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I narrowed my eyes at them. They had trekked all the way to us, when they just as easily could have kept going, crossing the Imperium and making their way back to Krustau. Koque was smart enough to be able to do it, to travel without bringing attention.

“As always, it brings me great pleasure to provide safety for my brother.” Tallu gestured to the side and a servant appeared with another seat. “We should arrive in the Ariphadeus tomorrow.”

“The Ariphadeus?” Empress Koque said, clearly surprised, although she covered it quickly. “We thought you would be heading to the Imperium.”

“Two of our former generals set fire to the capital city and our palace. How can I rightfully take my throne when one still lives?” Tallu asked, watching her. “If this changes your desire to stay with us, know that I appreciate your show of loyalty and give you leave to do as you should in protecting Prince Hallu.”

Koque quickly managed a smile. “No, how could it change our desire to serve you?”

Tallu nodded, but I kept my eyes on her, wondering what she had hoped when she traveled from the safety of the children’s village to the danger of a military camp.

The question of how she had traveled across Tavornai was answered when I saw Sagam greeting both of his sisters as subtly as a man of his rank was required to. He nodded to them, and Joxii immediately lowered herself into a bow, but Riini had spent too long with the children of Tavornai to be formal, and threw her arms around her brother.

The next day, as we walked through the forest, I got the full story from Joxii and Riini. Although the poisoned tree had left Riini once I had fulfilled its desires, there was still an echo of it inside her, enough of one that the other children had begun to treat her differently.

Empathy pulsed in my chest. As a child, I had also been kept separate from my peers by the very nature of who I was. Only a select few had known what my job and Eonaî’s job had been, but all the children knew that someday soon we were going to go south to the enemy.

It had meant that no matter our age, we were always set apart from our peers.

This child, touched by elder trees, nearly overcome by a poisoned elder tree, could never be one with the other children, no matter that she had done it to save them, to save their homeland. Shaking my head, I looked out at the trees around us. We were traveling by foot, which took less time than I expected.

Tavornai didn’t simply end. Rather, the vines and poisonous flowers disappeared and the trees became more sparse, opening to a massive grassland that made me nervous about the wolves and animals that might be hiding in the tall blades.

General Saxu sent his men to clear the way for us, chopping away at the greenery so that Tallu was not wading through. In the distance, the mountains loomed, but they were nowhere near as tall as the Dragon’s Rest Mountains in the north. I had expected those tall peaks, and was instead faced with more reasonable ones that almost looked like hills to my eyes.

Still, crossing them would be a task, until General Saxu pointed out our destination in the distance. There was a nearly invisible valley that ran between the mountains. It had been used at various points during various wars, most recently by General Bemishu to store supplies and provide somewhere to retreat during his campaigns. It was another day to reach it, and Saxu only allowed us close after scouts and several troops of soldiers had checked to make sure it was fully abandoned.

General Kacha had been using it as a launching point for his own attacks, but the soldiers he had left behind to guard his extra gear and supplies were all too eager to surrender when faced with a larger force and their emperor himself.

The influx of supplies, food, and even fresh water lifted almost everyone’s spirits, and that night the camp was full of celebratory songs. It was the first chance Saxu’s men had to celebrate their victory over Kacha’s men. Even those who had once pledged victory to the general joined in, as though they wished to pretend their temporary rebellion had never happened.

Tallu and I ate with Koque and Hallu, the four of us quiet in comparison to the festivities outside. I still wanted to ask her why she hadn’t returned to Krustau as well as what Spider had told her. In the end, I was too cowardly, and the four of us left for our tents after polite conversation.

Even using the valley that carved all the way through the mountain range, it took two days to reach Ariphadeus, although I could feel the difference in the air as soon as we crossed the peaks of the mountains. It was drier on the other side, the air smelling of something I couldn’t quite name. After the verdant Tavornai, it felt uncomfortably barren when we looked out at the land.

“I thought there would be sand dunes,” I said.

“That is further in,” General Saxu said. “This is the greenest part of the Ariphadeus.”

We were surrounded by sparse grass and a few struggling trees. Brush grew occasionally, not quite large enough to impede our path.

The lack of greenery made the imperial estates more obvious. They emerged from the ground in white and black, the smooth stone dragged from other areas of the Imperium.

“That is where Lord Pehine lives. He’s easily the most powerful lord along the border with the Ariphadeus, although there are four others. If anyone was supplying Kacha, it was at his direction.” Koque looked back significantly. The cache of food and supplies we had found at Kacha’s camp was significant. Most of the tents and bedding had been designed for the desert.

“Let us visit my loyal retainer,” Tallu said. “And see what he’s willing to donate to our cause.”

“Will it be dangerous?” Prince Hallu asked.

Saxu smiled down at the boy. “Lord Pehine is used to dealing with goblin slaves and attacking tribes. He has not felt the wrath of your brother, nor the steel of my sword.”

“So it’s not dangerous?” Prince Hallu still seemed slightly in awe of General Saxu. He had been little older than an infant when they had left the Mountainside Palace that I wondered if he had even met the general before.

“No battle is without danger, even political ones.” Saxu looked up at Koque, his eyes wrinkling into a smile, although he kept his mouth stern. “I’m sure your mother has already taught you that.”

“I know that.” Prince Hallu straightened his shoulders, raising his chin. “I’m not a baby.”

“No,” Saxu agreed. “You are not.”