“Regardless. You and your Falcon pose quite a pretty problem.” He spread an empty hand as if to show me. “Normally, we bring Falcons into the Mews as children. And Falconers live in the Mews as well, undergoing several years of training before they link to a carefully chosen Falcon, at which point they forgo all other responsibilities, oaths, and titles. If they are of a patrician family, they lose the right to sit in the Assembly.”

My mother would never stand for that. “But of course, that is impossible in this case.” I kept my tone light but unwavering. “As I am the Cornaro heir.”

The doge gazed at me thoughtfully. Across the room, a clock ticked. Dozens of painted dignitaries watched me from the frescoed ceiling.

“Do you know,” he said at last, “why the ruling families of Raverra are forbidden to be Falconers?”

“To avoid giving one family too much power.”

“Yes. But that’s not the only reason.” He leaned forward. Deep in his dark eyes came a gleam, like sunken gold. “Do you understand, Amalia Cornaro, the paradox of force?”

I hesitated. “I’m not certain to what you’re referring, Your Serenity.”

“The naval and magical power of Raverra is unparalleled. None doubt it is the foundation of the Empire, along with our great wealth. And yet we haven’t needed to use force to secure our position in decades. It is precisely because all know we are capable of exercising unstoppable military power that we do not need to do so. It is by the implicit threat of war we secure the peace of Eruvia.”

“True power wields a light touch, because a light touch suffices,” I quoted my mother.

“Usually.” His eyes narrowed. “But what happens, Lady Amalia, when someone attempts to call our bluff?”

“But … the power of the Serene Empire isn’t a bluff.”

“No. No, it is not.” Satisfaction in his voice, he leaned back in his chair. “As Celantis learned, three hundred years ago. You know the story, I presume?”

“Of course.” It was a story Eruvia had found hard to forget, as the Serene Empire of Raverra continued to grow from the few coastal cities of its cradle. “Raverra and the island of Celantis were at war. When the doge moved the fleet and the Falcons into position to attack Celantis, he offered them one last chance for peace, but the king of Celantis sent back the emissary’s head as his reply. So the doge shot one more message over the city walls on an arrow: You may think your kingdom powerful, that it can destroy one man. But with one man, I will destroy your kingdom. And he”—I swallowed—“he unleashed his fire warlock.”