Everything was trees and rocks, high hills with forest blocking my view of everything. The trees were so tall they seemed to touch the sun, the lower branches scarred from fires. I had no idea where I was.
In the north, this wouldn’t have been a problem. In the north, I could have asked a passing bird or animal where the Silver City was.
But we weren’t in the north, and asking a passing animal how to get back to the Imperial Capital was likely to end with my head mounted on a pike somewhere. The only magic allowed in the Imperium was electro magic.
Behind me, Tallu grunted, and I turned. Reaching out, I helped him through the crack between boulders, pulling himthrough when he got stuck. He landed hard on soil littered with leaves from the hardy trees that clung to the side of the mountain. The branches spread wide, providing little shade, but it was enough in the unrelenting afternoon heat.
Turning, I finally got a good look at Tallu. His face was bruised, the skin of his cheek purpling, and one of his eyes nearly swollen shut. His torn clothes exposed his arms, revealing a curling tattoo stretching from shoulder to wrist.
I squinted before realizing it was a dragon made of lightning. The flesh was mottled with bruises, and even though his shirt and pants were soaked, I could see stains of red.
“When you said they cut through your leg…” I frowned at him, squinting until I saw the origin of the blood.
Tallu hissed when I reached out, touching his calf. Carefully, thinking about what Yorîmu would say, I straightened his leg, tearing the shredded fabric off until I could see the wound underneath.
He had underplayed the damage. The flesh was torn open, the muscle almost completely severed. If he was lucky, the weapon had avoided any tendon. As it was, I had no idea how he wasn’t bleeding to death in front of me.
The flesh was hot when I touched it, almost feverishly warm despite the chill of the cavern. The cold water and cold atmosphere must have been helping. Now that we were warmer, we didn’t have much time.
I yanked off my shirt, grabbing a piece of sharp rock nearby and tearing at the fabric until the seams gave. The strips weren’t clean, but I needed to stop the bleeding before the emperor died.
Tallu watched me, his eyes following the movement of my hands, but when I looked up, he was pale, and the moisture on his brow was from cold sweat rather than the river we had been swimming in.
“I’m going to wrap it as tightly as I can. Hopefully tightly enough that the blood won’t be too bad. We still need to get back to the palace quickly.” I waited for him to nod, hyperaware that with each passing second, he was looking worse and worse. His copper skin had gone gray, but it didn’t look luminescent silver like the others in his court.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I wrapped one of the strips higher up on his leg, cinching it tightly, hoping to decrease the blood flow. The other three strips I wrapped around the wound, one just above, the other two in an X pattern, trying to keep the flesh closed.
Finally, I stood and found a tall stick. Offering it out to him, I pointed toward the setting sun. “We need to move. How do we get back to the capital?”
Tallu swallowed, his brows pulling together, and then his shoulders straightened, and he reached up. I grabbed his hand at the wrist, tugging hard and pulling him up to stand. He took the stick in one hand, but I realized I would have to keep his other arm over my shoulders.
“If we get down to the bottom of the mountain, we can follow the canyon back to the city.” Tallu’s voice was strong, even if his expression was pale and pained.
“Should we try to find the road we took to get here?” Then, I answered my own question. “There’s too much of a danger that whoever attacked you is still on the path.”
“Exactly.” Tallu’s lip was damp, and he licked it, a brief flash of pink that was gone before I registered it.
“All right. Down we go.” I chose our way carefully, aware that Tallu didn’t have the strength to go fast and that any speed might lead to further injuries. The loose dirt on the hillside sometimes gave under my feet, and I clenched my jaw, focused on keeping us both upright.
Leave him to die. Let him bleed out on the mountainside.
My entire life, for as long as I could remember, I had been training for just that purpose. Kill the emperor, let his court eat itself alive like a snake consuming its own tail.
Only that had beenmyjob. Eonaî had always known it was going to be more complicated than that. She had spent months—years—strategizing with Mother about how to burn the kingdom down.
Her work had been just as arduous as mine, even if the focus had been on court politics. I might be our mother’s revenge, but Eonaî had been her plan for success.
I could play both parts. I could do it. I would do it.
Even though right now, I felt as taut as a bowstring pulled, ready to release the arrow and realizing that I had to build the target I needed to hit.
Fine.
New plan: kill Rute, bring whoever on the council was left back to the capital.Thenkill Tallu.
“The city should be there.” Tallu’s voice interrupted my thoughts. We had finally reached the bottom of the mountain. A lazy stream wound between rocks. “The river reaches the city.”
“Do you know a back way into the palace?” I asked. “If they attacked you on the mountain, there’s a chance they’ve infiltrated your court.”
