“Of course, Contessa,” Ciardha murmured.

My mouth went dry. “I’m seeing the doge? Today?”

“Didn’t I tell you as much? Did you think I was joking? His message came through the courier lamps while you were in here failing to get dressed. He commanded your presence at the Imperial Palace.” She flung open my wardrobe and scanned my gowns. “I managed to buy us some time by pleading your burns, and he’s agreed to come here instead. So, Ciardha, make sure that hand looks dreadfully serious.”

“Of course, Contessa.” Ciardha took a roll of bandages out of her chest and went to work, her nimble fingers moving skillfully.

A powerful urge possessed me to snatch my hand back, run out of the room, and find somewhere to hide. “The doge is coming here? When?”

“Calm down, child. It’s not as if he hasn’t been here before. I’ve bought us an hour or two. Forty people will try to talk to him on his way out of the palace; they always do. I have a servant on the roof with a spyglass watching the Imperial Canal for his boat, so we’ll have a few minutes’ warning before he arrives. The peacock-blue silk, I should think, Ciardha. Make sure she puts on appropriate jewels, and do something about her hair, too.”

“Of course, Contessa.” Ciardha spun a gauzy cocoon around my hand.

“I can’t move my fingers.”

“Of course, Lady.” There was a smile in Ciardha’s voice, though her face stayed serious. “You are far too grievously injured to do any such thing.”

La Contessa squeezed my shoulders. “Listen, Amalia. I’ll stay with you if I can, but the doge will ask to speak with you alone. You have to hold your own against him. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mamma—” I stopped myself. “Wait. No, Mamma. What does he want? Why is he coming to talk to me?”

“Your little adventure today has put high stakes on the table. The control of the Serene Empire’s only fire warlock. The unchallenged authority of the doge over the Falcons. The disposition of the heir to one of the most powerful families in Raverra. Of course he wants to talk to you.”

All Muscati’s words I’d drunk in ignorant bliss while I was supposed to be preparing sat uneasy in my stomach. “Is it really that important, what happened today?”

“You will be on the Council of Nine someday, Amalia. You had best get used to the idea that everything you do is important.”

“What should I say to the doge?” Pain shot through my hand as I tried to clench it. Ciardha tsked at me.