CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Don't have anything to say?

It was only a day since the announcement. As heralds roamed throughout New Sandharbor to spread news of where Shan Alee's loyalty would now lie, Enfri retreated to her personal rooms in the event of reprisal from the visiting delegations. A violent response wouldn't be out of the question. Or unwarranted. Fortunately, most did as the Algaras and took Enfri's warnings to heart. They fled back to their centers of power to prepare for the next stage of Garret's invasion.

Alone in her bedchamber, Enfri waited in silence for the voice she needed to hear.

Answer me, she demanded.

Enfri looked into her vanity mirror as she awaited the reply. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, staring at her own face. There was no smile on her lips, no life in her eyes. Devoid of emotion, as if she were already dead.

But she wasn't dead. No, that was Jin's delusion, not hers. Enfri was wholly and completely aware that she was very much alive. She'd been given irrefutable proof on that matter. There was no way it could be denied. Enfri was alive. She was certain.

The dead felt no pain.

You were chatting my ears off yesterday. What's the point of having you in my head if you don't come when I summon you?

Silence remained.

At last, emotion appeared in her reflection. Enfri saw her own fury and thought it foreign to the girl she used to be. Remarkable, how so much about her own face could change. She observed this stranger in the mirror with detachment, neither recognizing or rejecting her as who she'd become. The crown made one faceless, so if not this face, than any other could serve just as well. But for the moment, a wrathful empress felt appropriate.

Your empress gave you a command, Grandfather. Speak!

New words, soft as a whisper, came to her. It spoke using her thoughts, but not her will.

Can you still call yourself an empress? Shoen asked. You've surrendered our empire to foreigners. You are now subject to whatever whims they lay upon you. Are you so foolish as to believe the old masters will be gentle?

Of course not, Enfri replied curtly. Are you suggesting the battle could've been won?

Perhaps, he said. Kings and warriors from across the Five Kingdoms were prepared to join you. The spawn of Gara, also. The battle would have been hard, but not impossible.

Enfri sneered into the mirror. And what would become of my city?

Shoen didn't have an immediate answer.

I know Master Deveaux better than you, apparently. One volley from his armada would devastated New Sandharbor. Maybe seven volleys beforehand to break down Thaan's interdiction ward. Would you put it past the Glorious Emperor to concentrate his cannons on what we protect? He would let us slaughter a portion of his aviators while the rest burned our homes and killed my citizens. They'd sell their lives to inflict as much damage as possible. Punishment, for defying him.

Shoen grumbled. You are not wrong.

I don't need you to tell me that. I already know I'm right.

He made a displeased sound, and his words became touched with a trace of mockery. You've certainly grown more confident since your savage's return.

Enfri glowered. This has nothing to do with that. Jin was an opportunity. No more.

He scoffed. An opportunity for what?

Enfri watched as her reflection's mouth pulled back into a soulless smile. Payback. Obviously.

Shoen chuckled. It grew until he laughed uproariously. Oh, my empress... I have misjudged you for long enough. To think, that within the soft-hearted weakling I found so disappointing, there could be such cruelty. Tell me, how did it feel to see your light's weeping? Were her sorrowful pleas music to your ears?

Cocking her head to the side, Enfri let her smile become a grin. Rapturous, she told him. Her smile faded. But Jin's nothing. She was a distraction from my real enemy.

You speak of Gara's heir, Shoen ventured. Cathis, the so-called Highest King.

Yes. Enfri let a note of question come into her voice. You didn't speak to me throughout my conferences with him. Were you frightened of him, Grandfather? Is that why you and the others left me alone all that time?

Bah. Absolutely not. Don't test me, girl. You know we were prevented.

Enfri giggled. When you wanted to listen in most, I tested out Elise's method of blinding you. I hope you'll forgive me, Grandfather. It's only that I felt you needed to be reminded which of us rules Shan Alee.

Your point was clear, Shoen snarled, but I would caution you to choose less critical junctures to flex your independence. There was much that could have been learned from such talks.

And I did, Enfri assured him. Cathis even brought his brother in to lay out how the Spired City can be best defended if attacked. I'll show you everything when I inform my First Knight. I promise.

