"High praise from a little devil."He smiled."I'll wait until I see you off when the Great Khan leaves."
The mention of the wedding soured the mood immediately, replacing the ease between them with an oppressive sense of doom.
"Borji," Azul said quietly."Do you want to be Igwe?"
Her brother's eyes widened."Kihaana, that's treason."
"I'm serious."She kept his gaze, without even a hint of mockery in her eyes.
"Yes, I do.Is that terrible—to want my father's throne?"
"No."Azul smiled and reached for the wine jug beside her.She poured two cups—one for him, one for herself."To be honest, it works in my favour."
She raised her cup."To General Borji.Future Igwe of the Borjigin.May your reign be long and your enemies few."
Something shifted in Borji's heart.All this time, he'd been the one bringing her food, and now she was serving him wine.Offering him a toast.Acknowledging him as someone she could condone in her life.
He took the cup and drank without hesitation.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"I will set a table before you in the presence of your enemies, but you must know clearly.Who is your enemy?"
He hesitated to speak, the scar down his back tingling."Enemies?If I said the entirety of the Borjigin, would you believe me?"
She smirked, gulping down more wine, slamming her cup on the table.
"So we have the same enemies.I am not someone to stand even a thorn in my flesh.I will not rest until this entire family has crumbled from the inside out."
Borji couldn't help but stare, his hand tightening around his goblet.All these years, his hatred for his family had dulled, unable to push through and hurt anyone.Compared to her, wasn't he laughable?
"So I will make you king," she said."I will elevate you above all men in Tarsyn.You, the boy with no name, will be greater than all."
His heart skipped a beat.Perhaps it was the alcohol talking, for her words seemed so impossibly absurd.Yet it felt like a rock was stuck in his throat, rendering him unable to reply.
So he finished his alcohol.
Not once had she drunk from any cup he had given her, but now that she had prepared him a cup personally, he would gladly drink.
Azul smiled, watching him, her eyes glancing briefly to the side; a letter sat on her vanity, signed with the sigil of a viper.Her lips stretched, finding the game had only gotten much more interesting.
The Ugoeze’s closest guard was a careful man.He had learned, over his years of service, exactly how to deliver unwelcome news—standing at a slight angle, never directly in her eyeline, his voice neutral enough that the information arrived before she could attach the emotion to its source.
"The meeting concerned the Valthorne delegation," he said."They arrived ahead of schedule.The council agreed to hold the formal banquet tomorrow afternoon.The Akwaugo is to be presented."
The Ugoeze nodded, her fingers moving through the stems of the arrangement on her table.
"And after the meeting?"
The guard's pause was almost imperceptible."His Majesty did not return to his own chambers."
She waited.
"He went to the Second Wife's quarters."
The shears in her hand moved once, clean and without hesitation.A lily head dropped to the table, stem severed.The petals held for a moment, then loosened, fanning across the coated surface.
Once a month, a night with the Igwe was owed to her as the First Wife, and yet, he had once more disregarded this for one of many nights with his favourite.
