“Say you don’t ship the caro nuts. Not now, not ever. Nephilanu is not the only island in the Empire that grows them. People around and on Imperial may still find ways to get them or have their own stores. But when the supply is low, prices go up. It’s not the wealthy who will suffer.”

“You could prevent that by stepping down,” Ranami said.

“And if I did,” I said slowly, “would I not be exactly the kind of Emperor we need? The kind who cares? Who is putting the lives of everyone at risk here: you or me?”

We stared at one another, gazes locked, Phalue’s jaw working.

A knock came at the door. Without waiting for a response, Jovis entered, Mephi on his heels.

“Eminence,” he said, his face pale, “there’s been an attack.”

22

Jovis

Nephilanu Island

Ylan has a clever mind. He follows one logical thought to another, stringing together conclusions as easily as a fisherman strings up fish in a line. And he tinkers, fiddling with things until he can make them work better. He’s shown me an improved pulley (Mephi said circle-rope-thing – but I think this is what he meant) he made for hoisting sails. And he’s come up with a clever contraption that traps fish in the water. It works without fail. I delight in these inventions and his explanations of how he created them. But there are other, darker things he’s learned.

“The Alanga language has power when combined with the right substances,” he tells me. “Let me show you what I can do with it. Help me and together we can perform miracles.”

—Notes from Jovis’s translation of Dione’s journal

I still had the sword in my hands when I turned to face Gio. “Just thought I’d visit,” I said.

“Knocking a person out that way doesn’t last very long,” Gio responded, his arms crossed. I noted the daggers at his sides. “Blood flow returns to the brain once you take your arm away, and they wake up a short time later with a headache.” He took in my Imperial uniform, the staff and the sword in my hands.

Was he going to fight me?

And then Mephi, the idiot, bounded over to Gio, butting his thigh with his horns. Gio’s stern face broke into a smile and he scratched the base of Mephi’s horns. “Yes, well, it’s nice to see you too.”

For a moment I thought I knew how Lin felt to see me greeted with smiles everywhere while she dealt with suspicion.

I tried to give a nonchalant shrug, though that was difficult with both hands full. “The Emperor is here to see the governor, and I thought you might have missed me. Formed a real bond last time, didn’t we? Storming the palace together, deposing a governor – quite the adventure.”