I heard what he would not say outright: Unlike Dayo, I was a ruler who could still be assassinated.

And with a twisting sensation in my stomach, I knew he was right. Until I anointed a council, I was only immune to fire. Still—

“You encouraged me to be empress,” I reminded him. “Back when Melu first told me I was a Raybearer, and I was still in denial. So you shouldn’t want me to hide. The others are right—I can’t cower in the Imperial Suite forever.”

Sanjeet’s chiseled features went blank, and a shiver chased up my arms. I hated it when this happened. Whenever Sanjeet couldn’t trust himself to speak—to do anything with complete control—a wall rose around him, like the impenetrable enchanted barrier around Bhekina House. The wall had appeared more often when we were younger—when Sanjeet was still a candidate in the Children’s Palace, haunted by the danger of his own Hallow. If he wanted, Sanjeet could sense the physical weakness in anyone, and to avoid the temptation of control, he had taken to cloistering himself whenever he felt angry, helpless, or both.

I’d spent years tearing that wall down. But ever since I’d offered myself to the abiku as a sacrifice, acting as Aritsar’s final Redemptor . . . the distance between us had returned with rising force. Sometimes I felt the wall even when we slept, nuzzling into the shape of each other at night.

He sighed at last, shoulders sagging as, for now, the barrier crumbled. He ran his fingers through his loose dark curls. “The truth is,” he said in a strange, rough voice, “you’re not safe anywhere in An-Ileyoba. Even here in the suite. I’ve doubled defenses at every palace entrance. Posted Imperial Guard warriors in every major thoroughfare. But I still haven’t figured out how that creature who killed Thaddace breached the palace walls. And now the Imperial Guard has new concerns with the Crocodile and his riots . . .”

My brow furrowed, remembering what Mayazatyl had said about a new vigilante. “Crocodile?”

He blinked, as if regretting he’d brought it up. “Some new troublemaker.” He waved a hand. “Stirring up unrest around the realms. Don’t worry—I’ll handle it. Am knows you’ve got enough on your plate.”

I frowned at the dismissal, but then stringed griot music surged from the courtyards far below, and my stomach flipped. “Do you really think I have a chance at winning over those monarchs?” I asked, swallowing hard as I stared out into the night. “I doubt they’re eager to be wooed after what happened to Thaddace. No matter what Ai Ling says, the timing wasn’t exactly ideal.”

“You had to try and save him,” Sanjeet monotoned. “It’s who you are.”

“You think I was foolish,” I accused. “You think I should have left Thaddace alone. Let him die for my mistakes.”

A thought formed on Sanjeet’s brow, only for him to suppress it, his clay-toned features carefully neutral.

“Say it,” I told him.