“It is an honor, Captain,” one of them said with great reverence.

Batu, who would bow to no one, put his hand on Branwen’s shoulder and finally smiled. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

Disgusted, Keita threw up her hands. “You do know that she is no one?” When Brannie snarled at the insult, Keita added, “Other than the cousin I love.”

* * *

They all tried to stop her. Even Aidan, who knew better than to get involved. But the Empress was not to be stopped. She was not to be soothed. She was not to be calmed down.

“Ma, please,” Zhi begged. “We’re supposed to be negotiating with them. Let’s talk to Xing’s ambassadors first. Let’s find out the truth before you do anything rash.”

Without answering, the Empress stormed back into the palace’s main hall and across the giant room to the small group of Eastlanders who still waited for her.

Aidan understood who they were now. They represented Xing and were trying to negotiate for the Empress’s kingdom by using her favorite son. She had been making them wait as a tactic, to pretend she wouldn’t give up everything for Ren of the Chosen.

But Ren of the Chosen was dead. And the Empress’s tenuous hold on her royal rage had snapped with the loss of her offspring.

The Empress swung her arm away from her body and lifted her fist. A blade shot out from under the long-sleeved gold dress she wore, and she rammed the hidden weapon into the belly of the dragon who had tried to talk to Fang not so long ago.

Shocked, the dragon gaped at her. “But . . . Your Majesty . . . Lord Xing and his army—”

She yanked the blade out with such venom that his intestines splattered across her dress and the floor.

The other dragons tried to run, but she stabbed one in the spine, another in the chest, and cut off the last one’s head. She might not be a warrior but, like Rhiannon, the Empress had her skills.

Breathing heavily, she walked away from the delegation as their human bodies shifted back to dragons in death. It was strange seeing a giant catlike head with antlers roll across the main hall. Aidan didn’t really know how to interpret that.

“Ma,” Fang said on a loud sigh. “You shouldn’t have done this. Not until we talked to them.”

“And what about Xing’s army?” Kachka whispered to Aidan.

“Talk? About what?” the Empress demanded of her daughter, her pain so great, Aidan was sure the entire region could feel it. “They killed him! They killed my baby!”

What was there to say to that? Nothing. Until Caswyn’s head jerked up, his eyes focusing on the ceiling.

“What?” Aidan asked.

“Wait for it.” He held up one finger. “Wait for it . . . now!”