So many secrets. I was an overfull cup, threatening to spill at the slightest mistake. “Easy for you to say,” I snapped at him. “The folk hero of the people, rising from the bottom to save their children. But me? I end the Tithing Festival and return their shards and they all still regard me with suspicion. I know what they must think of me; what you must think of me. Spoiled, young, inexperienced, foolish. How can I change that?” It was more than I should have confessed to him and I felt the shame of it heating my cheeks. I understood a little why my father tried so hard to bring Nisong back from the dead. Emperor was a lofty position, and a lonely one.

“I don’t,” Jovis said, tucking the journal back into his satchel.

What did he mean? “Don’t what? Want to be like my father either? You’re not in danger of that.”

“No,” he said, and his eyes were as serious as I’d ever seen them. “I don’t think you’re spoiled or foolish. Young… well, there’s no debating that. Inexperienced? You’ve only just taken your father’s place. But you’re brilliant, and hard-working, and kind. I didn’t expect that.”

Something shifted in the air between us, made it thicker, harder to breathe. That’s what he thought of me?

A knock sounded at the door. I blinked.

“Eminence, we’re at the docks,” one of my handmaidens said. “We’ll be disembarking soon.”

I cleared my throat. “Of course. Come in.”

She entered, followed by my other handmaiden. They spared neither of us a glance, bustling about, packing up soiled clothes and securing my crate. There was barely enough room in the cabin for two people, much less four. I beat a hasty retreat out the door and above-deck, hearing the scratch of claws and the tap of a staff as Jovis and our beasts followed.

The air was thick with moisture, though rain hadn’t yet begun. The green mountains of Imperial rose above us, rocky outcroppings covered in vegetation. The city and the palace nestled by the harbor, green roof tiles an echo of the surrounding forest. I put a hand to the railing and realized: I still held the statue’s face.

“I can take that if you wish,” Jovis said at my elbow.

I started to hand it back to him when I caught a glimpse of the eyes. They were open again. My breath caught in my throat. “Did you—?”

He looked down at himself like that would give him a clue as to whether or not he’d used magic. “No,” he said. “Not at all. You?”