Azura entered the throne room, where the hearing of the evidence was to take place, with an ancient scroll clutched in her hand like a lifeline. Master Vita walked by her side to the front of the room where the crowd was gathering.

The atmosphere in the room felt heavy and stiff. The queen sat like a statue on the tall throne, wearing a shimmering navy blue dress embroidered with pale ivory thread. On one side of the room stood Airi, tiny but fierce, her eyes glistening with a hatred that still surprised Azura, despite the venom of her sister’s words the prior day.

A few minutes passed before Takeo entered the throne room, Bako at his side. Takeo’s hair was tangled and his clothes were rumpled, but he looked calm, almost peaceful. Azura wanted to wrap her arms around him and to soak his serenity into herself. Perhaps he truly didn’t feel the crippling fear that coiled through her own limbs at the thought of what today could mean.

On the other side of the room stood Ozora, Ipan, their seishens, and the two other sunburners who had made the trip with them. Azura avoided making eye contact with the king. She didn’t have it in her to play the pliant princess today. It was all she could do to hold together her ragged nerves.

Queen Isia called the hearing to order and her words washed over Azura. Her haughty pronouncement about justice. Her statement that the witness interviews had been “inconclusive.” Had her mother always been so cold?

And then came Airi’s recital of Takeo’s supposedly vicious attack once more. Azura stared at the floor in front of her as her sister spoke, tracing the thin gray grains in the marble with her eyes as they swooped and swirled. She didn’t trust her expression not to betray her.

When her mother called on Takeo to give his testimony, Azura dragged her eyes up to look at the man she loved. Her mother was leaning forward expectantly, looking at Takeo. “Your testimony?” Queen Isia asked, eyebrow raised.

Takeo cleared his throat. “I will not retell my testimony. I admit my guilt.”

It was as if the floor shifted beneath Azura, suddenly falling away. Master Vita caught her arm and gripped it tightly, steadying her. Admit his guilt?

“What?” Ozora exploded. “You aren’t guilty!”

Airi’s jaw had dropped in shock. Even Isia was sitting back in surprise.

Takeo looked at Ozora with pleading in his eyes. “I am guilty,” he said more firmly. “Of what the princess accuses me of.”

“Bullshit,” Ozora said.

“I don’t know what sort of hero play you are making here,” Ozora continued, “but I don’t believe it. If you’re really guilty, I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you say that you forced yourself on that girl. Because I don’t think you can.”

Takeo looked at Ozora with exasperation. “Is that really necessary?” he looked to the queen.

“No,” she said, standing. “He has confessed, so this matter is closed. I sentence this man to death.”

At the word death, Takeo closed his eyes. Suddenly, Azura understood his strangely calm demeanor. He had planned this. He had known when he entered this room that he was walking to his death.

The room spun around her, descending into an amalgam of shouts and voices and anger. Ozora unsheathed his sword and took a threatening step towards the throne, and a moonburner responded with a warning strike at his feet. Master Vita shook her arm insistently, whispering sounds in her ear that refused to form into words. Finally, the meaning broke through the white noise clouding her mind. “The treaty!”

“You don’t have that authority,” she said quietly, so softly that no one heard her amidst the shouting and threats. Azura drew herself up to her full height, and stepped forward, lifting the hem of her purple gown. “Stop!” she shouted, and the room fell deathly silent as all eyes turned towards her. All the sunburners had swords out now, and two of the moonburner guards had moved in front of the throne.

“You don’t have the authority,” Azura said, in a more tempered tone.

“What do you mean?” her mother asked, her voice clipped.

“You don’t have the authority to sentence him.” Azura turned to Master Vita, who nodded encouragingly.

“Master Vita found this scroll in our libraries,” Azura said. “It is an ancient treaty between Kita and Miina. It is still valid, Master Vita did the research himself.”

Azura crossed the room to where Ozora stood and unrolled the scroll before him. He read quickly, focusing on the paragraph she had revealed. The queen leaned forward, curious but unwilling to look too eager.

“It says that a ruler of Kita or Miina has the right to sentence their own subjects for crimes,” he said. “Even if the crimes are committed in foreign territory.” His voice carried a hint of triumph.

“Preposterous!” the queen said. “Let me see that.” She walked down and snatched the scroll from Azura’s grasp, glaring at her daughter.

Queen Isia read the scroll and examined its heading. Finally she sighed, rolling it up and handing it back to Azura. “Master Vita, you assure us this scroll is genuine?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” he said meekly.

“Fine,” she said. “King Ozora, you may sentence your own man to death.”

“Wait a minute now!” Ozora said. “If I get to sentence him, the sentence is my choice.”

“Your man has confessed. Rest assured,” she said, approaching him and coming to a stop dangerously close to his chest. “If you fail to adequately punish this man for his attempted assault on a member of the Miinan royal family, there will be no peace between our two nations. I will be forced to defend my daughter’s honor myself. With this man’s blood, and the blood of his brothers.”

The king’s hand returned to his sword hilt as he looked at Takeo, then Azura, realizing the predicament he was in. Takeo smiled and nodded at the king, as if to show him that it was all right. Azura wanted to slap him. Why was he being so complacent? Was he so eager to die? To be rid of her?

As the king pondered, Azura felt her anger deflate, replaced by despair. She had tried to save him. And despite his idiotic insistence on sacrificing himself, she had almost done it. They had found a loophole. But it hadn’t been enough.

But it was Ipan, the barrel-chested sunburner, who stepped forward then. He approached the king and whispered something in his ear. Ozora’s face lit up. He clapped Ipan on the shoulder and turned to the queen.

“My friend reminded me that one of the ways that a death sentence may be carried out in Kita is exile to the Tottori Desert. To let Taiyo be the ultimate executioner.”

“This sounds like a ploy,” the queen said. “Master Vita, have you heard of such a thing?”

Azura gripped Master Vita’s hand. Even if he hadn’t, she prayed the man would lie. The Tottori desert, the vast desert expanse that stretched between their two lands, was inhospitable, but men could survive for a few days. If Takeo was exiled, perhaps he could be rescued. Saved from death.

“Taiyo’s Test,” Master Vita mused. “I have heard of it. It is an ancient tradition practiced by generations of Kitan nobles.”

“See!” Ozora said. “Takeo, for your confessed crime of attempted assault on Princess Airi, I sentence you to death by way of Taiyo’s Test, in the Tottori.”

Queen Isia let out a frustrated hiss, crossing her arms before her chest. “A weak sentence,” she said. “Hardly enough.”

“But enough,” King Ozora said, now stepping in close to the queen. “I have subjected my captain, a dear friend and ally, to your so-called moonburner justice. I have complied with your demands, and now I have sentenced him to death. Your daughter’s honor, what little of it there may be, is protected. As for our peace treaty, I think we both should take some time to allow the events of these few days to pass behind us. We will pack our things and leave tomorrow.”

“You think I’ll allow you to take Takeo with you?” the queen said. “Oh no. I insist on seeing his sentence carried out. We will journey to the desert by koumori and leave him ourselves.”

“Fine,” the king said, teeth grinding. “Tomorrow we will carry out Takeo’s sentence, and the next day, we leave.”