“I didn’t say friends, Batu. You and I are friends.”

“No, we are not.”

“I’m talking about an alliance between you and the Empress. And that’s more important for your needs.”

“The Empress hates my people. She has no respect for the tribes that made this country what it is. Why would she want alliance now?”

“Because she needs one now.”

Brannie took the chain mail shirt and boots that Bolormaa handed to her. “Keita, just get to it. I’m running out of patience.”

Batu pointed at Brannie. “Her I like.”

Keita’s eyes narrowed on the tribal leader, but Brannie snapped her fingers to catch her cousin’s attention before she got into one of her moods.

“Fine,” Keita said. “It came to me when I saw who was trying to kill me. I’d always assumed it was the Empress—”

“Because everyone wants you dead?”

“No, Batu. Everyone loves me. I’m Keita.”

Brannie pulled on her shirt and asked Keita, “If it wasn’t the Empress, who was it?”

“I think it was her brother.”

Batu straightened. “Lord Xing? What does he want with you?”

“He wants me dead—”

“I want you dead.”

“Perhaps”—Keita sneered at Batu—“but not for the same reasons I’m sure.”

Brannie pulled her boots on. “What reasons could he have?”

“I think he was afraid I’d find out the truth and get that information to the Empress.”

Tucking her wonderful new weapon back into her boot—Batu had no idea how dangerous her “stick” was—Brannie paused and looked at her cousin. “What truth?”

“That Xing has already made an alliance . . . with Salebiri.”

Chapter Thirty-One

The Empress’s head tilted to the side. “How do you lose a princess, Mì-runach?”

There had been introductions and a brief update on what had happened in the last few days, but Aidan was still holding much back. He had to. His goal at the moment was the same as it had been hours ago . . . to keep the Empress off Brannie’s and Keita’s back.

“It’s complicated,” he replied.

“Is it?” she asked, not looking terribly convinced.

“My lady, she ran.”

“From you? What did you do to her?” She pointed an accusing finger at Kachka and the others. “Was it these unclean Riders?”

“No. She ran from you. From your army.”

“Keita would never run from me. I adore her more than my own children . . . except for Ren.”

“Really, Ma?” asked her eldest daughter, Fang, the archer they’d originally met. “Really?”

Everyone in the room except the Southlanders and the Riders were kin. Along with Empress Xinyi, there were her two sons, eldest Zhi and third oldest Kang; and her three daughters: second oldest Fang, fourth oldest Ju, and youngest daughter Lei. Ren was the baby of the group. They were all members of the Chosen Dynasty, the royal family of the Eastlands for the last three thousand years.

Aidan had expected all the pomp and circumstance he’d seen in the main hall to continue with the family, but it didn’t.

Fang liked to hunt down her own meat apparently.

Zhi enjoyed reading and was seriously considering becoming a monk in the service of one of the Eastland gods.

Lei had on a dress but it was covered in dirt and leaves and she was currently resting on the floor, her legs up against a wall.

Kang and Ju were warriors, in gold-and-black chain mail, armed to the teeth, and more than ready for any of the Southlanders to test their strength and speed.

In a lot of ways, they reminded him of Rhiannon and her offspring, but he wasn’t about to say that. He really didn’t know if they would consider it an insult or not.

“Stop complaining, Fang,” her mother said. “I’m waiting for an answer from this cretin.”

Wanting to see how the Empress would react, Aidan replied, “Assassins have come after Keita twice, my lady. Once in the Southlands near the docks. And then again at the Heaven’s Destroyers Temple.”

She pulled back a bit. “I would never attack Keita anywhere, at any time, but especially at the Destroyers Temple. Everyone allowed entry into that sacred space is considered protected. To attack the inhabitants is to risk the wrath of the gods.”

“Unless your god is Chramnesind.”

“Who?”

Fang’s eyes crossed. “Ma. The Zealots.”

“Oh, yes. Yes. Of course.” The Empress let out what Aidan assumed was supposed to be a sad sigh. “Such a tragedy what’s been happening over in the Southlands with those horrid people. Although I am surprised that dear, sweet Rhiannon has bothered to involve herself with those she has always referred to as ‘two-legged cattle.’ You see, your queen has never truly understood the connection my people have with the humans of this land.”

“You mean because they worship you?”

The Empress smiled. “Yes.”

“What my mother means—”

“He knows what I mean, Fang. Don’t you, Aidan the Divine?”

“I do. But, of course, times have changed, haven’t they, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, they have. At least for the Southlanders. Not much change here. Not in . . . two thousand years or so? Sadly, Rhiannon can’t really say the same. It has been fascinating to watch, though.”

“I’m sure it has. Of course, change comes to all eventually,” Aidan replied, keeping his voice carefully modulated. “The question is, are you ready to face it when it does?”

“Unless you can control that change. Harness it for your own benefit. Some have quite a talent for that.”

Enjoying this dangerous discussion much more than he should, Aidan began to reply, but Fang quickly cut him off.

“I’m so worried about Keita,” she said, drawing her mother’s attention back to her.

“Yeah,” Kang suddenly said, chewing on a piece of fruit. “Makes you wonder if this has something to do with—”

Brutal glares from both mother and daughter ended the prince’s words abruptly. Grabbing another piece of fruit, he moved to a corner and kept his head down.

His reaction was telling.

Especially when the Empress looked at Aidan with a sad expression he knew was forced and said, “Poor Keita. Running off like that. All alone. Defenseless. You must feel horrible about her being unprotected, Mì-runach. Since it was your job to ensure her safety.”

Aidan was going to lie, to say how he feared for her and felt lost after failing his queen but . . .

“She’s not unprotected,” a new voice blurted out. “She’s got her cousin Brannie with her.”

Aidan looked at Caswyn and his friend immediately realized his mistake.

“I’m not supposed to talk, right?” Caswyn asked.

“Right.”

The Empress pushed herself out of her chair. “Cousin Brannie? Cousin? Do you mean Branwen the Awful of the Cadwaladr Clan? Daughter of Ghleanna the Decimator also of the Cadwaladr Clan? That Cousin Brannie?”

Aidan cleared his throat. “My lady—”

“You have let loose a Cadwaladr in my territory?”

“I . . . I wouldn’t worry. Brannie’s quite . . . uh . . . nice?”

“Oh, well, if she’s anything like her mother, I’m sure she’s a fucking delight!”

“Ma,” Fang said, shocked.

“Oh, shut up, Fang!”

The Empress began to pace around her lone wood chair. “A Cadwaladr, roaming our lands, and she thinks we tried to kill her cousin.”

“It wasn’t one of us,” Zhi noted, pausing to pointedly look at each of his siblings. “But Uncle Xing . . . ? That sounds more like him, don’t you think?”

“But why would Xing try to kill Keita?” the Empress asked. “What would be the purpose? As much as I adore her, she has no true effect on my throne.”

“You know how Keita is,” Fang said. “She can find out anything. Maybe she knows something we don’t. Maybe Xing didn’t want her to give us the information.”