Shoen's grumbling was sullen. He was understandably disturbed to have learned his descendants found ways to hide their true intentions from him. However, he was mollified somewhat when Enfri told him part of what else she'd gleaned from her talks with Cathis. The instabilities Althandor faced. The many threats. The Algaras gave Enfri tactical knowledge that would be devastating if given to an enemy.

Cathis is who I need to kill, she told him. Elise was right about that much, and now I'm in bed with those who have an enemy in common with me. I'll destroy him and his kingdom of murderers.

Don't lose perspective, girl, Shoen warned. That was your aunt's failing. Don't forget who truly rules the People of Jade.

Enfri exhaled slowly. And? Have you come to me with a way to fight a demon god of death? Can you tell me how to find and kill the other old masters?

No, Shoen said guardedly.

Enfri swiped her arm across her vanity in a fit of rage, throwing loose cosmetics and brushes across her bedchamber. Then how do you expect me to fight them!

Inside her head, she felt Shoen shrink back from the force of her anger.

Enfri calmed herself. You said it yourself, Grandfather. The doom has come. All hope has left this world. There can be no victory, so I'm changing the rules. Victory won't come from stopping them, and it certainly won't come by letting our people die fighting them. Our victory now can only come through survival. If my bending the knee to them now means that Aleesh will live to see the next era, then that is what I will do.

Shoen remained quiet for a long moment. And the era after that?

They seek to breed Eidolons, Enfri explained. How many of those Eidolons might still call themselves Aleesh? A hundred years from now, a thousand, generations and generations in the future, the demons will betray us. Because of course they're lying about letting insignificant mortals live in their Paradise. But until that day, Shan Alee will still be standing. This city will grow. And perhaps... Perhaps my heirs will succeed where I failed. Maybe they'll manage to stop the doom of their era, before the demons win forever. All I can do now is give them that chance.

You've told me nothing you didn't say to your Ruby, Shoen said. He was less convinced than I.

Enfri scowled into the mirror. I don't need to be agreed with. An empress needs only to be obeyed.

Shoen chuckled, and his words were tinged with pride. As you say, my empress. But please, address one concern of mine.

Enfri sighed.

Are you certain you are not using this surrender as a ruse? Are you merely politicking your way to the Glorious Emperor's side where you can find the right place to stick a knife?

Enfri clucked her tongue. It's certainly crossed my mind, and I'd enjoy the chance. I hate the demons, Grandfather. Don't forget that. I hate them more than I hate anything, but even if I somehow managed to kill Master Deveaux, maybe even kill Carinae, what good would it do anyone?

What do you mean?

You killed Sol. Did that save your Shan Alee?

No, he said.

Enfri frowned in disgust at her own reasonings. Killing just one of them may be more than I can do. Killing six, well, that's just unlikely. And so, I'll kneel to them. I'll become a thrall, and maybe my children will find a way out of the mess I've made, using the empire I preserved for them.

So be it, Shoen said. Only, you must be certain. Six demons will be even more impossible to fight in the future than they are now. Don't repeat my mistake. Leave every scrap of knowledge and every weapon you can forge for those who will take up the mantle after you.

I certainly won't be leaving the job to Althandi like you did, Enfri thought lightly. There won't be many of them left, I expect.

Shoen laughed.

I'll need you, Enfri said. Will you help me?

Of course, Shoen promised. I am with you. As are we all.

Enfri smiled into the mirror. That sounds like a goodbye anyway, so I hope you'll forgive one more reminder, Gramps.

She wrenched her thoughts away from Shoen, and she found the moment in which she felt his surprise and frustration to be most satisfying.

But only for that one moment.

Looking into the mirror, the stranger vanished. She was replaced by a young woman Enfri knew all too well. Scared, hurt, naive, and weak. Enfri leaned against the vanity, unable to sit upright for a second longer. At last hidden from all eyes, including her ancestors', the imperial mask fell away and shattered.

Enfri sobbed. She clutched at her chest as her heart tried to wrench itself into pieces.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "My light, I'm sorry."

