This was going on an odd tangent. Did he know the girl? Either way, he was asking too many questions. “It’s not really your business,” Phalue said. “And neither is our decision whether or not to accept the Emperor’s request.”

He finally turned his gaze back to Phalue, his brows low. “I had one condition of the truce, and that was that you not send the caro nut shipment this year. Isn’t whether or not you fulfill that my business? Isn’t it the business of all the Shardless Few?”

Annoyingly persistent, this one. Phalue could see why rebel leaders always had enemies. “I already agreed to the terms. That should be enough for you.”

“Do you intend to keep them?”

“I do.”

“Then if you do allow Lin to visit, if you hear everything she has to say as she lobbies you for support – what will you tell her when she asks why the caro nut shipment hasn’t been sent?”

Who was the governor here? Her or Gio? He might have preferred that it be him, but that wasn’t the way things had ended up. “I won’t lie, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m sure we can speak of things peaceably, even the caro nuts.”

“So you are intending to have her visit?”

And this was what she hated about politics – the wheedling, the insinuations, the need to always be careful exactly what one was saying lest it be misinterpreted. Why couldn’t everyone just have their cards pinned to their shirts instead of holding them close to their chests? They’d certainly get a lot more done, and faster, that way.

Phalue had already sent her response to the Emperor; she’d announce the visit once she was sure the letter had reached Imperial. She needed to know more than what the envoy could tell her. Who was this new Emperor? What was she like? She’d ended the Tithing Festival – why? Phalue couldn’t just blindly follow the Shardless Few, no matter their stated goals. No matter what threats they made. Yes, she wanted a fairer and more equitable society too. But there was something about Gio that never seemed quite true. Perhaps it was the stories – the myths – built around him. Had he grown up on Khalute? And had he truly taken the island singlehandedly? She’d never believed it, but now, looking at him, she wasn’t sure. Even disguised there was an air of imminent threat about him, like storm clouds lurking on the horizon.

She stared him down and refused to answer. He could find out when the announcement went out, not before.

He shook his head, water flinging from his hood. “Refuse the visit. Deny her.”

“He does have a point,” Ranami said. “Inviting her here only invites confrontation.”