“Don’t we?” I asked quietly.
“Yes.” His voice was distant. “Yes. We do.”
The words were mechanical, and he turned away, and I swore to the great northern bear and all of her children. I had messed up, and I wasn’t sure how. When Tallu turned back to me, his face was cold. “I will leave you to recover.”
I grabbed hold of his wrist. “Wait. Stop.”
He stilled, his eyes going down to my hand on his wrist. He was going to say something like,unhand meoryou dare touch me.Instead, he looked up again, and there was the man in the back of the cart with me, and everything about the intimacy, the vulnerability, made me shiver.
“What happened? Did General Saxu discover who was behind the attack?” That wasn’t the question I wanted to ask, but I wasn’t sure how to phrase what I did want to know.
“No, nothing yet.” Tallu was so still that I was positive he was actually carved from wood.
“Any evidence it was the man already claiming your throne?” I said wryly. “The one who dresses the part of the emperor and was ready to leap into your seat before they’d even found your body?”
Tallu snorted. “No. I need to be careful how I approach him. I am known to only make accusations that are accurate. And all evidence says that, despite his proclivities, Rute hasn’t been in contact with anyone from Krustau or any of their intermediaries.”
“And General Kacha?” I asked. “He’s a military general who’s traveled the whole continent.”
Tallu shook his head. “Not that I know of. So far, I haven’t been able to find any real evidence that he’s behind any of this.”
“‘So far,’” I said. “Which means you still think they’re your best suspects.”
“Which means that if it’s not them, it could be any number of people who want me dead. The traitors on the Emperor’s Council that were banished. The families of those killed.Ministers. Courtiers.” Tallu leaned back, his arm pulling free and letting my hand fall onto the soft bedding.
“As your ally, I have to say at this point, it might be easier to just cross off those you know itisn’t. There must be a few people in the palace who are still loyal to you. A scullery maid? A deaf and blind scholar? Maybe one of the stable hands?”
Tallu laughed again, and I turned back to my food. “One of the servants wouldn’t have the ability to bring Krustavian soldiers into the Imperium.”
“Yes, and why them? Surely there were some assassins closer to home,” I said, feeling as though it was an admission, even though Tallu only turned to me with a frown.
“Why Krustavian soldiers? That is a good question.”
“I do ask them occasionally. Not everything out of my mouth is nonsense.” I bit into a particularly delicate tart and groaned in pleasure.
“I don’t think a single thing out of your mouth is nonsense,” Tallu said, and I looked up to find his eyes wide, narrowing when I licked my lip. “I do not deserve the gift that your mother gave me.”
It was my turn to stare at him. “What?”
“You. Your mother gave me you, and I do not deserve someone of your insight and intelligence.” Tallu’s face was carved from granite, as though he thought he’d done something terrible, stealing me from my mother. “I hope she does not miss you too much.”
“My mother was mostly annoyed by my tongue,” I said stupidly, which was only partially true. My mother had smiled at me fondly and with a hint of horrible grief. She had loved me as best she could, knowing I was going to die.
“The more fool her, then,” Tallu said. “Because what you are is valuable. You are a treasure, Airón of the Northern Kingdom,and I am Emperor of the Southern Imperium. I know how to treat treasure.”
He stood, towering over me, and I was sure he was going to lean down to kiss me, but instead, he started to move away, and I shoved the tray aside so hard it ended up on the ground. Grabbing hold of his shirt, I dragged him over me.
Our lips crashed together. He was startled, his mouth opening, but I was too fast. If I let him go now, I would never have the courage again. I would never be brave enough to cross the gap between what I’d trained for and what Eonaî had.
But this didn’t feel like a seduction. It didn’t feel calculated; it felt like an honest response to the way he’d called me atreasure. The way his tongue had shaped my name, the way he’d looked at me and seenmebeyond my smart mouth and foolish wit.
“Airón.” His voice broke on my name. “Airón.”
I shoved at his clothes, and he let me push off his robe, the silk sliding to the ground, the ties of his shirt giving under my desperate fingers. I pulled it over his head, and he let me, his eyes disappearing only for a moment before he leaned in again, his lips firm and sweet on mine.
Then he was growling, pressing me back into the mattress, pushing me down and using his body to weigh me down. He was desperate, his hands shoving up under my shirt, palms flat on my stomach, and how had I thought this would be easy?
He grabbed one of my hands, his grip tightening on my wrist, and then he released it, pulling back.