Enfri cursed Fate for his cruelty. It wasn't right, and it certainly wasn't fair. So soon after she and Jin found each other again, forgave each other, and finally talked as they should've from the start, the Great Spider wove this hideous turn into their web. There weren't enough rocks in the world for the blustering evil bug to hide under to escape how utterly pissed off Enfri was at meddling spirits.

Jin awoke from her oren-induced coma in the briefest window where nothing could be done to explain things to her. And Cathis— blustering Cathis— just had to bring Jin down to the reception hall on top of all the other rotten luck.

When Jin showed herself, Enfri nearly lost control of the situation. She could've doomed New Sandharbor and all of Shan Alee with an errant sign of emotion, or worse, a misspoken word where every sort of wrong ear imaginable could hear it.

As Inaz had proven earlier in the week when he saved Deebee's life, the old masters had a long reach and very keen ears.

Better for Jin to believe that everything she feared about Enfri was true. Better that than doom Shan Alee because its empress couldn't remain faceless under her crown. The things Enfri told Shoen— when he wasn't blind to her— they hadn't all been lies. If she faltered to the slightest degree, Shan Alee and everyone she loved would die horribly.

Frantic, Enfri fought to recompose herself. The shattered pieces of her imperial mask drew back together, and she fit it into place. She sniffed once to pull back her tears, and once she had her breathing under control, she gathered up the cosmetics she'd flung about and set to work reapplying them.

Her personal chambers were warded from every kind of divination anyone knew how to ward against. Even that might not have been enough. She couldn't risk breaking out of her assigned role, even when she was alone. Especially when she was alone, because Enfri didn't only suspect the people outside her head of being a source of information for the demons.

The old masters were cunning, and they weren't going to accept Enfri into their fold without question. She had to play their game, lie to both them and all good people left in the world. Lie to them all, become faceless, and never fail to show them what they needed to see.

For her people, a beacon to follow through the darkness of these evil times.

For the past emperors, collaborating but with goals of fighting in a distant future.

For the Five Kingdoms, the first casualty of the invasion.

For the demons, a defeated servant who no longer posed a threat.

For Jin...

Enfri exhaled and wished she had accounted for Jin being on the opposing side. She was certain that over in his temple, the Warding Light would burn a little dimmer.

"I am, in every way, over my head," Enfri muttered.

Once she deemed herself fit to be seen, Enfri stood and went to her bedroom door. Opening it, she found Mevek and Inaz standing watch in her sitting room with their eyes on the entryway.

"Any word?" she asked, keeping her tone even.

Inaz faced her and saluted. "Yes, Majesty. The First Knight is at your disposal, whether you wish to go to him in the war room or have him come to you."

Enfri looked around the suite. "How secure are we?"

"My Guardian has tripled down on the wards in this room. Fate himself can't get his eyes in here."

She nodded, and she could admit she felt a slight bit safer to hear it. However, her next question was more uncomfortable. "And, how secure is my First Knight?"

"He invested a rune in my presence," Inaz said. "He is neither skindancer or kits."

"Anything else you can rule out?"

Inaz narrowed his eyes in thought. He then shook his head. "No, Majesty. He may be a doppler or harpy."

"Even with his bond?" Enfri asked.

"It's unlikely, but the Huntress may also be an imposter. What we see as their bond is possibly trickery disguised as elder magic."

If not Jin, Enfri wished she could've at least confided in Ban. She'd been keeping him at arm's length for the past few days, and there was no end in sight. Enfri couldn't take chances, not even remote ones. The stakes were too high, no matter how badly she needed her brother to pat her head and say everything would be alright.

Enfri could feel her expression fall. "As you say. I need an hour more, then send Ban in, please. I'll be ready for him."

"Aye, Majesty."

Slowly, Enfri closed the door. She took in a breath and did her utmost not to dwell on Jin. It proved difficult, almost too difficult, but she managed. As soon as Jin teleported away, Enfri had realized something that nearly gutted her.

She would never be held in her light's arms again.

That path through Fate's web was lost. Enfri made certain of that. No matter how devastating it'd been, she felt it was for the best. In the end, Jin would be happier if she had no reason left to be at Enfri's side. So, Enfri destroyed the bridges they'd built. She gave Jin the opportunity and every reason to let go of their time together without regret. It was the one thing the Dragon Empress had left to give Jin— freedom from Enfri's cursed love.

