Even if Isla was not in Dhvani's pockets, still she played right into her service, disrupting Kiet at a time like this. Why today, of all days? Why now? He needed his head in the audience hall, not worlds away with thoughts of treason and murder.

Take the throne? Kiet scoffed at the idea. Take the throne as though it were a simple matter of plucking the last grape from its vine! As though he wanted it, to begin with.

He needed no witness testimony, no forced confession. He would deal with that later. For now, he needed Dhvani on his ship. Without that, nothing else mattered.

Kiet turned to Akai, nodded wordlessly. His captain bowed and led his men away, leaving him unguarded in the antechamber to the great audience hall. The Emperor's herald looked quizzically at him from his place by the doors.

'His Divine Emperor is still in private attendance with his left-hand adviser,' said the man. The guards behind him kept their spears crossed over the entrance. 'I believe the maharaj is not scheduled for another hour and half?'

'No matter.' Kiet approached. The man reached only his chin and was easy to fluster. 'Ask the Emperor this: When Tennu awakes from her Long Slumber, how does one tell whether it is she or Kitsuo who greets the spring? I am sure he would like to hear its answer at once.'

'Maharaj, I cannot interrupt the Emperor with such obscure—'

'I highly advise you allow him determine that.'

The herald swallowed, rehearsed Kiet's message under his breath, and disappeared behind the doors.

Kiet waited what felt like hours, but the morning nine-bells had not even sounded by the time the man returned. He nodded at the maharaj. 'The Emperor will see you.'

The herald stepped aside to allow him through, closing the door behind him.

As predicted, the hall was empty of even soldiers. Kiet's footsteps echoed over the wood until his boots met the edge of the chōza. Gyoseong and Haruse sat on the tribune, far across the rush mats. No one guarded them, not even the truth-weaver.

Kiet bowed for the sake of propriety. He removed his boots and stepped onto the chōza.

The Emperor rose from his elevated throne, face as tense as Haruse's entire body. 'I have been most gracious in hosting you, maharaj, and for that you have come to me with veiled threats.'

'Not at all, Emperor. In fact only this morning I myself lamented the circumstances that brought me to your beautiful kingdom. There is nothing I would regret more than to have our relations impaired, especially over forces outside both our control. I've come to realise that this is exactly what you face.'

The Emperor stepped off his dais. Now stood he at height with the maharaj. Behind him, Haruse sat watching in his seat.

'To protect the land during Tennu's Long Sleep, her kanōhi would at times take the deity's form and frighten frost spirits away. That is why the Eastern Isles remain fertile and green, even in the deepest of winter.'

'I too, have read the Holy Anthology, maharaj.'

'Perhaps it is what inspired you.' Kiet smiled. 'When Tennu awakes from her slumber, both she and Kitsuo appear in the deity's form before an unsuspecting traveller. If he is able to correctly kneel before the real Spring Mother, it is said the year will be a blessed one. But there is an easy way to tell. If one were of present enough mind to pause and look, he would see that the earth around him bows only before Tennu.'

Neither the Emperor nor his brother seemed bothered, though Haruse did rise from his cushion, leaning heavily on his cane. Their scowls were only angry, impatient. Kiet had yet to hit them with the big revelation, but it did rattle a little of his composure.

He cleared his throat, addressing both of them. 'It began with the death of Yusake-himi's first wife.'

At this, Haruse drew a sharp intake of air. He hobbled off the tribune to stand beside his brother. 'How dare you utter the Emperor's—'

'He was of course not yet Emperor at the time. For the next few years he remained secluded, in mourning. The same time you, himihwan, developed your deadman's joints.'

'The penalty for voicing his name is the removal of one's tongue!'

'Except he is not Yusake-himi. You are.' Kiet watched, satisfied, at the look on their faces. It was confirmation enough for him.

The Emperor's voice was low when he spoke, 'I knew Taeichi had been speaking with you, but to betray even this—'

'I needed no turncoat to reveal your secrets, Emperor. It is an easy enough inference to make. He secluded himself not in mourning, but to hide the fact of his illness. Deadman's joints is incurable and renders one infertile. With no hope for an heir, the possibility of dying young besides, you all decided it best Yusake-himi secede his birthright. But who could take his place? The only other first-ranking terrakin was Yeungji-himi, and you had all determined him unfit to rule.'

