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November 29 - December 6, 2021
still didn’t know all the secrets that lurked behind these doors, what the things I’d found meant. And prying eyes made me wary. I had my own secrets to keep.
I was getting paranoid, hearing things where there was nothing. How could someone have followed me down here without the keys? The doors all locked again as soon as they latched shut.
What if he had truly raised me as his daughter? What if he’d put aside his foolish quest to live on in another body, to bring his dead wife back to life?
“I need to catch it. They are no longer bound to my father, which means they can pledge loyalty to others. I cannot believe it was here by mistake. Help me.”
“You killed him.” He said it casually, like we were two drunk classmates bonding on a late-night stroll back to where we were staying.
There was a renewed sense of purpose and unity among the palace staff. The Empire was created to fend off the Alanga, to keep them from gaining a foothold.
Rebellion didn’t come with instructions. Should I have tried to help the assassin? Should I have murdered this new Emperor before she could name an heir?
You’re the Emperor. You’re powerful. People have to have an opinion on you. They won’t all be good opinions. At some point you have to just do what you think is right.”
The Empire had moved past her memories, leaving both Shiyen and Nisong behind. Was there a place for her in this world, or should she instead fade into the background as she’d done so many times before?
Always someone was demanding my time or attention, asking questions or needing my input. A steward would help field those duties at least.
“What could I possibly want from the Ioph Carn in return? As you said yourself, I’m one of the Empire’s highest-ranking officials. Why would I want to involve myself with a criminal organization?”
“I’m learning to. What’s the point of having power if we can’t use it to help people? The farmers, the gutter orphans – they’re no different than you or me.”
They’ve suffered under your rule, Father. What would those people say if I set you free? They would say that I’m not who they thought I was. They would say I am just like you.”
They could spend several lifetimes trying to fix the damage her father had done. One lifetime would have to be enough, though it felt woefully inadequate each time Phalue looked at the list.
“Welcome to marriage with a governor!” Phalue said. “I understand now why you wished to avoid it!”
She should have known the girl was stealing something. Ranami had lived the life of a gutter orphan; you never collided with someone by accident. But life in a palace had apparently made her reflexes slow.
But beneath that you have the strongest, most compassionate heart of anyone I’ve ever known. Any child would be lucky to feel a fraction of the love I know you’re capable of. We’ll figure this out together.”
“A song isn’t impenetrable armor. They write songs about dead people too, you know.” “But are they quite so catchy?”
I was not some pampered, cloistered Emperor’s get. I had clawed my way tooth and nail to this position, defying my father and teaching myself his magic. I was Lin, and I was Emperor. “Riya has an interesting way of greeting guests, Sai,” I said, my voice even. “Honored ones in particular.”
And this was what she hated about politics – the wheedling, the insinuations, the need to always be careful exactly what one was saying lest it be misinterpreted. Why couldn’t everyone just have their cards pinned to their shirts instead of holding them close to their chests?
wondered how many blamed Lin for all this new upheaval. The constructs gone wild, the sinking of Unta. The harbor was nearly full of boats. Some must have come from that doomed island.
problem I’m seeking to rectify through these visits. My father kept me in the palace most of my life and stopped visiting the islands when I was young. It is through no fault of my own that no one knows me.”
Ranami only knew the effects of his actions: the increased caro nut quotas, the harsh punishments, the lack of any system to give back to the farmers. She didn’t know him as a person. She certainly didn’t know him as a father.
It wasn’t fair that Jovis should have the love and adoration of the Empire’s people, and I had to fight for even a modicum of respect.
And then all I could think about was how the previous Emperor might have hacked the head off of one body and stitched it to another. Gruesome.
“One leader promises me an empire. The other says that perhaps we can be allowed to live in peace. Which bargain would you take, Eminence?”
She’s manipulating all of you to get what she wants. She wants to take my place and she won’t accept anything less, no matter what she loses. No matter who she loses.”
She watched Coral and Leaf exchange glances as though they had something unpleasant to say to her and they weren’t sure which of them should be the one to say it.
But now she was living through a hazy, fire-tinged nightmare. All terrible things seemed possible.
“Precisely. We are the saviors, my son. We must always be seen so.” I felt Shiyen squirm in his seat.
All the Alanga. The traitor helped us create the swords. He helped us hunt them all down. Was he good, to turn against his own people? Were we good, to kill all of them?” I was a wellspring of
The next prize after that is Hualin Or. Will you be ready to defend us? Is that not your duty as Emperor?” The brightness of her gaze never dimmed; her smile did not fade. No one else spoke.
surrounding the yard, weapons drawn. Mephi
Oh, I hated him. I’d never cared for Kaphra before, but now all I wanted was to crack his head open with my staff, to shut his smug mouth for ever. “I think you already know.”
It’s a fantasy that makes the Sukais sound more noble and intrepid than they actually are. In the end we are all animals, scraping by with what we can. None of us are noble.”
They’d followed this woman, this facsimile, for years. Who would be the first to admit they’d made such a grievous error?
had to know my place, he’d said, otherwise others would decide my place for me.
They’d done nothing wrong; their only crime had been to exist, which meant they drained the life from living people. And it was my father’s fault for creating them, not mine.
“You and I both know that doesn’t matter. I spent a great deal of my childhood on the streets. Have enough muscle or enough money, and the other orphans tended to fall in line.” Lin did
How could she be all right? She would never be so again. The world had cracked open and swallowed Luangon.
Nisong did. If Coral, Leaf, Grass, Frond and Shell had been her family, Coral was now all she had left. “I told him I’d watch over him. I said I’d keep him safe.” She’d lied to him.
“No, you are not a child. You are a grown woman who has betrayed the trust of her Emperor. A child might be forgiven. A child might not be executed.” “And then who will you take for your consort? Who will bear you an heir?”
The way those I love have. You never cared about us until we made ourselves heard in blood and fire. To you we were just made things to be disposed of. We were your mistakes, to be crumpled and burned like so many ink blotted pages. Give me your Empire or give me your deaths.”
How . . . how was she any different than the shambling corpses out on the battlefield? I felt sick with horror. And she was reading it all on my face.
I had an Empire to save. I had an army to defeat. Sixteen was not so many, but I was clever, and I had defeated my father and his constructs. I could make this work.
She’d thought Lin reluctant to use bone shard magic, but apparently desperation could force the girl’s hand.
She was right to send me away, and the rain was just yet another signal that I, Jovis of Anau, was Emperor of Fools. It was a more fitting title for me than Captain of the Imperial Guard.
“Jovis.” He swerved in front of me, his paws firmly planted. “You and Lin had a fight. You need to make things right because she needs you there. Everyone does. You can’t walk away.” There was something odd about his voice, like he was choking on something.
I’d leave that to men like Gio, so convinced of their morality that they’d sail straight into a reef if their heart told them it was ethical.
Each time she’d spoken to Ayesh, she’d felt like a puppet, being pulled by distant strings. She should be kinder, more understanding. They’d come from the same sort of place, after all. But maybe that was the problem.