by Devin Madson
He went back to pacing, leaving me to wonder if it had been nothing more than a Chiltaen custom he had picked up in his years of exile.
“The crown doesn’t matter for another year,” I said, clasping my hands tightly together. “Kin’s threats are far more troubling. What will you do about them?”
Katashi stopped pacing as he neared the window and looked back over his shoulder. “Intent on becoming one of my advisors now too? You are very ambitious.”
“I have a lot to say.”
“Ha! Many men have a lot to say, but is it worth hearing? What would you do to counteract Kin’s threats against my supporters?”
“I have not yet had the chance to give it much thought, Your Majesty, but the one thing you cannot do is retake the land Kin gave to the Chiltaens with the last treaty, no matter how much support you would get by returning it to its rightful owners. It will already take all you have to beat Kin without having to protect Kisia against an invasion as well. At least the new treaty should mean they stay out of whatever mess we make while it benefits them to do so.”
He eyed me from the other side of the room long after I had stopped speaking.
“Do we still depart tomorrow?” I asked when he made no reply.
“Yes. Generals Tikita and Roi are to keep to the Willow Road and meet the force Kin is sending north, while General Manshin and I march on the Valley. Kin cannot hang on to an empire he can’t feed. If we can manage to disrupt the rice trade, a few favours may be all that’s needed to make Lin’ya blockade the southern ports, then—”
“You’re dealing with pirates?” Shock stiffened my every limb.
“I’ll deal with anyone if it helps me achieve my end,” he said, not in the least troubled. “After making a deal with Malice, you cannot think pirates any worse.”
“No, I suppose not,” I said, yet in some strange way it seemed far more risky. The pirate enclave at Lin’ya was long established and had been giving the empire grief for as long as I could remember. Even living in a farming compound on the other side of the empire I had heard of them.
“In fact,” he said, returning across the room toward me. “They are far easier to deal with because all they want is freedom of movement and money. I’m still not quite sure what Malice wants.”
“I think he got it last night.” Seeing from Katashi’s scowl that an unpleasant diatribe about my old guardians was forthcoming, I forced a smile. “As we are still to depart tomorrow, I will leave you now, Your Majesty. There are many preparations to make.”
His scowl did not lighten. “Indeed there are,” he agreed. “I have appointed both Shin and Wen to your entourage. And yes, I know you were perfectly capable of organising such things for yourself, but you would have been hesitant to take my men from me despite familiar guards being far more pleasant than unfamiliar ones. Even you cannot deny that.”
“Then in turn, you cannot deny that it’s useful to have someone you trust spying on me.”
“I can when such was not my intent. Is it so terrible of me to want to ensure you’re safe? There are many who would stigmatise me allowing you to travel with my army as barbarously callous and inconsiderate of a lady’s comfort.”
I snorted, and his lips twitched in an attempt to keep a straight face. “Yes, exactly my thoughts,” he agreed. “But whatever my opinion of your… ladylike manners, I cannot let my cousin, whatever her position, be protected by men who have not earned my trust.”
“Then of course it will be a great honour to have Shin and Wen with me, Your Majesty,” I said, matching his gravity though it was hard not to smile. “I thank you for your gracious kindness.”
“Oh, go on, get out, you minx,” he laughed. “I have better things to do than stand around being mocked by you.”
With many of my own preparations to make, I bowed and departed. There would be plenty of time to discuss his plans and strategies once we were on the road, and plenty of time to give voice to my own.
Katashi’s combined army of Pikes and imperial soldiers departed Koi to a fanfare the following morning, the half under the command of Generals Tikita and Roi keeping to the Willow Road while the rest of us crossed the Nuord River and travelled south toward the Valley.
In the short time we’d had to prepare, Tili had made what alterations she could to an imperial uniform, and for the first time I rode proud in its splendour. It was exhilarating. No suffocating palanquin like I had been forced to endure on the ride north with Kin’s court, rather my own horse and my own entourage, my own place and my own power.
Even though she was my maid, I had insisted Tili ride with me, and with Shin and Wen behind us, we rode close enough to the front that I could watch Katashi and his advisors—noting the constant shift of men manoeuvring to be near him. It had been the same when Kin rode north, and watching Katashi lead the way with his crimson surcoat brushing the flanks of his horse, I couldn’t but think of Kin on that journey. I had watched him out of curiosity, had challenged him on everything from the Chiltaen peace treaty to his protection of my family, and he had borne it with greater fortitude than many a man would have done. The man behind whom I rode now was the fire to Kin’s sturdy stone, more impetuous and mercurial, but equally more adored. How many of his Pikes had been swept up in this merely due to his magnificence? Had I?
“I hope I am not interrupting a deep and profound thought, Your Grace,” a cool voice said, drawing me from just such a deep and profound thought, though one I was happy not to consider. General Manshin was riding alongside, a slightly amused smile the only sign of disrespect.
“Not at all, General,” I said.
“Perhaps you have not been marching with an army long enough to become prey to them yet. There is certainly much excitement in the beginning—I remember that myself—but once that wears off, you must reach the height of general as soon as you can so you have more mundane things to occupy your mind. While you have supply trains and terrains to worry about, you have no time to be troubled for your soul.”