Enfri pulled a filled potion vial from her dress pocket as she approached her bed. She sat down on the side as she pushed all thoughts away but for what she needed to do. This task carried risk, almost more risk than she could allow, but it was important this was done. After today, there'd be few other chances to make the same leap if there were any at all.

With shaking hands, Enfri drank the potion down before lying down on her bed. Her eyelids grew heavy and beyond her ability to keep open. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she stood in that other place. The land of sand and ghosts.

After the Miracle, Enfri hoped to find this reflection of the Imperial City returned to its former glory. Sadly, it remained a dead world deep within an endless desert. The golden, spellwrought structures appeared even more worn than the last time she'd come to this world of dreams. Everything was crumbling and decrepit, as if the land of the dead was dying.

Enfri looked down at herself and was tempted to feel a glimmer of relief. She wore a sleeveless gown of pale green linen, embroidered with floral patterns in silver thread. It was an unusual dress, unlike anything Enfri had ever seen in the waking world. The style of its design hung between that of a village girl and that of a sovereign, a foot in both roles. The only place she'd ever seen anything like this dress was here, upon her dream self, the woman she believed herself to be.

Still an empress, and still a sky woman.

I'm me, Enfri thought, and she told it to herself as in defiance. I am Empress Enfri the Yora First Summit, but only to the rest of the world. Here, I am and will always be Enfri Page.

"Grandfather?" she asked aloud, addressing it towards the only man here she truly believed worthy of the title. "Please, tell me it worked."

Enfri waited in the midst of sand-choked buildings for a response. She began to fear that Elise had been wrong, that there truly was no way to tilt the scales of her elder magic back in her favor. Despair began to creep ever closer to her heart, where the last embers of hope still burned. Smothering loneliness, it threatened to leave her to face the demons alone.

"Oh, my beautiful girl," he said. This wasn't the man she called Grandfather, but a voice Enfri longed to hear even more. "You really are something special, Sunny."

oOo

Inaz waited the hour Her Majesty asked for. As he was told, Inaz fetched the Knight-Marshal and informed him that the empress was ready to tell him the details of the Glorious Emperor's coming visit and the preliminary plans for Shan Alee's role in the invasion of Althandor. Once his tasks were complete, Inaz saw fit to leave Empress Enfri in the care of Mevek and the First Knight. He'd been awake for more than thirty hours by that time, so a return home was past due.

Before leaving the Imperial Palace, Inaz logged his departure with the clerks, submitted to screenings from Light Hoof's goblins at the door, said his farewells to his Guardian, and procured a suitable apology gift from the kitchens. Xira was going to be furious with him for being away for so long, so Inaz thought it wise to return bearing palace bacon.

His dearest love had a fondness for bacon.

Leaving through the front door of the palace, past the stables, Inaz thought it might be time for him to purchase a horse. He'd always believed horses a thing for nobles. He certainly was never able to afford one before, not even while he briefly owned his own farmland. A mule, sure, but never a horse. Who but a nobleman had that kind of coin?

The stable boys scurried about the place and were having a touch of trouble with one horse in particular. Scorpion was despondent at being left behind by his princess. It was all the lads could do to coax him to eat. That was to say nothing of the trouble another new tenant of the stables was causing. The Gladiator could take all the responsibility he wanted, but Inaz would never pass within fifty paces of that Ura creature without a sword in hand. The beast seemed to like the empress, though, so Inaz didn't think Ura could be all bad. For now, the scale lion was content to roam her own section of the stable yard and feast on the pigs Grimdar brought for her.

Inaz kept a wary eye on Ura as he passed her corral. The scale lion raised a bloody snout out of the belly of her latest kill to glare back at him until he was out of sight.

That thing can't stay here forever, Inaz thought. Best set it loose before it gets too used to people. Wild beasts need to harbor a healthy fear of civilization, or they start associating us with easy meals.

Once off the palace grounds, there was a dramatic drop in the amount of activity. The streets were mostly barren. Only a few pedestrians made their way between homes and shops. Most were the least fortunate, who had no choice but to go out and buy their daily bread. The more well-off citizens chose to stay indoors until the armada was no longer in the area.

