“Remarkable,” she said. “You’ll have to tell me more about them if we ever have more leisure time.” Again, that undertone of foreboding. I hadn’t heard that Urame was a skittish woman; indeed, my envoys assured me of the opposite. So whatever she’d seen of Nisong’s army had spooked her.

“I understand you’re in a difficult position,” I said. “And I’m here to help.”

She gave me a tight smile, her gaze flicking to my ship and then back to me. “Forgive me, Eminence, but if you do not have yet another army with you, there may not be much you can do to help. The construct army is camped out on Gaelung and is much larger than it was when your soldiers last engaged with it. Please—” She gestured to the wagon. “The palace has a good vantage point and I have the use of a decent spyglass. I can show you.”

I climbed into the covered wagon, signaling for Jovis to follow me. Ragan climbed into the uncovered wagon with the others.

Light streamed through the open sides of the wagon, illuminating Urame’s concerned expression. “I am not Iloh, or Phalue, or Wailun,” she said.

“Chala,” I corrected. “Wailun has unfortunately passed away.” The full explanation, like Urame had said, was something for a more leisurely moment.

“Oh,” she said, and I could see her readjusting all her mental calculations. “Regardless, I don’t have many demands to make, no matter that my advisers press me to take advantage. I know you need the support of Gaelung. I know your rule is tentative. But you’ve ended the Tithing Festivals and that’s a good enough gesture for me. You don’t need to cajole me; Gaelung will support you.”

A small relief. I’d set out on this trip with that being at the forefront of my mind. Now, with the sinking of Deerhead, Unta and Luangon, the growth of Nisong’s army, the assertion that even more Alanga would appear and the whispers of rebellion still stirring in the south, I’d lost sight of the urgency of that support. What mattered now was keeping this Empire well and whole to face its next challenges. I’d thought for sure I was the one best suited to lead the Empire through those trials. Now, I felt like a rag wrung free of seawater, hung to dry in the sun. “I appreciate that,” I said.