“That,” I said, eyeing him curiously, “is quite the observation.”
The general’s wrinkles creased around his eyes, but the lower portion of his face managed to look solemn. “I am quite the observer. It’s a useful trait in a general. I observe, for instance, that you are no stranger to either riding astride or wearing armour. In fact, you look to be quite in your element, Your Grace.”
“I was not born to be a lady, general.”
“I must admit to being very curious on that score.”
“You were perhaps not a general yet at the time I was born and therefore still prone to fits of deep thought.”
He grinned, acknowledging the hit. “Well said, Your Grace, well said. I was not a general then, as you say, merely a captain or perhaps a commander, I lose track of the years—something else you will soon grow accustomed to. What interests me, Your Grace, is the singularly unique position in which you find yourself. Not so long ago the guest of one emperor, now riding with the army of another. Are you perhaps the token that ensures success? A charm of good fortune?”
“Surely such things are in the hands of the gods.”
General Manshin gestured in Katashi’s direction. “Ah, but which gods, Your Grace? Which gods?”
“Is there something specific you wish to ask, General?”
“I see you lack the court penchant for dancing around one’s words with hints and winking. If you wish me to be more direct, then I can be very direct. Where do you stand in all this, Your Grace? Another of the things a general must worry about is whether they are to be stabbed in the back.”
Shocked by his question, I frowned at him while our horses carried us on without missing a step. “Have I done something to rouse your suspicion, General Manshin?”
“A general’s suspicion should always be roused and only slowly quieted.”
“If you doubt my loyalty to Katashi because I was Emperor Kin’s prisoner for a few weeks, then consider how much doubt I must have
about you.” They were bold words, but I would not be made to feel like a snake in the grass by this smiling traitor.
I had expected him to scowl, but instead he laughed, causing Katashi to look around. “Ah, you serve back so delightfully,” the general said, heedless of his emperor’s interest. “But you see, Your Grace, the difference is that I risk much with my treason, while you risk nothing at all.”
“Then I feel there is nothing I could say that would quieten your suspicion, General.”
“Very true, Your Grace, very true.”
Rather than leaving me to my reflections, he rode along at my side for at least the next hour, talking first about his estate south of Suway and then his eldest son, Captain Ryo Manshin, in whose competent hands he had left its protection. After that, my every attempt to bring the conversation around to strategy was met with descriptions of his numerous grandchildren, and I almost wished he would return to openly pricking me with his distrust.
It was late afternoon by the time we stopped to set up camp. While I had seen the Pikes and the Vices do so often, there was something doubly impressive about the military precision of General Manshin’s imperial soldiers. It took mere minutes for the central tents to go up, and by the time my chests had been carried in, smoke was already rising from cooking fires. Horses were rubbed down, more tents were erected, carts unloaded, and Tili brought both washing water and wine as though we were back in Koi.
Food came about an hour later, and while I ate, Tili lingered, unrolled my sleeping mat, laying out my armour to air and tidying the small jumble of cases and chests we had brought with us. I was sure I ought to feel tired after a day in the saddle, but having washed and rested while the camp went up around us, I was wide awake and getting restless. Outside, men were talking and laughing and going about their tasks, the camp a symphony of footsteps and clatters and thuds in the last of the daylight.
Wen had said that he would take the first shift outside my tent, so when I pushed my lap table away, I called his name.
“Your Grace?” he said, peering in through the entrance.
“Can you find out when His Majesty is meeting with his advisors? I wish to attend.”
The young man winced. “I’m afraid I saw the general and some others entering the meeting tent almost an hour ago, Your Grace.”
“An hour?” I let out a deflating breath. I could still join them, but it was likely they were nearly finished, and I could recall how well it had gone the last time I had walked in on Katashi’s council. “All right. Take a message to His Majesty. I want a word with him when he’s done.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Wen disappeared, taking my good mood with him.
I picked at the last of my meal. The longer I waited, the surer I became that I ought to have joined them and that it was now too late. The indecision made me testy, and soon I sent Tili away with my half uneaten meal.
Eventually, Katashi came, attired not in his armour but in his crimson regalia.
“You sent for me, Your Grace,” he said, his tone exactly matching my sour mood. “I hope you don’t mean to make a habit of demanding your emperor’s attendance.”
“I wouldn’t have had to at all if you had invited me to the meeting.”
“By all means, join us next time. Would you like my robe for the occasion too? And my throne? I’d offer you my crown, but your dear Darius stole it from me.”
He had folded his arms and seemed to fill the doorway, but I refused to be intimidated. “Is it so great a thing I ask for? If you had given my dukedom to a man, would he have been invited to join you at the meeting?”
“That would depend on who he was.”
“If he was your cousin?”
Katashi looked down at my wine, and with a sigh, he knelt to pour himself a bowl. “Do you really expect to overturn centuries of precedent within a week?”
“I can try. But you need to help me.”
“Marrying me is easier.”
I leant my elbows on the table. “Oh yes, and what would you say if I did? You’d order me back to the safety of Koi to wait out the war.”
