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General Saxu wanted Tallu among the soldiers, surrounded by the force that would keep him safe. He wanted to send a few men into the hidden waters as emissaries.

Tallu liked neither option. “We are not sneaking in. We are not conquering. We are offering our support and asking for theirs in return. We will defend their secret treasure and they will help us defeat a man who publicly accused me of killing my father and then rose against me in rebellion.”

“We have no evidence that General Bemishu has not reached this place already,” General Saxu said. “It is quite likely that we will arrive and find he has already conquered it. If we found this place, he can too.”

“We have no evidence that he did not reach this place,” Tallu agreed. He spread his hand toward it. “Except that no one has attacked us yet. I see no evidence of sand crawlers. General Bemishu is not a subtle man. They had to have seen us coming for days.”

“Send the goblins that traveled with us along with Commander Rede and anyone else of your choosing,” Sagam suggested. “If you will not wait for more subtle introduction, then we must make our appearance as nonthreatening as we can.”

Tallu turned to General Saxu, raising his brows, and Saxu was forced to relent. He looked worse after so long in the desert. The sand was not kind on his knee, and being unable to bathe had darkened his skin and made his hair turn greasy and flat against his head.

“Commander Rede, at sunset, take the goblins back to their people,” General Saxu said.

When the heat of the day peaked and then dropped, the sun painting the sky brilliant colors, Commander Rede set off with our guides. I wanted to go with them, but the risk was too great. Not for my own safety, but that Tallu would follow.

The goblins we traveled with may have begun to accept him, may have begun to trust that he wanted General Bemishu dead more than he wanted to conquer the Ariphadeus, but that did not mean new ones would believe the same truth.

So, I was forced to watch as Commander Rede set off with a few other men, the goblins leading the way. There was little I liked less than sitting around, and even Lerolian seemed annoyed as we stood at the edge of camp, watching until Commander Rede disappeared over the crest of a hill.

The wind picked up, whipping sand into my face, and I pulled up the scarf that helped keep out the worst of it; my mouth still tasted like the sand that crunched between my teeth and I could still feel it in my eyelids when I closed them.

“There was a time when I knew all the secrets of the Imperium,” Lerolian said, standing next to me. “There were so many of us, and so many in the palace who didn’t fear Tallu yet. They pitied him or thought of him as less than his father. Ah, to make those fools dance at his feet. A single secret could bring down an entire house.”

“Do you miss the blood monks who left?” I asked.

Lerolian paused. He had spoken of power, but underneath that was the truth that he had been surrounded by his fellow monks, that there had been enough of them to ferret out every whispered secret. He had once been part of a crowd.

“Yes, of course. But also no. I cannot miss them, not when they have returned to the river and have taken a new form, a new life. They are now allowed to live free from the pain of their pasts, their souls clear of the anger and despair we have felt for so long.” Lerolian knelt, pushing his hand into the sand. His fingers reached into it, but the sand itself didn’t move. “They are once again able to make ripples in the water. Footprints in the sand.”

I looked down at my own feet, suddenly more aware of the way the sand shifted around me. Even as someone trained to be invisible, I took up so much space by simply being alive. How had Lerolian lived so long while unable to interact with the world around him? I would go mad after a day. No, less than a day, if I could see Tallu but be unable to touch him.

One of Tallu’s servants came close then, telling me that they were serving food and would I care to join His Imperial Majesty? I felt for the man. Even with me on hand to heal him, Tallu struggled with his appetite.

Only my glaring prompted him to eat enough to keep up his weight and health. And I was more than happy to contribute to the cause by watching him consume every morsel of dried meat and fruit we had. Tallu’s lip quirked up, the makeshift tent we were in lit only by a flickering electro lamp.

“I promise, the food does not taste any better with your disapproval of my eating habits.” The corners of his eyes crinkled and I couldn’t help notice those wrinkles were deeper, the lines on his face just as pronounced as they were on General Saxu’s.

“Are you sure? I have been known to experience my sister’s disapproval as a sugar that makes a dessert taste sweeter.” I smiled, and took a bite of my own meat, my jaw aching at the amount of chewing I had to do to make the leathery substance edible.

“I am eating,” Tallu said quietly. “I am trying.”

I couldn’t keep the smile on my face at the reminder of Tallu’s pain.

“I know you are,” I said. “I know it would be easier…”

I couldn’t finish the thought because the end of the sentence was too horrible, the idea that he might choose some other fate too much for me to bear. When I reached out for his hand, he grabbed it tightly.

“Do I look so delicate still?” he asked. “You look at me as though I were glass.”

“I know you are not, and yet I worry.” I dug my nails into his hand.

“You worry,” he agreed. “You think I do not feel the same about you? Every time you leap onto a dragon’s back and leave me behind? I am the Emperor of the Southern Imperium. I am not one who feels helpless. I am not one who is made powerless. I make men bend at the knee and bow before me. Yet you make me helpless.”

I laughed. “We make quite the pair. Perhaps we should abandon all of this in favor of two men more suited to it. There must be a pair of bloodthirsty warriors out there who would be happy to do this work for us.”

Tallu shook his head. “No. I don’t believe there is anyone better suited to it than us.” He stood. “Come. Let us go for a walk.”

Pointedly, I looked at the dried fruit left on his plate. Unlike the meat, it had a sweet flavor that made it easier to swallow. His nostrils flared slightly, and he picked up the remaining piece and ate it.