"Enter."
Chukwuemeka came in without ceremony; he still carried the awkwardness of a commoner, not yet accustomed to the performance of power.
He bowed."Okpalaeze."
Chidinma stepped back.She didn't leave because Somadina hadn't told her to.
"The Akwaugo," Somadina said."How does she seem this morning?"
Chukwuemeka's expression was neutral."She seems to be preparing quite thoroughly.My men say she’s been awake since before dawn.She's treating it as a proper presentation."
Somadina picked up a heavy gold ring from his dressing table and slid it onto his finger."You think she'll play along."
"It appears so.Perhaps she's come to her senses."
Azul coming to her senses was not something Somadina entirely trusted, but it was the most convenient interpretation of the evidence, and humans were always more likely to take the path of least resistance.
"Keep your eyes on her," he said."Through the banquet and after.If at any point it looks otherwise, we’ll always have another option."
Chukwuemeka nodded.He understood.Words need not be overexplained.Despite his background, Somadina had to admit he’d stumbled upon a man of rare talent for strategy.
Somadina glanced at Chidinma, who was looking at the middle distance with an expression that indicated she was listening to nothing in particular."You may go," he said to her.
She bowed and left without a word.
Somadina looked at the door she'd closed behind her.
She was a good wife indeed.
Chidinma walked through the corridors at a steady pace; haste was unbecoming.The compound sprawled around her, red earth and whitewashed walls, servants pressing themselves against the walls as she passed.She did not acknowledge them; her expression was harsh enough to scare any new maids in her court.
Her hands trembled slightly at her sides.
She pressed them flat against her wrapper until the shaking stopped.
In her chamber, the air was close and perfumed, calming her fraying nerves.Her reflection watched her from the polished bronze mirror across from her bed—same high cheekbones, same downcast eyes that Somadina mistook for submission, same mouth that had not spoken a single unnecessary word to him.
The knock came softly at her door.She did not turn."Enter."
Her personal servant, a girl of perhaps fourteen named Ifeoma, slipped inside with a basket held before her."Mistress, the Mal-kai have arrived.The trader said they came through the eastern route, fresh this morning."
Chidinma turned.The basket contained flowers—if such a word could apply.They were beautiful, deep blue, with honey-like filaments.Their scent was subtle, almost nonexistent, which was their most dangerous quality.
"The Akwaugo's chambers," Chidinma said."See that they are placed there.Instruct her servants to place them in water so they open fully."
Ifeoma's brow furrowed."Mistress?These are—the trader said they were for—"
Chidinma looked at her.
"Yes, mistress."The girl's voice came out small, and then she fled.
Chidinma watched her go, then moved to her dressing table.The bronze mirror showed her a woman she recognised but did not particularly like.She opened the small wooden box at the corner of her table.Inside, nestled on faded velvet, lay an armband in the shape of a viper.Chidinma slid it onto her upper arm.The metal was cool against her skin, as if it had missed her.
In the mirror, the viper's eyes gleamed.
Then, a shadow emerged from the corners of her room, stepping out from the dark as if it were one with it."A message from Madame Varkesh," the figure said, holding out a letter, one with the sigil of the viper.
Azul awakened with the first cockcrow.
