Trant raised his eyebrows in surprise. “A thousand reasons. Ten thousand. Man might fake the burning eyes to milk coin out of fools. To seduce a noble lady. To seduce just about any silly-minded slut, at that. To stir up war. To avoid war. Just to lie. To lie. For the unbridled joy of deceit.” He paused, shaking his head, then bulled ahead. “A man might lie about his eyes,” he continued, voice rising, “to unseat an entire dynasty. To drive an empire to wreck and ruin.”

Kaden shook his head. “It is my empire. I have no desire to see it ruined. That is why I am here.”

“So you say,” Trant muttered, turning back to his fish. “So you say.”

“Are you so distrustful of everyone?”

Trant leaned back in his chair abruptly, dark eyes glittering in the lantern light. He seemed unable to hold a position for more than a few heartbeats. “More. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because you came in with Tan.” He paused, waggled a finger across the table. “But you also brought the Childkilling whore.”

Kaden leaned back, caught off guard by the sudden hatred in the man’s voice, the sheer red boiling fury of it.

“Triste hasn’t killed any children,” Kaden replied, shaking his head.

“That you know of. That you know of. Tan said she was Csestriim.”

Kaden started to argue the point, then checked himself, remembering Tan’s tale of the Ghannans and their ships filled with orphans. Trant didn’t seem the type to be convinced through rational argument, and Kaden was no longer quite sure that the rational argument was on his side anyway. “Are you going to hurt her?” he asked instead.

“Me?” Trant asked, raising his eyebrows and poking himself in the chest as though to be sure of the question. “Am I going to hurt her? Oh no. No, no, no. I don’t hurt the prisoners. I’m not allowed to hurt the prisoners. That’s for the Hunters.”

“The Hunters?” Kaden asked, worry prickling the back of his neck.

Trant rapped a fist against the side of his head. “Trouble hearing? The Hunters, I said. The ones in charge. When there’s hurting to do, they do it. Been that way since before your empire. Since before the Atmani, even.” He nodded sagely, as though pleased with the order of things.

Kaden shook his head, trying to follow the baffling account. “What are you? What’s your role?”

“I’m a Soldier,” Trant said, pounding his chest with a fist. “Soldier, seventh rank.”

“How many ranks are there?”

Trant grinned, revealing a row of brown teeth. “Seven.”

“Will you ever be promoted?” Kaden asked. “To Hunter?”

The Ishien stared at him as though he’d gone mad. “It’s not a rank,” he said, shaking his head. “Hunter’s not a fucking rank.”

“What is it?” Kaden asked, taken aback.