'Of course he is unfit! Yeungji could be persuaded into bathing in the ocean stark naked by the first person to speak to him in the morning!'

They made no attempt of denying anything, and that bewildered Kiet.

For all he had surmised, none of them came with any real evidence, and yet Haruse—the real Haruse who stood now before him—acted as though it were all common knowledge between them.

'So you took his name, you ascended the throne, and he performed your theurgy for you when required. But now is he dying and still you have no heir. Who will cover for your terrakindry when he passes?'

Again the Emperor offered no answer, for he had none.

Kiet continued, reinvigorated, 'You are desperate for Fukuhei-himi to be sound enough to rule so you can abdicate your throne before all your deceit is uncovered and the Divine Gyok name crushed.'

'You say you would hate to damage relations between our two nations, yet you conspire with my own truth-weaver to wrestle imperial secrets and now come to extort me with your knowledge.'

'Conspire? Emperor, this all became apparent to me when you failed to tame your son's terrakindry. You could not. You are neither first-rank nor a terrakin yourself. The quakes ceased only once your brother arrived.'

'You may have poisoned Taeichi to keep him quiet, but my agent has informed me of your frequent visits.'

Frequent visits? Poisoned him? What was Gyoseong blathering about?

The Emperor reached into his robes. Kiet's hand mechanically flew to the hilt of his sword, but it was only a chain that Gyoseong pulled out. He tossed it across the chōza to land at Kiet's feet. 'I suppose he did not tell you of this.'

The truth-weaver's blood oath. Or at least its pair.

'Well, of course he did not. The oath would have shattered upon any breath of it and given your game up much sooner.'

He'd broken his oath? Certainly it was not for his sake. Kiet quickly smoothed his expression. It mattered not. In fact, it played to his advantage. The Emperor made no denials, for he thought it fruitless.

'What did you promise him? Freedom?' The Emperor let out a sharp laugh. 'I must applaud your cunning, maharaj. Certainly he never saw the freedom of death despite his theurgy.'

'You are mistaken.' Kiet picked the pendant from the floor. 'I came not to blackmail you. Perhaps you could fool the rest of the kingdom, having Yusake-himi seclude himself and setting the stage for a switch. Perhaps you had even others killed to keep your secret. But there was one you could not reach; one whom you could not fool. Dhvani saw right through it when she came for the coronation. For decades she hung it over you, until recently when she had nowhere else to turn. I've come now to relieve that thorn off your side.'

'The instant I surrender her to you, the instant our gambit is up.'

'She'll have no opportunity to reveal your secret, no ear to speak them to other than mine. She will be sentenced for treason and regicide, its only punishment is death. Of this you have my word.'

'Your word? The same word that you yourself would keep all this in confidence?'

'Either you take me for it, or you strike me down now and kill me, Emperor.'

Gyoseong seemed to be weighing just that. Kiet could without issue slay both him and Yusake before the guards even entered, and the aged Emperor knew. Whether or not Kiet could escape Tsunai in one piece was beside the point if they were not alive to see it.

'You call yourself an ally.' Yusake spat. 'Instead of aiding us to secure Fukuhei-himi's future on the throne, you use the dire circumstances of the Divine Gyok's succession to your advantage.'

'All I've done is uncover your madness. It was not I who long ago determined Yeungji-himi incompetent to rule—in fact, I found him an intelligent and thoughtful man. Certainly nothing a pair of loyal and worthy advisors cannot assist. Likewise, it is not I who has now decided Fuku—'

'My nephew barely even speaks!'

'With the way I've seen you handle things, I can hardly fault him!' It took all the restraint in him to keep from snapping. 'The mind-healer is your best bet. I suggest you listen to her advice and allow her do her job. Fukuhei-himi is strong enough to one day rise as Emperor—it is you who contribute no help by demanding instant results yet within the same breath offer no support nor personal involvement in his tutelage.'

'Enough!' Gyoseong's voice echoed across the hall. He looked askance at his brother and nodded.

