I’d done what research I could before arriving. I knew that Iloh’s father had died in a boating accident, and his mother had died on the younger side of old. Iloh had taken over the governorship before his mother’s death. He had not married and had not named an heir.

At his age, he should do it soon. I knew all too well the chaos that might ensue if he died without an heir. So then why hadn’t he married? And did Pulan have anything to do with it?

Dinner finished without any further embarrassing incidents, but then I’d resolved to keep my mouth shut. We were invited to walk the grounds of the palace, servants moving from room to room with sweets and freshly sliced fruits.

I tapped Jovis’s elbow as we moved into the courtyard. The rain had stopped, leaving the air warm and damp. Lamps were mounted on the pillars, flickering with the wind. “I need a little space,” I said to him.

He frowned. “Is that wise?”

“He won’t try to murder me, not in his own court,” I said.

“But you don’t deny he… might try to murder you?” Jovis raised an eyebrow.

“Well, he certainly doesn’t like me very much. But I need to speak to him. Alone.”

Jovis leaned in before I could leave. “His mother,” he said. “She was shard-sick and that was what killed her. The mine supervisor let it slip while we were talking. Iloh doesn’t want anyone to know. The family hid it.”

I stopped to consider this. My father knew who each of the shards belonged to. He kept meticulous notes. It was enough to hold the shards of the governors; he didn’t need to use them. Unless he’d done so intentionally. A punishment. Yes, that would be like him.

No wonder Iloh hated me. “I’ll be careful,” I told Jovis.

I passed the ceramics artist and the landlord, and found Iloh by a pillar on the far end of the courtyard. He turned a little, saw me and his lip curled.

“I’m not my father,” I said before he could say anything to spur my temper. “I don’t intend to rule the way he did.”

“So you say.” He took a sip of his drink and grimaced, as though it were bitter. “Eminence.”

“I came here in good faith.”

“Your father spoke of protecting us from the Alanga too, you know,” Iloh said. “The artifacts are awakening. Is this the best time to stop using constructs, to disrupt the world order?”

He didn’t believe what he was saying. “There is never a good time. But it needed to be done.”

Iloh looked me up and down, weighing me with his gaze. “And you were the one to do it? You Emperors, all so full of grandeur. Tell me, Eminence, how does this all help me?”