomever else you like.”

She turned, heading toward what looked like an empty expanse of sand. As soon as she set foot in it, she was sucked down, an explosion of blue light the only evidence that she had ever been standing there.

Twenty-Eight

One by one, the other members of the Council followed behind until only Zoigei was left, waiting, his eyes fixed on me.

“You will not come with us,” Tallu said to me.