“It was for my family,” I blurted out. As ever, lies were easier to swallow when mixed with a healthy dose of truth. “I asked the Ioph Carn to smuggle caro nuts to Anau.”

The furrow between her brows eased, though her voice was still sharp. “What did they want you to do in return?”

“I don’t know – they attacked me before I could find out.” The lie tasted sour.

“Are you sure they even smuggled the caro nuts then? You’re not making sense.”

“My father sent me a letter. I needed proof first.” I rushed past this second lie, because she was giving me that studious stare and I could feel my facade cracking. The truth, the truth… “I didn’t feel like I had much choice. I didn’t want to be in debt to the Ioph Carn, not again. But… I’d do anything for my family. They’ve suffered enough. First the loss of my brother at the Tithing Festival, and then I left without a word. I couldn’t let anything happen to my father. It would devastate my mother.” I hated that my instinct had been to lure her in with vulnerability. I knew her well enough now to know this would work.

“You should have told me,” Lin said, her voice pained. “I would have tried to help.”

“You didn’t have enough caro nut oil to spare. What were you going to do, come with me? The Emperor venturing into a den of Ioph Carn? No, that’s a job for a lowly half-Poyer Captain of the Imperial Guard.”

Lin flinched as I threw her own words back at her. “Jovis, it’s not like that. It’s—”

One of the servants carrying the palanquin stumbled, sending us jolting to one side. Lin threw up her hands to keep from tumbling into me. She only succeeded in getting her fingers tangled in the cloth-knot buttons of my jacket.

“Sorry, let me—” I started to help her untangle herself before realizing I was grabbing the Emperor’s hands and that she thought me beneath her. I dropped her fingers as though they were spiders.

She straightened, steadying herself against the door, pulling away. It was a few more steadier steps from the servants before she spoke again. “Back at the palace. You said they set you a trap. Mephi.”