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Issa blinked, unsure that she had heard Alemeyu correctly. She realized that she had. But she still couldn’t believe that the Emperor would ever have made such an admission.
“Alemeyu, you don’t have to ...”
The Emperor held up a hand to forestall her.
“There is nothing else to say,” Alemeyu told her. “I have always known that I am the reason I have never sired a child with you, or any of the others.”
Issa did not know how to respond to that admission. She looked at Alemeyu as though she had never seen him before. In his eyes, she could see the shadows of dead dreams and many years of self-recrimination.
“I know what others say about me beyond my presence,” Alemeyu continued. “My ears are everywhere.”
“I never spoke of the problem to anyone,” Issa said, still looking directly into Alemeyu’s eyes.
“But you knew the truth, just the same.”
Issa dropped her gaze.
“Yes,” she acknowledged. “I knew.”
After a moment of silence, Alemeyu spoke again.
“I would have put you aside once the talk became more than mere whispers that only the walls could hear,” he said.
Issa looked at him again, and a sharp retort sprang into her mind. Before she could give it voice, Alemeyu continued.
“It would have been for the good of the Empire,” he said.
Issa’s spark of anger faded as quickly as it had ignited, for she knew Alemeyu was only speaking the truth.
“For the good of the Empire,” she repeated dully, dutifully.
The Emperor rose from his throne then. He reached down, clasped both of Issa’s hands in his, and gently raised her to her feet. As he looked into her eyes, she could see that for a moment at least, that shadows that haunted him were gone.
“Issa,” he said softly. “No matter what happens now, I will never put you aside.”
Unshed tears stung the corners of Issa’s eyes as she smiled and squeezed Alemeyu’s hands. She opened her mouth to speak – but a sudden yowl from Makah stopped her.
The hair around the cheetah’s neck and shoulders bristled like a ruff. The great cat was still staring at the open entrance to the throne room. The soldiers who stood on guard did not appear to notice whatever it was that had disturbed Makah. A moment later, the cheetah bolted from the throne room. And a moment after that, a sudden commotion of battle reached the ears of Alemeyu and Issa.
The Emperor let go of Issa’s hands and called to the guards at the entrance.
“What is going on out there?” he demanded.
Amid the patter of rushing footsteps, one of the guards entered the chamber. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to compose his face into a mask that would hide his fear.
“The Uloans are here, Mesfin,” he said.
Alemeyu and Issa looked at each other. The shadows had returned to his eyes, and hers as well. Then the Emperor drew the Sword of Issuri from its gilded scabbard.
“Stand behind me,” he told Issa.
Then he turned to face the entrance, swordhilt gripped tightly in both hands, even as the guards moved into a defensive formation and the sounds of fighting drew nearer to their door.