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Lady Mutali shook her head. “I do not believe so. Their husbands are in agreement with Lord Pehine. They want the desert… civilized.”

“Is that why they’re here?” I asked. “To help toward that end?”

Lady Mutali paused, looking around her again before dropping her voice. “General Bemishu and General Kacha both stayed here for some time. Bemishu for only a week, Kacha for longer. Pehine gave them whatever they wanted. His estate has been stripped, and he expects us to pay the difference or lose our lives.”

“Does he,” I said.

Her story was very similar to what I had already assumed, but at least afterward she would be able to help us make contact with the goblin tribes.

“Tell His Highness how the other estates are paying for Lord Pehine’s generosity toward the rebel generals,” Koque said, her eyes on Lady Mutali.

“They are selling all of their slaves to the Imperium. With the wars in the Imperium, many lords have sent word asking for slaves to help them defend their lands from anyone who would want to attack them,” Lady Mutali said immediately. She glanced at Empress Koque and I realized that her openness wasn’t due to her nature or Koque’s manipulations alone.

Lady Mutali had decided to align herself with Koque, and through the empress, us. It was a strategic decision as much as the other lords’ alliance with Pehine was one.

“Have the slaves already left the Ariphadeus?” I asked.

“No,” Lady Mutali said. “The other lords have sent to their estates, and all of the slaves that are needed should be here within the next few days, but I know Lord Pehine is concerned that there still won’t be enough. He has sent half of his men out into the desert to find one of the nearby tribes and acquire more slaves.”

So if we were planning on doing anything about Pehine, it would need to be now, when half of his men were gone and before he could send more kindling into the inferno that was the Imperium.

A servant came in, and Koque didn’t even need to gesture for us to quiet our conversation. With a low bow, he indicated that dinner was ready. It would be served in the imperial style, going on for hours.

Koque raised her eyebrows significantly at me. I needed to rise first as someone she was trying to make her social superior.

I stood, striding out of the room and considering what we would have to do. Pehine had arranged for the dinner to be held in a large, open room. Tables and chairs had been set up in a U-shape, and he already occupied the seat next to the one at the head of the arrangement.

So even he, who openly cavorted with Tallu’s enemies, wasn’t ready to insult Tallu by taking the most important seat at the table. All evidence to the contrary, the man did have some common sense.

I half-expected to not have a seat myself, but found that there was one next to Tallu. As I took it, Lady Koque made her way around the room, heads turning toward her, smiles more open as she worked her magic.

Not for the first time, I wondered how she and my sister would have gotten along. She obviously would have supported us in our venture to murder the emperor, but could she have given up any of her power so that Eonaî could make the opportunity I needed?

After everyone sat, conversation rose, whispers turning louder, everyone’s tongue loosening as the alcohol flowed. I looked at the glass in front of me, wondering if Pehine had received my message from Xuetie. Did he know that his days were limited? That he would not survive Tallu’s visit to his domain?

I turned my head, glancing at the man himself. He was in conversation with the lord next to him, but I could see a sharpness underneath, too many teeth exposed when he smiled.

He turned to look at me, a predator aware of the threat in his territory. He raised his glass, and social norms forced me to do the same. I reached for mine, letting my hand travel slightly too far and knocking it off the table.

Pehine’s lips tightened, his jaw clenching around his smile. Servants leapt into action, cleaning up the mess of glass and alcohol. I was provided another instantly, and took it, raising it in his direction.

I took a small sip, and set the glass back in front of me. I would believe Pehine desperate enough to poison us, but not so intelligent as to have a spare glass of poison nearby.

The doors opened, and a servant called out, “His Imperial Majesty, Dragon Chosen Emperor Tallu.”

Everyone in the room stood and bowed, including me. I turned my head just slightly to see that Pehine was in perfect form, his fingers forming a triangle, his expression markedly blank as he stared down at the ground.

When Tallu entered, his cloak flowed behind him, and Naî had wrapped herself around his neck, her eyes open and observing everyone. The Ariphadi lords and ladies gasped, one of the women whispering, “Is that a dragon?”

Tallu approached the head of the table, taking the seat between Pehine and me. He gestured with one hand, and slowly everyone in the room straightened from their bows and took their seats again. The conversation was inaudible, no more than murmurs, although I could see all of the Ariphadi lords were staring at Tallu. General Saxu and his commanders were watching from their seats. Their wariness was only outmatched by Tallu’s own Dogs.

Lord Pehine rose, raising his glass. “Emperor Tallu, welcome to our most humble feast. It is the greatest honor of our house to be hosting you and your men. We hope that we might make your stay all the more comfortable. Anything within our power is yours.”

Tallu raised a single eyebrow. “Anything within your power?”

“Yes. Of course we are loyal servants of the emperor.” Pehine was still frozen, glass raised, unable to lower it until Tallu himself acknowledged the toast.

“Loyal servants of the emperor,” Tallu mused.