“No, Maha,” Mehr said. Durevi was the newest province of the Empire, but so distant from Irinah that Mehr had never paid its fate much heed. Her father’s household had celebrated its conquering—there had been prayers, and sweets—but she knew no more than that. “I am sorry, Maha.”

The Maha ignored her apology and curled a hand around the balcony’s edge, his eyes still fixed on Mehr’s face. The longer she looked at him, the less human his face appeared. There was a light within it: a glow that came from beneath his timeless flesh, as if his skin were a lamp concealing a flame.

“By prayer,” he said. “My mystics prayed fervently for the success of our army and the destruction of the Durevi royals, and the Gods blessed us swiftly. A wave of sickness came over the army. The royal family were consumed by madness and took their own lives. Our men entered the kingdom unchallenged, and Durevi was won. Now it is part of our Empire, blessed by order and civilization, and thankful for it.” He laughed then, softly, as if he had amused himself.

The sound—ah. There was no denying the power his voice had on her now. She could feel it under her skin.

He carried on in the slow, soft voice of a man speaking to a particularly ignorant child. “You will not understand this, child, because you have been born in my Empire blessed by glory and grace, but there is only so far that an army can extend its supplies, its weaponry, its men. There is only so far it is possible for one ruler to expand his territory. The Empire has surpassed those limits, time and time again. All empires fall, Mehr, but my Empire will not. Do you understand why?”

She swallowed through the knot of fear in her throat and fixed her eyes on the oasis, grateful for the opportunity to avoid the Maha’s piercing face.

“Prayer, Maha,” she said, forcing the words out. “Because of prayer.”

Mehr could hear the smile in his voice. “Indeed.”

Mehr remembered what her father had said, when she’d asked him why he feared the mystics.

Ah, Mehr! I have seen cities put to death at their word. I have seen plague and famine and slaughter fall on men at their whim.

She had not doubted him, and yet …

She hadn’t expected the Maha to be as he was, human and yet entirely inhuman. She hadn’t expected the feel of his power, the sound of his voice, the terror deep inside in her bones.

“That is how we serve,” the Maha said. “Our prayers bring blessings to the Empire. Our prayers turn our enemies to dust. Truly, there is nothing more holy than service.”

She felt the Maha come to stand beside her and tried not to flinch away. His physical closeness made bile rise in her throat.