Page 14

“I can.” I looked down. “Although I am not sure I should.”

Tallu pushed up onto his elbows, and I moved away from him, sitting up and crossing my arms over my chest.

“You are not sure you should,” Tallu said.

“You and I were both sculpted by war. You and I both know what it was to be asked to step into battle when we were not ready.” My face flushed. “I would ask the pirates, but none of them is as good at forest magic as the children. The forest doesn’t recognize them the same way.”

“You worry you are corrupting the youth. That you are taking something from them.” Tallu drew me back, and I rested on his chest again, pressing my ear to it and hearing his heartbeat.

“Yes,” I said.

“You are not.” If Tallu was lying, he was good at hiding it, because I heard not even the slightest change in the steady rhythm of his heart. “Just as your mother did, just as Lerolian did, you are offering them the chance to save their country, to save their people.”

“By asking them to kill,” I said.

“By having them help you prepare a trap,” Tallu corrected. “It is not the same thing.”

“It feels like the same thing,” I said.

“Then think of it like this instead: if your mother had offered you the chance to save the Northern Kingdom, would you have taken it? Do you regret a childhood spent training?” Tallu put his hand on top of mine, his fingers wrapping around my wrist easily.

I considered his words, feeling my heart begin to beat faster as the ice magic that froze time took a toll on me. Finally, when my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, I said, “No.”

“Then know that they will not regret it either,” Tallu said.

The icy bubble around us shivered and broke. I was panting hard, and it would take almost no effort to look as though we had been enjoying an intense physical intimacy.

“You should speak with Empress Koque. She has been taking care of the children along with Lady Chaliko. She will know which of them will be able to help you, and which should be left behind.” Tallu ran his fingers over my shoulder and up my neck, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“I want you to rest. I want you to sleep and make up for all the hours that you lost to disquieting thoughts while I was gone.” I pushed back, sighing as my back cracked. Sleeping in hammocks strung between two swamp trees hadn’t agreed with me. “Then, if I come back and see that you are rested, perhaps we can continue this conversation and convince your new Dogs of your stamina.”

Tallu smirked at me, and I felt the heat of his desire in my own chest, my stomach clenching with it. I wanted him. I wanted him so badly, but we had so little time.

Pushing away, I straightened my clothing, pointing at the pillows behind him. “Sleep.”

“What will you do if I say I can only sleep with you next to me?” Tallu asked, settling back against the pillows and closing his eyes.

“If that were actually true, I would never leave your side. I would sing you to sleep with the lullabies of old.” I backed toward the door, unable to take my eyes off Tallu’s powerful body. “Luckily, it is not true. I will be back.”

Only when I saw him nod, turning his face away from me, did I open the door. Outside, his new Dogs were trying for stoicism, but their eyes kept looking at the tent door. As I expected, they were arrayed around the tent at a polite distance. It didn’t seem like they could have overheard anything.

“His Imperial Majesty needs rest,” I said firmly. “Where is Empress Koque?”

One of the servants turned to point, his hand hanging in midair before the tree behind him exploded, the wood shattering and piercing him through.

Six

The servants began to scream, but I could only tell because their mouths hung open; their voices were silenced by the ringing in my ears.

Smoke filled my nostrils, and I looked up to see another tree touched by lightning. Everything seemed to happen so slowly, and that in itself woke me.

My father had once talked about battle, how watching men you knew be torn to pieces in front of you made even battle-hardened warriors freeze in place, made minutes pass like hours. He spoke of watching one of the strongest men he knew stand still in the middle of a surprise attack and stare until an enemy pierced him through with a sword.

I shook off the feeling that had frozen me and ran back toward Tallu’s tent. I shoved aside the flaps, only to find it empty. His Dogs had already taken him to safety. Now where was that?

Time began to move more normally, and as it did, sounds came back. I saw one more bolt of lightning hit further into our camp and I headed toward the center, where General Saxu kept the command tents, theoretically safe from any attack.

Soldiers ran in every direction, their commanders directing them, and I grabbed hold of Lugotu’s arm when he passed me.