The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(70)
Khalad was announced as a healer, Fox and Kalen, bodyguards to Inessa and me, respectively. The princess’s movements were likely to be restricted, so Fox and I decided our bond would help us keep in contact without arousing suspicion.
The emperor asked Zoya a question, and she responded, gesturing at me to step forward.
“What are you telling him?” Princess Inessa muttered without visibly moving her lips.
“He talked at length about your beauty and waxed poetic about your eyes, Princess,” Zoya said quietly. “I won’t bother you with the details. But he wants to know more about the azi, considering they patterned their royal crest after it. Speak clearly, Tea, with as little information as you can divulge. The emperor won’t understand us, but some of his advisers will. This is for their benefit.”
We’d already discussed what I would say, but speaking before an audience always made me nervous, and another headache was forming. “I am the keeper of the dragon,” I announced. “We have come from Kion to pay our respects to the emperor of illustrious Daanoris, for whom we hold high esteem. We wish to foster a closer alliance with His Majesty and are pleased to be given the opportunity to do so. We regret that we cannot bring the dragon into the city, for it fears enclosed spaces and always yearns for open sky. But we have summoned it here, as a sign that we wish good fortune upon your kingdom.”
Emperor Shifang smiled. He turned toward his audience and made an announcement in strident tones. A hushed whisper spread among his courtiers and nobles. Zoya remained calm and composed, and the faint blue tinge blooming in her heartsglass was my only warning. She launched into another monologue, addressing the emperor directly, but the royal cut her off with a curt wave of his hand. A dismissal.
“What’s going on, Zoya?” Inessa asked again.
The asha’s face was set. “The emperor has gotten it into his head that you are here to offer yourself in marriage, Your Highness. He said this was the agreement your mother sent him as part of your visit to Daanoris.”
“That’s impossible!” To her credit, Princess Inessa’s face was outwardly serene and smiling, though the words issuing out the side of her mouth were anything but. “I’m already engaged! Surely he knows that!”
“Nobility from other kingdoms are beneath them, Your Highness. They believe that any contracts they make supersede those of other nations. Either your mother agreed to this betrothal or some miscommunication occurred between the envoys.”
“No, this stinks of my mother’s schemes. I was wondering why she was so adamant that I not come with you. He will not be happy if I refuse, will he?”
“We don’t have much choice,” Kalen said tersely. “As long as these wards remain, we can do little. We need to find the source of the magic.”
Emperor Shifang might not have understood us, but I supposed our body language spoke volumes. His eyes turned flinty, and the next words issuing out of his mouth had a threatening air about them.
Immediately, there was a clanking noise as the guards in the throne room lifted their spears, their tips leveled at us.
“So much for diplomacy,” Shadi murmured. “How goes the daeva summoning, Tea?”
“Oblivious to my commands.”
“So I assume asking the daeva to rain down fire is out of the question?”
“No.” Princess Inessa shook her head. “I’d like to scale back on the calamities. We’ve had enough misadventures. We must find the Heartforger, and that will be difficult with the whole country in chaos. The emperor might be fond of your azi, but I suspect his people want nothing to do with it.” She stepped forward. “Emperor Shifang,” she began, her voice strong with none of the anger and frustration she’d expressed only seconds ago. “The First Daughter of Kion agrees to your offer. We hope that this engagement will mark the start of a new and better alliance between Ankyo and Daanoris and that prosperity shall smile down on both our kingdoms with this union.”
She turned toward Zoya, who was staring at her. “Make sure you translate that properly, Zoya.”
“Are you certain about this, Your Highness?”
“As you said, there are undoubtedly a few advisers here who understood me, so there’s no going back. It will give us the freedom to find the Heartforger and several days’ respite while I think of a way to turn him down without insulting another kingdom.”
The guards’ spears retreated. The emperor smiled broadly, the epitome of congeniality once more, and stepped down from his throne to take Princess Inessa’s hands in his own. Another court official, an elderly man with a long beard and a tall hat, scuttled forward and made several more announcements. To this, a younger man began to protest. They argued for a few minutes before the emperor interrupted them both with an irritated wave. The two men bowed and shuffled away, scowling at one another.
Khalad frowned. “That younger man,” he said. “He looks familiar. I believe he knows the master.”
“That’s unusual,” Kalen said. “The younger man wishes to postpone the ceremony to a later date, while the other wants to carry out the king’s orders without delay.”
“You speak Daanorian?” I asked.
“I understand the language better than I speak it. The old man’s name is Tansoong and the other, Baoyi. We might have some trouble with the latter. He believes we’re swindlers out to fleece the king, and he’s ready to send us to the hangman’s block if he has his way.”