“It was chaos,” the asha said, reminiscing. “I remembered little else of that night—only faces hovering over us, Kalen yelling at them to stay back. It was terrifying to feel so helpless. I knew there was nothing I could do, yet I was convinced I’d overlooked some danger at the party.”

“You did everything you could, Tea.”

The Heartforger’s equipment had been sent for, and it was a strange collection of tools. Different glass containers of miscellaneous sizes and shapes stood on a row before the throne. Oddly colored liquid sloshed in many of these vials, bubbling and hissing and resembling no form of water I was familiar with. There was also an apparatus built like a pottery wheel but with more spikes and pedals than seemed necessary. The Heartforger ran his hands lovingly over it, inspecting every hollowed nook.

A cooing noise came from by the window—the taurvi’s giant eye peered quizzically down at us, and it sang a few short notes.

“Lady Tea,” I whispered. “You cannot treat the Daanorian emperor this way.”

“He is a horrible emperor, Bard.” Disdain marked her voice. “He did many terrible things.”

“Lady Tea.” This time it was Princess Yansheo pleading. “I do not know what impels you to treat my kinsman so poorly, but I beg of you. Whatever your quarrel with him, he is still the ruler of this kingdom, and he is my liege, however badly he has treated me. Daanoris does not deserve such punishment.”

But the asha shook her head. “Kings and emperors need the people more than the people need them, princess. Kings are kings only because one ancestor was quicker than another to place a crown on his own head. Bravery and courage are not passed down through blood. Kings and emperors do not require valor or good works; all they require is submission.”

“But there is no one else fit to rule, milady.”

“In Odalia, they tell us that all men are made in Blade that Soars’ s image, and all women in Dancing Wind’s. What claim would he possess to hold the crown better than yours, princess?”