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My father came down next, and he held the rope steady for my sister. The air mage jumped off the railing of the ship, floating to the ground like a cloud. Six other warriors descended the rope ladder, the rest staying on board. It was the opening move in a game of strategy: my father’s way of telling General Saxu that they had the men enough to defend themselves, but they were not about to leave the ship unattended.

As they walked forward, I drank in the sight of my family. I had never expected to see Father again when Eonaî and I traveled south. I had expected that the last time I saw him would be when he and our mother stood on the walls of the Silver City, watching us travel south to our deaths.

I wanted to leap forward, wrap Eonaî in a hug, grab hold of her and ignore the politics. But I couldn’t, not with that cool expression on her face that so clearly mimicked our mother. She was playing her part just as I was playing mine, and I hated that under her expression I couldn’t read her true feelings.

My sister looked at me, and I found my eyes clouding with tears so that I had to blink, forcing the moisture back, forcing myself to see clearly. I knew Eonaî was presenting her most neutral expression because of who she was facing, but still, I wanted to know what she thought of who I had become.

She had last seen me when I was still the second half of her, when she and I were a single soul cleaved in two. But now, we had both grown into separate people. I was something that hadn’t been seen, and she had become our mother’s heir.

“How many of them speak Northern?” my father asked when they were a polite distance from us.

“The emperor,” I said in Northern. I was sure that Saxu spoke some, but I didn’t know if any of his men were fluent.

“We greet you, King Rimáu and Princess Eonaî, sister of my beloved.” Tallu looked between them, and I wondered what they saw when they looked at him. Eonaî was the only one who had met him before. Did he look the same to her?

My sister turned to my father. “He says he greets us.”

I had not been born yet, but I had been told about the game my mother and father had played on the Southern Imperium—my mother translating for my father, then translating ‘his’ responses, when in reality they were her decisions at the negotiating table.

“We greet him in return, and recognize him as our son-in-law,” my father said. After my sister translated, she gestured to the air mage. “We would like to introduce our ally, Sister Themeal. She is recognized as an ambassador of Ristorium and speaks for their queen.”

“Welcome, Sister Themeal,” Tallu said. “I imagine we have much to discuss and have prepared a feast so that we might do so over food.”

He gestured to the side, the imperial order clear to those around him. But my family was not imperial, although my sister spoke it fluently, and Themeal clearly had no desire to immediately bow to the emperor’s requests.

She held up a hand, the rude gesture making the imperials pause. When she spoke, her Imperial was heavily accented, and she paused between phrases, as though struggling for words. “Wait. I’ve spoken with Velethuil. He says that your wish is to have no war.”

The last two words ended with a rise in her voice, although I thought it was more because she was struggling to find the vocabulary she needed rather than the sentence being a question.

Tallu looked at her, and his expression turned serious. “You will not believe me, as my people killed so many of yours. But it is true. I want peace. The Imperium will no longer wage war on any of the free nations, and we intend to help with recovery where we can.”

“My people… They report that Forsaith is green once again.” Again Themeal ended on a tone that was nearly a question, as though uncertain of her phrasing. “How did this come to be?”

“I am devoted to peace for the Imperium. It is the only future I see for our nation. However, the path to peace has been difficult. As we strove to achieve it, we met the animalia and they bestowed some of their powers on my beloved husband.” Tallu gestured to me and I dipped my head in a nod.

“And you have chosen to help the man who killed so many of your own people?” Sister Themeal asked me sharply. My sister narrowed her eyes at the air mage, and from her tightened lips I could read her angry defensiveness. She did not like Sister Themeal questioning me.

My chest loosened all at once, and I gripped both hands in tight fists so I didn’t throw everything into chaos by tackling Eonaî in a hug.

“I have chosen to use the powers given to me to heal the damage the Imperium has done. I have chosen peace over more bloodshed.” I had to drag my eyes away from my twin, fixing my gaze on the air mage. “We are under no illusions that this will be an easy path forward.”

“Come. Let us eat,” my father said in Northern before Sister Themeal could speak again. He offered my sister his arm. Then he looked at me, smiling. “General Saxu would not be such a coward as to poison our food, unless he has greatly changed since we last locked swords.”

The enormous banquet hall had been emptied but for a single large table. Tallu sat at the head, and I took the seat at his right, with General Saxu beside me. My father sat to his left, my sister and the air mage on his side of the table. I knew that Tallu had considered having some of his trusted ministers join us, but there were things that should only be heard by the rulers of the free nations.

During the meal, Tallu reiterated his desires, and I could tell my father was hesitant to believe, much less trust. Eonaî glanced at me, and I nodded. Tallu was telling the truth. When the meal was over, Tallu offered my family and Sister Themeal rooms at Turtle House. They took them, with the agreement to meet again in the morning.

Nohe had been preparing, and the rooms that she offered to my family were every bit to northern standards. She had found animal rugs to replace the woven imperial ones. There was already nuts and dried fruit for any visiting birds.

In contrast, Sister Themeal was offered rooms with cushions on the floor, and a training space ready for meditation. She stood in the doorway, speaking with my father quietly in Northern before she shut the door behind her.

“Brother, if you have time, I would speak with you,” Eonaî said. I nodded and followed them back to their rooms.

I dismissed the servants with a quick gesture, flushing once I realized my family was watching me behave with the same dismissive attitude as Tallu. They stood apart from me, a gap of a few feet that seemed completely impossible to traverse.

After Nohe shut the door behind her and the other servants, I turned back to my family, my shoulders hunching, my jaw tight. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, feeling the same heat in my cheeks that wouldn’t leave.

I looked away from my sister, feeling something grab my heart tight and squeeze. I had all the magic of the animalia, all the power of the One Dragon, and the idea that perhaps Eonaî and I had become too different to just talk left me almost breathless with anxiety.