“Would I?” he said, looking at me over the top of his wine bowl. “There would hardly be any fun in that.”
I had tried not to think about him since we’d signed the papers, tried not to wonder what might have happened had Master Woti been half an hour late. Impossible when Katashi looked at me like that, when he could say such things with apparent calm. My breath fled my body, but he just took another sip of his wine.
Did any words exist that could bring back his former fervour? Something witty and charming like the words that seemed to fall so naturally from his lips the moment he opened his mouth. I could think of nothing.
He finished his wine and set the bowl down. “Well, my dear, if an invitation to tomorrow’s meeting is all you wanted, then I shall depart.”
“It’s not.”
“No?”
Was that the hint of a smile? Oh, if only I had Malice’s ability for just an instant to be sure. “No,” I said. “You… don’t have to go.”
“I know. I’m an emperor, I don’t have to do anything.”
He got up to leave, and I reached out to stop him. “I mean I don’t want you to go.”
A smile flickered as he looked back down at me. “Oh?”
“Is this punishment?”
Katashi approached with his long stride. There was no rush, no eagerness; he just perched on the lap table beside me, his silk robe rustling. “Perhaps,” he said, leaning down, the gentle touch of his hand upon my cheek the sweetest thing I had ever felt. “Can you blame me?”
His kiss owned none of its former ferocity, but with his lips to mine, I breathed in the full heady scent of him and rose into an embrace so soft and intimate that my heart sang.
“I had begun to wonder if you didn’t want me after all,” he whispered as our lips parted. “Didn’t want this.”
“I’ve wanted this since I first met you,” I whispered back, lips as near to his as they could be. “And then I saw you use your bow.”
Katashi laughed, a husky sound that sent a delighted shiver through my skin. “Ought I have brought Hacho with me, then?”
“Oh no, that would just make me more jealous of her than I already am.”
“No need for that.” He plucked at the knot in my sash, skilled fingers soon sending it sliding to the floor. The ties of my under-robe came next, and once again, his hands were on my skin, sliding across my stomach and down my sides, his little groan of enjoyment as he traced my flesh making it all the more exhilarating. “I have been thinking of this for the last two days.” His fingers slipped between my legs. “Wanting to feel you press against me and hear exactly that little moan you just made. I wish you would do it again.”
I had spent two days trying to put him from my mind, but all too often, my thoughts had slipped back to the sight of his head between my legs.
“I’ll make it again if you—” I stopped, shocked by how brazen the rest of the words sounded even in my head.
Katashi smiled and kissed my cheek and my jaw and my throat. “Liked that, did you?” And without awaiting an answer, he slid from the edge of the table, a hand on my shoulder all the encouragement I needed to sit before him. This time, the spread of my open robe created an unbroken path of skin down which he could kiss, and he did so, each one a slow tease accompanied by a glance of bright eyes through long lashes.
I dropped onto my elbows as his broad shoulders spread my knees, drawing a groan from my throat. Without thinking, I lifted my hips into his chin. He chuckled at my silent plea, and with a last look up, he set first one of my feet and then the other onto his strong shoulders, and lowered his head between my legs.
Gripping tight to my thighs, he once more slid his tongue inside me, the sudden sensation all the more glorious for how long he had made me wait. I hardly knew what followed, unsure which parts he did with his mouth or his fingers, only that I never wanted him to
stop. All strength and sense fled and my elbows gave way, but when I dropped onto my back, he just slid his hands under my hips and lifted me to an angle that sent his tongue deeper.
All too soon, pleasure tore through me, and I could not stop myself bucking into him. He must have expected it, for he stopped, gripping my hips with his strong hands as ecstasy tumbled through me. When at last I had regained my breath and the tremors had stopped shaking my legs, I managed a laugh that ended in a groan. “That was amazing. How do you even do that?”
“Same as archery,” he said, shifting to lie beside me on the old carpet. “Practice. I don’t like to do anything poorly.”
I could not but think of all the women who had had this joy before me and hate them just a little, as foolish and unfair a thought as it was. He must have seen it in my face, for he propped himself up on an elbow and said, “I didn’t ask any of them to marry me.”
“And you wouldn’t have asked me if you hadn’t thought it politically important to do so.”
“Oh, wouldn’t I? Where else was I going to find a woman who knows how to slit a man’s throat?” He whispered the last words against my neck, punctuated with a kiss. “Or who rides fearlessly into a fight? I’ve seen you with a bow too, and I can promise you my breeches did not fit anywhere near as well after that.”
He had arrived still dressed in his crimson court robes, and although mine lay spread open around me, even his sash was still knotted. Yet lying as he was, it was impossible to miss the hard bulge constrained beneath the silks. Unlike him, I knew nothing about how to please a partner or even if there was some unspoken etiquette, and suddenly breathless, I said, “Ought I…” But again I could not finish, so bold and shameful the words sounded.
“Ought you what?” he said between still more kisses ranged along my collarbone. “Oh, return the favour? No, you’re not even comfortable touching me yet. Kiss my neck before you kiss my cock.”