I mix him more potion to keep him with me as he scribbles out a report. When he’s done, I tuck the parchment away to send later. “I’ll likely have to invent some excuse to get you back here in a few days, once we know whether the emperor will survive.”

“Perhaps you could make something up about a new potion,” he says.

It’s strange. Today of all days, we’re cooperating better than we ever have before. And now that the message is written, our earlier unfinished conversation comes back to settle around us. I’m still not sure why he hasn’t taken me to task for what happened at the equinox festival.

Dineas meets my eyes and then looks off to the side. For a moment, it seems as if he’s about to speak, and I steel myself. But he simply returns to his mat and lowers himself down.

“Be safe,” he says, and then he closes his eyes.

It’s only a short while before the new Dineas returns. I send him off quickly, pleading fatigue, and then hurry home.

The sights and sounds of the street press on me as I walk. I do my best to push them aside and get my thoughts in order. It still seems impossible that Mehtap or I could have infected the emperor. We were kept to such a small space, and we were never even within shouting distance of anyone else.

A thought crosses my mind, and I stumble. I was in the enclosure the whole time, but how much did I see of Mehtap that evening?

The courtyard is empty when I get back to the villa. I push through the front door and call Mehtap’s name. She’s not in the dining room or the sitting room. I’m climbing the stairs when I finally hear her.

“I’m here,” she says from her room.

Mehtap is sitting by the window, gazing out over the compound’s dusty streets. She has a scroll in her hand, but she’s not reading.

“Did you hear about the emperor?” I ask.

“I did. It’s a terrible thing.”

She speaks almost as if in a trance, and I don’t know what to do or think. I stand at the door, struggling with my doubts, when Mehtap looks at me again. “Is something wrong?”

“At the equinox festival. You were in our enclosure the whole time, weren’t you?” It feels like a breach of trust even to ask.

Mehtap blinks a few times. “Of course I was,” she says. “Where else would I have gone?” Something about her expression sends chills over my skin, and yet, my suspicions make no sense. Mehtap is the daughter of a respected Amparan commander. She has no reason to harm the emperor.

“Of course,” I say. “Forgive me. I’ll leave you to your reading.”