Throughout the city, civic projects had all but crawled to a standstill. With the Arcane Knights remaining on high alert until Shan Alee's subservience to the Glorious Emperor was ratified, no one was left to lead things. Construction projects sat abandoned, maintenance was ignored, and the Peridots and Onyxes were reassigned to defend strategic locations throughout the city rather than patrol the streets.

Inaz thought there was something in there, something about Shan Alee having become overly dependent on the Arcane Knights to the point where goodfolk hardly looked out for themselves anymore. If there was, Inaz didn't have the sort of mind to make something of it. He was a soldier, not a legislator. Leave that sort of thing to those who had an ounce of education under their belts. At least, that's how Inaz saw it.

More fey than humans braved the open sky. Throughout Ogre Town, Inaz hailed the blooded kith he was familiar with but declined to trade Wager. The ogres were understanding fellows. Once Inaz said Xira was waiting for him, they urged him to make haste before his sky-scented blue decided he was ashen.

Inaz didn't have his own home in the city. He'd always been content to remain in the legion barracks. It wasn't until Xira and her family decided they should move in together that Inaz relocated. He kept an apartment over the store Xira opened in New Sandharbor, off the Artisan District and up Merchant's Row from the garrison. It wasn't strictly part of Xira's household, which— barely— satisfied Inaz's Protectorite sensibilities. Xira's home was behind the shop and across an alleyway, so it could be said they didn't really live together. Technically. But that was enough for Inaz; he'd rather not have to offer prayers to his mother in the Beyond for her to forgive a philandering son.

It was still in the afternoon when Inaz pushed open the door into Xira's shop. He wasn't surprised to find it absent of customers. It'd never been the most frequented of stores in the city, and between armadas and civil unrest, not many of the goodfolk felt like perusing a harpy's selection of incense and perfume.

As always, the scent inside was the first thing Inaz noticed. It was heavy with exotic spices and aromas from lands he'd hardly heard of before. The many shelves were covered with glass vials filled with floral extracts, colorful candles laced with aromatic blends, and wood shavings infused with all manner of scented oils. Xira had a passion for scents— she had one of the most sensitive noses in Chaya Domun, even for a shifter— and she'd made her hobby into a livelihood. She was also an alchemist, but Inaz hadn't passed that piece of information off to the empress just yet. He feared Her Majesty's penchant for snapping up talented arcanists for her own projects, and Xira was the sort who valued autonomy.

A man's voice boomed from a back room. "I'll be right with you. Be just a moment."

Inaz pursed his lips as he removed his helmet. This wasn't a good sign. He didn't recognize the tall Aleesh man who came bustling into the shop, but he recognized the anxious hand wringing.

"Oh," the man said, stopping short upon catching sight of Inaz. "I didn't expect you home so soon."

Inaz gave the man a once over, taking note of both stature and musculature. Not a fighter. Calloused hands, sun-weathered skin, extra bulk in the upper arms and throughout the thighs. A day laborer. The sort of man who might come into a perfume store looking to purchase a gift for a special someone.

"Who's this?" Inaz asked.

The stranger startled and blushed. "Sorry. Didn't realize. One moment."

The man's body swiftly deflated into a more petite frame. Hair and skin remained almost the exact tone, only a little lighter now than before. Hair lengthened until it went down to the waist, but the most striking difference was in the arms. Broad membranes of skin stretched between fingers two and a half feet long and continued on to the hips. Outstretched, a harpy's wingspan was more than eight feet, though the wings were entirely vestigial. Harpies couldn't fly, couldn't even manage a glide. Though their proteurim forbears could soar through the sky, the shifter variety was land-bound as any mortal.

She was beautiful. The most beautiful woman Inaz had ever known or could imagine. Xira spoke derisively of her natural appearance, and it always confused Inaz to hear her say such things about herself. She'd even admitted to a slight jealousy that he was going to spend most of his time near the empress. Of how she was certain Inaz would come to understand how a commoner from the fourth summit like her couldn't compare to imperial beauty.

Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Enfri was barely out of childhood. Xira was a woman, mature, wise, and just... so very beautiful. He loved the high bridge of her nose, the fullness of her lips, and the intelligent light in her wide-set eyes. To say nothing of her body. Xira could tempt kings with her figure, but Inaz supposed he might've been biased. What mattered was that Xira Fourth Summit was somehow foolish enough not to realize that she was leagues beyond a simple sellsword.

Once Xira was herself, Inaz strode towards her to take her into his arms. He only knew her to wear someone else's body when she was frightened, when she'd rather be anyone besides herself. Her wings enfolded around his back, and she nuzzled into his chest. Inaz was ashamed to find her trembling.

"I shouldn't have been away so long," he said quietly. "Forgive me, my love."

Xira wiped at the corner of an eye with one of her long fingers. She sniffled. "No, it's alright. I know you have so much you have to do. You're the empress' Champion now. That has to be so much work."

"I mostly just stand there and look intimidating," Inaz said.

Xira pulled away from Inaz to hold him by the shoulders at arm's length. She looked him in the eye. "But... It is! They're saying you were right there when the empress fought the Algaras."

Inaz furrowed his brow. "Who said what, now? There was no fight."

"It's all over the city," Xira insisted. "They're saying the Dragon Empress attacked the Highest King to prove her loyalty to the old masters."

There was a shudder throughout Xira's body at the mention of demons. The Aleesh from Chaya Domun were more familiar with the subject than other peoples. While most even now thought demons to be a wild story that couldn't possibly be real, the old masters were well-known in Chaya Domun as the architects of the last era's downfall.

"None of that's true," Inaz assured her. "Her Majesty was raised Althandi, remember? She wouldn't break guest-rights, even under pain of death. Such things are more sacred than the spirits in this part of the world."

Xira looked away and nervously bit her lip. "Some people say it's a shame she didn't kill the Highest King. Others..."

"What do they say?" Inaz asked when she hesitated.

She closed her eyes and spoke with reluctance. "They say the empress betrayed us. She promised to protect us from the old masters, then she joined them."

"That's exactly what she's doing," Inaz said. "She's protecting Shan Alee in the best way she can. If she hadn't done what she did, we'd all be waist deep in blood and rubble by now."

"She's not a shifter," Xira said, near to losing all composure. "She's not from Chaya Domun. What's stopping her from giving shifters over to them? Why wouldn't she if it could save humans like her?"

"Everything she does is as much for your people as for mine," Inaz said firmly. "She cares for shifters. She truly does. Don't forget she has shifters in her inner circle."

"She had shifters," Xira said softly and not without bitterness. "One's an exile and the other fled."

"Lady Starra was given the opportunity to flee, and Minister Reyn went with her. The empress did it to protect them. The Jade Empire would've demanded their heads."

"I know you say so," Xira murmured, "but it feels wrong. To follow the wicked..."

"The wicked?"

"It's what we call them," Xira mumbled. "The old masters. We call them the wicked."

Inaz wouldn't say otherwise. It seemed fitting to him. He'd never met a demon, but everything he heard told him he didn't want to.

"But, it's true?" Xira asked. "Empress Enfri... is a thrall now? We're all thralls?"

Inaz swallowed. He hated seeing this fear in his love's eyes. There was nothing he could imagine more destructive to his soul than allowing that fear to remain. Nonetheless, that was his duty. He needed to tell her what she had to believe.

"It is true," Inaz whispered. "The empress will fight alongside them against Althandor."

Xira started to cry, and Inaz knew that if he lived a thousand years, he would never absolve himself of this sin.

Lies were poison to love, but Inaz wasn't so arrogant to believe his love for Xira was more important than the fate of the world. Five knew the whole truth. The empress, himself, and three others. He'd been in the room and overheard it all. This gambit, this final and suicidal play to once and for all end the demonic cycle of destroyed eras, was desperately fragile. With each person who knew of it, the chance of it spreading grew. If just a whisper, a hint, a deadly premonition of it reached a demon's awareness, all would be over. Over and lost, forever. And so, only the five individuals could ever know until the doom was done.

Even if it damned them.

As Inaz held his dearest love in his arms as she cried tears of fear and shame, Inaz decided that duty was poor justification. Poor, but necessary.