“Putting the pieces together, are we? Your thirty days is nearly up, and we knew the Emperor’s ship would be stopping in at Hualin Or. Yes, he’s here and he wants to speak to you. That’s why I’m inviting you in. Don’t keep him waiting.” She eyed Mephi, and I remembered the first time they’d met, he’d sunk his needle-sharp teeth into her leg. “He’s a fair bit bigger.”

“Bigger teeth now too,” Mephi said, baring them briefly to show her.

Her eyebrows lifted to nearly her hairline, but she didn’t jump back or even flinch. “Yes, well, keep them out of people’s legs and we won’t have a problem.”

I tightened my grip on my staff and walked inside. When Kaphra wanted to speak to you in-person, you answered. I’d no doubt Philine and her lackeys would follow me straight back to the palace if I declined this invitation. And what did he want to say to me? It had been years since I’d last spoken with him.

“A moment,” Philine said as she took the single lit lamp from the table and used it to light the other lamps in the room. The house had a spacious entryway, decorated with ceiling murals and lined with pillars. I imagined Kaphra entertained all manner of prestigious guests in his home. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d entertained some governors here. It smelled of old, damp wood and green tea. “Someone is waking him up.” Philine gestured to a couch.

I didn’t sit. I wasn’t here to get comfortable; Lin was still expecting me to be in my rooms by morning. I was here to deliver the sword he’d asked for and to leave.

Philine knew better than to try and command me to sit; she knew I wasn’t good at following orders. At last, I heard shuffling from upstairs.

The door opposite me opened, and Kaphra stepped into the entryway.

Even though I’d arrived in the middle of the night, he’d taken the time to drape himself in a heavily embroidered robe with voluminous sleeves. He wore two delicate golden chains from which carved jade pieces hung, and several rings with various precious stones. Or perhaps he’d slept wearing them; that wasn’t difficult for me to imagine. Kaphra was short and slender, a sapling of a man with a thin beard and thick brows. He looked younger than he was – a man of his mid-thirties rather than mid-forties – and I knew he often used his appearance to disarm his opponents, feigning ignorance or foolishness.

He wouldn’t try such a tactic on me.