Yusake scrunched his face, wrinkled skin all gathering around his nose. 'This will be remembered, maharaj.'

What, for all the next five or so years of your lives?

With the truth-weaver dead, he'd wager the only living people privy to the exchange were their direct siblings—all of whom were far older than Haruse himself. Kiet doubted Gyoseong's own wife and children knew anything. He had married the Empress two years after his ascension under his assumed identity, and married men have kept worse secrets from their wives.

Yusake limped back to the tribune to pull on a tassel.

Kiet stirred his jii awake in the silence that followed, preparing for the worst. He eased his thoughts, sectioned all away until he built an empty peace he could easily retreat to. He fed his jii into the space, felt it swirling, expanding, thickening into a comforting void.

'We will bring you the rajini, but we expect some kind of token of your good-will.' The venom was thick in Yusake's voice.

'Had I expected to uncover such a significant affair, perhaps I would have brought something dear to me I could ransom.'

'You understand how this is a problem,' remarked Gyoseong.

Indeed.

Kiet considered his options. They'd have little choice but to comply if he chose to strongarm Dhvani into his possession. The most they could do was perhaps summon a storm once he was back in Kapuluan waters. Death by sinking was far less suspicious than murder in the city, after all.

But what was the point of that? Even if he survived a typhoon, there was no benefit in provoking a neighbour and making an enemy of an ally.

On the other hand, he had nothing he could offer in return. A blood oath would bind him not to his word, only inform the Emperor should he break it. He carried nothing of value, no secret worth imparting ...

'A betrothal.' It was the only thing he could think of. The only thing worthy of a Divine Gyok's trust. 'That is all I can offer.'

Gyoseong's brows rose high into his hairline. 'Go on. I am listening.'

Yes, do go on.

Offering up one of his sisters to wed one of the Emperor's sons? That was his solution? The idea alone sickened him. Fukuhei had barely seen twelve summers. A rich match for Kiesja at five-and-twenty. Jyesta was only eighteen, though. She would make him a more suitable partner ...

Gods, listen to yourself, using a sister as a bargaining chip! Without them here to speak for themselves, no less. He turned closer to Judhistir with every living day.

Kiet grit his teeth and put on a smile. 'Before I return to Surikhand, I will submit to a betrothal between myself and your oldest daughter, given of course, she is happy to do so.'

Gyoseong's eyes actually lit. He mulled over the idea. 'Fukuse has indeed recently turned eighteen and yet to find suitable engagement.'

'Would that satisfy you, Emperor? Tying my name to yours should assure you, after all, that I would desire nothing ever tarnish it.' And an Ametjas is a powerful addition to one's clan.

'I cannot say the offer displeases me entirely.' Gyoseong looked him over. 'I am certain my daughter will not object, either. Very well. A public announcement shall be made before the Temple of Tennu.'

'Great.' Great.

What under Ogbu's Eye had he gotten himself into?

Kiet's smile was plastered on his face, but inside he squirmed with dolour.

A betrothal? He could kick himself for this lack of foresight. Wedding a girl eight years his junior was the last thing he wanted, yet by nightfall would he be in an engagement he could in no way rescind from without sullying his good name and honour.

Kiet turned away from the Divine Gyok's appraising smile. His, on the other hand, seemed genuine—if a little too pleased. The maharaj hid his discomfort behind the guise of impatience.

And Isla's treasonous offer, on top of everything ...

Isla.

Gods. What else could go wrong?

The side doors by the tribune opened without announcement. Three soldiers marched in, stopping short of the chōza. One of them dropped to his knees in the penitent tsunbakk form. 'Forgive me, Emperor, the rajini is gone!'

Kiet sighed.

I'm sorry I asked.
    

❖ ❖ ❖
     

☆ this chapter is dedicated to ohanlon5 ☆

Video: Chetta Monser
Image: Original artists unknown

The Emperor's secret is finally out . . . did anyone else also figure it out? If you read The Goddess, or the Fox, it might've given you an extra hint (^.~)

But never mind that! What do you think of Kiet's engagement? It certainly caught me off guard when I wrote the scene, lol. It wasn't planned at all, so please put down your pitchforks (ꈍ .̮ ꈍ)