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She shook her head. “I’ve got no idea.”

I tried to judge by the height of the moon, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to estimate the rising time, let alone judge how long it had been since. Was it already too late? Maybe they’d wait until morning to execute Yudit. I couldn’t count on that, though. And the rest of my sisters were probably already engaged in a pitched battle. It had taken all six of us to bring down one wizard and a handful of Tailliziani nobles. A few sneezes wouldn’t hold off the full might of the Red Empire.

I gave the bamboo another nudge as I paced from one side of our prison to the other, wondering when the emperor would come to claim his bride.

“I wish there was some other way to save everyone,” I said. “I wish you didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, me too.” Ilyana leaned back against the palisade. “I’d love it if there was some reason I couldn’t marry him, with no ill will on either side. Maybe I should have captured the Freemartin myself and turned into a man. I wouldn’t have liked it, but it couldn’t be any worse than this. Or better yet, I wish he’d gone out and done it himself instead of sending you. That’s how it was supposed to work.” She frowned and gazed into the middle distance, lost in thought. Her eyes stayed fixed on nothing in particular as they cycled through different shapes and colors.

The gaps between the posts were just beginning to widen from the pressure below when some guards came by to collect us. I told the bamboo to lay off, and followed them across the camp.

We weren’t told where we were going, but when we arrived, I had no doubt whatsoever that we’d been taken to the emperor’s own quarters. It dwarfed everything around it, less a tent than a nominally mobile building, several stories tall and constructed more of wood and metal than canvas. At least a hundred soldiers must have been tasked with taking it down, hauling it along, and rebuilding it again every time the army advanced.

In the vestibule—it had a vestibule—a trio of imperial guardsmen patted us down for any weapons we might have acquired on the trip over from the stockade, and then at long last let us through the door to the capacious inner chamber.

I immediately revised my opinion of how many soldiers it would take to move everything. Another fifty or so would be required just for the tables, chairs, desks, lamps, cushions, carpets, and tapestries. Four of them would be needed for the enormous throne alone.

Currently lounging in that throne, draped in a scarlet robe, was Emperor Osvald Augustus Maximus, first of his name. On his right side stood his grand vizier, Dr. Nikidik Pipt, whose customary sneer turned into a pop-eyed stare when he caught sight of Ilyana.

And to the left of the emperor was Yudit. Still dressed as my squire, still alive, and to all appearances unharmed.

The relief that flooded through me made all of my muscles go loose at once. My knees almost buckled. “Hey,” I said. “Are you all right? How have they been treating you?”

My sister wrenched her gaze away from Ilyana—Yudit had been staring, too—and gave me a smile. “I’m fine. Thanks for showing up in the nick of time. I knew you would.” She studied my face. “How about you? Have you slept at all in the last two weeks?”

“That’s, uh, been fixed,” I said, and her eyes widened in surprise as she took that in. “Have you had any problems with…?” I made a vague gesture intended to indicate dying vegetation.

“No. An army on the march doesn’t leave much—”

“Touching as this is,” the emperor drawled, “perhaps we should get on with things? There’s only ten minutes left until midnight, you know.”

Right. Of course. Time was of the essence. By now, a completely unnecessary battle would be well underway. “Your Imperial Majesty,” I said, “I have brought Ilyana the Golden, as you commanded.”

“So I see. Well done, son.” Unlike everyone else on their first encounter with her, he didn’t have any reaction to her beauty at all. “I have to confess,” he said, “I’m surprised to find out you were telling the truth. I was sure that Ilyana had run off to one of the little northern kingdoms and you were trying to pull some kind of long con.”

He thought she’d run off? That wasn’t the story he’d told his troops.

“I was never in the north,” Ilyana said. “And I’m here now. So—”

“What about the cow?” the grand vizier asked. “He was supposed to bring you a cow as well, wasn’t he? Seems to me that he failed.”

I glared at Dr. Pipt. “I captured the Wild Freemartin on his imperial majesty’s behalf. I saw no reason to bring the creature here.”

“You captured it?” The emperor’s gaze swept over my body, from head to toe and then back again. “Then I suppose we can proceed with the wedding.”

I knew that was coming, but it still struck like a slap across the face. “Well,” I said heavily, “if your imperial majesty would be so good as to call off the attack, then—”

He fluttered a hand through the air, gesturing dismissively. “All in good time.”

All in good time? “Ilyana is here!” I protested. “There’s no need to continue the search for her.”

“I said,” the emperor replied in a voice that brooked no argument, “all in good time. The hour is at hand, and I will be married before the new day arrives.” He stood and straightened his robe. “Ilyana, if you would step up beside me, Dr. Pipt will conduct the ceremony.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Ilyana said.

His eyebrows went up a fraction, barely enough to wrinkle his forehead. “What,” he asked, “makes you believe so?” It was the most attention he’d bothered to pay her since we’d walked in.

“By an unintentional but legally valid technicality, I’m already married to Sir Jules,” she answered.