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It felt like watching one possibility of the future, a future where the Imperium did not mean conquering soldiers, but benevolent gods, whose knowledge and resources were far greater than their subjects’.

It was not the future I had hoped for, and I knew it was not one that Tallu wanted. It left him still on the black throne, emperor of all lands. If he had not won his power through bloodshed, he still wielded it, his brutal conquering masked by kindness rather than exposed in war.

At the edge of the village, we found Prince Hallu, guarded on both sides by the Bemishu twins. They might be training to be spies instead of the masked guards of the emperor, but they were still Emperor’s Dogs. Naî had already found a place in his arms, and was busy kneading at his forearm, trying to get his attention. The four of them stood at the far end of a bridge, staring across to where it disappeared into the dark forest.

“Hallu,” Koque said urgently.

He turned, his small face creased in a frown. “She hasn’t come back. She said she would.”

“Who?” I asked, even though I knew. Naî hissed in jealous annoyance and launching into the air, leaving us all behind.

“Riini. She said she’d come back.” He worried at the sleeves of his stitched jacket, his bony wrists exposed. Out from under Centipede’s control, he grew like a weed. “She said she’d come back.”

The dark forest hummed with insects and a growl from some distant predator. I couldn’t see much beyond where the light fell. “Don’t worry, your brother and I will bring her back.”

Ten

The bridge creaked as we walked, and when I looked back, the forest had already closed behind us, branches and vines dripping down off trees where they hadn’t been before. The forest was an enormous monster, and we were willingly walking into its mouth.

Where was Riini in this darkness? How could a child survive inside the stomach of such a massive predator?

The scent of damp leaves and decomposing bodies rose and I put my hand on the bridge’s railing just to prove that it was not rotting out from under us. Shadows shifted and a monkey-like animal landed on the railing, shaking the bridge under our feet. It bared its sharp, vicious teeth and snapped at us.

“Little brother,” I said. “Why do you try to attack us?”

It hissed, scampering up a vine to chatter at us from a height. Another joined it, their noises containing no words I could understand.

“I should have said thank you,” Tallu said.

Blinking, I stopped walking and turned to face him. His mouth was flat, and in the patchy filtered light that made its way through the branches, I couldn’t see his eyes. It made it hard for me to tell what he was feeling.

“You crushed Kacha’s army for me and all I could do was scold you.” Tallu looked at me, and I so desperately wanted to see his face that I stepped closer, finally catching his eyes, which glinted with desire.

“You might not believe this, but I am shockingly used to being scolded. I’m nearly as good at receiving a scolding as I am at being handsome and lusted after,” I teased.

Tallu’s mouth pulled up into a smile. “In an hour, you saved all of us. Without that, we would be fighting Kacha on both sides. We would have no hope of winning.”

“It was for you,” I said. But then I had to tell the truth, admitting something that I only could in the dark of the forest. “But I was also angry they had killed someone dear to me. I couldn’t help but think what if it’d been you? And then I lost myself to it. I’m scared at the way the magic overtook me. I was only able to keep my head above it because you were there to save me. What if you aren’t next time?”

“Then you won’t use it again.” Tallu said it firmly, as though it was the only option, but I knew differently.

“We have a fraction of his men. We defeated the electro cannon, but there’s no promise that he had only one.” I looked down, but Tallu put his fingers underneath my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“You have moved all of the pieces on our war board. You have given us the space and power we need. Now, let General Saxu and me do our jobs.” Tallu’s voice was commanding. “Let me protect you as you always protect me.”

“Is that an order? According to the empress, the word of the emperor is the same as that of a god.” I raised my eyebrows suggestively. “Do you have any others for me?”

“I have many. But now is not the time.” Tallu looked down the bridge we were taking. “Do you think we missed Riini?”

“No,” I said. Because I could feel the power of an elder tree nearby, the whisper of it in my ear. “I think we are close.”

We started walking again, the air between us lighter with each step. Even as we were once again on solid footing with each other, the forest seemed darker. I saw more of the same monkeys we had seen earlier. They congregated together, gripping tight to hanging vines. Birds landed on the railing, watching us with hungry eyes as we passed. I glanced backward with each step, trying to keep my attention both in front of and behind us.

A sense of dread grew heavy in my stomach, and it was impossible to tease apart whether it came from the animals stalking us or the elder tree. If the other elder trees in Tavornai felt like power and communication under the ground, this one felt like acid in my throat, like the hint of illness that came before a raging fever.

“Airón?” Tallu said.

I turned to him, wiping sweat from my brow, but he wasn’t looking at me. He pointed off the path.